I've been on a bit of a quest to catch up with the current state of things in recorded music instead of wallowing in the safe places of music I've always liked. I'm pleasantly surprised to find that there is a (thus far) endless supply of great music being produced lately . . . I find something I really, really like every couple of days and I'm kind of a picky fellow.

So what are everybody's favorite new or new-ish bands (having formed in the last decade or so) or musicians?

Here are some of my recent discoveries (probably not new to everyone, but new to me):

Carla Bozulich
Delta Spirit
Blitzen Trapper
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
Howlin' Rain
. . . more to come . . .