Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up

Julie Doiron's first solo record in nearly three years, Woke Myself Up is an unofficial reunion of her 1990s dream pop band Eric's Trip, with all the members of that long-since defunct band regrouping to back Doiron's delicate and warm-hearted tunes. Doiron has grown into a compelling indie-folk songwriter, with haunting minor-key tunes that mesh perfectly with the confessional, poetic lyrics of songs like the yearning title track. Although this is a gentle album on the surface, the chaotic emotions of Doiron's compelling songs are soon enough revealed.

Devendra Banhart - Nino Rojo

With Nino Rojo San Francisco Bay Area neo-folkster Devendra Banhart brings forth a companion to his acclaimed Rejoicing In The Hands, released earlier in 2004. Sitting barefoot by the metaphorical campfire next to Beck, Tiny Tim, Karen Dalton, and Vincent Gallo, Banhart plays acoustic guitar and sings in a manner that's quirky, catchy, and a bit spooky. Here the tunes range from loopy ditties ("We All Know"), warbled mantras ("Ay Mama"), and half-crooned/half-whispered sing-alongs ("A Ribbon") to works that include a little help from his likeminded friends, including Vetiver's Andy Cabic ("At the Hop").

"Little Yellow Spider" comes off like a perverse Raffi record, as interpreted by Mississippi Fred McDowell. Later, Banhart channels the vocals of both Blind Willie McTell and Marc Bolan for "Noah," which includes whistling and a mournful piano. The enhanced CD presents a great, "psychedelicized" video of Devendra and friends jamming on "At the Hop," which will surely cause pleasant flashbacks for anyone who's ever spent a weekend in a woodsy cabin full of hippies.

National - Alligator

The National's debut for Beggars Banquet Records boasts eloquent production and some of frontman Matt Berninger's finest songs. The Brooklyn band's sound includes elements of folk and swirling indie rock, with Berninger's literate, emotive tunes drawing heavily on the tradition of melancholic singer/songwriters. On "Daughters of the Soho Riots," Berninger's baritone croon recalls Gordon Lightfoot, yet his lyrics are incisive, confessional, and decidedly contemporary. The combination of surreal imagery and genuine pathos in "Baby, We'll Be Fine" (expressed in the song's repeated refrain) is also representative of Berninger's craft.

Two pairs of brothers--Aaron and Bryce Dessner (guitars) and Scott and Bryan Devendorf (bass and drums, respectively)--keep things alternately chiming, churning, and appropriately atmospheric. The startling relationship sketch "Karen," for example, rides a light rock pulse dominated by piano and augmented by strings, making it one of the album's shining moments. "All the Wine" turns Berninger's usually dark self-exploration on its head with its semi-ironic self-aggrandizement. Alligator's 13 tracks testify to the National's standing as one of the more distinctive and absorbing bands around.

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Beta Band - Heroes To Zeros

Scotland's Beta Band made their name at the tail end of the 1990s by mixing contemporary electronic production techniques with '60s/'70s prog/psych influences and utilizing an inclusive and eclectic post-Beck aesthetic. Three albums in, they're still mixing and matching like drug-addled patchwork quilters; funky synth bass rubs up against Beach Boys-like harmonies and jangling Britpop guitars, while a penchant for sonic experimentalism nestles with surprising ease alongside more conventional songwriting values. Despite the gloriously hither-and-yon approach, though, there's more of a consistent and substantive feel on Heroes To Zeros than could be found on its predecessor, Hot Shots II, boding well for the group's longevity.

Xiu Xiu - Knife Play

I'm tempted to favor the strangest turns, as on the Thighpaulsandra-esque "Homonculus," where dissonant piano figures are obliterated by crunchy bass bombs. But the piece that seems to resonate with everyone the most is "Suha," a relatively straightforward ballad about a mother who is going to hang herself; it's stark enough to make you start eyeing your own wrists. The band admits that most of their material is directly autobiographical, and a dark, voyeuristic pleasure enters play when you realize that Stewart's addressing other band members in a few of the songs. That ability to marry oblique sounds and a sense of mystery to a sentimental, personal narrative makes these patchwork vignettes incredibly affecting, and it's no wonder that the disc scans as a bizarre love child of synth-pop, no wave and goth. So *screw* your 'art damage' and your 'pathetic self-pity.' Intensity this overwhelming makes you reevaluate your opinion on what emotions music has the right to explore. Knife Play may have its weaknesses, but it's oddly cathartic to immerse yourself in, peeling back layer after layer.

Primal Scream - Screamadelica

Primal Scream's understanding of rock's varied vistas is encapsulated on this release. At its core are a series of dance-oriented tracks that broach several musical barriers. Samples, tape loops, dub and plangent chords gel together over various grooves, at times uplifting, at others ambient. Mixmasters Terry Farley and Andy Weatherall add different perspectives to individual tracks, with gospel choirs, pumping brass and spaceward basslines bubbling around several selections. Former Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller generated the spirit of Beggars Banquet for the rousing "Movin' On Up," while elsewhere the group imply acknowledgement to talismen the Beach Boys and Big Star. Screamadelica is the ultimate confluence of rock and rave cultures.

Low - Things We Lost In The Fire

Rating: 8.7
When Low emerged from snowy Duluth, Minnesota with their 1994 Kramer-produced debut, I Could Live in Hope, their trudging funeral marches, sparse instrumentation, and Royal Albert Hall production values were strikingly fresh. Though they were preceded in the slowcore movement by earlier innovators like Galaxie 500 and Codeine, it was Low that defined the genre's sound.

Of course, by their third album, 1996's The Curtain Hits the Cast, the formula began to wear thin. New producer Steve Fisk brought little to the trio's sound, which remained virtually unchanged. While Low turned out a few great songs on the record-- namely, "Anon," "Over the Ocean," and "Lust"-- the near-Canadians failed to branch out, save for the 15-minute jam session "Do You Know How to Waltz?"

Low began loosely experimenting on 1998's Songs for a Dead Pilot EP, but returned to less adventurous songwriting the following year with the full-length Secret Name. The album sported crisper, less dramatic production, but failed to deviate from the concept the band had begun with five years earlier. Regardless, the songs were of a similar caliber to those on previous outings, and a whole legion of new fans sprung up.

read the entire pitchfork review