Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (Vinyl 2xLP)

In 2012, Brooklyn's Grizzly Bear returned with a new album Veckatimest, the follow up to the 2006's critically adored Yellow House. It is rare to come across a band that is so strongly rooted in the musical past yet still sounds so contemporary. Beautifully layered harmonies, softly plucked guitar arpeggios and floating strings make for a sound so timeless you can almost see the clock hands slowly wind back.

However it's the production work by Philip Glass' protegé Nico Muhly that makes this album so fresh, glistening with delicate detail. The shifting of acoustic spaces, the contrasts of grand gestures and minute instances, and the subtle post-production filigree, creates an album that can be listened to and appreciated time and time again. People say nothing sounds new anymore, everything is derived from something else, and whether this is true or not (you're allowed to make up your own mind for a change), it is what you do with these musical influences that creates something unique.