When I spoke with Schulman today, he was battling the flu but still working on upcoming Slumberland releases. "I can’t take days off right now," he said, emitting a muffled laugh. "I can’t afford to—I’m self-employed."

Slumberland was founded in 1989, and has been home to plenty of great D.C.-area bands—Black Tambourine, Velocity Girl, Lilys, Lorelei—and plenty of great bands, period—like the Aislers Set, Boyracer, and Stereolab. You'll find lots of variety in Slumberland's discography, but most of the label's acts have tended to balance a pop sensibility with a penchant for noise.

Which, of course, is an aesthetic that's found purchase among indie-rock fans in recent years. Schulman says he first thought about taking Slumberland, which is now based in Oakland, Calif., full-time in 2008, when he released Crystal Stilts' debut full-length. Saleswise, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's 2009 debut became the biggest album in the label's history, Schulman says, and in the last year Slumberland has released well-reviewed albums by Weekend and Frankie & the Outs and reissued music by Black Tambourine. (Also, I thought the Procedure Club album was awesome.) "I’ve always sort of had this nagging feeling that if I was able to apply myself more to the label, everything will do better," Schulman says. He doesn't seem to be doing so bad, though.

And in an era in which Merge Records can have several No. 1 records and win a Grammy, it's an interesting time to run an indie label, Schulman says. Labels like Slumberland or Mexican Summer can now have an impact on the broader culture, he says, while sticking to the kind of music they've always championed.

At any rate, this spring will likely be Slumberland's biggest yet: Anticipated releases from Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, and others are in the pipeline. Slumberland currently has a part-time intern, and Schulman says he hopes to "staff up, one might say" down the line. As for staying a full-time label head: "I figure I’ll re-evaluate in about six months and see how it’s going."

Wanna know more about Slumberland? A while ago I assembled a miniature oral history of the label, in two parts.

The Aislers Set

Slumberland Records, the locally formed label that has released some of the best, noisiest indie pop ever pressed to seven-inch, turned 20 this year, and it's celebrating all weekend. Tonight's show at the Black Cat features current Slumberland bands Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, Frankie and the Outs and Pants Yell!, as well as three reunited bands from the area, the Ropers, Lorelei, and Nord Express.

We asked some of the people involved with Slumberland over the years to share their favorite memories of the label. We ran some yesterday, and here are the rest:

On professional jealousy: "The one record that I wish I had been a part of but wasn’t was Black Tambourine. I am forever jealous of everyone in that band because those songs are absolutely perfect. When I first heard "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge," I was filled with anger that it was something I hadn’t done. It represented what we were all about. It was noisy, it had the Wall of Sound, and it hinted at '60s girl groups. It had that element of what anyone could do and no one had."—Kelly Young (Velocity Girl)

On bonding over chipped beef: "My first encounter with Slumberland was in 1990. I went to see Whorl open for the Wedding Present at the old 9:30 Club. I distinctly recall Brian Nelson screaming until the shade of his face matched the red lights they were performing under. The stage was like the bridge of a submarine that is rapidly sinking. It was insanely loud and pummeling. I tracked down Mike Schulman after the show and demanded an interview. I met Mike and Dan Searing at the Tastee Diner in Silver Spring and interviewed them for the GW Hatchet. They told me about music like John Cage, Glenn Branca, and Skullflower. My article apparently failed to capture and convey what I had witnessed as Whorl's fan base did not explode in the way that I had imagined. But, I made friends for life over coffee and chipped beef."—Matthew Dingee (Lorelei)

On hazing: "Dan Searing and I went to meet John Cage at a book signing in Adams Morgan [around 1991], and then to a concert of his work downtown. I don't remember what we saw but I do remember mixing pills and drink. We did our best to focus but, like the composer himself, we nodded off a few times during the performance. We ended up where we usually did, back at Mike [Schulman]'s garden apartment listening to records at full crank. Pam [Berry] was over practicing some Bright Colored Lights songs with Mike. I eventually passed out on the floor. Much to my surprise, when I got home the next day I noticed that Pam had drawn eyes on my eyelids. I'll be looking to propagate this hazing ritual onto any member of the new crop of Slumberland bands that happens to pass out this weekend."—Matthew Dingee

On soul-induced nudity: "We had sort of a Slumberland supergroup with members of the Lilys, and the Ropers and Lorelei, and it was I think the 10th anniversary of the old 9:30 Club, maybe the 15th, and we were doing a cover of Archie Bell and the Drells’ ‘Tighten Up,’ which is a great soul classic, and Lorelei’s guitarist at the time [Dave Cerf], who was in the original lineup and who was back in town, who knows how or why, but he took off all his clothes and became a naked male dancer for this song, at a sold-out 9:30 club."—Stephen Gardner (Lorelei)

On surviving a blizzard: "I think it was October 1994, and Boyracer and the Ropers were on an American tour. Papa Slumber (Mike Schulman) and a German fellow named Ulrich were shepherding a caravan of sleepy musicians through a northern snowy mountain pass in two vans. Blizzard conditions...and I think we were supposed to be in Seattle the next day. Our vehicles were built for East Coast winters and wet city slop. They never should have seen West Coast mountains like these, not to mention this kind of snow. The heat was on full blast but still not enough to keep out that cold. Mike was driving one van, and Ulrich was driving the other. I could feel ours fishtailing back and forth at every turn. I was drifting in and out of consciousness from sleep deprivation but to actually fall asleep felt like certain death, so no one really slept. I can't imagine how we got through...Really, I was so frazzled, I can't even remember. It was something else...like Washington crossing the Delaware. Like this label...how did Mike do it? How did this label come out the other side of that mountain range with everything in tact? He kept it together. 20 years...amazing."—Greg Pavlovcak (the Ropers)

On touring Japan with the Aislers Set in 1999: "Amy [Linton] was being chased down the street for her autograph, like the Beatles or something.  We did a big show in Tokyo at the end of the tour, and the album wasn’t out in Japan yet but every single kid knew every word to every song. The whole crowd just went nuts from the first guitar chord. It was kind of shocking. Even I signed an autograph."—Mike Schulman, label head

On channeling influences: "One time Peggy [Wang-East] and I were out at an indie-pop dance night in New York called Mondo. All of a sudden, the opening chords of 'I Love You Like the Way that I Used to Do' by Rocketship came on, or so I thought. I said, 'Peggy, they're playing Rocketship, this rules—let's dance.' And she responded by pointing out that the song was actually 'This Love Is Fucking Right'—by us."—Kip Berman (the Pains of Being Pure at Heart)

Way back in 1989, when DC was still more of an all-hardcore-all-the-time kind of place, Slumberland Records took a chance and pressed its first 7", What Kind of Heaven Do You Want, a compilation featuring DC-based indie-pop bands Velocity Girl, Black Tambourine, and Powder Burns. Since then the label has become one of the most beloved purveyors of twee and fuzzy music, releasing a slate of well-loved records by Stereolab, Rocketship, and, more recently, Crystal Stilts, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

The anniversary concert will feature performances by label artists both new (Crystal Stilts) and old (The Ropers, Nord Express). Lineup details after the jump.

Slumberland 20th Anniversary Concert

Friday, Nov .13
The Black Cat

Crystal Stilts
Brown Recluse
Pants Yell!
Frankie Rose and The Outs
The Ropers
Nord Express
Lorelei

Might as well post the details for the Brooklyn show, too:

Saturday, Nov. 14
Brooklyn, NY
The Bell House

Crystal Stilts
Brown Recluse
Pants Yell!
Frankie Rose and The Outs
The Ropers
Nord Express
Lorelei
Special Surprise Guest

• The Footprint in Hip Hop Tour: Method Man & Red Man, Ghostface Killah, Duo Live. 9:30 club. $35. All ages.
• Sophia Bass, Ruthi & the Tracers. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials. Birchmere. $25.
• Head Automatica, Cubic Zirconia. Black Cat. $15. All ages.
• Carol Bui Butterflies, Impossible Hair, US. Comet Ping Pong. All ages.
• The Mass Shivers, The Alphabet, Hello Babies, Greenland, Wild Fictions. D.C. Mini Gallery. $5. All ages.
• Abigail Williams, Goatwhore,  Daath, Abysmal Dawn, Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky, Fallen Martyr, Nightmare Ritual. Jaxx. $12/$15. All ages.
• The Winter Sounds, Go Home Robot, Achtung Panda. The Red & The Black. $8. +21.
• Bob Dylan. Ripken Stadium. Call for price.
• Bonjour Ganesh!, Ghost Light, The Mean Ideas. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
• Project Natale (Fri. & Sat. shows). Twins Jazz. $15.
• Sunsets with a Soundtrack: The U.S. Army Ceremonial Band. West Steps U.S. Capitol. Free.
• Girl Loves Distortion, Trophy Wife, Three Lexington Arrows, Fangs Out. Velvet Lounge. $8. +21.
• National Symphony Orchestra: “The Wizard of Oz.” Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $20–$48.

Saturday

• Trouble Funk 30th Anniversary Reunion Tribute to Dyke, w/ The Art of Junk, Da Mixx Band. 9:30 club. $20. All ages.
• Andy Paxon Band, Rose Between Thorns. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women. Birchmere. $25.
• Extra Golden, Black & Tan Fantasy Band. Black Cat. $12. All ages.
• Bluebrain, Alfonso Bravo. Comet Ping Pong. All ages.
• Buster Brown & the Get Down. Dogfishhead Alehouse. Call for price.
• 2009 Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest. Marvin Gaye Park. Call for prices.
• Pants Velour, The Escape Artist, Reemstarr, Flex Matthews. The Red & The Black. $8. +21.
• The Mighty Heard, Baad Ingrish, Ndelible. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
• Satisfaction: A Tribute to The Rolling Stones. The State Theatre. $16.
• Nunchucks, 7 Door Sedan, We The They, DJ sets by Kingpin Soundsystem. Velvet Lounge. $8. +21.
• National Symphony Orchestra: “The Music of John Williams.” Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $20–$75.

Sunday

• Eric Weinberg & the Morrison Brothers. Birchmere. $35.
• Crystal Stilts, The Ladybug Transistor, Cotton Candy. Black Cat Backstage. $10. All ages.
• So Many Dynamos, Cast Spells, Detox Retox. DC9. $8. +18.
• Born Empty, Deville. The Red & The Black. $6. +21.
• Black Moth Super Rainbow, Dan Friel. Rock and Roll Hotel. $15. All ages.
• Sugarplums, Microwave Background. Velvet Lounge. $8. +18.
• Gordon Lightfoot. Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $22–$40.

Photo of Michael O'Neill, of The Ladybug Transistor, via MySpace.

Earthless w/ J Mascis: The San Diego-based psych-rock trio, augmented here by Dinosaur Jr guitarist J. Mascis, basically improvised a 30-minute space-rock crescendo that never stopped, it just got louder and louder.

Metallica: Metallica is pretty much the last of the superhuman mega-bands, at least in my opinion. Any personal obligations that they might have as grown men with families seem totally secondary to their lives as rock stars. Metallica will always go the extra mile for rock. Like, if you're sick and dying and you love Metallica, I feel like there's still a chance they would show up in your hospital room and surprise you with an autographed guitar. Not a lot of bands will do that anymore, certainly not a lot of the bands playing at SXSW. But the line was long–all the way around the block–so I skipped the show.

Eagle Twin: DC might be where I live, but Salt Lake City will always be my hometown. And Salt Lake City only really has three nationally recognized musical acts: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Osmonds, and Iceburn, the now defunct progressive-atonal-jazz-metal band. So, I kind of feel like it's my duty to listen to any Iceburn related project that drifts my way. Guitarist Gentry Densley's duo Eagle Twin was performing over at the Southern Lord showcase, so I went to check it out. It was heavy, of course. Three giant Earth amplifiers and a drummer who pummeled his kit with every ounce of his body-weight. Watching Eagle Twin, it occurred to me that Utah–with its mountains, wastelands, toxic weapon testing ranges, and relatively affordable rent–must be a pretty great habitat for heavy metal.

Mi Ami: My second Mi Ami show of the trip, this time at Touch & Go showcase. Awesome show. The New York Times agrees, apparently. So was Captain Morgan, who strutted through the club doling out shots of rum and greasing the party vibe. This seemed weird at first, given that Daniel Martin-McCormick was screaming his head off and beating his guitar to death on stage. But given Mi Ami's swampy and sub-tropical vibe, the Captain's presence made a little bit of sense, or at least more sense than, say, Bartles & Jaymes.

Wino: There must have been some sort of band/gear screw-up, because Wino–the Maryland stoner-guitar hero–wound up having to perform a solo acoustic set. Maybe he couldn't get that Orange speaker-cab securely strapped to his Harley. He seemed a little grumpy about it too, or maybe it was just that the intimacy of his performance didn't pair very well with Emo's monster PA, which was constantly feeding back. Wino made due, though, plucking out a few adequately furious songs, despite the circumstances.

All The Saints: Initially, I liked All The Saint's Fire On Corridor X because it tapped in to several things I had forsaken, like early Verve records, and made them seem cool again. But the live show was something else, something heavier and angier. Eventually guitarist Matt Lambert jammed his guitar into the blades of the ceiling fan and that was is. So ended, barring unforeseen circumstances, the final Touch & Go label showcase. But between All The Saints an Mi Ami, not a bad way to go out.

Major Stars: Major Stars played so loud that I felt like the PA was pounding my face in, sort of like that scene from The Godfather where Sonny trounces Carlo. Eventually I admitted defeat, backed off, and took a seat outside of the fray. So yeah, victory for Major Stars, who played a brutal three-guitar psych rock. The audience may have maxed-out in the low 20s, but that didn't stop Wayne Rodgers from rocketing back-and-forth across the stage amid squealing and screeching guitar solos. Kind of wanted to check out the late night Dinosaur Jr show, but after this, there really wasn't much point.

Crystal Stilts: Watched two songs and got sleepy, so I called it a night. Guess I'll catch them in DC.

On Sunday night, Pop Cesspool and I walked over to DC9 to check out the Crystal Stilts show only to be faced with a flier on the door telling us that the band had canceled.

The Cesspool was miffed by the sudden no show. So he decided to e-mail the band. One Crystal Stilts member replied. Apparently, the band's van had broken down.

Slumberland notes that there are more tour dates so maybe you can catch the band in....Lawrence, KS on the 23rd. Or Harrisburg on the 26th.

*photo of Crystal Stilts courtesy of highrize.

D.C. rediscovered its love for vinyl (the story of the year is the resurgence of the mom-and-pop record store). A neighborhood—Mount Pleasant—stood up against anti-live-music NIMBYs. Even a local band or two seemed to surprise all of us (Deleted Scenes).

There's a new underground, a real underground, working overtime in a group house in the District, and Iowa City, and every place in between. This new underground doesn't have much of an Internet presence (no standard wiki page, packages sold via checks-in-the-mail). This underground has started releasing hand-made tapes (again). Its fuzzy folky CD-Rs were this year's mix tapes.

Some of the year's best music couldn't be labeled. Some of the year's best music couldn't be found on Pitchfork. I wish I could have digested all of it. I wish I could have given a deeper listen to Wet Hair, Children's Hospital, Kria Brekkan, Ducktails, Mark McGuire, and so on. But here's my favorite indie releases of the year so far:

1. Ruby Suns: Sea Lion (Sub Pop)

In a year where everyone copied a bit from the New Zealand sound all over again—kiwi pop was almost as big as afropop as a selling point this year—the Ruby Suns are one of the few who didn’t fall for either the tribute to Paul Simon (Vampire Weekend) or plunder the Flying Nun catalog. Leader Ryan McPhun, a Californian who has made New Zealand his home for years, combines Afropop congas, ‘80s dance beats, and even a tribute to the Mojave Desert (now, well, a tribute to Mojave, some new Microsoft thing). It’s what Neutral Milk Hotel would sound like now. I wrote about the band's live show at the Black Cat a while ago and filmed a bit of its performance.

Listen to "Tane Mahuta"

2. The Woods: Some Shame [Tour-Only Cassette]

Here is a band that scores zero mentions on Metacritic, has gotten no reviews on Pitchfork. They release cassettes, CD-Rs and limited runs of vinyl. They put so much stuff out, they seem like an empire. They are a band for message boards and word-of-mouth. None of this means anything except that these Brooklyn DIY tapeheads aspire to real-not-virtual audiences, not hegemony or to be heard on a Gossip Girls episode. The Woods produce music that actually feels personal, and maybe even truly free sounding. Listening to Some Shame is like what it felt like to discover Weed Forestin’: ­woozy psych, bursts of noise, secret knowledge. It's a feel-good weirdness you decode only when you can’t sleep. (For me, that’s a lot of the time.)

Listen to "Military Madness"

3. Yoro Sidibe: Yoro Sidibe (Yaala Yaala)

A Towson professor, Jack Carneal, finds himself mesmerized by the plunky, preachy sounds of ancient Malian hunters music. So he seeks out the master. What he brings back is trance music, story songs for the dance floor whether centuries ago or right now. You’ll want to crank this up. I wrote about the record for the Post.

Listen to "Track 3"

4. Crystal Stilts: Alright of Night (Slumberland)

The debate of the year for nerds—at least myself and a few friends—seemed to come down to how you felt about your Brooklyn-based C86 tributes: Crystal Stilts vs. Vivian Girls. Both revived indie pop, both had a lot of hype, and both released some super-rare vinyl that had to be reissued before the year was out.

I pick the Crystal Stilts.

The band’s songs just a bit more vulnerable—they can go down bittersweet, nailing the early-morning-VU-comedown or detail the 2 a.m. walk home as girl-group tribute. Buried under reverb, Brad Hargett’s deep wallow is just twee enough. “The City in the Sea” may be the most beautiful indie -pop song I heard in 2008. Any band that could revive the beloved, one-time local Slumberland label has to be doing something right. This was the record that became part of my morning routine. Coffee. Grits. And the Crystal Stilts.

Listen to "Prismatic Room"

5. Arthur Russell: Love Is Overtaking Me (Audika)

Over smokes, a colleague dismissed this latest edition to the Arthur Russell cult by saying this isn’t what he wants out of Russell. He wants quirky dance beats, some avant cello, and some really smart, warped disco. But damn—who knew Russell could do country tunes as simple-memorable as lullabies? Russell does Drag City before Drag City. His songs are just as intimate and bracing (“Eli”), beautifully rambling (“I Couldn’t Say it to Your Face”) and free of Nashville’s sheen. You may want to join the cult.

Listen to "I Couldn't Say It To Your Face"

6. Flying Lotus: Los Angeles (Warp)

One of the coolest things about the Stones Throw label is that it has never stopped memorializing producer J Dilla. Since his death in February 2006, Stones Throw has supported mixes, concerts, T-shirts, and reissues in his honor. Hip-hop is a forward moving beast, but it has never stopped paying its respects to the fallen. There may still be Dilla beats yet to make it to wax. But eventually, those beats are gonna run out. Someone’s going to have to take the Dilla sound to the next realm. I vote for Flying Lotus, the Winnetka, California producer. His Los Angeles is the kind of spaced-out place Dilla would have loved.

Listen to "Breathe. Something/Stellar STar"

7. Woods Family Creeps: Woods Family Creeps (Time-Lag)

Weird folk finally gets weird. Songs included here do not directly reference old hippie styles (OK, maybe a little). The tunes shudder with seemingly found sounds, and find their grip by the strum of a guitar, a sustained piano chord, or Jeremy Earl’s loneliest falsetto. Sometimes you can almost dance to it (“Twisted Tongue”), sometimes you will be frozen by its bizarro blues (“Howling on Howling”). It sounds like they’ve found Tom Waits’ old toy chest. And pillaged it (“Sleep Sleep Sleep”). These are the same misfits that constitute Woods and Meneguar. They’re busy.

Listen to "Twisted Tongue"

8. Wavves: Wavves (Woodsist)

Wavves is Nathan Williams. He is from San Diego. Comparisons to No Age aside (both share an affinity for fuzz pedals and loud drums and reside in the same state), Wavves takes his cues from less abstract sources like Beat Happening and the Ramones, and really likes dropping the word “goth” in his song titles. Sure, he can play with noise, but then he’ll drop the sweetest, fuzziest pop nugget you’ll hear all year (“The Boys Will Love Us”).

Listen to "California Goth"

9. She & Him: Volume One (Merge)

Zooey Deschanel can sing. She can write real good, too. She also knows how to make talented friends (M. Ward) and find a respected label (Merge) to do her songs justice. While indie boys continued to toy with fuzz pedals and grow beards and practice CSNY harmonies (yuck), this actress went ahead and made the best tribute to ‘70s AM radio you never realized you really wanted to hear.

Listen to "This Is Not A Test"

10. Blank Dogs: The Fields CS (Woodsist)

I’m kind of a wuss when it comes to the growing basement doom scene. A lot of the Sacred Bones roster is too brittle, too gloomy, too damn scary for repeat listens (still, Sacred Bones could be the label of the year). The demented whimsy of Pink Noise? The hellraisin' industrial clang of the Factums? It’s some of the coldest music coming up from the underground. Blank Dogs certainly comes from that place, but his songs don’t sound like androids covering Bauhaus.

Blank Dogs sounds like a kid enthralled with Joy Division and the sound of old Nintendo games. I have not heard all of the recordings of Blank Dogs. Not even close. But what I do know is that this mysterious Brooklynite–who obscures his face for photos, doesn’t play out much at all, produced a compilation of his works, and gives his stuff away for free on his blog—won’t be a mystery for long. With music like this, he’ll eventually have to come up from the basement.

Listen to "Now Signals"

11) Department of Eagles: In Ear Park (4AD)

Not quite a side project, this Grizzly Bear outpost goes lush with the finger picking, orch-pop, and glam tributes. The songs are just invented enough to not tire out—they thump, sway, and swagger. The most complete, fully realized album I heard all year. In this case, professionalism is no diss.

Listen to "No One Does It Like You"

12) Dodos: Visitor (French Kiss)

Animal Collective may have not produced an album this year for review. But was their a band mentioned more on other people’s album reviews? The band may have evolved away from their campfire psych, but that hasn’t stopped the rest of indie rock from playing catch up. Although Dodos got the AC-tag, it didn’t need the help.

Listen to "Walking"

Josh Harkavy, owner of the record/book store Red Onion, e-mailed me this: his favorite, or some of his favorite records of the year.

Josh explains: "This is by no means a top 11 list, just 11 albums I listened to a lot in 2008.
Let me know if you need more info or anything. I hope you don't mind that I went to 11."

We don't mind at all.

Irma Thomas: Irma Thomas Sings (Mississippi Records)
While it's tough to choose one favorite Mississippi Records release, this is probably the one I play the most, especially in the store. It seems that whenever this album starts up, somebody ends up buying it.

Cotton Jones Basket Ride: The River Strumming (St. Ives Records)
This is truly my favorite discovery of the year. 300 pressed and I am so happy that I own one. Funky, folky psych from Maryland. More people need to hear this album.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Primary Colours (Goner Records)
I know the lead singer kinda sounds just like Mark E. Smith from the Fall, but that's ok.

Gary Higgins: Red Hash (Drag City)
Since I'll probably never find an original, I was happy when this was properly reissued by Drag City. And it came with a bumper sticker!

Cold Sun: Dark Shadows (World In Sound)
Quite possibly the most expensive new record I have ever bought, but worth every penny. Twisted Texas psych fronted by autoharp wizard Bill Miller. This band later went on to back Roky Erickson. Sooo good.

Monotonix: Body Language (Drag City)
I still have not seen Monotonix live even though it seems they have played DC about 6 times this year. I have listened to the 6 songs on their first release way too many times this year. Phil Lynott lives!

Crystal Stilts: Crystal Stilts (Woodsist)
I like this creepy Brooklyn band's self-titled EP a bit more than their Alight of Night LP. It's just the right amount of songs. Whenever I hear this EP, it makes me want to make music like this. It seems so easy.

Hear, O Israel: A Prayer Ceremony in Jazz (Trunk Records)
How this recording came to be I will never know. Herbie Hancock, Grady Tate, Ron Carter and others perform a Sabbath prayer concert written by 17 year old Jonathan Klein for his synogogue in 1968. Maybe it is best not to ask why, just to enjoy the sounds.

Atlas Sound: Let the Blind Lead..... (Kranky Records)
Creepy techno bedroom recordings from Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, and you can dance to it!

Relatively Clean Rivers: Relatively Clean Rivers (Phoenix Records)
The description of this lost early 70's west coast trip referenced both the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Undergound. I didn't believe it to be possible, but this might be the long lost love-child of those two groups.

Vivian Girls: Vivian Girls (In The Red)
I'm a little biased on this one since I used to go to garage sales with one of the members. It's a little uneven, but this is another one of those albums that I wish I could have made.

The Crystal Stilts' Alight of Night, which was recently released, is another great album for your winter walks. High on reverb, bitter-sweet melodies that recall the best of the C86 scene, the Shop Assistants, Velocity Girl, Flying Nun, etc, and those mopey, buried vocals. The Brooklyn-based band has such a good, assured sound. I've been listening to this record almost every morning while I have my coffee and read the news. It's also great to walk around with.

The Stilts LP was put out by Slumberland....So we should just take a moment to give handclaps to the once-local label's re-birth after years of non-existence. We've covered the label back in the day. Just listen to this soundclip and try not to feel nostalgic for winter in D.C. circa 1992! (Soundclip after the jump).

"The City In The Sea"