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Drew takes a look at ten of his favorite songs that pay tribute to the past, whether it's traditional British rock, vintage synth-pop, or music from the other side of the world

Plumb, the fourth full-length from brotherly duo Field Music, sounds like one of their liveliest releases for two reasons. One is its clear and playful homage to traditional British rock greats like XTC, Pink Floyd, and even Queen. Tracks like “Sorry Again, Mate” and “Guillotine” reap benefits from the influence, which for the Sunderland-based group

Shabazz Palaces had a great 2011 with one of the year’s most inventive hip-hop releases, Black Up (2011: #7). The duo of Ishmael Butler (‘Butterfly’ from Digable Planets) and Tendai Marair aren’t stopping for 2012, though. In addition to producing a new video for one of the album’s best tracks, “Are You… Can You… Were You?

Space-rock legends Spiritualized are releasing their long-awaited seventh album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, in April. It was originally to be released on March 19th, but the band delayed it a few weeks despite some press having unfinished review copies since November. ” “With the reviews, sometimes it’s like they’ve got a different album anyway,” frontman

Atlas Sound and Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox announced tour dates in support of Atlas Sound’s 2011 album Parallax, our fourth favorite album of 2011. Ten of the thirteen dates are in the U.S., with one in Tokyo (2/19) and two in Canadia (Toronto 3/6 and Montreal 3/7). Cox will kick the tour off at Binghamton

Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger released her first solo album, Last Summer, this past July to glowing reviews. It featured an all-star cast of Matt Asti (MGMT), Ahmed Gallab (touring member of Yeasayer & Caribou), and John Eatherly (Be Your Own Pet & Turbo Fruits, as well as many excellent songs -- like "Heaven". She released the video for that one in particular today

Legendary British group Talk Talk are being honored for their excellent career with a book this spring, entitled Spirit of Talk Talk. It’s a collection of illustrations and written accounts from some prominent names that were influenced by Talk Talk, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. James Marsh, who illustrated many Talk Talk

Fair Ohs have been drumming up some press lately with a plethora of East African-inspired garage punk releases, ranging from 7" singles to distributed cassettes. Despite their East African influences, Fair Ohs' sound isn't too distant from the recent alternative pursuits of Male Bonding, Women, and Real Estate

White Denim unveiled a slew of new tour dates, 15 to be exact. Most of them are on the East Coast and Midwest, with dates in major cities like Dallas, St. Louis, DC, NYC, Philly, and Boston. The psych-infused garage-rockers also visit Toronto on 4/16, after playing in Hoboken two days earlier. The Austin-based group

of Montreal are offering a full stream of their upcoming album Paralytic Stalks, out February 7th. Check out Spin for the stream, and a very helpful track-by-track account by frontman Kevin Barnes. Polyvinyl said that Paralytics Stalks contains “an infinitely more personal nature than anything Kevin Barnes has written since 2007′s Hissing Fauna, Are You