Needless to say, life in Vermont flows at a different pace than in NYC. That's why all New Yorkers interested in hanging on to their mental sanity should spend a few weeks a year in Vermont. But if, like us, you can afford no vacation, music from that land can offer some form of relief. Burlington's Alpenglow play beautiful, acoustic pastoral folk that's so detached from the metropolitan lifestyle it almost sounds unreal - and so looks the video for single 'Brothers in Crime' (streaming). Against any logical reasoning, they recently relocated to Brooklyn, and announced the release of the 'Chapel' EP. Even just the titles of their songs ('Catskills,' 'Solitude,' 'Fields,' 'Old Country') sound exactly like what your average stressed out New Yorker needs. I guess we'll see in the next few months how this city affects the musical output of a band accustomed to a completely different lifestyle! Give yourself a break and see them at Baby's All Right on 07.13 with likeminded Brookynite Lapland.

In all likelyhood loosely inspired to 1999 cult horror movie "The Blair Witch Project" (but featuring a way sexier 'witch'), Lapland's new video for single "Unwise" turned out very well for a DIY family experiment: the 'witch' isone man band Josh Mease's wife Lauren, and the director is their friend James Kuhnert. The video was shot in a wooded area in Queens - we would have never guessed.

With influences that span from ambient-pop to psych-folk, Lapland has released a refreshingly beautiful self-titled album. Josh Mease’s smooth voice fills out his mixes with dense background vocals, and there is a certain timelessness to the shape of his melodies. The full and dreamy production transports the listener to a space and time far from the chaos of the city, notwithstanding the unusual electronic effects. Think Grizzly Bear with some Boards of Canada mixed in. Check out the record's opening track 'Unwise,' streaming below. – Paul Jordan Talbot