Death Metal MusicMusic and Culture on the Edge

Now that the top 10 lists are out of the way, let's take a look at what's fresh for 2012.This is generally a fertile time for indie-rock bands, starting with the reunited Guided by Voices and followed by new music from Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady), Magnetic Fields and The Shins, plus the much-anticipated sophomore albums from breakout duos Sleigh Bells and the Ting Tings.

Now that the top 10 lists are out of the way, let's take a look at what's fresh for 2012. This is generally a fertile time for indie-rock bands, starting with the reunited Guided by Voices and followed by new music from Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady), Magnetic Fields and The Shins, plus the much-anticipated sophomore albums from breakout duos Sleigh Bells and the Ting Tings.

Now that the top 10 lists are out of the way, let's take a look at what's fresh for 2012. This is generally a fertile time for indie-rock bands, starting with the reunited Guided by Voices and followed by new music from Craig Finn (of The Hold Steady), Magnetic Fields and The Shins, plus the much-anticipated sophomore albums from breakout duos Sleigh Bells and the Ting Tings.

Tim Koch started out with reel-to-reel recorders and early computers, so it’s no surprise he was an early convert to the user groups and list-servs of the musical web. Hazy indie rock bands captured his imagination early on, but he soon developed into a formidable producer of instrumental, sequencer based electronic music. Five albums and countless singles and compilation contributions later, he’s produced a back-catalogue that moves through crunchy Detroit inspired bleeps and melancholy synth p