New York–based Ambrosia Parsley and the Elegant Too is a collaboration between Parsley, perhaps best known as the front woman for Shivaree, and producers, songwriters, and engineers Chris Maxwell (Skeleton Key) and Phil Hernandez (Brave Combo).

The Strugglers is the project of Brice Randall Bickford II and a rotating cast of musicians hailing from Carrboro, NC. The band’s albums include This New Room, the EP The Fair Store, and You Win.

LD and the New Criticism, whose debut, Tragic Realism, appeared on Darla Records in 2005, is led by New York–based musician and writer LD Beghtol. His other projects include the chamber-pop band Flare and the Three Terrors (with Stephin Merritt and Dudley Klute). Beghtol, who provided vocals for several tracks on the Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs, wrote a book about the album for the Continuum Books “33 1/3” series.

Jacksonville, FL–based musicians Ben Cooper and Alex Kane are the founders of electro-pop outfit Electric President. The duo’s self-titled Electric President was released in 2006 by Berlin label Morr Music.

British musician Owen Tromans formed San Lorenzo in 1998 with Elizabeth Hamblin and Nick Stanley. The group’s albums include its debut, Nothing New Ever Works, and the 2001 singles compilation The Sea Is a Map (Bearos). Tromans, who continues to tour and record with San Lorenzo as well as the Grand Old Dukes, has also released a number of solo records, including Your Heart Is Not Broken and Hope is a Magnet.

Originally a member of New York–based bands the Last Roundup and the Shams, singer and songwriter Amy Rigby released her first solo record, Diary of a Mod Housewife, in 1996, prompting Spin magazine to declare her “Songwriter of the Year.” Rigby currently lives and works in Cleveland; her albums include Little Fugitive (Signature Sounds) and (with Wreckless Eric) A Working Museum.

Singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart has been at the forefront of the neofolk movement—and on critics’ radar—ever since the release of his debut album, Oh My Oh My, in 2002 on the Young God label. His efforts include Cripple Crow (XL Records), recorded in Woodstock, NY, with frequent collaborators Andy Cabic, Thom Monahan, and Noah Georgeson. Georgeson co-wrote and performed “The Nurse” with Banhart for this issue’s CD.

Marissa Nadler’s debut album, Ballads of Living and Dying, was released on Eclipse Records in 2004. More recent albums include Little Hells and Sister.

Matt Huish Saunders and John Hanson are the duo behind Magnetophone, a band based in Birmingham, England. Their albums include the 2004 debut I Guess Sometimes I Need to Be Reminded of How Much You Love Me and The Man Who Ate The Man (both released on 4AD). For their track on the Esopus 6 CD, Saunders and Hanson collaborated with Mountain Goats front man John Darnielle.

Grizzly Bear is Edward Droste, Christopher Bear, Chris Taylor, and Daniel Rossen. The Brooklyn-based band made its debut in 2004 with Horn of Plenty (Kanine); subsequent releases include Yellow House, Veckatimest, and Shields.