If you hadn’t guessed already I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for the blips and bleeps of the current generation of electronic indie pop. Detroit duo Desktop bring blips, bleeps, swooshing synths, atmospheric guitars and enough pop sensibility to make this all too brief EP an easy sell.

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David Gray has managed to exist just outside of my listening radar, crossing over here and there. What has always struck me is the depth of soul that he is able to breathe into every tune I’ve had the pleasure of hearing. That soul is abundant in the first single off his upcoming release Draw the Line due out September 22nd.

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The music collective known as Works Progress Administration is heading out on tour to support their self-titled debut, which is to be released on September 15th.

At the core of Works Progress Administration (or WPA, for short) is the trio of ‘Founding Directors’ Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek, Fiction Family) and Luke Bulla (Jerry Douglas Band, Lyle Lovett). In addition to the base is the group of ‘Executive Board Members’ consisting of Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers),…

As side-projects go the pairing of Rostam Batmanglij (keyboardist for Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (vocalist for Ra Ra Riot) makes perfect sense. The results however, are as far as you can imagine from the twee indie pop of the pairs respective bands. Trading in guitars, violins and afro-beat for synths and 808 drum machines Discovery is an unabashed love letter to the days of electropop past.

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Brooklyn-based electrofunk wizard Alan Wilkis gave me an early peek at his latest release Pink and Purple. For those of you not familiar with Alan, let me bring you up to speed the self-described “musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and general musical mover-and-shaker” first came to my attention last year with his self-released debut Babies Dream Big (Review).

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Tonight Dave Matthews Band will celebrate the release of their new record Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King with an intimate show at the historic Beacon Theater in New York. The show will be broadcast live beginning at 9:00 PM EST on the Fuse network as well as online over at Hulu. Through a twist of fate (and the amazing detective skills of my better half) I will be in attendance tonight and will be sure to post a full review of the show as well as the new album in the coming days.

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Hype, the likes of which that have been heaped on Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear, can be an incredibly tricky minefield to navigate. On one hand you’ve got the ear of the tastemaker, the hipster elite and the blogosphere all clamoring to sing your praises before you’ve even released your first record. On the other, there is the uncontrollable expectations and the inevitable backlash when the wind blows in the next best thing. Needless to say the expectation level going into the band’s second record Veckatimest is, in a word, epic. The question is, does it live up to the hype?…

“Who starts a tour at Madison Square Garden?” Apparently when you are Dave Matthews Band, the answer is, well, you. Returning to the last venue the band played at the close of their 2008 tour, the band kick started their 2009 tour with a set that could really only be described as epic. There was a definite underlying theme to the night celebrating both the release of their upcoming album Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, and the life and spirit of LeRoi Moore, whose presence was definitely felt throughout the evening.

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Tue…

The Hush Now

Recalling the lush reverb drenched textures of early 90’s shoegaze and retrofitting it with the power pop sensibilities The Hush Now’s self-titled debut is a solid listen and a must for fans of Guided By Voices.

The Deer Tracks

Swedish duo The Deer Tracks brings quirky electronic pop influenced post rock to the table on their latest release Aurora.

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Canadian folk-rock collective The Great Outdoors has completed their ambitious project to write, record and release an EP for each season. The three preceding EP’s managed to perfectly capture the tone of each respective season and Winter introduces elements of blues and roots music to the mix to a stunning effect.

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