Ani Difranco
Which Side Are You On?

Local Female Contemporary Singer/Songwriter. ¿Which Side Are You On? marks DiFranco’s first studio album in more than three years. The collection features 11 new songs alongside a radically reworked rendition of the classic title song, famously popularized by the one and only Pete Seeger nearly five decades ago, but no less relevant today. Ani is even joined on her stunning new version of “¿Which Side Are You On?” by Pete Seeger, whom she praises as “my elder, my forefather in folk music and political song.” The album represents an extraordinary snapshot of DiFranco’s own life as well her sense of where the country stands at this particular moment in time.

Rockets
Rockets

Indie/Rock. Sydney indie-rockers, ROckets, have relased their debut self-titled EP. With an average age of 22, the four piece grew up with a common postcode in Sydney’s northern-subrubs. After mucking around for a while in various other bands, they all got together and put their heads down to write what would become this record drawing influence from Denny Crane, The Strokes, Young Jeezy & Phoenix to name a few.

Grace Woodroofe
Always Want

Female Contemporary Singer/Songwriter. Presenting Always Want, the Modular debut from Australian folk-blues chanteuse Grace Woodroofe. A song Grace entered in an Australian radio competition when she was just 16 was heard across the world by a Los Angeles-based collective of musicians and artists, who invited her to come to the USA to work with them. Through this invitation she ended up collaborating with Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), Carlos Nino (Dublab Collective) and performer/arranger Justin Medal-Johnsen (Beck, Gnarls Barkley). After finishing her high school studies in Perth, Grace returned to LA and started work on Always Want with Ben Harper, who produced the album you now have in your hands.

Jessie Baylin
Little Spark

Female Singer/Songwriter. Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jessie Baylin and Thirty Tigers offer us Baylin’s third full-length album! A nostalgic journey through light-hearted pop tunes, Little Spark is collection of infections southern twang tunes that warm the heart.  From the soulful orchestrations of the gently swinging opener “Hurry Hurry” through the high-desert plaint of the wistful “Yuma,” Baylin and company move together as if joined at the head, the heart and the hips – leading to a direct connection with the pleasure center. Little Spark also features The Watson Twins on backing vocals.

Justin Robinson & The Mary Annettes
Bones For Tinder

Alternative World/Indie. It is not unusual for an entertainer to write a book, typically a provocative memoir. Should Justin Robinson ever turn his attention to literary pursuits, it is our fondest wish that he author an almanac. While Robinson is most often recognized as a musician—first in the Grammy Award-winning, old-time African-American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and now as leader of Justin Robinson and the Mary Annettes—his passions are not limited to any single field. “I’m an explorer by nature, and I always have been,” he concludes. “I’ve always wondered what’s on the other side of the ridge.” So long as he regales us with the sights, sounds and tastes of where his adventures  lead, we hope Robinson never stays in one place for too long.

Ben Kweller
Go Fly A Kite

Poppy Indie/Rock. Go Fly A Kitemarks the triumphant return of Ben Kweller and the debut release of his label, The Noise Company. From the dynamic electric riff in “Mean To Me,” to the closing upbeat declaration of “You Can Count On Me,” Go Fly A Kiteexhibits Kweller’s signature genre-jumping blend of Alt Rock, Piano Ballads and Folk Music. The songwriting on tracks like “Free” and “Full Circle” is relevant and reflective, immersed with unforgettable melody and harmony, lush arrangements, and bittersweet lyrics. Kweller may address such heavy topics as broken friendships and love gone awry on Go Fly A Kite, but his characteristic optimism and unprocessed folk rock vibe give listeners plenty of reason to keep their feet tapping through the duration of the album. Go Fly A Kiteis a celebratory offering of the essential Ben Kweller and serves as a career-defining album with the ability to resonate beyond its time.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
Out Of Frequency

Original Soul/Psychadelic Dance. Brandishing a signature sound that infuses indie-pop with neo-psychedelia, dance and retro-futuristic soul, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour never fail to produce addictive tunes that never sacrifice imagination. They deliver yet another unforgettable anthem with “Heart Attack” with its instantly memorable melody and a caffeinated beat guaranteed to invade dance floors. The slinky “Major” will seduce you with its 70’s blaxploitation-esque horn stabs and edgy vocals that are the perfect balance of commanding and sweet.

Laura Gibson
La Grande

Female Contemporary Singer/Songwriter. La Grande (pronounced in the way of the American West, without any hint of French inflection – “luh grand”) is a town just east of the Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon where native Oregonian Laura Gibson found inspiration while writing the songs that would become her new album of the same name. Gibson describes La Grande as a place that “people usually pass through on their way to somewhere else, but which contains a certain gravity, a curious energy.” She’s done more than her own fair share of traveling, playing over 200 shows in North America, Europe and Asia since the release of 2009’s acclaimed Beasts of Seasons (Hush Records), and La Grande is, in part, an album about journeys and transitions.

John K. Samson
Provincial

Contemporary Indie. Since 1997, John K. Samson has written four acclaimed albums with The Weakerthans. The band’s most recent studio release Reunion Tour garnered praise from an assortment of publications including Paste Magazine, who said, “If such a prize existed, it would be the leading candidate for this year’s Punk Pulitzer.” Provincial, Samson’s first solo release began with a simple idea: to explore four different roads in Manitoba, the Canadian province where Samson lives. “They’re the places I kept going back to.” Samson talked to relatives, friends and strangers; he visited archives, a tuberculosis sanatorium-turned-RV park, a forgotten cemetery. The result is this collection of evocative songs, an album that fits beside Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, Sun Kil Moon’s Ghosts Of The Great Highway, Mountain Goats’ Tallahassee. Provincial is a record full of fierce, tuneful, vivid stories.

The Jezabels
Prisoner

Dreamy Indie. Prisoner is a study of tension and emancipation, from the echoing stone cathedral of the title track to the sun-blasted morning of Endless Summer. Between big ideas and spectacular hooks, dynamic and awesome is about right. The ecstatically swelling melody of Long Highway and stately grace and sky bound chorus of Rosebud bring immediate rewards, but between layers of sound and meaning, Prisoner takes time to fully reveal itself.