Arising completely from out of nowhere sprang The Magician’s Private Library, the debut album from Jealous Girlfriends singer Holly Miranda - and let us tell you readers, it’s a doozy, everything you could imagine with a title like that and more. Featuring David Sitek of TV on the Radio fame on the production boards the album is every bit as woozy and syrup filled as the Scarlett Johansson Waits’ covers album without the celebrity trappings. Instead, the record features a tried and true consummate artist experimenting and expanding a blues-centered sound into undiscovered, outlandish territory. Definitely a pick for our top album of the year so far – check it out immediately. 

Holly Miranda – “Waves”

We’ve been massive fans of the searing political pop-punk provocateur Ted Leo and his inimitable Pharmacists since the Tyranny of Distance, and we’ve followed with fascination his meteoric indie-rock rise, blasting through all spectrums of punk from soaring post-pop anthems to gnarled, grizzled fist-pumpers. Still, we were never prepared for the treat that is The Brutalist Bricks, a stunning masterwork of punk songwriting that’s every bit as ferocious and cathartic as the most pummeling of Rollins records while still maintaining the pitch-perfect pop sensibilities that have always separated Leo from the herd. In short, Brutalist Bricks might just be the bands best record to date – it’s certainly their most thought-provoking, political and perfectly punk to date. With the Pharmacists in their finest form in years, the band truly sounds like a cohesive whole and the record is mixed in such a way to give a sense of live immediacy, that these songs are being crafted and composed of pure energy right before your eyes. Leo, always the top-notch songwriter, outdoes himself with subtle yet stark condemnations of our nation’s current state of affairs while still inviting the listener in for his sonorous guitar-rock. Ted Leo has always been a rock god, but we didn’t know he could change the world – with this record he just might. Check out some tunes below!

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – “Ativan Eyes”

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – “Woke Up Near Chelsea”

We’ve been following the progress of Swedish indie-pop wunderkinds Love Is All ever since the first time we spun Nine Times That Same Song years and years ago – and now it seems that after relentless touring and a solid sophomore LP they’ve fallen back into the finest of forms with their Polyvinyl debut Two Thousand and Ten Injuries. Picking up where the first LP left off, Love Is All remains every bit as scattershot and whimsical, without losing their basic pop focus, as they’ve ever been. Standout tracks include “The Birds Were Singing With All Their Might” and lead single “Kungen” both of which delight with their ‘Life-Without-Buildings-esque’ vocal delivery and newfound ‘High-Places-esque’ percussion and instrumentation. Lead singer Josephine Olausson lets her lyrics breathe with more definition on this record, singing and crooning on more songs rather than her traditional bark. Altogether the first great indie-pop record of 2010 – watch your formulas people, these guys are already tearing it up.

Love Is All – “The Birds Were Singing With All Their Might”

Back and on the attack the Joy Formidable, masters of the rock and roll gut-punch, are continuing their reign over the booming indie-shoegaze world with their upcoming tour of Europe and a new single “Popinjay” accompanied by the video below. While the song features the same snarly, snaky guitar lines we’ve come to expect from the inmitable trio, the video showcases some clever stop-motion animation that somehow seems right at home with amplifier exploding antics of these Welsh loud-gazers. Check it below!

The Joy Formidable – “Anemone”

To say that we’ve waited with bated breath for any new tunes from Slayer-acolytes and potty-mouth purveyors of shred-tastic shoegaze Giant Drag would be doing Annie Hardy a huge disservice – we’re blue in the face, unable to resucisate from waiting so long. So when we finally nabbed out copy of the Swan Song EP it came as an instant revival, placing this blazingly original duo back on the forefront of indie rock. Hardy sits in the middle of a massive maelstrom, whipping guitar snarls and pummeling drumlines flying past her quiet but assured vocal delivery. Even more so than Hearts and Unicorns the Swan Song EP shows the potential for Giant Drag to produce truly massive, mind-blowing sounds, while at the same time equaling their volume punishment with sincerity and heartfelt emotion on slower tracks. Definitely one of the best releases of 2010 so far. Check out the track featuring “Slash” below and let us know if you don’t agree people!

Giant Drag – “Heart Carl”

Seems our favorite experimental artist/hip-hop megastar/motivational speaker Abe Gil aka Treasure Mammal has been busy as of late, putting out a split-7″ with fellow up and coming Arizona dwellers Feel Free, and let’s just say that upon placing the needle to the wax we were blown away by the leaps and bounds these bands have made with their uncompromising, indefinable sounds. Treasure Mammal channels R & B and soul with a liberal application of bizarre and phantasmagorical sound waves cascading over his diatribes on topics like “Bromance” and “Real Talk”. This is Gil at his most otherworldly, stretching his artistic bounds in new and exciting directions.

On the flip side Feel Free jam with a collective rock sureness that bespeaks a band much more experience than the claim to have. They noodle and whip through tracks with confidence in their lack of structure. Overall an incredibly satisfying 7″, be sure and grab yourself one pronto!

Check out Treasure Mammal performing “Bromance” at our 2009 SXSW party below:

Check out a live performance by Feel Free below.

Treasure Mammal – “Best Friends Forever”

We’re a little late on posting this but we don’t see enough of our favorite NYC songstress Lissy Trullie crashing about the blogosphere these days. Here’s a little acoustic performance of “Self-Taught Learner” from Papermag.

Lissy Trullie – “Hold Your Head”