Chris DeVille

American Pyramid , the latest from the stylistically slippery Wisconsin indie rock guy Graham Hunt, is less than a month away. He's already shared the rambunctious " Waiting For You To Come Home " and the hip-hop-inflected post-Beck alt-rock pastiche " Riverboat Blues ." Now comes "Getting Older," a propulsive heartland rock track that puts Hunt's weary melodies front and center. I love the interplay between the piano and lead guitar during the instrumental breaks. "We're all getting older," Hunt sings on the chorus. "Please don't think it's over for you." Listen below.

Brooklyn-based Jacqui Miranda makes ethereal alt-pop under the moniker O Slow. She's been dropping singles for a few years now, and last year she released the EP Night Shine, Through Me . In September, we'll have her first full-length album, Antenna — and actually we have 22% of it now.

This summer brought the welcome news that Royal Trux's Jennifer Herrema had reactivated her Black Bananas project for an album with new label home Fire Records. We soon learned that album is called Bad Bunch , and we heard its lead single " Turkey Burgers ." The track was a revelation, a zonked chillwave-funk jam that made me feel like I was surfing this website at the dawn of the 2010s and reading breathless reports about Brooklyn warehouse parties. I'm pleased to report that the next single is just as good.

Of the many great underground rock bands currently populating Cincinnati, the Drin may be the toughest to pin down. The group came on our radar playing a fried, bleary, extremely confident hybrid of throwback psych and post-punk, sounding equally like Can and the Fall. That sound worked wonders for them. But as time has gone on, they've thrown a bit more classic rock into the mix, and that's working too.

We the indie rock listeners of planet Earth have collectively anointed Nate Amos as our new king. quickly emerged as one of the greatest albums of

In her most recent work, the Philadelphia electronic producer Eev Frances turns synths and programmed beats into alternately hyperactive and serene music inspired by the Y2K-era IDM boom. Today she's following up last year's well-received (which was billed as an EP but felt like a full-length statement to me) with a new album called i will hold You in my heart until I can hol d you in heaven

Back in the spring we learned Way Dynamic, aka Melbourne-based Dylan Young, had signed to Jagjaguwar for a reissue of his recent album , as well as North American tour dates with fellow emerging indie favorites Star Moles and Slippers. That reissue includes "Officially," a new song not included on the original Massive Shoe , which is out today with a music video.

Love & Devotion is one of the best albums of the year, but are we sure it's from this year?

Jay-Z has been out there this year, celebrating the 30th anniversary of his debut album Reasonable Doubt , the 25th anniversary of , and his overall superstar legacy with high-profile gigs at the Roots Picnic and Yankee Stadium . His chart-topping "Empire State Of Mind" also got a lot of burn during the New York Knicks' run to the NBA championship. But one thing missing from the campaign has been new music.

"If you don't water your garden, I will/ If you don't show her you love her, I will/ She means more so much more to me than to you/ All of your hard work I'll surely do."