Living in the modern world without forsaking a charmingly typecast retro spirit sometimes tied to theatrical familial roots, old-fashioned composing thespian, Zooey Deschanel, amassed a number of eclectic original tunes ultimately given fuller arrangements by indie rock lynchpin, M. Ward, under unassuming moniker, She & Him. Inspired in part by stalwart Tin Pan Alley tunesmith Cole Porter and jazzy Broadway icon George Gershwin, Deschanel displays a real flare for anything from nightclub cabaret to Brill Building whimsicality to antediluvian folk.…

You don’t need to have a sunup hangover or dawning erection to ‘get’ the Morning Benders sly moniker. One of the coolest baroque pop units to hit the scene since the Elephant Collective went South ‘round 2000, this spellbinding SoCal quartet integrates orchestral labyrinths with quixotic lyrical melancholia in a dearly Epicurean manner.

Though founding front man Chris Chu started his first band during college in Berkeley, California, he never intended on being the main singer-songwriter.

However, when the laptop…

Spiffy ‘I Beat yoU’ hop measurement moniker aside, convincing hop-rooted ale counters sharp grapefruit-peeled pine resin bittering with vibrant peach-pear-apple-pineapple tang and syrupy maple-spruce sapping. Floral-spiced mango-papaya tingle increases engaging fruited sweetness to creamy caramel malt center. At a staggering $7 for 12-ounces, it’s still worth the price for taste and buzz.

Arousing Belgian-styled strong ale with loud carbolic blast gains red-fruited resilience above funky farmhouse yeast fungi and brusque white-peppered herbage. Tangy cherry, apple, peach, and nectar illusions and lemon-seeded white grape souring flutter through moderate floral grassy-hopped bittering to nut-roasted bottom. Wavering buttered pecan backdrop keep mild alcohol astringency at bay. Well-defined Belgian IPA maintains robustness.

Easy-plowing summertime poolside light-body maintains understated sweet-watered fizz and mild marzipan-caramel creaminess lost to phenolic astringency. Slick honeyed malt pungency becomes diacetyl, deadening gentle hop-fizzed lemon bitterness. Sunny beach fodder for softer, indiscriminate tastes.

Challenging folk-derived electronic duo, High Places, tie artificial percussion sounds and syncopated disco beats to scintillatingly climactic acoustical dreamscapes with the same glistening pastoral splendor that kept Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill.” Learning the bassoon at an early age before joining a few local musical troupes, heavenly vocalist Mary Pearson once believed her high vocal register conflicted with the prototypical rock compositions her former band mates constructed. But she simply managed to adapt.

A Kalamazoo native, Pearson originally met…

On tap, crossbred Belgian tripel/ West Coast IPA retains funky farmhouse ale fungi earthiness countering ripened tropical fruiting and creamy caramel malting. Peppery bark-dried lemon-dropped Chinook hop bittering reinforces tangy peach-cherry-nectarine protrusion and teasing floral accents. Pastry-like vanilla wafer sweetness heightens busy backdrop.

On tap, 9.5% alcohol-ridden hophead delight benefits from imperious woody hop dryness countering succinct sweet-spiced floral-citric sensation and chewy bubblegum tease. Sticky rye malts saturate juniper-licked orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering to acidic alcohol burnt aftertaste.

On tap, Foudres wine-barreled oak-aged ‘bitter’ goes down too light and inefficient for hop-obsessed IPA style. Raw-honeyed lemongrass frontage picks up rotten lemon souring, astringent alcohol burn, and sticky anise careen. Faded herbal nuance dissolves. A bit unbalanced, perhaps.

On tap, resinous pine-needled dry-hopped bitterness seeps into soft-tongued yellow-fruited tartness of medium-bodied India-styled pale ale. Lemon-candied orange-dried souring proves resilient above earthen mineral graining.

On tap, elegant soft-watered Imperial IPA with soothing butterscotch-vanilla creaminess impacting orange-bruised peach-pineapple-mango tropicalia picks up lemon custard, creamed corn, and unspecific herbal illusions. Sweet anise tingle finds space inside somewhat unconventional stylist.

On tap, bright citric nose and advertised apricot-peach-mango affirmation counter piney Cascade hop dryness and finishing alcohol burn. Tangy lemon-aided red apple, papaya, and tangerine fruiting supplements creamy honeyed malts.