Happy Valentine's Day from one of our favorite Brooklyn-based bands The Sway Machinery; limited FREE DOWNLOAD sneak peak from their forthcoming EP MONSTERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.

Here's the official music video for "Jean's Waving" by Amor de Días, the long-term collaboration between Alasdair MacLean (The Clientele) and Lupe Núñez-Fernández (Pipas), and directed by Grant Wilkinson. They've just released their sophomore album The House at Sea.

It's inevitable that I miss out on some terrific music and culture every year. The sheer volume of releases seems to increase every year, and the lack of time to listen to everything, the recommendations of fellow critics and friends, well, there's just so many hours in a day. Here then are some things that I finally got around to ingesting in the last few weeks. Even caught a few live shows in between all of the mounting work. And if that wasn't enough, a killer new tune from His Purple Badass - Prince! 

Syd Arthur On An On (Dawn Chorus)

Prog is back! This young U.K.-based quartet -- guitar, violin, bass, drums -- borrows more from Gentle Giant than from the sound of its hometown of Canterbury, i.e., bands such as Caravan, Soft Machine, Egg, or Gong. I've not enjoyed a progressive rock record this much since I first fell in love with the art-prog of Hatfield & the North -- thanks, Harvey! --  back in the '70s and more recently the psych-prog of Porcupine Tree and the metal-prog of Mars Volta. Well played, lads. Read more »

Agent BJ, Sky Windu, and the ever-floating Mr. Gray scour New York ComicCon 2012 for the elusive "William." But who is "William" and why is Mr. Gray hellbent on finding him? And why is producer Marvin Felber stalking actor RICHARD KIND? Tune in to find out more... Music by Ralph Carney and Jonathan Sherrill. MrGrayShow.com.

"Where Are We Now?" (click link to buy) was produced by the artist's longtime cohort Tony Visconti. The Next Day will be available in Australia on March 8, in the US on March 12 and in the rest of the world on March 11th. Pre-order deluxe version (3 bonus tracks).

Wasn't easy to whittle this list down to 10, let alone 11, so I picked 12 for 12-12-12. A few of these selections were last minute additions that knocked two other picks out of top spots. Moreover, I decided to include twelve more picks at the end of my selections to show what else was being considered.

Nada Surf The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (Barsuk)

I've not seen this album on any critics' year-end lists (aside from my managing editor Steve's list, obviously). Not sure why, because Nada Surf released a timeless collection of alt pop-rock songs. This is songwriting 101 -- verse, chorus, verse, bridge. If there is a better pop-rock band in America, let me know. Twenty years in and no sign of lazy rock star bullshit, just plenty of great chiming guitar riffs and hooky-as-hell tunes. Album of the year. Read more »

Here's the video for Ms. Whitley's debut single "Breathe You In My Dreams" from her forthcoming Fourth Corner CD. I caught her live last week at the Mercury Lounge in NYC; she blew up the place. Her West Coast tour starts on Saturday, December 1st. Catch her now.

Happy Thanksgiving. It's been a terrific month for mining new music. I caught an advance screening of Led Zeppelin's new concert movie at MoMA (and their press conference), discovered what may be my favorite album of the year, and found inspiring young musicians sharing their chops and muses with the world. With the holidays around the corner, here are some early suggestions for music very much worth sharing with friends, lovers, bosses, and family.  Read more »

MR. GRAY meets DAVID LYNCH in New York City. Of course, Agent BJ (Bianca Jones) has issues with the talent coordinator Marvin Felber while trusted sidekick Sky Windu is left sorting out the mess. (Season One, Episode 1.) Animation by Zeth Willie. As Mr. Gray telepathically states, "Gray is the new black, all 50 shades!"  MrGrayShow.com

Check out Delta Rae's new tune "Dance In The Graveyards" directed by Dirty Robber. You can buy their new LP Carry The Fire at iTunes and other digital outlets.

Not all that glitters is gold on the radio, and often one must scratch below the glossy surface of the neatly pressed and homogenous music business where TV pop stars litter radio playlists. Thankfully there is a growing number of outlets that cater to every type of rock music. Here are some of my favorite new releases from October culled from press releases, Spotify playlists, satellite radio, and peer recommendations.

 "3-6-9" Cat Power Sun (Matador) - Still measured genius after all these years; six years in fact since The Greatest. My favorite track is this upbeat, haunting, multi-layered, auto-tuned, electronica-tinged sing-a-long. This is the sound of New Jack City in the 21st century. More PJ than Joni, Ms. Chan Marshall brings the noise and funk on her ninth CD, and in doing so, raises the bar for her musical peers, both genders. Read more »

Rock 'n' roll, strippers, a crazy beat to inspire any pole dancer...what could be better than that!?! Check out this righteous track from John McCauley's (of Deer Tick) Diamond Rugs.

Check out this epic new video from Joey Ramone's posthumous solo CD ...ya know?. It features cameos from Tommy Ramone, Anthony Bourdain, 30 Rock’s Scott Adsit, John Lutz, Kristen Schaal, Andrew WK, and others.

From Sweden, with love, the new single "Goliath" from the album Lights Out by hard rock band Graveyard! Sometimes you just need the rock and the roll!