American Bread is an absolute revelation. For anyone who digs his more punk, raucous numbers, you may find yourself scratching your head a bit at first. Produced and crafted with help from David Vandervelde, Bare’s vocal performance is his most reserved and restrained to date, but it also shows off a subtle power that can sometimes be hidden when he is shredding a tune like “Nothin’ Better to Do” or “The Heart Bionic”. The aforementioned, “I Need You” is the true standout performance, thanks to the restraint that hints at madness possibly lurking behind the seemingly calm facade of Bare’s vocal. Join discussion...

Headed by film composer David Wingo, Ola Podrida have performed their atmospheric, folk-tinged, majestic noise at sold-out headlining shows in New York, at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Europe, and with like-minded contemporaries including Fleet Foxes and Beach House. Chockfull of unsentimental love songs, Belly Of The Lion pulses with the burgeoning sexuality borne of feral adolescent summers spent in the sprawling suburbs of the South. It’s hard not to be wooed, as the songs gingerly lay to rest the calamities that inevitably befall an adventurous heart. Join discussion...

Free follows Gavin DeGraw’s eponymous second album by less than a year — a quick turnaround by any standard, but its swiftness is shocking considering that it took him half a decade to deliver a follow-up to his 2003 debut, Chariot. Join discussion...

After the initial shock fades, the existence of Christmas In The Heart seems perhaps inevitable. After all, the thing Bob Dylan loves most of all are songs that are handed down from generation to generation, songs that are part of the American fabric, songs so common they never seem to have been written. These are the songs Dylan chooses to sing on Christmas In The Heart, a cheerfully old-fashioned holiday album from its Norman Rockwell-esque cover to its joyous backing vocals. Join discussion...

Hurricane bells used to hang from the tops of seaside trees, heavy bells designed to ring out only when a storm approached. Fittingly, Tonight Is The Ghost, the debut album from the band Hurricane Bells, is a moody affair. A mix of somber undercurrents and chiming guitars, the album is at once plaintive and triumphant, bathed in echo and reverb. Yet there’s a looseness, hope, and soulfulness in its melancholic tempest; a late night thundershower with a new day on its heels. Join discussion...

Pete Yorn recorded Break Up in 2006 on the heels of one, but it sat on the shelf until 2009, appearing just a matter of months after Back & Fourth, and a year after his duet partner, Scarlett Johannson, cast as Brigitte Bardot to Yorn’s Serge Gainsbourg, made an awkwardly arty splash with a Tom Waits’ cover album, but the album that really casts a shadow over this is Vol. 1, the 2008 record by She & Him , the teaming of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. Join discussion...

The Radiant is Christian Yorke (Vocals, guitars), Mark Mangold (keys, etc.), Jonny Cragg (live drums) and Jordan Brooks (bass). Based out of New York the band has been together for 1 1/2 years having played most of the local New York venues, a residency at Arlene’s Grocery. Join discussion...

The time is now for Kuba Oms, the Canadian singer who mines 70s-era soul, funk and rock n’ roll on his solo debut, How Much Time. As the long-time musical director of the live house jam band Velvet, he has taken a contemporary approach to his own project that could be likened to a cross between Jamiroquai, Paolo Nutini, Jason Mraz, Ben Harper and Al Green. Join discussion...

Since their inception in late 2007, Tulsa-based pop-rocker-foursome Stars Go Dim has captured the attention of a devoted fan base as well as music critics; they took the crown in a series of both fan and industry voted music contests nationwide, including the Country Music Television’s Listener’s Choice Award. In mid-2008, The Urban Tulsa named Stars Go Dim the “best unsigned pop band in Oklahoma.” Join discussion...

Brad Hammonds is an acoustic guitarist/ singer/songwriter from New York City. His new album, Through It All, is the sound of an artist discovering another enormous facet of his talent. The guitarist has earned a reputation as a great and inventive player, and now he has created a body of work that will add another distinction to his portfolio – that of “songwriter.” Join discussion...