The Alternate Side

Clever move on the part of Alt-J to name its debut album An Awesome Wave; the title also neatly sums up the young, Leeds-born band's amazing trajectory for the year.

On top of praise from critics and sold-out gigs, last week the quartet was named one of this year's nominees for the Mercury Prize, the most prestigious music award for UK and Ireland musicians. An Awesome Wave has been out in the UK since May, but it was finally, at long last, released in the States this week, on Canvasback.

Exitmusic's Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church have forged a profound partnership. The couple came together in a romantic, cinematic way, first meeting on a transcontinental train, and over the course of two albums, the most recent being Passage, they've created an artistic identity which is beautifully beguiling and darkly unsettling.

Here We Go Magic, which evolved from being Luke Temple's solo project to a full-fledged band, has lately undergone more significant shifts.

Few bands have had as fraught a history with labels as the Dandy Warhols. After squabbling with Capitol for years, the band has finally found a new home, The End Records, and has released their tenth album, The Machine, this past spring.