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 plus ancillary lemon-seeded white grape souring flutter through floral grassy-hopped bittering to nut-roasted bottom. Wavering buttered pecan backdrop keeps 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.