Christopher Stopa
Sit Still (Independent)
This 2001 recording by a Toronto-based musician had Radiohead fans in a lather when it was mistaken for a Pablo Honey–era demo, supposedly titled "Putting Ketchup in the Fridge". Don’tcha think the band is now obligated to record it?

Molly Nilsson
In Real Life (Dark Skies Association)
Synth-washed ethereal gloom for the Zola Jesus set, with a brooding atmosphere and a melody almost pretty enough to make you forget that Billy Idol used it first in "Eyes Without a Face".

Bowerbirds
Tuck the Darkness In (Dead Oceans)
For a song that reminds listeners that we’re all going to die whether we like it or not, "Tuck the Darkness In" sure builds to a rousing, even uplifting climax, like a freak- folk orchestra in full flight.

Cloud Nothings
Stay Useless (Carpark)
Postadolescent I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-myself angst hasn’t been delivered with this much conviction—to say nothing of piss and vinegar—since the days of the Replacements.

Bleached
Searching Through the Past (Suicide Squeeze)
L.A. siblings Jessica and Jennifer Clavin deliver a blast of three-chord garage pop perfect for anyone who found the last Dum Dum Girls LP entirely too hi-fi for their liking.

Karin Dreijer Andersson
No Face (Asa Wa Kuru)
We’ll listen to anything Karin Dreijer Andersson (the Swedish weirdo from the Knife and Fever Ray) cares to release, because even her simplest songs—like this soundscape of buzzing drones and wordless vocals—are worth hearing.

Memoryhouse
The Kids Were Wrong (Sub Pop)
Evan Abeele and Denise Nouvion prove they can do more than make slow, dreamy, guitar-based alt-pop. They can also make dreamy, guitar-based alt-pop at a slightly increased tempo.

Zun Zun Egui
Katang (Bella Union)
Zun Zun Egui calls Bristol home, but the four-piece makes music that’s impossible to pin to any specific geographic location. Part jazz, part spastic art rock, and all weird, "Katang" is the sound of your mind being blown.

Demetra Penner
Maiden of Ice (Head in the Sand)
This violin-burnished wisp of apocalyptic folk from Demetra Penner (who ought to know something about ice, being based in Winnipeg) is made for those times when you can’t find your Tasseomancy CD.

Telekinesis
Annie (Merge)
Remember Elastica? Michael Benjamin Lerner does, and he proves it with this rendition of "Annie" that sounds just like the original, only without Justine Frischmann’s English accent. And the fact that he’s a dude.

Sleigh Bells
Born to Lose (Mom+Pop Music)
Fear not, Sleigh Bells fans. Success hasn’t spoiled Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, who sound just as loud, obnoxious, and paradoxically sweet as ever on "Born to Lose".