Chelsea Wolfe’s gothic chic is a popular look in Los Angeles (take one glance around any type of show and see fake fur, black boots, odd capes). Her music, however, is still being discovered. After a breakthrough via Richard Phillips short film Sasha Grey, where her song plays “Moses” behind an artsy day-in-the-life of Sasha Grey, Chelsea Wolfe’s name has been on the rise. The young singer songwriter has been labeled as “doom folk” and although she is more eerie rock or folk than she is doom, I bet with one glance at her, Marilyn Manson would probably come a-callin’.

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Renowned for having one of the sweetest and most soulful voices in independent music (which was wonderfully showcased by his short-lived first band Tulsa), Maryland-raised singer-songwriter Carter Tanton refuses to be pigeonholed. As evidenced by his new full-length solo album Freeclouds (Western Vinyl), Tanton gets itchy occupying a single genre. Freeclouds jumps from indie rock to alt country to (gulp) dub reggae. He even released an intriguingly weird remix by Atlanta-based electronic music producer/DJ Distal (available as a free download via XLR8R). These experiments are interesting, and, hey, we are all for experimentation around here, but Tanton’s wheelhouse is the fuzzy, warm indie-folk epitomized by “Murderous Joy”, wherein his dreamy, yearning, soulful even sorrowful tenor is perfectly ensconced amongst the instrumentation. With the slightest country twang, this song evokes big Western skies and roadtrips full of self-reflection. Even better is “Fake Pretend”, featuring the equally formidable voice of singer Marissa Nadler. On this track, the spacey keyboards and echo-y distortion intertwine and complement our singers’ angelic voices, culminating in a blissfully hazy synesthesia.

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A true child of the musical melting pot Earth has become, Hindi Zahra combines a world’s worth of styles and influences into a sound that’s both current and classic, a sunny afternoon giving way to the smoky sophistication of nights spent finding or forgetting love in underground jazz clubs. And she’s not just a voice plucked from obscurity and given all the advantages to make it in this business. Everything that goes into her music is deeply personal and overwhelmingly hers. From start to finish, she crafted, performed and produced her exceptional full-length, Handmade. Endlessly captivating, it doesn’t take long to hear why she has been dubbed the “North African Patti Smith.”

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Years ago, a like-minded friend and I would Sunday drive the undiscovered avenues of Western Massachusetts for the distinct purpose of getting lost, determined to uncover something new along the way. These miniature pilgrimages through our local unknown served to soften our immediate need to see a little further but inevitably left us wanting more.I remember this as I listen to Paleo - a literary troubadour and wandering sage, whose poet/ minstrel sourcebook must surely be wrapped in the sticky fabric of the universe. His profound inquiry into the great unknown seeks to explain a life lived inward by decoding the mysteries that surround him.

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Blind Pilot, The Dodos, Iron & Wine, Priory guitarist and keyboardist Kyle Dieker describes his band best as a project "all about tones and where those sounds sit in a song. Blending folk melodies with pop sensibility, Priory takes from a collection of sounds and brings them together into something that is familiar yet innovative."

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With all the over-produced, high-fidelity Top 40 tracks on heavy rotation these days, Lady Lazarus’s bleak, stripped-down sound is a welcome diversion. Artistically she is doing something, well – different - as is clearly evidenced by listening to her collection of slow, haunting, and downright honest songs. There’s very little pretense or showmanship when it comes to Lady Lazarus – what you experience is unabashed emotion in its simplest form, which is impossible to not have a reaction to. Whether that reaction is positive or passionate, or uncomfortable and confused, her work has managed to invoke feelings, and after all, isn’t that what art is all about?

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Despite their recent formation as a band, the members of Dogcatcher are lucky enough to recognize the rare chemistry ignited when musicians who know their craft well manage to stumble into the same room, bringing to life an eclectic bevy of jazz-infused riffs, swooning grooves, and meandering instrumental narratives. If you aren’t familiar with Dogcatcher, that’s OK – they aren’t all that familiar with each other just yet, though you wouldn’t know it upon first listen.

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On his fifth full-length solo album, Saturday Night Underwater, Nik Freitas takes you by the ear as he explores the surprisingly symbiotic relationship between the organic resonance of acoustic instruments and the synthesized beats from his modern day drum machine with a collection of adult-friendly pop gems.

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Slowly but surely, Canadian-based multi-instrumentalist Taylor Kirk has built a repertoire of organic folk melodies that have grown from their humble beginnings (recorded in a cabin in Ontario) into a band twice nominated for the Polaris Music Award.

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The Wilderness of Manitoba is a modern day Walden Pond for music lovers, a religious retreat for naturalists who covet a land of delicately plucked banjo strings and gently strummed acoustic guitars, wherein the only intrusion is the sound of arching choruses and elegant voices.

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