Written by Fense
Whenever I hear the word Voxhaul, I think of (i) the European car company and (ii) the BBC show Top Gear, which continually covers their cars (typically dishing out poor reviews with a few minor positive exceptions). Now I have something else to think of—Voxhaul Broadcast, a folky jangle-pop band from Los Angeles.

Earlier this week I mentioned Foals’ iTunes exclusive. Well, they’re not the only Sub Pop artist rockin’ the exclusives with iTunes these days—add The Gutter Twins (MySpace) to the shortlist. Yep, earlier this month, Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), the duo that make up The Gutter Twins, released Adorata exclusively on iTunes.

There’s a low buzz in the air. You can only hear it if you listen hard—very hard. But it’s there; it’s quiet now but it’s gaining in ferocity, gaining in momentum. Pretty soon it will dominate all. The buzz is that of people talking—the good ol’ word of mouth style of promotion—about Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band. I first caught wind of the buzz a few months back and, yesterday when I saw Weepy sitting on a shelf, I couldn’t resist picking up a copy (I’m …

There are so many great pop labels around these days it’s becoming difficult to keep track of ‘em all. The good news is that there are several viable forces you can always count on to release great music. I am, of course, thinking of my all-time favorite label, Labrador Records. But in the case of Ezra Furman & The Harpoons (MySpace), that label is Minty Fresh; for you pop fans out there, this is definitely a label with which to make an acquaintance.

The New Year by The New Year (MySpace) opens with a lengthy, melancholy, minimal guitar strum. Somewhere toward the midpoint an organ chimes in softly. Then the momentum begins to build as the two-thirds mark nears; it is here we finally hear vocals on opening track “Folio”, but damnit, the wait was well worth it.

Written by Fense
Looking at Zach Hill’s album cover for Astrological Straits (out now on Ipecac Records), one is likely to blurt out a common acronym these days: WTF!?!? This cover shows Hill with what looks like play-dough face makeup. Not surprisingly, the same response is yielded when one hits the play button on Astrological Straits. The album is packed with a bizarre and eclectic style of avant garde experimentalism.

Written by Fense
Take note: if you write one thing about a band in New Zealand, you’ll suddenly have to write several things. I was contacted by someone at eep! productions, who if you recall, produced the videos for both The Little Pictures and The Enright House, both of which I covered, here and here respectively.

Written by bob_vinyl
Formerly in the sadly underknown Desert City Soundtrack, Cory Gray’s current endeavor is Carcrashlander. This is a band so good that even I can forgive their love of Randy Newman. Their self-titled debut came out earlier this year on Parks and Records. I got the chance to talk with Cory about the past, present and future (and the piano versus the guitar).

Written by Fense
Chairlift (MySpace) is an 80s-influenced synth-pop trio from Brooklyn and their eerily dark pop will surely take the states by storm when they release Does You Inspire You, their debut LP, on Kanine Records this fall.

Written by bob_vinyl
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so the physicists say. You cannot effectively defend your position without understanding the opposition, so the orators say. You cannot know up without down, dark without light, good without evil, so the philosophers say. Ours is in many ways a world defined and understood in terms of opposing forces.