The list of bands looking to channel the feel and sound of '70s Laurel Canyon folk/rock is long and growing longer but few can match The Parson Red Heads in their ability to sidestep soundalike retreads and bring their own songwriting -- and instrumental -- chops to the forefront. The follow up fall full-length to the Portland, OR, outfit's excellent 2011 Yearling is in the works and the new track "Times" is something of a preview arriving as part of a new six-song EP 6 due June 4. "This song was the first song we recorded in our sessions at Type Foundry with Scott McCaughey," says Evan Way of the Red Heads. "We had such a great time making this song come to life in the studio, adding elements, taking elements away, just trying to create a really specific and memorable atmosphere to the song. It was one that sort of wrote itself, coming together all in one night, and is maybe one of my favorite songs we've ever recorded." Watch the in-studio recording of the song after the jump...

Over the course of their first three albums, London's The Boxer Rebellion have tweaked the sound of what their bio refers to as "grand ambition" to find critical acceptance while building upon their staunchly D.I.Y. indie strategy. This is, it should be noted, the first band to break into the U.S. Top 100 albums chart for their breakout album Union without a physical CD release. But after tapping high-cred producer Ethan Johns for their dark, more organic-based The Cold Still, The Boxers have pretty much embraced their inner arena-rock gloss for their new aptly titled LP Promises. Produced by Billy Bush (Garbage) with the band, these eleven new songs are teeming with the big and the bright, epic anthems meant to rattle the rafters with sky-high melodies and rippling U2-meets-Coldplay riff-rock opulence. And guess what -- it works. No one will mistake the paint-by-numbers "Keep Moving" for overly edgy or arty adventure. But no one will deny the sheer rush of indulging in the comforts of that cool bassline intro, the Edge-like guitar pyrotechnics and vocalist Nathan Nicholson's perfectly pretty vocals. By the time the chorus hook drops it's almost an unnecessary embellishment. Stream the equally delectable "Diamonds" (and watch the video) below the digital fold...

Recreating the strobe-tastic, glittering energy of a 3am club scene would appear to be high on the to-do list of Dungeonesse , a dizzying, beat-heavy collaboration of Baltimore chums Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak) and John Ehrens (White Life). Marrying airy melodic hooks to some skittering drum-and-bass jolts and Wasner's headlong sprint into breathless, can-you-keep-up lyricism, Dungeonesse (word play on the oft-misspelled dungeness crab) keep things frisky and sugar-coated on their self-titled debut (May 14, Secretly Canadian). At first blush, "Drive You Crazy" (stream after the jump) is ultra-light to the point of empty calories. But like the similar smart-popping R+B tip of Channy Leaneagh's Poliça, the damn thing just sucks you in and you're off on some mindless -- but ecstatic -- little joyride. Even better is the gorgeous, early-Eurythmics-sounding "Nightlight." "Something that Jon and I talk about a lot is the idea of reclaiming pop music," says Wasner, "placing it squarely in the hands of, I dunno, say a couple of regular nerds from Baltimore."

Whatever your mind conjures up when you hear the words "traditional folk songs" is about to get turned on its head with Songs For A Traveler, a genre-bending collection of vintage folk standards, 50's country gems and random lullaby and 19th-century logging song tossed in for good measure. The man behind the remarkable project is Todd Carter, a New York-based singer (phenomenal, actually) multi-instrumentalist and arranger who goes by the pseudonym The Looking. The concept of reinterpreting folk standards is nothing new but Carter's dramatic, occasionally operatic and densely orchestrated approach gives songs like "Wayfaring Stranger," "Long Black Veil" and Hank Williams' "Angel of Death" a powerful, goose-bump-inducing force. One of the album's best tracks is "River in the Pines", a Wisconsin logging song (and duet with Sasha Dobson) that Carter describes as "a wonderful old ballad" adding, "I kept hearing this REM-esque guitar lick that became the opening of the song." It's that kind of imaginative rethinking that makes Songs For A Traveler one of the most rewarding left-field surprises of the year. Stream "Black Is The Color" below and the full album at The Looking site.

The angular meets the angelic with Alpine, a Melbourne-based band of art-pop Aussies who have delivered one of the most original and eclectic albums of the year. Melding the dual-harmonied, pixie-ish vocals of frontwomen and longtime friends Lou James and Phoebe Baker with brisk, scattered beats and some ridiculously inventive guitar play, Alpine turn their A Is For Alpine (May 21, Voliv) into a collection of songs so imaginative and just plain different that the effect is as mindbending as it is mesmerizing. A 2010 EP Zürich and some quirky videos laid the groundwork, creating buzz and garnering airplay but nothing quite prepared us for the brash and audacious full-length debut (named iTunes Alternative Album of the Year). More than just a collection of literate and quirky love songs, the album works as an album -- not an easy thing to do, actually -- shifting from one odd tempo to the next, darting down one musical alley only to double back mid-stream on a whole new rhythmic twist or splendid out-of-the-blue chorus. In a word: brilliant. Watch videos below...

Joseph Arthur is a freak of nature, a throwback to a time when musicians released more music. Consider that in just the two and a half years since his Fistful Of Mercy release with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison, Arthur has issued two full-length solo albums (one a double-disc collection) and a set as RNDM with Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament and Richard Stuverud. In 2008 alone Arthur released four EPs and a full-length album. And now Arthur is up to it again. On June 11 he’ll submit The Ballad Of Boogie Christ (Lonely Astronaut/Megaforce), which was recorded over several years in New York, LA and Minneapolis. "For some reason, I've been avoiding finishing this record for a long time," Arthur laughs.Arthur recently told Consequence of Sound that The Ballad Of Boogie Christ is “a big production with horns and soul singers; a psychedelic soul record,” though you wouldn’t know it from the rootsy rocker “Saint Of Impossible Causes,” which bops along nicely on a bed of acoustic guitar and distant piano—and is that a sitar? Watch the icon-checking video for the album's title track after the jump.

"When Jo sings, something thaws that I didn?t even realise was frozen," says Sweet Billy Pilgrim's Tim Elsenburg of Jo Hamilton, the gifted British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose 2009 album Gown is one of the best albums of the last decade. So why are we telling you (and retelling you) this now? No reason except that we're anxiously awaiting Hamilton's new album which is currently getting wrapped up in the studio now. And word that Prince has been playing an instrumental version of Jo's "Liathach" on his latest tour -- nice (can't wait to hear that version). So as we bide our time, a revisit to "There It Is" from Gown just might be in order. For those of you wondering, Hamilton has mastered the remarkable new "keyboard" instrument the airpiano -- look for it in the video. And watch a "live in the studio" version of the song after the jump...

Piano-playing singer/songwriter Anna Krantz divides her time between New York and her U.K. home, playing the clubs of the Lower East Side and then to her native stomping ground in London. An in-demand session keyboardist, Krantz has also found success as a songwriter, both solo and as a collaborative co-writer with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Steve Booker (Duffy). "Anna was one of the first ever people I collaborated with," says Sheeran, "and I'm still playing the songs we wrote together today. She's an amazing songwriter and performer and it's always a pleasure to play shows with her." Last year the much-buzzed Sheeran called on Krantz to open for him at his showcases in New York. Krantz' latest EP Foundation is a collection of passionate and soulful songs that display her ability to meld dramatic force (the captivating title track, stream below) with breezy hook-filled melodies (latest single "Recharge My Heart".

With his seventh full-length Letters From The Lost (May 14), singer/songwriter Jay Nash, we're sorry to say, just keeps making it that much harder for all those budding newbie troubadours out there. Rather than fade into repetition and rote predictability Nash keeps raising the bar on his own fine music while broadening the boundaries. Recorded at his Vermont home, Letters, as the title implies, is more of a collection disparate moods and approaches than a single-themed concept and the varied styles -- what Nash calls "new sonic directions" --  from rustic rooted folk to a new foray into electronics-powered indie rock edges. It is, notes Nash. "a new direction for me." He adds, "I didn’t have an agenda. I didn’t start out with a specific story to tell. I just set out seeking resonance and truth." We've quickly made "Wander" a favorite in our current song rotation, a song that combines a darker dramatic tone via some shimmering guitar fret work and Nash's expressive vocals. Stream "Sailor" and watch the "Wander" video after the jump...

The "grey" in Cheyenne Mize's Among The Grey (June 25, Yep Roc) is what the Louisville songstress calls "the good stuff in the middle," the "in-between" places that actually form the bulk of our experiences. We may think that life is about a beginning and a destination , the transition of child to adult, of black and white choices of stark contrast. But it's the fuzzy, unpredictable events along the way that provide the real narrative. Mize's own personal journey from the bedroom folk of her 2010 debut album Before Lately to the bolder, full-throated indie pop and retro rock influences of last year's We Don't Need EP come into sharper focus on the loose and organic Grey. While songs like "Whole Heart" retain the intimate, folk-driven style of her early compositions -- albeit on a grander production stage -- the literal flip side found in "Heart Hole" and the title track shudder with a sharp electric jolt, Mize's vocals moving from purring to powerful to deliver what she calls the album's "raw and person-driven sound." Pick up a Cheyenne Mize sampler -- with two new songs -- at Noisetrade. Stream the title track (and watch the video) below...