Cass McCombs has as many faces as cities that he's called home. While moving from the Pacific Coast to the east, spending time down south and overseas, and now living in the middle of the country, Cass McCombs has written songs for both the streets and the priests, the seers and the school children, for suburban families and whatever's left of the ivory tower. His most recent album, Catacombs, was released in 2009 on Domino Records.

Following the release of their self-titled debut on Western Vinyl, Here We Go Magic have signed to Secretly Canadian for their follow-up due in 2010. The band spent much of last year touring with Grizzly Bear and the Walkmen before playing the Austin City Limits festival. Lately they've been hard at work recording their self-produced sophomore album in a house in upstate New York, and while the first record was the result of band leader Luke Temple getting creative in his bedroom, this release is a fully fledged team effort.

The 2002 release of "Losing My Edge" ushered in one of the great new talents of the aughts, LCD Soundsystem, aka James Murphy. While also focusing on the running of his label, DFA, Murphy perfected a sound that would come to represent much of the label's output in the following years. The 2007 release of Sound of Silver shot Murphy to the tips of tastemakers' tongues; universally acclaimed, the record featured the minimalist single "All My Friends" and the heart-tugging "Someone Great", indie staples the world over.

Long a key component of the Providence, R.I.-based noise-rock label Load Records, Lightning Bolt's live shows have garnered a lot of talk, with the band often setting up behind the audience and sonically assaulting them as soon as the previous band completes their set. The 2005 album, Hypermagic Mountain, found Lightning Bolt tossing decades' worth of musical history into a wood chipper and coming up with some chewy chainsaw taffy. Their newest album, Earthly Delights, comes after two years of work and has the sound of a 10-piece band.

Modest Mouse formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Wash., and released their first full-length album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About, on the Up label in 1996. With the release of their second album, The Lonesome Crowded West in 1997, the band's status reached new heights with a legion of fans and critical acclaim. In 2000, Modest Mouse were signed to Epic Records and released their third album, The Moon & Antarctica; 2004 brought the release of Modest Mouse's breakthrough, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, which included the hit "Float On" and earned the band two Grammy nominations. Their most recent album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, was released in 2007 and immediately entered the Billboard Top 200 chart at #1, and last summer saw the release of a special eight-song EP, No One's First, And You're Next.

Since coming together over 20 years ago, Pavement released a bunch of EPs and singles and five great albums, then split. Slanted & Enchanted, the classic debut, casts a shadow miles wider than its modest tape width. Stephen Malkmus, Spiral Stairs, Mark Ibold, MC Bob Nastanovitch, and Steve West laid down the follow-up, the hook-heavy Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain with the detached confidence of heirs apparent. Wowee Zowee was a stoned and emotional sprawl that people are still finding new nuances in today. The last two LPs, Brighten the Corners and Terror Twilight, were stately showboats, intelligent, warm and cool. This spring and summer sees the highly anticipated return of Pavement for the first time since their final show at the Brixton Academy in 1999.

The world first encountered the lyrical prowess of Raekwon as a member of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan. In 1995 he gave us his first solo effort, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., which has become one of the most highly regarded albums in hip hop. And 2009 was a banner year for Rae with the release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II; here's hoping he continues to further solidify his place in hip-hop history.

Sleigh Bells are the duo of Derek Miller, formerly of Florida hardcore band Poison the Well, and Alexis Krauss, from teenpop group RubyBlue. The Brooklyn-based group's first recordings, in-the-red synth rave ups with cool, sassy vocals from Krauss, have made them an artist to watch in 2010, attracting praise from critics large and small. Their debut album will be released this year.

Annie Clark's recorded debut as St. Vincent, Marry Me, gave immediate notice that a dizzying new talent had emerged from the flatlands of Texas. In 2007, Clark capped a year of international touring by winning the Plug Awards' Female Artist of the Year. For her beguiling and sophisticated sophomore album, Actor, Clark developed an idiosyncratic writing process, immersing herself in some of her favorite films-- Badlands, Pierrot le Fou, The Wizard of Oz, Stardust Memories, Sleeping Beauty-- and beginning each song as a secret film score, then slowly giving it independence as its structure and lyrics came fully into focus. If Marry Me served as the world's introduction to Annie Clark, Actor may prove to be her coronation.

Broken Social Scene are a Canadian collective who have released three brilliant full-length LPs. Their members include some of Canada's finest musicians, including Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Justin Peroff, Feist, Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw of Metric, Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell of Stars, and many more. Mixing swirling psychedelics, sing-along vocals, fuzzed-out guitar fireworks, and an all-around amazing time, Broken Social Scene have become one of independent music's most exciting and innovative bands. Their highly anticipated new full-length, Forgiveness Rock Record, is out May 4th, 2010.

NYC-native El-P, a groundbreaking lyricist, virtuosic producer, label founder, A&R maverick, and underground icon, has been a major force in independent music for more than a decade. With the release of the first Company Flow 12" "Juvenile Techniques" at age 17, he's been blazing trails ever since, introducing some of the most important hip-hop music of this era. As founder, producer, and main MC of indie heroes Company Flow, El-P quickly made a name for himself with fearlessly visionary production, profound lyricism, and an uncompromising ethic. Though his label, Def Jux, has recenly closed, it was once seen as the pre-eminent indie hip-hop label, releasing albums by some of the genre's brightest lights, including Aesop Rock, RJD2, Cannibal Ox, and Cage.

Instinctively nomadic and musically inquisitive, Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) currently resides in Lisbon, Portugal, and rarely is seen performing as Panda Bear. At the turn of the millennium, he congregated in New York with his recently-convened brethren (Avey Tare, Geologist, and Deakin) to form Animal Collective. As a teenager in his hometown of Baltimore, Panda Bear created his first solo record, the long out-of-print, first (and last) album on his and Deakin's Soccer Star Records. Never sticking with any particular sound, Panda's range goes from the quiet humble jams of Young Prayer to the swirling, electronic pop of the widely lauded and beloved Person Pitch.

Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion are known for their fiery showmanship, and the band has received critical acclaim for their bold and confrontational performances. Comprised of singer-guitarist Jon Spencer (formerly the frontman of Pussy Galore), guitarist Judah Bauer, and drummer Russell Simins, and formed in 1990 in New York, the band's combined experience includes time spent with the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and many other rock pioneers. Throughout their career releasing albums and performing across the world, the band has drawn a cult following attracted to the their singular blues-punk-inspired noisy sound.

Formed in 2005 in Glen Rock, New Jersey, Titus Andronicus, recorded their first EP that summer at Marcata Recording. Ranging from three to 11 members, the band is now comprised of five individuals. They take their name from a Shakespearean tragedy, not, as many believe, from some sort of killer robot from the future. They like to scream and carry on at excessive volume, write fast songs, and never sing about love, only hate. Titus Andronicus have no hope for the future and believe only in nothingness. Everyone in Titus Andronicus was born to die. Titus Andronicus crave your approval but will settle for your utter disdain. The Monitor, their new album, is out March 9th, 2010 on XL Recordings.

A seed planted in the Southern U.S. years ago (all members hail from Georgia or Alabama), Bear In Heaven began as the musical arm of Jon Philpot in 1998. Time eventually brought in a slew of players that grew the sound and guided the group to morph from a 6-to-5-to-4-piece, where the band eventually found a sonic stride unlike any in their history. Within four walls in Brooklyn, Jon Philpot, Adam Wills, Sadek Bazaara, and Joe Stickney mined the democracy of their collaboration, creating their acclaimed second album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth (think "East West North South"). It was a conscious product of the four compass points, of the four makers, and of the inevitable confusion that manifests from that crossroad mentality.

Freddie Gibbs is the true definition of a street survivor. Raised on Gary, Indiana's east side, Gibbs lived the hard life first-hand in a run-down industrial community plagued with vice and ignored by the establishment. Inspired by rappers like UGK, the Geto Boys, and 2Pac, Gibbs started rhyming about his life and the issues facing urban youth in Gary and the countless other impoverished cities just like it. His desire to rep the Midwest and his city led Gibbs to start recording mixtapes and pushing them online as well as the streets, where he quickly began garnering fans drawn to his original style, diverse flows, and deeply personal lyrics about his experience as a young black man growing up below the poverty line in a forgotten American city.

From Chicago, the Smith Westerns released their self-titled debut, a hook-heavy, pop-soaked, glam rock masterpiece, in 2009. The band has spent the past year taking their swagger-filled show on the road, supporting the likes of Girls and Los Campesinos! With so much future still ahead of them, and a band hard at work crafting their sophomore release, it's certain that this is only the beginning for the Smith Westerns.

The L.A.-bred "Ambassador of Funk," Dàm-Funk (nÈ Damon Riddick), knows better than most people that "funk" doesn't apply only to the music, but is an overall ethos, a world vision that one can ascribe to, and an indoctrination famously aligned with P-Funk. "It's a lifestyle-- it's being 'free' at all times," says D‚m. And maybe it's his voice that exudes the funk; a sort of cool, tempered, melodic wispiness. Whatever it is, it seems as though the spiritual form of funk has manifested itself on Dàm's physical body. Dàm crystallizes a distinct moment in the musical timeline, an era of buzzy synths and excoriating boogie, and he still harkens to the traditional methods of that time to record his music. His debut album, Toeachizown, is out now on Stones Throw Records.

Christopher Owens and J.R. White were meant to find each other-- sincere rock'n'roll soul mates in the age of irony. Just as the Velvets crackled with New York City electricity and the Smiths' songs came soaked in Manchester drizzle, so the music of Girls captures the mind-bent and sun-brushed outlook of life in San Francisco. You'll detect 50s surf-pop, 60s psychedelia and 80s shoegaze at play here-- the West Coast-by-way-of-somewhere-else-- but ultimately San Francisco washes over this music. Album is a song cycle about the various characters and desires that color Christopher and J.R.'s lives.

Allá (AyÍ-ya) Es tiempo para la revolucion. The sound defining a revolution, Chicago's Allá is the mark of a new revolution in psychedelic pop music. Allá is the vision of producer Jorge Ledezma, his brother Angel Ledezma, and chanteuse Lupe Martinez. This trio became increasingly interested in creating a sound that took inspiration from, and paid homage to, their Mexican heritage, and through that Allá emerged. With the release of their debut album, Es Tiempo, on the Crammed Discs imprint, Allá is poised to bring their sonic manifesto to the world.

CAVE is Rock. CAVE plays music inspired by visuals, travel, tones and space. Improvisation is a key part of writing for CAVE. CAVE uses drums, guitars, electric organ and analog synthesizers for all instrumentation. With the release of last years Psychic Psummer on Important Records, CAVE toured the US and Europe with great response and success, building the live set stronger and tighter with each tour. This years first release for CAVE is the PURE MOODS 12" EP on Drag City. CAVE plans on touring throughout the year heading back over to Europe this coming fall.