‘Washington D.C.’s very own Alvin Risk takes the stage Saturday, November 13th, at U Street Music Hall, for the release of his debut EP The Making Of. Part glow-fi dance party, part electronic opera, The Making Of is a sketchbook into the promising future of the next transformative figure in post-rock music.’ Also on the bill is the gorgeous lush electro artist Painted Face, and Brian Billion, U Street’s resident DJ. It’s gonna be epic. Preview Risk’s EP on Soundcloud.

Only Son is Jack Dishel’s solo project. The former guitarist for the Moldy Peaches is about to release his second album, Searchlight, on Jan 18. He just unveiled a video for the beatlesque song "Magic" directed by Adria Petty. Only Son is playing at Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 2) at midnight next Friday, Nov 19th,

Superhumanoids are definitely an LA band to keep an ear on – these guys play a sophisticated electro pop with beautiful airy melodies and interesting/intricate arrangements. Check them out tonight (11.09) at Trobadour before they embark for a UK tour. We love the video by the way!

We’ve always been fans of Chris Garneau‘s sparse, mellow and theatrical songwriting. The half mechanical, half poetic world of marionettes fits perfectly Chris’ songwriting style, based on plodding piano parts, ticking percussions, string driven openings, and his unmistakable vocal style. A crew of 30 worked on this video, including director Ryan Gibeau and Michael Leach, arguably NYC’s most skilled and experienced marionette puppeteer, who handled the main puppet through the videos many challenges.

I can SO visualize the day when the Gross Relations crew sat down at a pub to discuss ideas about their upcoming music video and somebody came up with this: "Dudes, I have an idea: we should just shoot a video about what we are doing right now! A video of us, our own faces, gulping down whiskey and getting progressively wasted, that’s gonna rule!". As a matter of fact the concept works well not only with the song’s title (Fuzzy Timelines) but also with the band’s lo-fi crooked musical aesthetics. Gross Relations is about to release a 7" of this song, pre-order it at Insound here.

On November 9 (tonight) Brooklyn Bowl will host the 2nd annual Silver Sound Music Video Film Festival + Band Battle. The evening will begin at 7pm with opening act Dinosaur Feathers, last year’s Band Battle victors, with the Festival itself commencing at 8pm hosted by Candy Slice.

This year’s competitors include a lot of NYC based artists: Beyondo (in the picture, the solo project of a member of Antibalas) Stereogum’s favorite Ego Puppets, Great Elk, Lisa Jaeggi, Lucius (recently highlighted by NYTimes as one of their picks for 2010 CMJ bands to watch for).

Among the 21 music videos being shown, there will be offerings from popular Brooklyn Bands Savior Adore, Surfer Blood, Wakey Wakey, and Lacrymosa.

With a name more appropriate for a Roman general, Lucius is actually the project of peaceful and talented songstresses Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, of Bostonian origins. Their delicate voices draw gentle harmonized lullabies accompanied by sparse arrangements of acoustic guitars and occasional piano and simple percussions. The duo has just completed an east coast tour synchronized with a residency at Rockwood Music Hall, and will perform tonight (11.09) at Brooklyn Bowl within the MVFilmFest (see blog entry underneath this one).

The lovely Ingrid Michaelson has premiered a new video for her gorgeous single “Parachute”, directed by Adria Petty. Ingrid’s upcoming show at Highline Ballroom on December 10 is already sold out.

Brooklyn-based A Million Years released last month their debut full-length album, “Mischief Maker,” filled with guitar- and percussion-heavy indie rock ditties. Formed in early 2007 by Keith Madden (former touring guitarist in Pin Me Down and Longwave), he was joined by Andrew Samaha, Andrew Vanette, and Nick Werber to create Mischief Maker. The boys’ loud rock combines classic indie and punk spirit with a healthy dose of electronica and synth. Madden’s vocals add a moody melancholy to the otherwise catchy choruses. Keep tabs of the guys on tour with their new mobile app [http://tinyurl.com/2ajvmes] and get laid while listening to “Poster Girl,” per the band’s recommendation. – Read Whitney Phaneuf’s interview with the band here.

Birmingham-born and now, Brooklyn-based Deluka deliver delectable dance tracks suitable for clubs across all ponds on their latest record, "You Are the Night," released September 14. Ellie Innocenti’s brooding but lush vocal quality blends perfectly with accompanying bass drones, electronic effects, new wave nuances, and techno trends that permeate Deluka’s eleven tunes. – Read Meijin Bruttomesso’s interview with the band here.

Baltimore’s psych-folk rockers Arbouretum have set the date on their 4th release, The Gathering (out 2/22/11.) It is to a large extent inspired by The Red Book by Carl Jung, or more specifically, Jung’s pursuit of the inner images that led to the book’s writing.  Dave Heumann, the singer, guitarist and main lyricist of Arbouretum, has long been a fan of experiences that surpass comprehension and describe the numinous. The narrative of “losing one’s way and finding it again” resonated deeply and it was in this context that the songs that comprise The Gathering came to be.

Check out his acoustic performance of the featured track "When Delivery Comes" below.

Arbouretum – When Delivery Comes (solo acoustic) from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

“The Past Ain’t Far,” the impressive first full-length record from Brooklyn-based Ceramic, restores faith in the alt-country category. This isn’t another bearded hipster with a banjo, but rather elegantly produced, memorable music reminiscent of early Wilco, folky Beck, and Jason Molina’s Magnolia Electric Co. Led and produced by songwriter John Scheaffer along side producer Charles Newman (who worked on the Magnetic Fields’ “69 Love Songs” among other masterpieces), “The Past Ain’t Far” mixes roots rhythm and blues, pop folk, and wistful rock n’roll. The album opens with the dreamy, melodic strings and romantic acoustic guitar of “You Give More Than Enough” and closes with the Brian Jonestown Massacre-channeling-the Doors “Lose the King.” In between, stand out songs include the nouveau spaghetti western ditty “How’d You Get So Down” and the title track “The Past Ain’t Far” with its delicate fingerpicking amid the background of an old, faintly scratching vinyl record. – Whitney Phaneuf