Julianna Barwick works alone. Instead of cramming into a practice space or collaborating with musician friends, she sits cross-legged on a bed that takes up most of the space in her Greenpoint room. Behind rose-patterned curtains, she layers her voice through a loop station that transforms her lonely soprano into an ethereal choir. A former singer in the Tulsa Opera, Barwick has gone from Oklahoma choirgirl to Brooklyn soloist. more

AS THEY WALK up to Ninth Street Espresso in the East Village, I recognize them, one by one.Their tattoos, wiry arms and unintentional tansit all smacks of South Florida.You know that feeling when you stare at a girl on the subway because she might have sat behind you in Algebra II? This time, the feeling stays. more

ON A BURNISHED fall day, Ryan Heyner and Josh Kolenik of Small Black sit side-by-side at Williamsburgs Manna restaurant. Both Long Island natives wear punchy sneakers and a heartfelt manner that matches their music. more

IN A PRACTICE room the size and temperature of a sweat lodge, Mr. Dream rehearses after work. Beads of perspiration bleed through the musicians’ sheer shirts in Williamsburg’s Sound City, and Adam Moerder, the lead singer and guitarist, flops his boyish curls. more