Locksley

Add Date: February 2

Artist: Locksley

Album: Be In Love

Label: Feature

Genre: Pop

Comments: Locksley bills itself as a "four-piece doo-wop punk band from Madison, Wisconsin," which Jeremy and I agreed seemed like enough to go ahead and give it the veto. However, it turns out "doo-wop punk" sounds something like Greenday, Franz Ferdinand or The Killers and songs like "The Whip" are actually pretty catchy.

Planetary

Yeasayer

Add Date: February 3

Artist: Yeasayer

Album: Odd Blood

Label: Secretly Canadian

Genre: Pop, Rock

Comments: Yeasayer's debut album All Hour Cymbals got me hooked on the group's big, folksy, prog sound as they churned out anthem after hymn-like anthem. So when I popped in Odd Blood, their sophomore release, I couldn't help but be surprised, and honestly a bit dissappointed, by the brighter tone and distinctly 80's New Wave vibe on songs like "Ambling Alp." They're admittedly intricate pop songs with an edge of weirdness that still marks them as the product of Yeasayer, but something about it doesn't quite satisfy in the way I'd hoped. (My opinion could be due to a general lack of enthusiasm towards 80's music). That's not to say there aren't songs more reminiscent of their ealier work. For instance, go to the shimmery, well-built "I Remember" or dark opener "The Children."

Distiller

Best of the Week - January 26

A big week for WLUR adds. Don't let any of these records pass you by when you scan our playlist:

Midlake
Spoon
Los Campesinos!
The Magnetic Fields
Four Tet

Also stellar: Surfer Blood, OK Go, Jace Everett, Eels, Basia Bulat, Fucked Up, The Album Leaf, Nneka, V.V. Brown, Have Gun Will Travel, Rogue Wave (single)

OK Go

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Ok Go

Album: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky

Label: Capitol Records

Genre: Rock

Comments: [Here's what Justine had to say:] Distancing themselves from their treadmill-dancing pop days, the band memebers of OK Go have embarked on a diverging road for their newest record, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. The band has taken a slightly weird alt-rock album with some funk influences--but then again, if you're working with Dave Fridmann, the producer for The Flaming Lips, you can hardly expect the end result to be ordinary. The tracks are undoubedtly more complex (and personally, I find them more interesting), and when they work, they work (ie, "End Love" and "This Too Shall Pass"). Occasionally the new sound seems a bit forced, but overall it's certainly an interesting approach.
-
[Kimber's two cents:] I am coming out of review retirement for this because I have been a fan of OK Go for a long time and because most of that time has been spent awaiting the release of this album. As Justine mentioned, with the release of Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, OK Go has finally begun to advance beyond the status of “Dancing Band” and started to develop what could one day be deemed a signature sound.

I have to agree with my colleague that sometimes this new sound goes to strange places, but the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me. Lead singer Damien Kulash’s falsetto reaches exciting new… heights (as in “Skyscrapers”), and I love a good inspirational message (“All Is Not Lost”). The key to Of the Blue Colour of the Sky is just to keep an open musical mind and enjoy the ride.

I like a lot of tracks on this album, but the one I can’t stop listening to is “Skyscrapers.” The bass line just gets me all hot and bothered. Check it out.

Nneka

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Nneka

Album: Concrete Jungle

Label: Decon

Genre: Hip-Hop/World

Comments: Nneka is a Nigerian-German hip-hop/soul artist and her latest album, Concrete Jungle is chock-full of politically aware, beat driven tracks with a blend of sung and rapped vocals. Unusual and interesting, fans of creative hip-hop and world music take note.

Surfer Blood

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Surfer Blood

Album: Astro Coast

Label: Kanine

Genre: Rock, indie pop, surf rock

Comments: Hey, isn't that new Vampire Weekend record great? I know, right? I like it, too! "Run"? "White Sky"? These songs are life-changing! I've been listening to it on repeat for days now!* Surely Vampire Weekend is the only band making good pop music right now!

Well, not quite. If you thought Contra would sound better with a lot more reverb** and some classic Weezer--think Blue Album, not the garbage that they're putting out these days--thrown in, then Astro Coast, the debut from Florida rockers Surfer Blood, is the album for you. This is really a terrific pop record, falling somewhere between '90s pop rock and the surf/garage rock of Vivian Girls, Best Coast and Wavves; there is indeed a happy medium between those two styles, and Surfer Blood have found it. They're also on Kanine Records, the nifty Brooklyn imprint that was once home to Grizzly Bear. Check out any of the first three tracks, along with "Fast Jabroni" and "Anchorage."

* - Not really. Actually, that statement would be true about Teen Dream. But I do like Contra.
** - Why you would think this is not up for discussion.

Pierced Arrows

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Pierced Arrows

Album: Descending Shadows

Label: Vice

Genre: Garage Punk

Comments: I'm going to withhold giving much history about Pierced Arrows, except suffice to say that it's basically Dead Moon, a fairly big name garage punk band with sixteen albums (at least in Europe, where garage punk inexplicably seems to be popular) with the same talent. The main man, Fred Cole, has been doing proto-punk since the 60s, though never catching mainstream acclaim.

So, this is basically pretty good garage punk, which is essentially meaner and rougher garage rock. I'm fairly conflicted about this album, as after doing like a score of garage punk stuff, one wonders how much more ground a single man can cover. Of course, the REAL PUNK ROCK side of my mind replies with "screw you, punk rock is about rocking out." Indeed, Pierced Arrows bills itself as “rock’n’roll that’s rough, ragged, and honest." While that's a bit of a cop-out for a voice that is rapidly wearing itself out, obvious filler songs, and a lack of really inspired guitar rockouts, it's not like every other genre uses the same sort of code words. And hell, when you're like fifty or sixty years old and still doing punk instead of car commercials or some shit, I have to respect that.

Primal Static

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Primal Static

Album: The Curtain of Many Faces

Label: Self-released

Genre: Blues Rock

Comments: A Joke, presented by New Heaven Salesman.

Q: What's the Difference between Primal Static and White Stripes?
A: About three weeks of post-production work. (ba-dum kish)

But seriously, while it's a creative album that has its advantages (as in I don't feel compelled to say "just listen to the Black Keys it's basically the same thing done better"), this is not an album that goes down well in the first listen. It doesn't help that the first three songs are completely awful, though largely due to the fact that there is literally no differentiation between the audio layers, making everything sound tw0-dimensional. I was perfectly ready to write this off when the fourth track started.

Granted, the production problems remained, but there's genuinely good instrumentation, and melding of blues and rock that's fairly unique. Really, though, the standout track is #5, "Dream Arabic," an instrumental piece that plays to Primal Static's apparent strength of good simple lines that, by themselves, make me want to knock people off the road. The rest of the album is pretty decent, with another instrumental, "Blue Orpheus," also sounding above average (if you haven't figured it out yet, I really hate the male singer for Primal Static). Overall, it's hard for me to really give an opinion of this band when there are so many problems with it, production-wise.

Four Tet

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Four Tet

Album: There Is Love in You

Label: Domino

Genre: Electronica, pop

Comments: The first studio record since 2005's Everything Ecstatic from London producer Kieran Hebden, a.k.a. Four Tet, There Is Love in You doesn't disappoint. Contained here are nine excellent electronic pop songs that will appeal to fans of Caribou, Jon Hopkins and The Orb. And if you're not inclined to listen to (mostly) instrumental stuff, this is the kind of record that could change your mind: the songs are both well-constructed and immediately catchy. Check out "Love Cry," "Plastic People" and "Sing."

For a more proficient, and considerably longer, review, check out Mark Richardson's work on Pitchfork. (Quick summary: an 8.6 rating and "Best New Music" tag.)

The Fed Pennies

Add Date: January 26

Artist: The Fed Pennies

Album: Brain Disaster

Label: Sound of pop

Genre: Rock

Comments: Fuzzy and frantic rock'n'roll. These guys weave garage rock, punk, and "alternative" into their sound and cite everyone from Sabbath to the Beatles as influences (does that really help). Fast and furious in a way that only Vin Diesel could rival, check them out if you've been enjoying Them Crooked Vultures.

The Brighton

Add Date: January 26

Artist: The Brighton

Album: The Brighton

Label: Self-released

Genre: Folk pop

Comments: Simple and straightforward, sunny and sonorous folk pop from singer-songwriter Ben Rosenbush. Born out of heartbreak and laced with that sort of sadness, this Minneapolis native gives us a record that tugs at the heartstrings. Achingly familiar, check out "Confession" and "Airplane" for saturated pop goodness.

Midlake

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Midlake

Album: The Courage of Others

Label: Bella Union

Genre: Rock, folk rock

Comments: Like many others, I picked up Midlake's brilliant 2006 LP, The Trials of Van Occupanther, several months into 2007. That late discovery was triggered in part by the obscurity of their record label, Bella Union; it's a great UK-based imprint, but with limited name recognition here in the States. (To correct that, The Courage of Others is being distributed by Yep Roc on this side of the pond.) But as more and more folks caught up with the Denton, Texas-based band's '70s-infused sound--Van Occupanther channels, at times, Jethro Tull; at others, Fleetwood Mac; still others, Neil Young--momentum started to build for the band, with excitement brewing over what Tim Smith and co. would do next.

What they've done is another masterstroke. The Courage of Others takes the classic sound back even further, borrowing liberally from '60s British folk and, on the lyrics to "Core of Nature," lyrics from a Goethe poem. However, the style that is quickly becoming Midlake's trademark--a blend of electric and acoustic guitars, flute and recorder, strings, autoharp and percussion--is still prevalent here. And Smith, in his own right, is a terrific songwriter, with or without the help of Germany's finest.

I always try to provide a comparison to other modern-day artists, but with Midlake, that's a tall order. I don't really think anyone else is doing what they're doing. Again, '70s rock fans will find plenty to like here. As will 21st-century indie and folk fans, just because the record is so damn good. Check out "Winter Dies," "Rulers, Ruling All Things," "Fortune" and the title track.

Basia Bulat

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Basia Bulat

Album: Heart of My Own

Label: Rough Trade

Genre: Folk, folk pop

Comments: A very nice set of tunes from Canadian folk musician Basia (rhymes with "Asia") Bulat. This is her second record for Rough Trade, but unlike 2007 debut Oh, My Darling--which, fairly or not, saw Bulat lumped in with dozens of other North American singer/songwriters--this seems like a more complete output. Mixing quiet, sparse songs with upbeat, richly orchestrated folk rock numbers, Bulat captures your attention from start to finish on Heart of My Own. For fans of My Brightest Diamond, Alela Diane and Lavender Diamond. Check out "Gold Rush," "Run" and the title track.

The Magnetic Fields

Add Date: January 26

Artist: The Magnetic Fields

Album: Realism

Label: Nonesuch

Genre: Pop

Comments: From the promoter:

"Realism finds front man and songwriter Stephin Merritt drawing inspiration from late 1960s/early 70s orchestral and psychedelic folk. Realism's all-acoustic recording line-up featured no electric instruments, and used untraditional percussion instruments, ranging from tabla to tree leaves. ... As the album title implies, Realism finds Merritt examining what 'real' really means in recorded music, exploring the sincerity (or lack thereof of folk lyrics and their delivery..."

As usual, The Magnetic Fields deliver hyper-thoughtful, super-pointed lyrics and nearly theatric instumentation. The folk-pop style seems to fit them well and reminds me of my favorite tracks from 69 Love Songs. Check out "I Don't Know What to Say" or "From A Sinking Boat."

Los Campesinos!

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Los Campesinos!

Album: Romance Is Boring

Label: Arts & Crafts

Genre: Indie Pop

Comments: Los Campesinos!, the amazing 7-person, formed-in-Wales-yet-no-one-is-Welsh (apparently), indie-pop group, is back for their third album, the directly titled Romance Is Boring. It's described as "record that's bigger, deeper, more complex and more direct than anything Los Campesinos! has recorded to date"--but thankfully, this doesn't mean the delightful brass is gone or the sound is totally different, it's simply fuller and more confident. Guest spots, electronics, drum machines and more all jam-pack the ambitious record, but it's not overly cluttered. You manage to hear all the members and all the layers without feeling claustrophobic (which could have easily happened given the range of contrasting vocals and instruments). Start with tracks 2, 3, and 12.

V.V. Brown

Add Date: January 26

Artist: V.V. Brown

Album: Travelling like the Light

Label: Capitol

Genre: Pop

Comments: From the promoter:
"To call V.V. Brown a genre-bender is both the understatement of the year, and also somewhat off the point-- because Brown's subtle use of vintage rock and soul rhythms and grooves is so organically and expressively unified with her melodies, lyrics and vocal dynamics that she becomes and object lesson in appreciating music for its own sake, as a timeless joy, free of labels or categories."

V.V. Brown sounds like a star and there's no doubt in my mind that she's going to be all over the radio soon (if she isn't already). She's got a big glamorous voice and that irresistible hint of a British accent which certainly lends itself to what The Sun called her "perfect pop cocktail." Kate Nash meets The Ting Tings and has a retro party with Santogold. Start with "Shark in the Water" or "Everybody."

Fucked Up

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Fucked Up

Album: Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009

Label: Matador

Genre: Hardcore

Comments: Fucked Up (that's "Effed Up" to you, DJs-on-air) have compiled twenty-five singles on the aptly named Couple Tracks (Singles 2002-2009). Fucked Up is a hardcore punk outfit from Canada, and their music is, surprise surprise, hardcore punk. It's awesome (think Canada's answer to Leftover Crack/Star Fucking Hipsters). Couple Tracks gives listeners a nice scope of their recordings; avoid the DNPs but certainly have a listen if for no other reason than to hear what the modern state of hardcore is these days.

Lost in Society

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Lost in Society

Album: Eastern Empire

Label: Aeria

Genre: Rock

Comments: Straightforward power (pop-) punk music--Lost in Society's album Eastern Empire is a "thoroughly enjoyable album of angsty punk for fans of Rise Against, Against Me!, and AFI...Lost in Society kicks off their album with raw vocals and speedy guitar fret-work on the powerful track "Sweat"....These Jersey punkers continue their assault with the song "Die" which tightly folds into a sing-along chorus through the skin."

To be honest, all three aforementioned bands were better at their hardcore/punk efforts, but for a record put out in 2010, it's a solid throwback in style--there are plenty of anthem-style choruses and hooks galore. Can't hate on an honest effort, even if it's predictable.

The Dead Letters

Add Date: January 26

Artist: The Dead Letters

Album: The Dead Letters (EP)

Label: Self-released

Genre: Folk/Alternative

Comments: Why so short?! Delightful neo-folk hailing from Canadian three-piece outfit The Dead Letters is present on this self-titled EP, which is made up of three "cinematic soundscapes that owe as much to droning doom metal and post-rock as they do to flamenco and folk". A lovely blend of world-music inspired beats and melodies minus vocals--try any of the tracks (but note that the third track is about 10 minutes long).

Have Gun, Will Travel

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Have Gun, Will Travel

Album: Postcards from the Friendly City

Label: Self-released

Genre: Folk, Pop, Alt-Country

Comments: Immediately infectious folk pop with a sing-along feel. The group's country tinge works well with its honest attitude as they combine lap steel, choirs, banjos, organs, and jangly percussion. Surging, energetic, feel-good stuff for fans of Connor Oberst, Le Loup, The Decemberists, or Dr.Dog. Check out "Salad Days" or "Kerosene & Candlelight."

Tinderbox

The Album Leaf

Add Date: January 26

Artist: The Album Leaf

Album: A Chorus of Storytellers

Label: Sub Pop

Genre: Alternative/Ambient

Comments: A Chorus of Storytellers, the newest release by musical project The Album Leaf (focused mainly and led by Jimmy LaValle), is an ambient listening experience. Recorded as a band with guitars, drums, bass, some symphony players, and an Icelandic horn section (just to mention a selection), the result is a spaced-out, but defined collection of tracks that have a good amount of weight to them without obvious force of loud instruments. The effect is a clean, layered, albeit unconventional experimental record, with a nice range of both instrumental and plus-vocal tracks. Start with tracks 1, 3, and 5.

Adrian and the Sickness

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Adrian and the Sickness

Album: B.F.D.

Label: Fantom

Genre: Rock

Comments: From the promoter:
"Imaging the boys of AC/DC meet up with the girls of the Go-Go's. The progeny? Adrian and the Sickness. In their stunning new album, B.F.D., Adrian and the Sickness combine hard-driving, straight-up rock and roll with punk-edged melodies and powerful vocals. The pure rock and roll spirit gets off to a running start with the rhythmically relentless opening track 'Modern Freedom' and it never lets up."

Punchy, punky, danceable girl-group rock out of Austin, TX. Check out "Fight Nice."

Powderfinger

Jace Everett

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Jace Everett

Album: Red Revelations

Label: Weston Boys

Genre: Rock/Alt-country

Comments: Old-school country music meets bluesy, dive-bar rock, and it's amazing. Jace Everett is probably best known for his song "Bad Things", which is the theme song to HBO's True Blood, a show which is essentially about southern vampires (pardon the brief and lacking description)-and the song choice is entirely appropriate. Red Revelations, Everett's newest album (featuring his most-famous number as a track 12 bonus), is exemplary of the excellent 'southern-gothic' style (if you can apply a literary term to music)--it's brooding, but with the right amount of twang. The album is dark without being annoyingly in your face (it's hardly depressing), gritty yet slick, plus Everett has a fabulous crooning voice (overall, it's a pretty sexy album). Ridiculously enjoyable. Start with tracks 1, 2, 7, and 12.

The Bears of Blue River

Add Date: January 26

Artist: The Bears of Blue River

Album: The Killer Bee Scare

Label: Self-released

Genre: Folk, Pop

Comments: From the promoter:

"The Bears of Blue River are friends with day jobs that began gathering in the evenings to make silly noises in a dilapidated old apartment with wooden floors. Soon they found themselves playing folk diddies dressed up with some Bop about them. Their roots define them as Hoosiers but currently they are split between Chicago, Indianapolis, and Muncie."

These lovely, glowing, folksy little pop numbers bop right along with charming male & female vocals and strong instrumentation. Check out "Crayola" if you like She & Him, Bowerbirds or The Middle East.

Tinderbox

Drive Like Maria

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Drive Like Mania

Album: Elmwood

Label: ZooStudios

Genre: Rock

Comments: From the promoter:
"Belgian/Dutch rock trio's... songs have been described as 'influenced by Led Zeppelin, early ZZ Top, Neil Young and Queens of the Stone Age,' among others."

Energetic with a classic rock vibe. Go to "I'm on a Train."

Tinderbox

Eels

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Eels

Album: End Times

Label: Vagrant

Genre: Alternative/Acoustic

Comments: Eels leader (frontman, singer/songwriter, band staple, brain behind it all, etc) Mark Oliver Everett has created an impressively authentic record with End Times, which is his "divorce album" following his split with his wife back in 2005. The record is sad and weary without being heavy-handed; it's impressively still a record you want to listen to. It's a stripped down effort, but the sparse instrumentals, highlighted by the tired, sometimes fuzzy, yet very appropriate vocals, blend the record together in a wonderful way. It's a surprisingly fulfilling record and a welcome addition to the winter musical selections (note: beware the DNP tracks!).

Spoon

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Spoon

Album: Transference

Label: Merge

Genre: Rock, Pop

Comments: Spoon! Spoon! Spoon! As an Austin group, Spoon will always hold a place of reverence in my heart. Admittedly Transference isn't as driving and pop-oriented as the killer Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but after a few listens through it's hard to find anything to be disappointed in. The tracks are fresh (half of them are actually in their original demo form), thoughtfully-crafted, and oh-so specific. As Pitchfork explains so well, "This is a perfect example of the group's genius as a studio band: They get very cerebral in arranging their material, but every clever move is entirely in the service of maximizing physical impact and gut-level response. These are not simply recordings of a top-notch rock quartet playing in a room; this is art built to hit precise emotional marks with an impressive balance of off-the-cuff improvisation and rigid discipline." Whether you're already a Spoon-fan, or enjoy groups like Phoenix, Pixies, or TV on the Radio, you've got to listen to "Got Nuffin'" or "Written in Reverse."

Mark David Ashworth

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Mark David Ashworth

Album: Bright Is the Ring of Words

Label: Autobus

Genre: Folk/Alternative/Progressive

Comments: Bright Is the Ring of Words, the sophomore effort by Mark David Ashworth, is a complex, lush record that has both a dreamy vibe and an orchestral approach. Ashworth employs classical instrumentation in full effect--think a combination of a less-stylistic Beirut, a bit of Andrew Bird, and recent playlist add Owen Pallett. The record is calming and poetic, if not upbeat--it's certainly music you have to be in the mood to listen to if you want to fully appreciate it, as it's almost deceivingly soft in some respects, but it is quite interesting and lyrical (and speaking of lyrics, some of the songs are in fact poems, by Robert Louis Stevenson and William Carlos Williams). For a starter track, "Pennies", the vibe and instrumentation is pretty indicative of the album as a whole (as is the title track).

Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose

Album: Bridge Carols

Label: Self-released

Genre: Avant Garde/Folk/Rock/Minimalist/Sound

Comments: From the promoter: "Steeped in the fingerpick-guitar rudiments of folk music, inspired by the expressionism of classic jazz vocalists, and finding common ground in the minimalism and ear taunting of the avant garde, Laura Gibson alights ona branch of the music treee that no one else has found."

This is a difficult record to describe. Think of a fusion between an atmospheric sound artist and the slow melodies of honest female folk singer and you will mostly likely imagine what Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose have composed on Bridge Carols. The songs themselves seem elusive in a way, ranging from 55 seconds long to almost 7 minutes in length. The lyrics make either little or no sense, but the words fits the music as they are certianly calming and, for some reason, thought-provoking. Gibson's voice is absolutely a blessing.

Although I know very little about the "sound" genre, Rose's contributions emphasize the honesty and value of Gibson's confident vocals. If you play this record for no other reason than to satisfy your curiousity of such a unique sound, I am sure you won't be displeased. Start with 3, 5 and 6.

Cars & Trains

Add Date: January 26

Artist: Cars & Trains

Album: The Roots, The Leaves

Label: Fake Four Inc.

Genre: Folk, Rock, Electronica

Comments: Cars & Trains seems to be a powerful one-man act. Tom Filepp, a multi-instrumentalist from Portland, Oregon has written and recorded his sophomore album, The Roots, The Laves, that has a comfortably experimental sound to things. From the promoter: "Tom deftly mixes out out-of-the-box electronics and found sounds seamlessly with a myriad of instruments, woodwinds, banjos, acoutsitc guitars, strings and glockenspiel, walking a blurry line tha makes one wonder where exactly the uncommonly organic drum programming ends and the instruments and luchly layered found sounds being." I couldn't describe the album's sound better. For you electronica lovers out there, check out this album to see how great the "uncommonly organic drum programming" sound mixed in with some solid folk songs. For you folk lovers (I use the term "folk" loosely), check out this successful attempt at blending two genres while still holding on to balanced and well-rounded songs. Filepp's voice is mellow and relaxing, his melodies are are equally as meditative. Start with 2, 3, and 5.

Top 5 Adds for January 19

It's that time of the week again. Here's the best new stuff on our playlist:

Beach House

The Watson Twins

JEFF the Brotherhood

The Films

Italian Japanese

And don't excuse: Animal Kingdom, Head for the Hills, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, another Animal Collective release (this one a re-issue)

Beach House

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Beach House

Album: Teen Dream

Label: Sub Pop

Genre: Rock

Comments: 2009 was undoubtedly a banner year for music; is it possible that 2010 could duplicate its predecessor? Here's one key similarity: a record that comes out in January dazzles from start to finish, shows that the band behind it is moving toward pop without sacrificing any artistic merit, and withstands whatever great albums the rest of the year throws at it to take its rightful place on year-end best-of lists. As with Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, that has happened and will happen for Beach House's Teen Dream, the Maryland duo's third full-length, and first for indie superlabel Sub Pop.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will reveal myself as a big fan of Beach House. Devotion, the band's second LP, was my favorite record of 2008. However, when I say that Teen Dream is absolutely terrific from start to finish, I hope that this bias increases my credibility: I had extremely high expectations for the album, and it exceeds them in every way. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have created a work that is as captivating as their first two records, but at the same time more accessible than the poppiest tunes that they'd put out before. As alluringly gloomy as Yellow House--Legrand is a frequent collaborator with Grizzly Bear--or Summer Sun-era Yo La Tengo, this record is still so easy to get into that it's scary. (Devotion was definitely a grower.) Legrand's vocals, which fall somewhere between Nico and Hope Sandoval, are a bit more prominent here, soaring over the band's layers of organ, keyboards, guitar, percussion and bells.

There isn't a weak link on this record, but my favorites were "Norway," "Walk in the Park," "10 Mile Stereo," "Used to Be" and "Silver Soul."

The Watson Twins

Add Date: January 19

Artist: The Watson Twins

Album: Talking to You, Talking to Me

Label: Vanguard

Genre: Rock, pop, folk, soul

Comments: The Watson Twins came to indie rock prominence by singing harmony vocals on Jenny Lewis' first solo record, Rabbit Fur Coat, in 2006. Two years later, they released Fire Songs, a solid collection of folk pop numbers. For those familiar with either of those two records, the classic soul and R&B that the duo incorporates on Talking to You, Talking to Me might seem like a sea change. But, though the style is different, the basic elements that make The Watson Twins work--the intertwining vocals of Chandra and Leigh, as well as the twins' songwriting ability--are still very much in play here. In fact, the soul highlights their singing ability even more. Check out "Modern Man," "Calling Out," "Give Me a Chance" and "Savin' You," as well as the folksier "Tell Me Why" and the pop tune "U N Me."

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Album: Live

Label: Vagrant

Genre: Alt-rock

Comments: I am a huge, huge BRMC fan--their style of a bit bluesy, kinda garagey, neo-pysch & hard rock results, in my opinion, a delicious alt-rock confectionary of sounds. The Jesus and Mary Chain links are pretty clear, and other influences are named as the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, and Joy Division---the layers of sounds, feedback, vocals and persistant guitar may not result in an utterly original sound, but the band does an incredible job of honing their style and the results are, in my opinion, fantastic.

This live recording, from the tour corresponding to their Baby 81 record, doesn't fail to disappoint. Although the album isn't as produced or polished as their non-live records, it isn't any less enjoyable, it's just a different vibe. At times moody, distorted, heavy, and psyched out, it's a nice compilations of songs for fans and non-fans alike, all preparing us for their March release of their next cd, "Beat the Devil's Tattoo". Start with tracks 2, 9, 11, and 13.

Head for the Hills

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Head for the Hills

Album: Head for the Hills

Label: Self-released

Genre: Alt-country/folk

Comments: Authentic country/bluegrass fusion is the style of Colorado natives Head for the Hills on their sophmore self-titled record. It's a lovely listening experience, as the band members don't shy away from using their violins, mandolins, bass and guitar, at all--these combined instruments are the highlight of the album. It's nice to hear a "modern" band keep the country/bluegrass style pretty intact while still making music that's contemporary and creative. Start with tracks 1, 3, 6, and 7.

Blockhead

Add Date: 01/19/2010

Artist: Blockhead

Album: The Music Scene

Label: Ninja Tune

Genre: Trip-Hop

Comments: I'll be honest and say that I'm not intricately familiar with most any electronic music, to say nothing of trip-hop. However, I do know what I like, and I like this.

Blockhead is the artist name of Anthony Simon, who is probably best known for doing the production rock for Aesop Rock. As opposed to the whole indie rap aspect of Aesop Rock, Blockhead is primarily sample-based, with an emphasis on changing the entire structure of the song right when things are starting to settle into a fairly predictable pattern. This is seen in the first track, "It's Raining Clouds," which starts out in a drowsy downtempo opening to a jittery drums and bass clusterduck. Probably the best song (though, as always, FCC-prohibited and seven minutes), is "The Daily Routine," which is a pleasantly disturbing instrumental over a drug addicted couple arguing. I also support "Four Walls," which is Blockhead's subtle parody/attack on the recent spite of Autotune doing its best to make pop music awful as shit.

The Lost Fingers

Add Date: January 19

Artist: The Lost Fingers

Album: Lost in the 80's

Label: Tandem.mu/SIN

Genre: Pop, Jazz

Comments: From the promoter: "The Lost Fingers, a contemporary jazzed-out trip from Canada, offer an unabashed collection of classic songs from the Eighties with their upcoming debut album, Lost in the 80's. The Lost Fingers stake their claim in creativity by resurrecting hits from such artists as George Michael, Technotronic, AC/DC, Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi, but with an unexpected twist."

Well, it's certainly original. Hear your eighties favorites done in a Django Reinhardt-esque 1930's hot jazz sound! The Lost Fingers may be the best/worst band ever to play at your wedding/Bar Mitzvah! Try "You Shook Me All Night Long."

The Syndicate

Moss Bluff

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Moss Bluff

Album: Boxed In

Label: Self-released

Genre: Alternative

Comments: From the promoter: "Sprouting from east Hollywood alleys in Los Angeles, CA, Moss Bluff mash Florida roots with 90's alternative, experimental folk, and dub basslines in this indie war-time LP Boxed In."

Super-long 90's style outros and a comfortable adult alt feel. The raspy vocals on the third track, "Arm in the Sun," actually reminded me a bit of The National.

Tinderbox

Coolzey

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Coolzey

Album: The Honey

Label: Public School

Genre: Hip Hop

Comments: From the promoter: "Hailing from the middle of the USA, emcee Coolzey is preparing his genre-breaking debut album, The Honey on his own label, public School Records. Coolzey's 10-track collection features Raashan Ahmad (Crown City Rockers), Sadat X, Copywrite, and William Elliott Whitmore. Coolzey's storytelling flow is matched with heavily layered, cinematic beats that utilize everything from guitars to brass-instruments."

Check out "Little by Little"-- but be sure to play it off the clean-edit CD.

Terrorbird

A-Frames/Climax Golden Twins

Add Date: January 19

Artist: A-Frames/Climax Golden Twins

Album: AFCGT

Label: Sub Pop

Genre: Rock (see comments)

Comments: From Sub Pop (best I've seen in a while): "Drooling Hillbilly Metal, Sea Urchin Psychedelia, Yukon Freak Thrash, and Beatnik Swamp Drone are musical genres, like dozens of others, which are in the infancy of their developments. Yet someone has finally harnessed the inside track to claiming a few of these elusive styles as their own creations. AFCGT is a rather convenient vernacular for 'A-Frames' and 'Climax Golden Twins' but if you're hopeful that the usual sources are stocked with facts and figures about this outfit, think again. There's not much information available on AFCGT. I remember those slow, manageable, pastoral times before the internet spy cam invaded our cerebral cortex when we had to depend on out own imagination and intuition to guide us. And just like the tail end of those glory days when cell phones were the size of a breadbox, if you want to get all up inside this AFCGT and handpick a quick fact or two, you'll get your right arm sawed-off by razor-sharp rhythmic white noise. The cretinous calliope that is AFCGT descends from a decrepit longhouse on the shores of a dark lake where the self-inflicted wounds from a windy-forest of flailing, whipping branches gave birth to the white heat oddities from their self-titles new album on Sub Pop Records. ... With 3 electric guitars, a bass guitar, and a drum kit they manage to emulate the decaying soundtrack of an international airport with all the trimmings; accidental runway collisions, air traffic control extremism, unauthorized handling of cargo, and bitching passengers at checkpoint screenings. I heard a couple of them used to work with torches deep inside jet engines at Boeing's secret facility up north and all but lost their hearing because of it. That may help explain the loud racket these guys make but truly, all one can do is speculate."

Super raw, super inaccessible, noisy rock. I felt "Legged Dog," a real ten-minute odyssey of racket and drone.

AAM

Various Artists

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Various Artists

Album: Casual Victim Pile

Label: Matador

Genre: Indie, Punk

Comments: One of the things I love about punk music is that while shitty amateur indie is basically awful without any redeeming qualities, as long as a punk band knows how to hit a guitar and limit their tracks to a minute, their music is pretty fun to jam out to. Casual Victim Pile, which is an anagram for something, is Matador's collection of up and coming talent from Austin. While there's a few quiet songs on the album, the dominant sound is classic punk rock (though this ranges from proto-punk ala the Modern Lovers to LA hardcore influences). Some highlights:

Tre Orsi - The Engineer (Track 6): Probably the closest thing to straight indie, but there's something I really like about it.
Kingdom of Suicide Lovers - Hoboken Snow (Track 8): According to the facesheet, this band features members from some vaguely known band, and it sort of shows, in that it's definitely the sleekest song on the album. It's mostly a complete, if competently done, of every Sonic Youth song you've ever heard, for better or worse.
Harlem - Beautiful and Very Smart (Track 13): Probably my favorite song in the album, though I'll probably be in the minority for that. But I can't resist a good chorus line, and this song blew my mind on that count.
The Stuffies - No One's Gonna Miss You (Track 14) - Probably the best "fast-paced" punk song in the whole mix.

Animal Kingdom

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Animal Kingdom

Album: Signs and Wonders

Label: Warner Music UK

Genre: Indie, Britpop

Comments: I'm gonna be honest here. I'm a little scared of this band. Basically no one has heard of this band, but despite that, their initial debut album is being put out by Warner, and they were rated as the "Best New Indie Artist" on iTunes. Music reviewers are absolutely berzerk in their references obscure/not obscure bands (such as the Guardian, which referred to Animal Collective, Mew, Sigur Ros, Coldplay, and Snow Patrol in two sentences) in the review of this band. I feel like that if you buy the album, you get a free bar code tattooed on your forehead.

Really, what this band is could be encapsulated as a fairly shameless attempt by Warner to combine easy pop/arena music into with something people would describe as "challenging." It's basically Coldplay with a few more minor chords at its worst, but honestly, their best songs aren't any less artistic than the vast morass of indie. However, there's two massive problems: first, their name is highly reminiscent of the current music scene's most oversaturated artist (though my most cynical side is guessing that this was intentional). Secondly, the voice is, for lack of a better term, utterly awful. I didn't notice it during the first few songs (which are standard pop rock anthems put through an indie filter), but as the songs got a little more thoughtful, and I started to think "hey maybe this isn't so awful" I began to hear the voice a little more clearly.

Seriously, compare this with this, and hate me forever for ruining this band.

Motion City Soundtrack

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Motion City Soundtrack

Album: My Dinosaur Life

Label: Columbia

Genre: Rock

Comments: Motion City Soundtrack have been around for quite some time (remember "I Am the Movie" and when they were on Epitaph?), and their latest release will be familiar to many of us--My Dinosaur Life is upbeat pop-punk, with typical earnest/pronounced vocals combined with layered guitar riffs and aggressive drums. It's pretty true to the genre, so if that's your scene, start with tracks 4 and 8 ("Pulp Fiction", a catchy riff-happy throwback that sounds, according to SPIN and my ears, "like the older brother of Eve 6's late-'90s gem "Inside Out"--seriously).

Porcupine

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Porcupine

Album: The Trouble With You

Label: Blue Worm Label

Genre: Rock

Comments: The Queens of the Stone Age vibe found on Porcupine's album The Trouble With You is pretty undeniable, but not to ill effect. There's a slightly messy, loose quality to the record (and the first half is more successful than the second), but the solid drums and bass keep the sound modern. A bit quirky, it's upbeat pop rock--start with tracks 2 and 4.

Italian Japanese

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Italian Japanese

Album: The Lush, Romantic Weirdness

Label: VMG

Genre: Alt-Rock

Comments: Melodic and polished, the album The Lush, Romantic Weirdness from impromptu SXSW performers Italian Japanese is a chilled out, slightly dense, but still catchy collection of eleven songs. The guitar occassionally gets an Interpol-esque feel, but the almost emotional quality of the vocals distinguishes the band as quite different overall. Track 8 ("Jaguar Paw") is a standout, with upbeat guitar and solid and steady rhythms; also check out track 3 ("Le Pony").

Tinderbox

Animal Collective

Add Date: 1/19/10

Artist: Animal Collective

Album: Campfire Songs (reissue)

Label: Paw Tracks

Genre: unclassifiable

Comments: From the promoter:
"The stellar re-issue of Animal Collective's 20003 outdoor pow-wow is back! After going out of print in 2008, Campfire Songs is brought back to life via Paw Tracks giving old and new fans the chance to dig into Animal Collective's back catalog. Recorded in a single session in rural Maryland, each eclectic tune aims to warm the spirit and mind with inviting acoustics backed by Panda Bear's smooth vocals to the sound of simple nature as time slowly passes by. After a groundbreaking 2009, Campfire Songs comes as a nice reminder showing uss how many steps forward AC has taken in the span of a single decade."

While none of these ephemeral tracks are as radio-ready as recent releases, Merriweather Post Pavilion or "What Would I Want? Sky," Campfire Songs is a must-listen for any Animal Collective fan. It's really interesting to remember just how weird and ambient they were and to recognize how delightfully earnest they are across all styles. Each song is glowing, inviting, and intriguing-- but I'd especially recommend "Queen In My Pictures."

Terrorbird

JEFF the Brotherhood

Add Date: January 19

Artist: JEFF the Brotherhood

Album: Heavy Days

Label: Infinity Cat

Genre: Rock

Comments: From the promoter: "JEFF the Brotherhood is Jake and Jamin Orrall, two Nashville-based brothers having a good time making music that lies somewhere between 70s metal and 80s heavy punk rock, recalling early Sonic Youth and the Wipers. Through the brothers have been playing music for a while, with Jamin earning his beginnings in Be Your Own Pet, this is the band's sixth album together since 2001 but the first they're pushing on a national level. Known for their phenomenal live shows and kick ass rocking out in leather pants, JEFF the Brotehrhood will win you over." (Terrorbird)

Punchy energetic rock with a distinct old-school feel. Recommended if you like Eagles of Death Metal, The Ramones, or Talking Heads. Go to "U Got the Look" or "Bone Jam."

The Films

Add Date: January 19

Artist: The Films

Album: Oh, Scorpio

Label: Self-released

Genre: Pop, Rock

Comments: From iTunes: "Like a New Romantic version of The Shins... the pomp and swagger of a Suede hit and the self-deprecating wit of a Nick Cave tune. The kind of insta-hit that would have raised the eyebrows of the late, great John Peel. American indie Anglophiles needn't look across the pond for a good soundtrack to the glamorous life."

This is good, fun, catchy stuff that's sure to put a little bounce in your step. Check out the upbeat "Completely Replaceable" if you like The Strokes or Arctic Monkeys. I also liked "Pour it Out" with its long slow strides and classic-rock feel.

Vitriol

The Hipstones

Add Date: January 19

Artist: The Hipstones

Album: Dreamers

Label: Self-released

Genre: R&B

Comments: The Hipstones have a "great love of the American soul, funk and jazz traditions" and make very smooth grooves. Check out the title track.

Guante & Big Cats!

Add Date: January 19

Artist: Guante & Big Cats

Album: An Unwelcome Guest

Label: Tru Ruts

Genre: Hip hop

Comments: From the promoter: "An Unwelcome Guest is a hip hop concept album from Twin Cities producer Big Cats! and rapper Guante. Over fiftenn tracks, the album tells the story of one man moving from east to west in the wake of a man-made disaster and his own personal tragedy. Also, there are zombies. ... Together Guante and Big Cats! have created an album that is unapologetically political, unflinchingly descriptive and undeniably ambitious. ... This is hip hop as high art, but its also high art as love story about zombies and superpowers and post-apolcalyptic America."

Well engineered. Check out "Welcome to the Border" if you like Brother Ali. "The National Anthem" is also solid.

Tinderbox

Best New Music

Welcome back, DJs, and hello to you new folks out there. Here's what's at the top of list as far as new music on our playlist adding this week:

Vampire Weekend
Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy)
Dawn Landes
Oh No Ono
Ólöf Arnalds

Also check out: Retribution Gospel Choir, Molina and Johnson, Asobi Seksu, Woodpigeon, The Scruffs, Spoon's new single

Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy)

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy)

Album: Heartland

Label: Domino

Genre: Rock, orchestral pop, indie pop

Comments: Composer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Owen Pallett returns with Heartland, his third LP overall and first for Domino (Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Arctic Monkeys). Although his nom de tune Final Fantasy appears on the album spine, Pallett is now using his given name; someone tells me there's a video game series by the same name, which might have a copyright on the moniker. Regardless, this is certainly his most accessible, and possibly finest, work to date. Pallett's mix of strings and electronics, combined with his songwriting skills, will appeal to fans of Beirut, Jens Lekman and Andrew Bird. Check out the upbeat synth lines on "The Great Elsewhere" and "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt," as well as the chamber pop numbers "Lewis Takes Action" and "Keep the Dog Quiet."

Blue Eyed Shark Experiment

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Blue Eyed Shark Experiment

Album: Aun Aprendo (I'm Still Learning)

Label: Sidewalk 7

Genre: Experimental

Comments: Although only four tracks, the Blue Eyed Shark Experiments' EP Aun Aprendo (I'm Still Learning) is an interesting combination of sounds. "Generation", the opener, is a clean electro ditty with some spoken vocals, while the closer "Rain" is a catchy piano pop tune. The electronic elements are a constant (and the piano makes a couple of appearances), but the songs aren't formulaic. Try track two.

Mascara

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Mascara

Album: Fountain of Tears

Label: Mr. Fibuli's

Genre: Rock

Comments: Mascara (named after frontman Chris Mascara...yes, that's his actual last name) brings moody rock to the forefront on their newest release, Fountain of Tears. Although styles on individual tracks range from slightly grunge to almost glam, the powerful and persistent vocals of Christ Mascara keep the record on track. Additionally, despite the variety of styles, the record never feels messy. Start with tracks 1 and 2.

Ólöf Arnalds

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Ólöf Arnalds

Album: Við Og Við

Label: One Little Indian

Genre: Folk

Comments: Ólöf Arnalds (of semi-recent playlist darlings Múm) delivers an enchanting record of spare acoustic numbers that sound like they could be the demos of a Joanna Newsom record (and be on the lookout for that actual record later this year). Arnalds is Icelandic, which is very apparent upon first listen to the words of Við Og Við, but don't let the language barrier keep you away: This is wonderful music that has already been circulating across the sea and Arnalds has already played with folks like Blonde Redhead, The Dirty Projectors, and fellow Icelandar Björk.

The first three tracks are sad and lilting, but listen to the record all the way through and you will not be disappointed. This is the kind of stuff that Starbucks wishes it could sell at its stores. I don't even mind hunting through the character map on my computer to be faithful to the Icelandic language, since Arnalds sings it so well.

[Note: Ólöf is pronounced "O-luff" and the album's title is "Veeth o' Veeth"]

Eleven Fingered Charlie

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Eleven Fingered Charlie

Album: Patterns

Label: Self-released

Genre: Rock, Reggae

Comments: Rock/Reggae out of Austin, TX with a professional sheen. For fans of Sublime.

Tinderbox

The Scruffs

Add Date: January 12

Artist: The Scruffs

Album: Conquest

Label: Scruffsville?

Genre: Pop rock, power pop

Comments: While Vampire Weekend will likely occupy the attention of many of our DJs this week, don't let this fine record from The Scruffs pass you by. This Memphis-based group has been making music together since the mid-seventies (though the official group broke up in 1979, frontman Stephen Burns has been releasing records with The Scruffs name for decades) and Conquest is no exception to their prim and polished brand of power pop. And since the band features members of Belle & Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub, and Big Star, they should know a thing or two about pop music.

Polite, perky, and to the point (only toward the close of the record do the songs stretch past the 4-minute mark), give "The Radio Song" or "One More You" a spin.

Woodpigeon

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Woodpigeon

Album: Die Stadt Muzikanten

Label: Boompa

Genre: Pop

Comments: From the label: "Woodpigeon is more than just the most beautiful word in the English language, although that’s precisely why it was chosen by songwriter Mark Hamilton as the moniker for his pretty-pretty-pop project. ... Woodpigeon’s preferred habitat is slightly spooky places (friendly ghosts only) with natural reverb, with nearby vintage mellotrons and echoing stairwells, and perhaps a gaggle of singing children when feeling maudlin. They rock out on harpsichords and wrench tears out of guitars before playing them damp. Bells, whistles, handclaps – all the aural tchotchkes are enlisted to serve the song, wherever they can brighten a melody or limn a mournful line. Girlish voices become instruments, while Mark’s lonely choirboy vocals – somehow, impossibly, lodged in a lumberjack-ish bear of a man – sound uncannily like they’re being sung directly into your ear. You can almost feel his warm minty breath."

For fans of The Acorn, The A-Sides, and Real Estate. Check out "The Street Noise Gives You Away" or "Empty-Hall Sing-Along."

Vitriol

Oh No Ono

Add Date: 1/12/10

Artist: Oh No Ono

Album: Eggs

Label: Friendly Fire

Genre: Pop, Experimental Pop

Comments: "Oh No Ono is a Danish experimental pop quartet whose intricate and other-worldly music defies conventions and expectations. The ten dense, hypertextured sour-sweet-sad opuses found on their US debut album Eggs, are truly breathtaking to behold; the band creates bewitching pop symphonies that unfold themselves more with each successive listen. Eggs' vivacious, even lusty approach to songcraft is the trademark of a band determined to approach pop music via the hard road, without ever losing track of the fact that they are creating pop music."

I loved "Helplessly Young" (which reminds me of Santogold), the slower shimmery "The Wave Ballet" and the crazy pop falsettos on "The Tea Party." Check the album out if you like Animal Collective, Octopus Project, or Apples in Stereo.

Terrorbird

The Twilight Hours

Add Date: January 12

Artist: The Twilight Hours

Album: Stereo Night

Label: Princess

Genre: Pop

Comments: The Twilight Hours is composed of two middle-aged Minneapolis guys who have been working the music scene since the late '80s (one was actually a member of Semisonic). Now they make fairly sentimental adult pop which, while generally a bit grating in its floweriness, does have promise on a couple of tracks. I liked "Stay With You," even if the end is reminiscent of the dragging outros of the '90s. Cute nonetheless in a Shins, Flaming Lips (Soft Bulletin), or Beulah sort of way.

Tinderbox

Dessa

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Dessa

Album: A Badly Broken Code

Label: Doomtree

Genre: Hip Hop

Comments: Credited by Minnesota Public Radio as "combining the dry wit of Dorothy Parker with the beat of Mos Def," Dessa dishes up thoughtful, well-crafted hip-hop on her album A Badly Broken Code. Her poetic lyrics are unite the varied songs. Go to "The Chaconne," described as "pensive and beautiful" or "The Crow" which has "aggressive drums, distant organ melodies, & ... haunting sung choruses." She's currently on tour with P.O.S.

Editors

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Editors

Album: In This Light and On This Evening

Label: Faderlabel

Genre: Rock, post-punk

Comments: While my co-host Kimber is a champion for Editors's (they make it abundantly clear that they are not "The" Editors) cause, I'm not as easily persuaded by these watered-down Joy Division rip-off artists, a "quality" which is even more abundant on In This Light and On This Evening. Plenty of synthesizers, murky bass lines, and deep spoken-word-esque vocals, but I'd say Interpol did it better. "Bricks and Mortar" builds (I couldn't resist) into something pretty catchy, but strays just past the six-minute mark, not exactly kosher for a pop song. Call me snarky, but I guess it's redeeming if fans of the band will find their way to Ian Curtis's far superior group through them. Silver lining.

Vampire Weekend

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Vampire Weekend

Album: Contra

Label: XL

Genre: Indie rock, Afro-pop

Comments: A lot of people go either way on Vampire Weekend: some folks appreciate these Ivy-League prepsters as they question the importance of the Oxford comma [on a personal level, I'm a steadfast defender of it] and somehow seamlessly pair the words "Cape Cod" and "Kwassa Kwassa;" others blast them for their pretentiousness and seem to think that the group's 2008 debut is little more than a disingenuous mimicking of Paul Simon's Graceland. Preps who sing songs about preppy things hardly seems like a cause to champion (unless, of course, you attend Washington and Lee).

But it's less the General and more the English major in me that absolutely loves Vampire Weekend's unique blend of guitar-plucking keyboard-twiddling percussive indie pop. As a sophomore record, Contra strikes the fine balance between reprising what the group did so well on its debut and truly developing the Afro-pop sound. To me, this record seems more delicately arranged, with parts complementing parts and weaving together into a unified whole that's short and sharp.

Kick-off track "Horchata" builds and bumps along; "White Sky" rides a wave of video-game keyboards before lead singer Ezra Koenig lets his voice twist and twirl and wail with joy, or whatever emotion you want to call it; "California English" is quick and clever, with only a touch of Auto-Tune. Other fine tracks include "Taxi Cab," which could be a Ra Ra Riot tune, and the warming "Giving Up The Gun," which is less choppy and angular than some of the band's previous work.

Fans of Wes Anderson's musical tastes will enjoy. And anyone who liked Koenig's contributions to The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa record from last year will find some lovely tracks on Contra. And in a nod to pretentiousness, The New Yorker did a fine profile of VW earlier this month, if you can get your hands on that.

Retribution Gospel Choir

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Retribution Gospel Choir

Album: 2

Label: Sub Pop

Genre: Rock, psych rock

Comments: Retribution Gospel Choir is Alan Sparhawk's outlet for making bona fide rock music--something that he rarely gets to do with his other band, experimental pop masters Low. RGC's Sub Pop debut, 2, is a fine collection of psychedelia-laced rock songs. Many of them are poppy and upbeat, including killer lead track "Hide It Away," "Poor Man's Daughter" and "Your Bird"; others are drawn-out psych jams, like "Electric Guitar." All are very good.

Tempo No Tempo

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Tempo No Tempo

Album: Waking Heat

Label: Self-released

Genre: Rock, post-punk

Comments: From the promoter: "Armed with a love of worldly grooves and a lean, gritty take on post-punk, the Bay Area-based trio Tempo No Tempo combine tightly wound guitars, dubby melodic basslines, and crazy polyrhythms. Paced by their restraint and rhythmic prowess, ideas are fleshed out over terse beats and angular melodies. The band has been described by some as tropi-punk or tribal new wave." Check out "Pole Position," "Get Down, Stay Down" and "The Rat (Part One)."

Asobi Seksu

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Asobi Seksu

Album: Rewolf

Label: Polyvinyl

Genre: Rock, dream pop, indie pop

Comments: Here's an interesting concept for an album: re-record your My Bloody Valentine-influenced, wall-of-noise shoegaze pop songs as folk ballads. Essentially, that's what New York's Asobi Seksu has done for Rewolf, the band's second LP for Polyvinyl (of Montreal, Japandroids, Architecture in Helsinki) and fourth overall album. Though the sonic difference can be disconcerting to people who have followed the band over the last few years--especially for someone who, like me, saw their wonderfully loud live show in support of the 2006 issue Citrus--the quieter arrangements really suit Yuki Chukidate's beautiful, ethereal voice. Asobi Seksu reinvented themselves for last year's dreamier, poppier Hush (which saw a foursome slimmed down to the duo of Yuki and James Hanna), and Rewolf is an attempt to reimagine the band's past work with their current lineup and style. Check out "New Years," "Walk on the Moon" and the Hope Sandoval cover "Suzanne."

Dawn Landes

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Dawn Landes

Album: Sweet Heart Rodeo

Label: Cooking Vinyl

Genre: Alt-country, folk pop

Comments: Another fine record from New York-based musician Dawn Landes, whose music straddles the line between bluesy alternative country (check out excellent album opener "Young Girl" and "Sweetheart of the Rodeo") and quieter, more intricate folksy numbers ("Money in the Bank," "Wandering Eye," "Little Miss Holiday"). Oddly, the first single from Sweet Heart Rodeo is "Romeo," a forgettable attempt at a straight-up pop song. Fortunately, that's the only misstep on an album that is otherwise very enjoyable. For fans of Amy Millan, Patty Griffin and Landes' husband, Josh Ritter.