While some artists hunt for more groundbreaking ideas, A Hawk and a Hacksaw finds novelty in tradition, proving that what's new depends only on who's listening.
The Italian duo Dumbo Gets Mad specializes in psychedelics for the sober, bringing experimentation together with detailed pop songwriting.
Some art needs to be hung on the wall and stared at inquisitively, while other pieces require a more active approach.
Seabear's love of soft folk sounds is unquestionable, but that doesn't stop the Icelandic band from infusing its music with layers of instrumentation.
Sounding like a toned-down Sufjan Stevens - or an even more toned-down Arcade Fire - Seabear's quiet execution gives its music a breezy quality. It's a sonically lush whisper, sharing secrets with anyone curious enough to listen.
After a casual listen, it might be easy to lump Rocky Votolato in with the downtrodden likes of Conor Oberst and Elliott Smith. But his songwriting is a bit more triumphant than theirs: Votolato would rather pull himself out of a gutter than wallow in it, focusing instead on the victory before the misery.
Lion Face Boy' is the first single from Seabear's sophomore album, 'We Built a Fire,' and it's a perfect display of the band's knack for constructing mountains of instrumentation on a simple idea.
A lot of bands change, and a lot of bands break up, but only a few grow.
Four Tet, a.k.a. Kieran Hebden, is a U.K. electronica artist whose diverse tastes have helped fuel a lengthy discography.
Of Montreal's early releases were loaded with playful but confessional acoustic tunes, but the band soon embraced glam-rock's freakier side on albums like 'Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer?' and 'Skeletal Lamping.' It was a shift fans might not have tolerated if it weren't for frontman Kevin Barnes' catchy, personality-driven songs.
Bands such as LiLiPUT and Essential Logic were just as unorthodox as Gang of Four or Wire, even taking their sounds a step further with shrieking vocals and saxophone.
Despite being an ocean apart, New York's ESG and France's Lizzy Mercier Descloux were shooting for roughly the same idea: disco beats with a rough and energetic presentation.
From 'The Money Store,' 'I've Seen Footage' seems to run the beats from Tone Loc's 'Wild Thing' and Salt-n-Pepa's 'Push It' through a rusty meat grinder.
There are a lot of songs that, you know, just get me excited because they create a certain, I guess, set of colors in my head.
I just love a great groove.
