Jacob Ganz

In 1989, two members of the rock band Superchunk launched a tiny record label. Twenty years later, amid the struggles of the music industry at large, Merge has become one of the most respected and successful companies in the business.

Forty-five years after the debut of Terry Riley's IN C, the composer and his son, guitarist Gyan Riley, talk about performing the minimalist classic together.

Last year, the band Grizzly Bear earned the acclaim of critics with Yellow House, recorded in and inspired by the childhood home of frontman Ed Droste. The Brooklyn band's songs are warm and comfortable, yet somehow strange and new.

Radiohead shook up the music industry last week, when it announced that its new album would not be released as a CD, or as a download through iTunes. Instead, it is offering In Rainbows through its own Web site for whatever price each customer decides to pay — even nothing.

In Rainbows, Radiohead's first album since 2005, will appear online Oct. 10, with a specially-boxed CD/LP set to follow in December. The band is working without a label and the album will debut on the Radiohead Web site.

Panda Bear is known for music that sounds like Beach Boys melodies sung around a drum circle in the middle of the woods. On the multifaceted "Take Pills," the one-man band crafts a knockout, elevated by gorgeous melodies and detailed production.

Battles' "Tonto" plays a little like an improv dance workout, only turned on its head — a quick storm of noise followed by a slow, circling fade so deliberate, you can almost feel your heart rate drop. The band maintains tension with every pinging guitar and echoing synth.

Khaela Maricich isn't afraid to stretch her voice out or drop it to a low whisper in order to suit an unconventional melody, and the music tiptoes that same line. The Blow's beats stutter and pop enough to highlight the sensuality in Maricich's voice, but they're rugged enough to complement her brand of low-fidelity intimacy.

Professor Murder isn't afraid of cultural references: Its name comes from a character on HBO's Mr. Show, and its sound is ladled from the thick soup of post-punk/neo-new-wave bands and dub-inflected indie rockers who've traded their guitars for synthesizers.

Over a grungy guitar riff, singer Hutch Harris brings his anthemic howl roaring back again and again, but anthems aren't usually this nuanced. "Returning to the Fold" is one of the smartest, most honest depictions of religious anxiety in pop music, and it rocks to boot.