Twin Sister: Fuzzy, like the music Twin Sister are on the cusp of something. Hard to tell what that’s going to be–predicting the future on the sliding scale of indie success is a fool’s game we don’t play. They’re playing a gang of shows in and around New York in the next few weeks, then [...]

By Jayson Greene The esteemed Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg has traveled a long, itinerant path to his current post as composer-in-residence for the New York Philharmonic. After finishing his classical studies in the early 1980s, he found his attentions snagged by Japanese drumming and punk rock. He dabbled in musique concréte, added scrap-metal percussion and [...]

(image by laurent p_ap) A smattering of interesting titles today that I’ll call out quickly here. Above that, tho, I wanted to announce that we’ve officially resuscitated the too-long-dormant 17 Dots Twitter account. Though it’s been sporadically operational for the last few months (thanks mostly to Alex), we’re going to try to be a little [...]

(photo by jewelley) “Does it sound alright?” That was the question asked, over and over, by Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, one of the two guitarists for the Saharan rock band Tinariwen from the stage of Brooklyn’s Bell House Friday night. He was concerned, perhaps, that his band’s music — hardly anyone’s idea of flashy or ostentatious [...]

We got this a month ago, but I am somehow just getting around to listening to it now and, oh my god, the new Sigh record is throwing me into all kinds of ridiculous, excited spasms. I mean, good god, where the hell do I even start with this thing? By saying it just knocked [...]

Later today than usual, but the new stuff is here in force….let’s go through some of it together! Shearwater, The Golden Archipelago – Newest from art-pop’s premiere ornithologists. We already gave you a sample Melissa Maerz’s review last week, so I’ll leave you with Maris’s succinct summation: “It’s like Rook, except better.” Field Music, Field [...]

The Jersey boys from Real Estate make a dawdling kind of rock, all loping chords and stray melodies that weave in and out of consciousness (that’s right, these melodies possess sentience.) Beneath the band’s burbling but bright sound lies Alex Bleeker’s sturdy basslines. They are the stiff back, low in the mix but necessary. They [...]

This coming Tuesday sees the release of the new Shearwater record, The Golden Archipelago. Here’s eMusic’s Melissa Maerz with an idea of what to expect. Shearwater The Golden Archipelago [Matador] Release Date: 16 February 2010 An explorer, ecologist, and folk hero, Jonathan Meiburg is the Jacques Cousteau of indie-rock. A former graduate student with a [...]

Relatively light day on the new release front – just a few things I want to shout out, so please feel free to call out some other titles in the comments!

(photo by im92) We’ve all had them: that moment, unexpected, unannounced, when your heart leaps out of your chest, your legs go numb and you find yourself struggling to speak. For some of us, it happens when we’re young — for others, when we’re much older. But one thing is certain: you never forget the [...]

NOTE: Because of tech restrictions his post is credited to me, but was written by Rob Wetstone, our in-house jazz expert and head of content Maynard Ferguson. He was the iconic screamer; the bravado band leader who specialized in soaring high notes, shrieks and shakes; the guy, who, according to snickering high school legend, blew [...]

Though I am, at heart, an album guy, I don’t think I’ll ever lose my affection for the 7″ format. When I was cutting my teeth on ’90s indie rock, this was the perfect way to get introduced to a band, to get a feel for what they were and to decide if you wanted [...]

Hey everyone! Hope you’re enjoying the Selects Bands…..just thought I’d drop by to do a skimming of the other new/interesting/cool things that we got at the site this week. Let’s start with the Marquee Titles, shall we? (A lot of these are UK-only, so apologies when and where not available):

Two new bands join the ranks of eMusic Selects today, and we could not be more thrilled. Both of them are striking and unique — the work of true vision and individuality, just the kind of records we love to get behind at eMusic. And now for a word about both: Man/Miracle, The Shape of [...]