Averie Timm

Crystal Stilts Keep Their Balance

June 15, 2012

Started in 2003, Crystal Stilts has now grown to a five-piece band with the addition of members Kyle Forester, Andy Adler, and Keegan Cooke, and has signed with Slumberland Records. From In Love With Oblivion, their 2011 sophomore album—a space-age Western set to the melody of a rock anthem—to the most recent EP, Radiant Door, Crystal Stilts places as much attention to the background as the foreground; in their songs, voice and instrumentation co-mingle in a meshed, rather than layered, manner.

Blockhead is Inspired by Public Access

April 18, 2012

In a world where music is more and more like a science, made to be labeled, analyzed, and pulled apart, Tony Simon, aka Blockhead, seems to have kept the soul in his sound. As a one-man act—producer, musician, and DJ—Blockhead has played his part in a variety of projects over the years, his most recent path leading him to a fifth studio album with independent UK label Ninja Tune, titled Interludes After Midnight.

That Famous Brooklyn Hospitality

March 2, 2012

In a land where bands run plentiful, Brooklyn threesome Hospitality has found its niche. Signed with Merge Records, lead singer and guitarist Amber Papini, bassist Brian Betancourt, and percussionist Nathan Michel have spent the past five years perfecting the elements of a sound that is as effortless as it is charming, like the vintage picture of friends on a boat cruising into a foggy future that covers their recent first album.

Quilt Has it Covered

February 24, 2012

When the three-part melodies of Quilt begin to play on their debut, self-titled album, the whole world seems to fade away into its psychedelic, folk-filled sound reminiscent of simpler times.