To get you through these few, hot, culturally barren months, absent of our events calendar or WVAU recommendations, here’s a short list of albums to keep an eye out for this summer.

It’s tempting to think of the Swedish indie rockers Peter Bjorn & John as newer players in the indie rock scene. But in reality, the band — which takes its name from the first names of the three bandmates — are responsible for six studio albums over the course of nearly a decade, with their first self-titled album released back in 2002 on a small Swedish label.

Last Friday, two of indie pop’s finest acts, Twin Shadows and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart graced the Black Cat stage for a sold-out show.

Over these past two weeks, the D.C. Environmental Film Festival featured premieres, screenings and discussions in theaters all over the city.

AU played a large part in the festival, screening a number of films for the festival and hosting discussions moderated by AU’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking.

Warpaint, an all-female indie rock quartet hailing from Los Angeles, are playing the Black Cat mainstage Saturday, April 2 at 9 p.m.

At first glance, Warpaint seemed just like all the other indie girl bands that have recently debuted over the past year or two. But the art-rock quartet have been around since 2004, and released their released their debut EP, “Exquisite Corpse,” in 2008. The EP was mixed by guitarist, former Red Hot Chili Peppers member and Warpaint fan John Frusciante. After a lineup change and a tour opening for The xx, the ladies of Warpaint were signed to Rough Trade Records and released their critically acclaimed debut album, “The Fool,” in October last year. Warpaint’s meticulous attention…

D.C.’s spring concert calendar is shaping up to be impressive. The hip-hop and rap-heavy schedule of last fall has been supplanted in the coming months by a parade of indie rock shows, with larger acts scheduled to share District stages with newer buzz bands.

No one should be surprised by the mediocre performance of pseudo-dubstep prodigy Baths at last Friday’s sold out show at the Rock and Roll Hotel.

Filmmaker Danny Perez brought his experimental film “ODDSAC” to the Mudbox on Friday, Feb. 18 as part of the Critical Approach Film Series.

Ed Helms is a funny guy. Fans of “The Office” know him as the pompous and lovable Andy Bernard, and anyone who’s seen “The Hangover” is familiar with his hilarious turn as Dr. Stu, the dentist who marries a stripper and pulls out his own tooth. The new comedy “Cedar Rapids” finally provides Helms the chance to step out of the ensemble cast mode and into the role of leading man.  Sadly, Helms is unable to bring redemption to the unfunny “Rapids.”

Valentine’s Day is coming fast upon us, and its coming is inexplicably linked with love songs.

The California duo of Best Coast and Wavves played the 9:30 club on Monday, stopping by as part of their “Summer Is Forever” tour sponsored by MTVU. The two bands are inexplicably linked: Both bands are newcomers to the scene of independent music, both share a slight obsession with their home state, marijuana, Twitter and yeah — the two lead singers Bethany Cosentino and Nathan Williams date.

As enjoyable as movies are, the winter award-show whirl is hardly worth watching anymore.

The last year proved to be a fantastic year for music (thanks, Kanye!), and the spheres of rock and pop are shaping up to be just as exciting in 2011.