There is certainly no shortage of blurry, retro-ed out videos, appearing on the endless blogosphere every day, but there's also a growing number of talented collage artists making a name for themselves. Here are some recent highlights.
This week: Active Child's much-awaited debut; Patti Smith's impressive retrospective; Ganglians are back with a cleaner sound; Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks produced by Beck; Sun Araw go for stoner album of the year.
To celebrate The Horrors' amazing new album Skying, FACT got them to make a mixtape. The artists range from influencers to compatriots, the track listing is as varied as you might expect for such a music loving band.
This week: Pictureplane gets physical; Crystal Antlers take it up a notch; Autre Ne Veut...you love it or you hate it; Future Islands most potent expression to date; Brooklyn MC Theophilus London has something for everyone.
Handsome Furs bring anti-establishment synth-punk, John Maus does lo-fi robot disco, Shabazz Palaces push progression (album of the year?), Red Hot + Rio mix Brazil with the indie set, and one of the F*ck Buttons goes solo as Blanck Mass.
In the history of modern American music there are few bands like the Pixies. Theirs was an unparalleled musical path, influencing countless others despite modest financial success.