“Serpents” is a complete departure from Sharon Van Etten‘s early work. Admittedly, I missed her sophomore release, Epic from 2010, but was fully entranced by her debut, 2009′s Because I Was In Love. Here, she shatters the quietude of the stripped-down acoustic guitar of that earliest album with a folk-rock piece that is utterly haunting. Musically, “Serpent” may fit the title of her sophomore release, but it’s off her new album, Tramp, which was released yesterday via Jagjaguwar.

The Cave Singers are back with their third LP, No Witch, an album that promises great things on the tail of two already widely renowned releases. While only two songs have graced my ears thus far, it’s clear that the Seattle band continues its steady pace of creating phenomenal tunes.

I found this Small Black video in the trove of videos on the Jagjaguar, Secretly Canadian, Dead Oceans collective Vimeo page. Small Black creates fuzzy lo-fi electronic pop in the vein of romance and various other pleasantries, and “Despicable Dogs” fits the description well. I love the dreamy nature the song takes throughout its four minute melody and cacophony. There’s beauty in dissonant harmony, and Small Black knows how to exploit this fact. The video appears to be a tribute to aging surfers stuck in the …

I would love to re-experience those four minutes during which I listened for the first time to “Albatross”, the new Besnard Lakes single. Filled with dreamy layers of vocals and lush, guitar-backed chorales, Olga Groreas sings to the very moment of disappearing love amidst a background of sound that evokes anything but sadness.

The Besnard Lakes seem to have taken everyone by surprise; their music blends drone-y shoegaze and prog-rock with the playfulness of lightly orchestrated indie-pop. These elements make Are The Dark Horse one of the best comprehensive albums of 2007. Songs like “Because Tonight” are instantly classic in nature—The Besnard Lakes’ ability to dictate between sophisticated and precise string arrangements, and drone-heavy prog-rock give them an edge in a somewhat polluted independent music scene.

Bon Iver (MySpace) is a play on volume. Led by Justin Vernon, the group’s music is soft and fringes on romantic, as we heard in tunes like “Flume” and “For Emma” and “Skinny Love” off For Emma, Forever Ago. But how does the follow-up to their debut LP, fit in? Blood Bank follows suit, equaling last year’s LP in offering up mysterious, experimental folk-pop.

Written by Fense
Reading the history of the three-parts that make up the song and album Preteen Weaponry, it’s interesting to note that Oneida (MySpace) has been working on this for the past three years. Yet what can be heard on the album, simply including the following tracks “Preteen Weaponry” Parts 1 through 3, was recorded in a single day.