Beginning with clacking percussion and airy harmonies, ending with a sprawling, psychedelic dreamscape, "Langsom Dans" by Gliss frames an artful study in contrasts.

On my radio show Hindsight, I spin a wide range of indie pop and rock from all sides of the pond. This year offered a lot of great songs from which to choose.

"I don't know what I'm doing up here," giggled Tennis' Alaina Moore behind a shock of Pantene-commercial hair, after an effusive thank you to old friends and opening act Making Movies.

Siblings: we love them, we hate them, but it turns out they make pretty great bands. Stagnant Pools, a brotherly duo fresh out of a van from Bloomington, Ind. kicked things off in the Luminary Center for the Arts' wide, dark basement gallery on Tuesday evening.

I'm going to be honest. When I first heard "Gila" on a mix CD a friend made for me a few years ago, I assumed the vocals I was hearing belonged to a male.

There's a paradox at the core of School of Seven Bells. How can the songs of Alejandra Deheza and Benjamin Curtis be so majestic, rhythmic and intimate at once?

Asobi Seksu may mean "casual sex" in Japanese, but there's nothing offhand about this New York dream-pop duo. Catch the live, in-studio performance on Juxtaposition.