May 15, 2012 – As part of a performance for his Willie's Roadhouse channel on Sirius XM satellite radio yesterday (as well as on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), Willie Nelson and his sons Lukas and Micah performed their glowing rendition of Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe," a fingerpicked, Vedder-penned tearjerker from 2009's Backspacer that also features prominently on Nelson's just released Heroes LP. Lukas' solo at the 3:14 mark is particularly nice:

May 14, 2012 – Jas Shaw and James Ford have remained restless approaching Unpatterns, their third full-length under the Simian Mobile Disco moniker, leaving the electro-pop of 2009's Temporary Pleasure behind for a platter of (expectedly) elegant minimal techno that's likely heard best on headphones. One day before the album hits shelves via Wichita Recordings, you can stream it in full exclusively here:

May 14, 2012 – On Positive Force, his sophomore effort (due July 10 via David Byrne's Luaka Bop label), Jersey native "Delicate" Steve Marion throws us another curveball: he sings. Though the guitar acrobatics that made his roughly hewn (and totally instrumental) debut shimmer can still be relished from end to end, the warm, titular refrain that blankets the second half of "Two Lovers" is a most welcome addition. Also: during the last week of May, Luaka Bop, in conjunction with Parte, will launch a four day-long "public and private installation event in spaces across the isle of Manhattan." It's "equal parts 21st Century scavenger hunt, listening party, and conceptual art installation" that will encourage listeners to engage with Positive Force across the city. "Playbutton apparatuses" will be "anchored" to ten different locations, each set to play one song from the record.

May 14, 2012 – Next Tuesday, Baltimore noise-rock bros Dope Body will unleash Natural History, their sophomore full-length, Drag City debut, and a whale of a record that takes its name from a hometown DIY space where they played their first show: The Museum of Natural History. That performance was meant to be a one-off, a way for them to test out a slew of zig-zagging ideas they'd dreamt up together for kicks. And had it not been as exhilarating as it was, they wouldn't have opted to turn the gig into the first of many, nor would they have decided to harness on tape the ruckus that's streaming below. Let's all be thankful for that.

May 11, 2012 – When Hot Water Music's Chuck Ragan spoke to SPIN via telephone two weeks ago, his voice was no less rugged than it is on tape. The Florida-bred co-frontman had been pulling double duty whilst in Europe, performing sets on his own as well as alongside his recently revived outfit, the latter in support of Exister, their first studio full-length in eight years. Below, find both Ragan and fellow guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Chris Wollard's breakdown of each of the disc's tracks as it streams in its entirety. "Mainline" Chuck Ragan: I held onto this one for quite a while. It was one of those songs, simply just a song about taking on the world, putting the pedal down and heading in, full speed, taking on every positive aspect of life that's presented to you.

May 9, 2012 – On June 5, Glassnote/Columbia will release the second (and self-titled) full-length from Australian rock outfit the Temper Trap, a Tony Hoffer-produced effort whose progress we charted by jumping into the studio with them in L.A. this past February. Below, check out "Trembling Hands," the album's spacious, piano-frosted first listen, as well as behind-the-scenes clip about its creation.

May 7, 2012 – Outside the Mascis family home in Amherst, Massachusetts, Lou Barlow rests his head on his steering wheel, focused on a song that's forcing his small grey pick-up to shiver and shudder. He's currently hearing the latest mix of "Rude," a growler he's added to the family of 13 that he and his Dinosaur Jr. bandmates are hearing back in full for the first time since tracking for their forthcoming full-length began in early February. And as Barlow comes plodding into the kitchen through a side door moments later, he proffers some simple feedback for producer John Agnello: "More grinding" on the guitar sound. "So you'd like more attitude on the guitar then?" Agnello asks. "Nah," Barlow says. "Just more grinding. Alongside the bass." The indie rock lifers' third still-untitled full-length since reuniting for 2006's

May 2, 2012 – A few weeks ago, Grand Rapids released "Feels Like a Lifetime," the twangy, jangly, altogether unshakable A-side to the young Manhattan crew's forthcoming 7" on the Beggars Groups singles label Too Pure. Below, find its Adam Abada-directed visual counterpart, a celebration of pizza and staying up way past your bedtime that was filmed in their East Village apartment.

May 2, 2012 – Who: Four testosterone-mainlining, noise-rock ruffians from central Baltimore who joined forces in late 2008 for a one-off show at local DIY space the Natural History Museum. That night left such a strong impression on frontman Andrew Laumann, 25 (who was living in San Francisco at the time), that he moved home to Baltimore a couple of weeks later so Dope Body could ride again. "It was the most fun I ever had," says Laumann, a visual artist, of the sweat-blanched set that birthed the band and provided titular inspiration for their Drag City debut, Natural History. "It felt like performance art to me. I didn't feel like a musician, didn't feel comfortable being a musician. But I could be a character for this." Sounds like: A savage break from (and polar opposite to) the hyperactive, hyper-smiley, Hypercolor basement pop that's come to represent Baltimore's underground in recent years.

May 2, 2012 – Sixteen songs in roughly 16 minutes, all of them as ferocious as the name OFF! would imply. That's what the Keith Morris-fronted punk collective plans to release next week via Vice — their first official full-length and a record you can stream in its entirety here at SPIN. Below, check out a brief conversation with Morris on topics ranging from his allergies and the meaning of the word "hardcore." You can pick up your very own copy of the LP at iTunes. How are you doing? 
I'm doing pretty good, I'm experiencing the heaviness and fucked-upped-ness of allergy season. I've experienced like two or three days where I would have this thing in my throat, like acid reflux. I experience it every now and then if I eat the wrong thing but this has just been brutal. Like fuck, man, what is it? Throat cancer or bronchitis? This is pretty uncool.