Pop
Stephen Carradini
Luke Rathborne’s next five days look like this: opening for tastemakers Noah and the Whale in West Hollywood, playing the Paste SXSW showcase and opening for The Strokes in Austin on the same day, playing the Filter Showcase at SXSW, then hopping on up to his stomping grounds of NYC to play Bowery Ballroom with Noah again.

Pop
Stephen Carradini
There’s one less witty folk-pop group in the world, and one more synth-driven pop band.

Folk
Matt Carney
Labeling Laura Marling and her British ilk with the awful tag of nu-folk makes about as much sense as nu-metal does, in general. Which is to say, very little.