Pitchfork gave this album a measley 4.4, but I wouldn;t really expect them to understand that Nada Surf aren’t a band that are going to be breaking new ground in music but are probably one of the most consistent indie-pop bands out there. I find their albums to be very infectious and something I can pop in at any time of the day for a good quick listen.

You can stream the entire album at Spinner.com.

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

One of the more underrated albums of last year was the seemingly out-of-nowhere You Are All I See;  the debut from Active Child. The band is basically just Patt Grossi, and if you’re into M83 (minus the “epic-ness”) you’ll probably dig this album (he opened for M83 last November).

The second single, “Hanging On”, gives a night-drive/end-of-the-night-romp kind of vibe, which is why it surprised me to find the video standing in as more of a soundtrack to a poetic River Runs Through It. This song doesn’t exactly make me think of fly fishing, but the more i watch it the more it works. Check it out, and be sure to track down the whole album. It’s a gem in the rough.

Whenever the cold weather sets in and it’s dark by 5:30PM I tend to veer towards more singer/songwriter type tunes. So it’s kind of perfect that one of the better ones of the past year, Cass McCombs, who put out two (!) albums last year, is coming to town to play the Ottobar this Saturday (1/21). I’ve seen both of his albums on a lot of Best Of lists…if that means anything to you; either way it should be a good show.

Check out his most recent single:

Great new track from Lower Dens recently completed forthcoming album (no release date yet). The track is available for free here.

Excellent new lazy dance track from Tanlines.. I nearly forgot about them and need to go back and listen to the EP they released 2 years ago. Looks like their is a full album coming out this year.

Tanlines “Brothers”