Popular Songs is widely regarded as one of Yo La Tengo's best, with many of the band's originals being concise, melodic Rock songs with trenchantly observed lyrics that emerge from the textured soundscape. For example, on “Periodically Double or Triple,” Kaplan sings these words of wisdom: “Never read Proust, seems a little too long/Never used a hammer, without somehow using it wrong.” They play Saturday with Wussy at the Southgate House.  

Yo La Tengo's recent album, Popular Songs, is widely regarded as one of the band’s best, with many of the Yo La Tengo originals being concise, melodic Rock songs with trenchantly observed lyrics that emerge from the textured soundscape. Yo La Tengo play Saturday at the Southgate House with Wussy.  

Some albums have a deep sonic spiritual streak that implies they were made in a church, but Holly Golightly's latest album, 'Medicine County,' flips the concept with an Americana album that isn't particularly spiritual but was made in a church.  

For someone who won't be old enough to drink in the places she plays until the end of August, Jessica Lea Mayfield certainly has an impressive resume. The 20-year-old singer/songwriter was born in Kent, Ohio, into a musical family and started playing with her family's Bluegrass band at age 8. Her stock has risen steadily over the past two years, through great notices for 2008's 'With Blasphemy So Heartfelt' and high-profile opening slots for The Black Keys and Avett Brothers.  

Back in the early 1970s, when he was still just a teenager, Bobby Liebling (inspired by the work of UFO, Uriah Heep and Blue Cheer) founded the first iteration of Pentagram. The Metal community and the world in general have felt the ripples ever since. "It's totally surreal," he says, "but I love the fact that I'm not retro, I'm not Stoner Rock. I'm one of the dinosaurs that made it all the way through the Ice Age."   

Since entering pop culture over three decades ago, Punk has become a muddled word with a small army of variations and sub-categories following in its wake. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra now further complicates things, as the hallmarks of its sound hold little relation to Punk. Still, Efrim Menuck links his band to the genre by way of its DIY sensibility.  

When Ramseur Records released Samantha Crain's EP, 'The Confiscation,' two years ago, it was a debut only in the loosest sense of the word, as Crain had already self-released a fairly voluminous series of demos before signing with the label. The young Oklahoman (and full blood Choctaw) sings and writes with the emotional authority that one would expect from someone who shares roots with Woody Guthrie.  

Presented by Red Bull, the competition presents a handful of top local club DJs who will each be asked to do 15 minutes in which they must blend three styles of music. The winner will head to Denver to compete in the national finals in October; the grand prize is a trip to Paris for the international finals.  

In a feature in The New York Times Magazine, Gabriel Roth — co-owner of Daptone Records and creator, songwriter, arranger and bassist (under the name Bosco Mann) for the increasingly successful retro-Soul/Funk band Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings — recalled the great music he listened to in college: James Brown's work for Cincinnati's King Records. Roth had a specific fondness for Brown's 'Gettin' Down to It,' a 1969 album he recorded with (as Roth told writer Saki Knafo) "these white Jazz guys" — the Dee Felice Trio.  

The music media has loudly and deservedly trumpeted the incredible accomplishments of The Shins and The New Pornographers in sustaining impressive streaks of quality across consecutive albums. Perhaps less noticed among their similarly toned Indie Rock peer group, Midlake put together an equally brilliant string of releases before unleashing this year's 'The Courage of Others,' a solid candidate for "album of the year" honors.