I'm still digesting the self-titled debut from Mwahaha, but judging by the fact I've listened to it five or six times bodes well for my opinion of it. Admittedly after the first listen I was ready to delete it from my hard drive, thinking it was just another woozy, semi-psychedelic pop group -- a genre I truly enjoy but am noticing it's also becoming the default for an increasing number of musical groups -- but something stopped me from doing so. OK, full disclosure; I DID delete it, and then added it right back moments later due to the nagging feeling I was making a mistake by writing it off so quickly. This happens. One pitfall (oh man, here come the tears) of writing about music for OH SO VERY LONG is that you have SO MUCH to listen to!* But the upswing is that you're well aware of the pitfall so you develop an internal radar that keeps you from dismissing the good stuff too quickly. Sadly this doesn't stop you from adding not-so-good stuff to year-end lists prematurely but that's a whole 'nother story. more ›

tUne-yArDs plays in about an hour and a half at Pitchfork but if you aren't heading there (or even if you are) there's a great interview with her on tonight's Sound Opinions. For a taste of what to expect, and a taste of just how she does that which she does sao well, here's a video of her performing "Powa" at the Sound Ops taping. more ›

We're just as guilty as the rest of you when it comes to living for the weekend. We have a habit of working hard for the pleasure of playing hard come Friday night. All routines get old after awhile and lately we've found ourselves venturing away from our desks and outside our living rooms on weeknights to partake in the shows that grace our favorite venues on the off evenings. Here's our picks for the week ahead in weeknights. more ›