Alternative

Record Label: Music On Vinyl Style: Rock

Canada's METZ are a return to everything that's good about loud, ecstatic live music; a frantic nod to Nation of Ulysses, Shellac, The Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, and Public Image Ltd. at their most vicious, while carving out some heavy new business. METZ have been around for over three years, sharing stages with Mission of Burma, Mudhoney, Oneida and NoMeansNo. METZ was produced by Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck) and Alexandre Bonenfant. With this, their debut album, METZ articulate with deafening clarity what we've known for some time: The world of good music needs a new power trio, and this is it. Style: Alternative Rock

When Jerry Fuchs joined Maserati in 2004, he initiated a complete overhaul of the group: old songs were dropped, tempos were drastically sped up, and the budding psych-rock impulses of guitarists Coley Dennis and Matt Cherry were given room to grow. Beginning with the electrifying "Inventions For The New Season", MASERATI were a better, faster, stronger beast. That spirit shines bright on ,Maserati VII", their first album conceived since Fuchs' passing. MASERATI has an uncanny ability to toggle time back and forth between the past, present, and future - often in the span of one song. On ,Maserati VII", they're grounded and driven by new drummer Mike Albanese (Cinemechanica), whose dexterity and stamina prove a perfect fit for MASERATI's trademark relentless, driving rhythms and epic song lengths, anchored by bass badass, Chris "Coach" McNeal. "Maserati VII" perfectly captures the essence and evolution of MASERATI as face-melting, bone-rattling, ass-shaking Moroder Metal Style: Post-Rock

LA-via-Vermont garage/powerpop wunderkind KING TUFF presents two brand new, non-album tracks, hot on the heels of his critically-acclaimed self-titled LP. "Screaming Skull" is a club-ready, guitar-driven dance hit, and "Love Potion" is yet another glammed-up rock anthem from the King Style: Garage Rock

Group Rhoda is a solo project based in San Francisco. The fruits of a five year journey into self-discipline and personal discovery, Mara Barenbaum's Group Rhoda uses stark musical practices and analogue electronics to evoke imagery and rhythms both atavistic and futuristic. Using the tools of musical simplification - synthesisers, analogue effects and drum machines - Group Rhoda's aim is to build a pop music that reaches freedom through discipline. All instrumentation, whether in the studio or on stage, is played live and with no sampling; a completely organic language formed from the roots of synthesis. 'Out Of Time, Out of Touch' is Group Rhoda's debut recording. It is the culmination of a process which began with a self-taught keyboard technique and a desire to learn about the machinations of the tools of pop music and, in turn, the environment in which it is produced. While many of GR's choices are implicitly political - from a strict methodology to a strong commitment to DIY ethics and community - the outcome is also easily approachable as sublime pop music in the best sense. With a grounding in minimal wave and the post-industrial landscape, GR takes surprising detours into tropical rhythm patterns, dubbed-out bass throbs, hypnotic Wurlitzer flourishes and, above all, GR's distinctive, plaintive vocal. The alluring contradiction at the heart of 'Out Of Time, Out Of Touch' is the push of the psychedelic, the hyper-real, the overtly physical and the pull of the artificial, the synthesised, the stark. This contradiction is brought to light continually through-out 'Out Of Time, Out Of Touch' - whether in the classic west coast psychedelic melodic sense played with Suicide's mechanical simplicity, or the industrial rhythms of Throbbing Gristle drenched in a technicolour, sun-blanched imagination. The songs on 'Out Of Time, Out Of Touch' seem to be plucked from a continuum - the throb of the bass and splashing of the drum machines are ongoing in the universe - with GR forming the songs with precision. Her voice intones themes of dislocation from reality, loneliness and the conundrum of ultimate freedom. 'Virtual Dancer' rides a bass-heavy wave to comment on the fleeting nature of human contact in the modern age, while 'At The Dark' is a deep-listening experience steeped in hypnotic psychedelia. 'Hi Rise' continues the theme of isolation, a reference to the eponymous JG Ballard novel, on the back of metallic tropical rhythm pattern. 'Fire' closes the album and is a pulsing, linear song which recalls 'Autobahn' era Kraftwerk, a single riff repeating and modulating around Barenbaum's freedom dilemma. 'Out Of Time, Out Of Touch' presents a surge forward in the ongoing critique and participation of pop music that is Group Rhoda. + + + FOR FANS OF: JULIA HOLTER, PEAKING LIGHTS, MARIA MINERVA, BILLIE RAY MARTIN. Record Label: Night School Style: Independent

TALLULAH" IS THE LEAD SINGLE FROM COWBELL'S DEBUT ALBUM, IT FEATURES AN EXCLUSIVE B-SIDE, "CRY BABY" COWBELL are Jack Sandham and Wednesday Lyle. The duo play garage/soul/rock n roll and write songs that combine a lyrical charm and ease with a sound that's full-bodied and powerful in spite of their stripped-down set-up. They take their influences from both sides of the Atlantic with a love for both the output of U.S labels such as Stax, Motown and Sun and for British sixties R&B bands such as The Small Faces, The Kinks and The Zombies. Style: Garage Rock

37-year-old native of Los Angeles currently residing in the farmlands of Vermont. He is the child of a former music business executive and a former Broadway actress. His resumé of prior musical projects is a long one: as a contributing member of The Curtains, Cryptacize, Deerhoof, and Natural Dreamers, he released 10 full-length albums between 2002 and 2008. Along the way, Cohen was also a touring player with White Magic, Cass McCombs, Haunted Graffiti and Danielson, among others, for stints both short and long. All of this has culminated in his first release under his own name, and his first for Captured Tracks, Overgrown Path. A singing drummer who writes psychedelic pop music, Cohen also records his own bass, Casio MT65, piano, and guitar. Tracks like "Caller No. 99" and "Monad" follow idiosyncratic forms, but are still melodic in an unconventional and homegrown way - like the best of Robert Wyatt, Mayo Thompson, Syd Barrett, and Jerry Garcia. Overgrown Path unfolds its delicate and unexpected arrangements around Cohen's relaxed baritone, unhurriedly revealing the detailed world wrapped up in each Record Label: Captured Tracks Style: Independent

UK band Blueneck bring their trademark sense of melancholy mood and melody to a new instrumental project called "Epilogue", due for worldwide release on Denovali records in October 2012. Typically known for the distinctive haunting vocals of mainman Duncan Attwood, "Epilogue" takes a deliberately different approach. Inspired by Attwood's recently commissioned solo work on soundtracks for independent films, not to mention the influence of inspirational composers and soundscapers such as BRIAN ENO, AIR, JOHN CARPENTER and CLINT MANSELL, this vocal-free release is the soundtrack to an (as yet) imaginary film. Epilogue" follows a trio of critically-acclaimed full length albums (2006's Scars of the Midwest; 2009's The Fallen Host ; 2011's Repetitions). Attwood says ""Epilogue" is intended as both the start and end of a number of distinct creative periods. It's a bookend to our three previous full-length vocal albums, a statement of intent on our parallel soundtrack work, and a means of clearing our collective minds before we started work on our new recording. It's our intention that the Blueneck you hear in the future will be markedly different to what you hear on this release". The band are currently working on the release of their fourth full-length vocal album, as yet untitled, due for release on Denovali in 2013. Vinyl: thick deluxe gatefold sleeves; 180g vinyl; 2 different vinyl colors; free download code Style: Ambient

Style: Alternative Rock

Record Label: Beggars Banquet/Beggars Group Style: Alternative Rock

Record Label: Play It Again Sam Style: Independent

Most known for her jazz singing and her role in founding and fronting the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Madly Love shows a new side of Katharine Whalen. A Popmatters reivew states "Madly Love is always rewarding. If you want an easy reference point, imagine a less contrived She & Him, with Southern grit taking the place of all the coyness Record Label: Five Head Ent. Style: Independent

Record Label: Grand Hotel van Cleef Style: Indie-Pop

Record Label: Out Of Line Style: Dark Wave

In 1992 Louisville, KY was home to a unique and diverse punk rock scene that was fast becoming a highly influential underground mecca, and for every Slint and Rodan there were a half dozen brilliant Style: Alternative Rock

TAKEN BY TREES, the brainchild of renaissance woman Victoria Bergsman, has signed to Secretly Canadian. The former front woman of THE CONCRETES (who you may also recognize from the Peter, Bjorn & Joh Record Label: Secretly Canadian Style: Independent

Soulspell Metal Opera is a Brazilian Heavy Metal project conceived by drummer Heleno Vale. Many singers play different characters in a story concerning the conflicts among human emotions in a way never broached before. These characters face situations of internal conflict as they are requested for making decisions which, without their knowledge, affect and change the course of the present, future, and even past of all the other characters. Although the story takes place in the present, many historic events are also tangled in it. Soulspell story intends to make us wonder how a fifteen-year-old boy, a powerful evil dragon, or even a simple humble lumberjack, by simply living and believing, can interfere in the lives of all in every possible dimension. The first Soulspell album "A Legacy of Honor" was released in 2008, and the second one "The Labyrinth of Truths" during 2010. Both albums were released in Asia by Spiritual Beast, in Brazil by Hellion and in Europe and North America by Inner Wound Recordings. Now Soulspell is finally here with ACT III in their Metal Opera, with the album entitled "Hollow's Gathering" that we present to you now. This album takes everything up a notch from their previous albums, and displays are more mature writing from Heleno Vale combined with a perfect production, which makes this the strongest Soulspell album up to date, without any question. With incredible guest appearances from metal icons such as Tim "Ripper" Owens [ex. Judas Priest, Iced Earth], Blaze Bayley [Iron Maiden], Michael Vescera [Obsession, ex. Loudness, Malmsteen], Markus Grosskopf [Helloween], Amanda Sommerville [Avantasia], Matt Smith [Theocracy] and many more, "Hollow's Gathering" is an epic metal album filled with fantastic performances and nice diversity. The excellent song-writing from project founder Heleno Vale, together with the excellent performances from all the members and guests involved and the top-notch production of the album, definitely makes "Hollow's Gathering" a wet dream for fans of epic power metal. Don't miss out! Record Label: Inner Wound Style: Heavy Metal

Canada's METZ are a return to everything that's good about loud, ecstatic live music; a frantic nod to Nation of Ulysses, Shellac, The Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, and Public Image Ltd. at their most vi Style: Alternative Rock

For Traveling Alone, Tift Merritt's Yep Roc Records label debut, Merritt put together her dream cast to make a record that was real, raw and live off the floor. Recorded in Brooklyn in 8 days, this a Style: Americana

When Jerry Fuchs joined Maserati in 2004, he initiated a complete overhaul of the group: old songs were dropped, tempos were drastically sped up, and the budding psych-rock impulses of guitarists Col Style: Post-Rock