Local Natives took over the past few days with force! I checked these guys out after hearing a few more things about them, and they have quickly become one of my new favorites. I haven’t been this into a new band in years. I highly recommend listening to these guys, and I anticipate them gaining a lot of attention in the next while.

I have to say, I sometimes forget about Dr. Dog, but I was just reading about their new album due in April (I think?) and it got me excited, so I went back and listened to Fate, which is such a great record, and then went back and listened to some older stuff which I hadn’t had. They’ve got that unique psych-rock sound without it being annoying or contrived.

I was turned onto the The Morning Benders after watching this video. They’ve got a new LP coming out, so I stocked up on past releases to hold me until them. I’m definitely anticipating what that’s got to offer.

Owen Pallett ditched the Final Fantasy moniker (for legal reasons I assume) and put out his new batch of cuts Heartland. The cover for this album is another great one, and I obviously wouldn’t be talking about it if the music wasn’t just as good. He’s got the violin act down pat.

Toro y Moi is more new music to me. I had heard the name, and finally just checked it out. It’s in the style of bands like Four Tet and Tycho, but I feel like this is just a bit edgier than acts like those. And the guy went to school for design, so you know I’m interested.

Volcano Choir hit the right note with me this week, and I was loving it. Put this on while driving through some snowy scapes, and enjoy the ride.

CAKE is such a bizarre band. I only started listening to them this summer once I knew I was going to be playing with them at Art Scape, and it opened a world of unknown. CAKE garnered some success on a few songs, but they are so much more than what I think the general public recognizes them as. If you don’t already, try to give them a listen, I think you’ll be surprised with the songs you’ve never heard.

And of course I’ve talked about Beach House before, but they caught a few more listens this week because of their new record Teen Dream which I think is their strongest yet.

Get on over to last.fm and check out what I’m listening to at any point, or if you’ve got an account, we can be friends.