Jeff Tweedy's Been Listening to Battles, Dr. Dog, Panda Bear

In this New York Times article, he points out his recent faves and says, "I’m probably the only person that wanted to be a rock critic and failed at it and started a band."

Here are the highlights:

Dr. Dog

"They’ve got elements of the Band, the Beatles, the Beach Boys — all the bands that begin with B. This record sounds really mature and accomplished."

Grizzly Bear

"They make really beautiful, evocative music that has a gauzy fuzziness to it; you can’t accurately pinpoint their place in time. Their music is like a painting by Monet; there’s something soft about it."

Battles

"'Mirrored' (Warp) is music that sounds like you have to be really smart to remember how to play it. A lot of counting, odd time signatures, odd lengths of measures. It requires the ability to count out a lot of musical subdivisions. I recommend the video of the song 'Atlas.'"

A Hawk and a Hacksaw

"I followed this band because Jeremy Barnes used to be in a band called Neutral Milk Hotel, and I loved their records."

Good choice, Jeff.

Panda Bear

"It’s hard to get any biographical information straight about Panda Bear and the rest of the guys in the band Animal Collective, so I don’t know much other than the records."