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          Raleigh Moncrief has hung around some important indie acts in his time. He co-produced and engineered Dirty Projector’s excellent 2009 Bitte Orca and he’s produced for Youth Lagoon and Ganglians, too. So, the dude knows how to organize sounds into intricate layered compositions.

          Watered Lawn, his first release as a songwriter and solo artist, features all the careful ornamentation of James Blake and the carefully placed background twists and shakes of Animal Collective to string together evocative electronic sonatas.

          Listeners beware; you gotta have some patience to get through some of these frustratingly inconstant tracks. This isn’t standard verse-chorus-verse stuff. In fact, it’s not even slow-build electronica, either. Moncrief is a mischievous bastard, changing tempos and rhythms two or three times per track, like on the frisky “A Day to Die.” The swirling “Lament for Morning” sounds like an assault of Andrew Bird and ‘80s arcade games, but it all fits together nicely like a pixilated jigsaw puzzle. Album closer “Waiting for My Brothers Here” features the sprightly acoustic plucks of Dirty Projectors’ more playful stuff on top of a bouncing backbeat, equaling quite the groove.

          Moncrief’s got it going on, though it might take a few cups of coffee for him to reach out and finally grab hold.

Listen to "Lament for Morning" -

Rapsody, the North Carolina-bred female emcee off of producer 9th Wonder's Jamla Records, is a gem amidst the rubble of the hip hop genre. Coming off of her highly successful Thank H.E.R. Now mixtape (Featuring talent such as Big K.R.I.T. and Mac Miller) she has recently released her much anticipated follow-up, For Everything.

The album shows a maturing stage for the young artist, With a variety of tracks touching on quite a few areas of discussion. Relationships, the struggles of being a young artist, and the always-present desire of becoming the greatest.

From the start of the first track "Pace Myself", Rapsody proves her cold flow and lyrical supremacy to be something worthy of your ears attention. lines such as "I want respect, checks, and brillo. a clean pad out somewhere in South Euro, know it's closer than it seems, side mirro'" display her ability to bend words into her own flow, and allow them to take new shape under her needs.

Another track to absolutely be on the look out for would be the thirteenth of the album, "Rock The Bells" featuring the dominant presence of Kendrick Lamar, the up and coming powerhouse rapper from the west coast. Together they attack an instrumental strung together by a heavy bass and what sounds like a succession of chimes. Kendrick takes the final verse, not stopping for breath as he seemingly rhymes every other word in the process of proving why these young artists are very real and very, very talented.

With other notable features from Freeway and fellow 9th Wonder artist GQ, the emcee out of Oakland, CA, this album is sure to be one worthy of multiple spins on whatever method of music playing you prefer.

Check out Rapsody - Imagination.

 While not a full-length release on its own, Friends’ EP designed for college radio stations shows immense promise for these Bushwick, Brooklyn natives.

 Filled with infectious grooves, fresh melodies and percussion that recalls girl groups of the ‘60s, Friends creates a sound with these four songs that sticks out in the best way imaginable.

    “I’m His Girl” starts off the EP with an irresistible bass line and a groove that will summon you to surrender to dance. “Friend Crush” is another catchy, dance-y number that has an undeniable emotion lying beneath its polished surface.

Friends is surely a band to keep an eye on. The band’s full-length album may be one of next year’s most anticipated.

If you've never heard the name Stalley before this post, I'm not surprised. The most recent addition to Maybach Music Group's laid back demeanor is one easily overlooked in comparison to the flash of his fellow emcees. However you would be greatly missing out on one of the most slept on talents in hip hop today if you did not pay close attention to the Ohio-bred rappers debut album, Lincoln Way Nights.

Over a variety of impressively produced instrumentals, the young artist displays a sense of maturity both in flow and content, rare to see in todays current rap scene. Touching on his roots coming out of the Midwest, Stalley speaks about his reality- the importance of cars, his history with women, and the ever-present wariness towards those around him.

The fourth track on the album, "330" is an excellent representation of Stalley's skillful form of lyricism, as he wraps the anthem for his home town around a heavily-bass influenced instrumental. He does not attempt to attack the track, rather, allows his flow and the beat to seemingly fuse, creating incredible harmony and displaying a sense of obvious care towards the music.

"She Hates the Bass", a dreamy track on which Stalley talks about the sound system within his car, and the disgust his girl has for it makes the ninth of the album. The vibe that he is sharing an important part of himself is evident, verbally placing a heavily detailed description of his ride, and the abuse its speakers shed on the world. 

Stalley is a talent to watch in the year 2012. After joining the powerhouse which is MMG, there is no doubt he will be gaining recognition fast within the hip hop world. One can only hope his later projects live up to Lincoln Way Nights.

Listen to "330" from Stalley -

Said The Whale has a distinct jangle-poppy and indie pop sound which was shown off in an concise and fun manner in the New Brighton EP. The Vancouver-based band does this through 4 quick songs with a profoundly upbeat and twangy guitar sound. These guitars are accompanied with an entrancing and swooning chorus to be found on each track.

The title track opens the album and it’s a high energy poppy track that has a very sing-along chorus that is accompanied by a heavy drum and delicate piano playing over the chorus. The album’s lyrical content is very good in the way it relates the pressures of loving of your hometown, but also wanting expand beyond it via individualism.

The 2^nd track, “Sandy Bay Fishing Song”, is very reminiscent of a Decemberists song. It has a nautical theme and is filled with harmonies that have a soulful and whining sound, all accompanied by a spastic and ringing guitar sound. It changes tempo a lot and is exciting throughout. Definitely the standout track from the small collection.

“Lines” is a decent and basic indie-pop song, it’s a very good bridge from the up-tempo pace set in the first 2 songs to the folky and slow song that closes out the EP.

“Little Bird” is a beautiful folk song that tells the story of a newfound love. It starts off on acoustic guitar and slowly leads to a xylophone playing in the chorus.

It’s a fantastic close to a well put together EP. It’s definitely a symbol of things to come for the band and will definitely build a great deal of excitement towards their future projects.

          The young and hard rocking two man band, Death Letters, released their newest album, Post-Historic, and deserve two thumbs up for their performance and diversity of melodies. 

          Singer/guitarist Duende Ariza Lora, and drummer Victor Brandt really pulled it together to create something different for themselves, and their audience.

          They strayed from their usual punk-rock influences and seem to have created an entirely new vibe.  They incorporate a lot of mellowed out jam sessions throughout the album, and also some heavier alternative rock portions. If you’re looking for one of those albums that flows smoothly from one track to the next, and keeps your mood changing like the Beatles’ Abbey Road, this is it.

          Track 8 on their album Post-Historic perfectly displays the diversity that Duende and Victor create in this album.  I Wish I Could Steal a Sunset starts off with heavy garage-band like instrumentals and dominating vocals, then transitions to a slow jam session with soft but penetrating lyricism, and finishes off heavier than it began.  Some softer piano parts are also incorporated into their music on this album, which adds an entirely new dimension to their overall sound.

Listen to "I Wish I Could Steal a Sunset" -

          Fighting off resistance from disapproving listeners alike, Bombay Bicycle Club is back with a third album that seems to have finally captured the bands true essence. That, or they’re great fakers.

          “Your Eyes,” is a steady builder that hooks you with a familiar sound.  The singer begs and pleads for sanity through the simple request that he bears on the subject, or love interest, to merely humor him.  What listeners may not grasp is the obvious Ben Allen production (member of Animal Collective).

          The many loops of simple harmonies were overlapped on top of instrumentals late in the track making sure to subtly emphasize the power of the group. Go figure, you can’t escape animal Collective.

          The influence doesn’t end there—obviously, it’s only track three— the albums single “Shuffle,” gets a little spacey while remaining with the status-quo for summer jams. The, for lack of a better term, fun, keys flash in and out of your ears during the opening moments of the song. 

          It progresses into a typical summer tune for a few moments; you know, head bopping, light music that tends to make you feel a little happy inside whether or not the message of the song is just that. 

Listen to "Shuffle" here - 

          Since 2000, there’s hardly been a better bet in alt-country than Ryan Adams. But while this year’s Ashes & Fire marks his 13^th album, it also marks his return to recording since the disbanding of his backing band, The Cardinals. And boy, what a return it is, helped by heavy hitter Norah Jones’ piano and backing vocals. Theres even some vocals from his former teen-pop star wife, Mandy Moore.

          The opening track, appropriately titled “Dirty Rain” makes it clear this is the Adams we all know, not necessarily the sci-fi metal of Orion, recorded in 2007 and released two year later.

          The title track equally shines through, playing an upbeat acoustic tune against Jones’ melodic piano. You see his trademark personal tone on the first single, “Lucky Now,” which features lyrics like “I don’t remember, were we wild and young? All that’s faded in the memory."

          It’s nice to have you back, Mr. Adams.

Listen to "Lucky Now" -