Best of What's Next: Stornoway

“It’s difficult to write songs about ducks and sound romantic, but maybe I should give that a go...”  read more

Best of What's Next: Autolux

"We didn't set out to make a slower record; that was just the emotional system we were operating on..."  read more

Carolina De Robertis: Where The Magic Happens

Hometown: Oakland, Calif. Book: The Invisible MountainFor Fans Of: Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, Roberto Bolaño, HomerThe name of Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, literally means “I see a mountain” in Spanish. The moniker was given by one of the first European  sailors to lay eyes on the verdant land. But it’s really little more than “a mountain the shape of a huge fried egg,” Carolina De Robertis writes in her stunning debut novel, The Invisible Mountain, named for the obscured landform. ...  read more

Community's Donald Glover: Class Act

Hometown: Stone Mountain, Ga. Show: Community For Fans Of: 30 Rock, Upright Citizens Brigade, Encyclopedia Brown Donald Glover has never personally experienced the world of junior colleges laid out in NBC’s new sitcom, Community, but the 26-year-old wunderkind—who plays dim-bulb jock Troy—finds the premise familiar. “It’s about forcing people to interact with each other that you normally wouldn’t hang out with,” he says. “That was college for me.”...  read more

Charlyne Yi: Geek Love

In recent years, there’s been no shortage of well-soundtracked "alternative" romantic comedies, and most have hinged on a very particular archetype: the unassuming nerd girl...  read more

Vivian Girls: Love, Actually

"Everyone can relate to a love song, no matter how personal it is to the writer,” says Cassie Ramone...  read more

Aravind Adiga: Reading Between the Streets

Aravind Adiga had just returned to India after years in Anglophone countries when he changed his mind about what to write...  read more

Andrei Rodionov: Russia's Slam King

Andrei Rodionov is missing part of his right ear. His Mr. Clean-like dome is barely covered by the shadow of a crew cut...  read more

Eduardo Recife Finds His Footing

One of Eduardo Recife’s earliest artistic memories is of a robbery. One night after dark, he and a friend were midway through their first attempt at pixaçao, a Brazilian...  read more

AA Bondy: Flying Solo

It’s been 10 years since Scott Bondy garnered countless Kurt Cobain comparisons as frontman of the rock band Verbena...  read more

Growing Pains: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

On a Monday morning in early spring, Kip Berman is in New York's East Village, waiting for brunch and discussing his voice...  read more

I Was a King: The Royal We

Considering their regal name and tuneful sound...  read more

Loch Lomond: Gorgeous in the Gorge

"I don’t usually go to festival shows unless I’m playing, because I feel jealous,” admits sheepish Loch Lomond frontman Ritchie Young...  read more

Prodigal Rock: The Love Language Comes Home Again

I always wondered what kind of situations benefit a songwriter,” recalls 28-year-old Stuart McLamb. “Do you need to just do a bunch of drugs..."  read more

The Haunting of Laura Gibson

Portland, Ore.-based singer/songwriter Laura Gibson wrote her new album, Beasts of Seasons, underneath a cemetery. Her basement apartment was built into...  read more

Emergent: Marc Fitten

The year’s best new European writer may very well be an American. He’s Marc Fitten, age 34. Born in Brooklyn to Panamanian parents and raised in Da Bronx...  read more

Nathan Fouts Misses His Wife

Remember that flannel-wearing loner from high-school algebra class? The one who never paid attention, and who staved off boredom by doodling elaborate comic-art illustrations...  read more

The Tales and Details of Hello Saferide

Swedish chanteuse Annika Norlin—the wordsmith and vocalist behind adorable indie-pop act Hello Saferide—named her newest album...  read more

Here Comes the Son: Justin Townes Earle Makes a Name for Himself

"There’s a whole class of kids that have grown up in Nashville that didn’t want anything to do with the music business..."  read more

Wild Light: Burning Bright

The same night their old chums in Arcade Fire are guesting at a party for President Obama’s staff in Washington, D.C., New Hampshire quartet Wild Light is playing at the...  read more