Some of the best music videos assault the norm with demented and disturbing scenarios. Take that UNKLE song from a few years back with Thom Yorke at the vocal helm, “Rabbit In Your Headlights”. That was downright phenomenal. And “Silent Shout” from The Knife was pretty amazing as well. The latest to pair insanity with audio greatness is Little Girls, whose video for “Youth Tunes” is, above all, creepy. But in madness there is often genius. Just look at painters (Van Gogh) and authors …

Rock Plaza Central fit a comfortable medium between the highly intense and erratic folk of artists like O’Death and modern (and much more sane) artists like Megafaun and David Karsten Daniels. In all cases, these artists push the boundaries of folk and Americana despite maintaining a fairly comfortable lineup of instruments. “Handsome Men”, for example, is packed with fiddle and features an introductory trumpet. It’s backed by crashing cymbals and punchy percussion and a subtle guitar.

Written by Fense
Woodhands are a Canadian duo that selectively mixes female vocals (think Au Revoir Simone), at least on select tunes like “Dancer”, with male ones so versatile they defy any one (or two, for that mater) classification. Their instrumentation boasts one on percussion and one on keytar. Heart Attack, their debut release on Paper Bag Records was released late last month.