The Gossip are the three-piece punk rock electro band from Olympia, Washington’s underground scene who broke through in the UK in spectacular style in 2006 with the single and album Standing In The Way Of Control. Lead by the unlikely rock star, lesbian, feminist, fashion icon and ‘cool’ person Beth Ditto, the trio have just released their third album, Music For Men. The title comes from a night when Beth was at a gig watching a friend’s band, which had a female member, and observed the male audience members’ reaction to it. The Gossip’s drummer Hannah Blilie recalls ‘and those words popped up in her mind. Music for men. This is music for men, and it just kinda stuck. It’s tongue in cheek, it’s not serious. It is their first studio effort for a major label since leaving indie legends Kill Rock Stars for Sony in 2008. And it’s every bit as good as their last one.

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Directed by Benjamin Hoste, the stop motion animation clip for LA art-rock trio, The Happy Hollows, is accentuated by a barrage of random shapes, a matted water color palate and the occasional splatter of paint. We’re giving away a Happy Hollows prize pack featuring a copy of their debut album, Spells, a t-shirt, 7″ vinyl, magnet and two autographed stills from the video. To enter, just leave the name of the city you live in below this giveaway post.

The music of Gainesville-based trio Rabbit Punch induces a feeling not unlike riding the moving walkway at O’Hare International Airport, a strange sense of drama emerging from the endlessly repeating neon rainbow overhead. Distant guitar howls and digital bleeps and bloops call out like spirits from a binary forest, while synthesized melodies, the occasional processed vocals, and dirge-like beats add to the sense that something important is imminent.

The crew at 4AD, watching over perhaps the hottest artist roster of any independent label in the world, have put their collective minds together and come up with an album that holds every potential of being the finest release of the year. The formula is simple: you grab a batch of the hottest bands and artists around at the moment (take your pick from Arcade Fire, Yeasayer [pictured above], Bon Iver, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens; the list continues without the slightest dip in quality), throw in David Byrne for a touch of that priceless musical wisdom, quickly hammer together a few inspired duos, like Gillian Welch and Conor Oberst, or The Books and Jose Gonzalez, name it after a seminal Blind Willie Johnson track, and then get the brains behind one of the great bands of the last few years, The National, to produce it. Finally — take a deep breath — all the proceeds go towards the fight against AIDS. Dark Was The Night isn’t released until February 16th, but the scent on the wind is good. David Byrne and the Dirty Projectors’ opening track (listen below) is brilliantly fresh, while Yeasayer have channelled their wild spirits into a song textured as intricately as a Peruvian silk skirt, with a rainstick for effect.