Idolator

Lucas' IMterview with an anonymous person straddling the world of Christian and indie brought up some affection for Anathallo, an act walking that same tightrope. Their first album for once-hipster-beloved label Anticon hit stores on Tuesday while I was otherwise occupied, but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that it's worth a listen for anyone who would like their indie folk mixed with sweet harmonies, autoharp, and a barrage of instruments usually left to orchestras. (I didn't notice any Autotune, but you can't have everything.) [MySpace]

Money's tight for most people these days and with ticket sales across the board projected to be down significantly in 2009, Goldenvoice, the promoters who put on Coachella and Stagecoach, has actually thought outside the box a bit and announced a layaway plan for the country festival. Tickets for Stagecoach are a pretty reasonable $99 for two days of watching headlining sets by Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley (as well as Ralph Stanley and the Reverend Horton Heat). But if you just don't have the scratch at the moment, you can put half of the ticket's face value (plus Ticketmaster fees) down now, and pay the balance on April 9. Or you can put ten percent down, and pay down the balance on a month-by-month basis. No such deals are available for single-day passes, although they are for camping packages. Whether a similar offer will be available for Coachellagoers is unknown (for some reason, I doubt it), but it's nice to see a festival organizer make some acknowledgment of how much of a commitment going to a festival entails. [Pollstar]

I mentioned "Walking on a Dream" by Australian duo Empire of the Sun on Friday, and a few readers were into it. An extended waiting period on international shipping and a somewhat embarrassing purchase price later, I got finally got a copy of EotS' full-length, which is also called Walking On A Dream. More »

As a companion to Dan's open thread Tuesday, which I still need to dig through and fully suss out, and as a way to liven up a dreary Friday, I am going to use this space to tip you off to three (well, four, actually) records that I've been listening to in the spaces between Mets games recently. Hey, the best time to flout the "music-recommendation posts get low pageviews" maxim is the hours before the weekend begins, right? Israeli funk, recently excavated '90s indie, and UK R & B after the jump! More »