Phoenix -
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Glassnote

Au Revoir Simone -
Still Night, Still Light
Our Secret Record Company

The Crystal Method -
Divided By Night
Ingrooves

PJ Harvey and John Parish -
A Man, A Woman Walked By
Islands Records

While it's true that you have to wait for inspiration to strike, there's comfort in knowing it will inevitably arise - or so goes the logic behind the epic recording process of French pop group Phoenix's (Perhaps you caught their amazing Saturday Night Live performance?) new studio album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. "We spent a long time waiting for the chemical reaction," says guitarist Laurent Brancowitz, "that moment when a song isn't just the sum of all of our parts, but it's something more." Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix features the band's signature melding of synthetics and organics, of sharp, danceable rhythms and intense guitars, of effortless melody with a considerable dose of aural panache. You need this.

Indie pop darlings Au Revoir Simone follow up their critically acclaimed The Bird of Music with their third release, Still Night, Still Light. Lush, intricately arranged keyboard sounds create a backdrop for the ladies' beautiful vocal harmonies in a soundscape ranging from the intimately delicate to the powerfully psychedelic. Still Night, Still Light is a warm, circuitous current of energy that is gorgeously incandescent and instantly familiar.

Divided By Night is easily The Crystal Method's most inventive and accomplished offering to date. The momentous first single "Drown in the Now," The Crystal Method's infectious collaboration with mic master Matisyahu makes a unique and memorable musical statement alone. Elsewhere, "Kling to the Wreckage" is equally breathtaking, albeit remarkably different, as She Wants Revenge frontman Justin Warfield puts his fiercely awesome delivery atop an exhilarating soundscape. Other guests include New Order bassist Peter Hook (on the groove-laden "Gloomy"), Metric front-woman Emily Haines and one-time Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle (on the optimistic "Slipstream").

A Woman, A Man Walked By is the second collaborative album from PJ Harvey and long-time associate John Parish (in case you forgot, their previous outing was the lovely Dance Hall at Louse Point). The album was mixed by Flood, another old friend with whom Parish and Harvey last worked together on White Chalk.   The three collaborated for the first time more than a decade earlier on Harvey's third studio album, her 1995 break­through To Bring You My Love. Do you need this? Yes. Yes you do.

Iron And Wine -
Around The Well
Sub Pop Records

Depeche Mode -
Sounds of the Universe
Capitol

The Airborne Toxic Event -
The Airborne Toxic Event
Islands Records

James Luther Dickinson -
Dinosaurs Run In Circles
MRI

Collecting songs ranging from out-of-print to never-before-released, Around the Well spans Iron and Wine's earliest sessions which yielded the band's debut (2002's The Creek Drank the Cradle) through material recorded for 2007's The Shepherd's Dog. The first half is an assortment of hushed home recordings, unedited and raw, and the second highlights moments captured in the confines of proper studios with the help of other musicians, friends and engineers. Around the Well also brings together hard-to-find covers such as The Flaming Lips' "Waitin' for a Superman" and New Order's "Love Vigilantes," along with one of Iron and Wine's earliest originals, "Sacred Vision."

The one and only Depeche Mode are back with Sounds Of The Universe, which may just be the band's best work in over a decade. If Playing The Angle, wasn't enough to convince you that the band's creative juices were once again freely flowing, then one spin of new single "Wrong" will eliminate any further doubts. Sounds Of The Universe reunites Depeche Mode with producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Doves, Elbow), who previously produced their 2005 album Playing The Angel, who once again provides a dark, gospel-like atmosphere that, the band had been hinting at for years. The results are as forward-thinking as they are steeped in a starkness that is quintessentially its own.

The Airborne Toxic Event, named after a section of the book White Noise by Don DeLillo, began with just one member, novelist Mikel Jollett. Bombarded with a fistful of bad news, he was inspired to turn his attention from writing prose to writing songs. Four band members later, Airborne had created a harmony of string instruments, keyboards and a standard rock lineup of guitar, drums, and bass. Garnering comparisons to everyone from Modest Mouse and The Arcade Fire to the Clash and U2, the band has become a fixture on the Los Angeles music scene and can only be expected to find its way to the top of the heap - and now with it's eponymous, self-released debut getting a big push, you now have reason to take notice.

Jim Dickinson's third album in as many years, Dinosaurs Run In Circles, is very much a stylistic departure from anything he's previously recorded in a music career that spans five decades. "I'm so old that my musical tastes developed before there was rock and roll," Jim explains. "This is the music that's in my heart."  This is an album not specifically of standards but, rather, a collection of songs that have been around a long, long time and offer something evocative, recalling a time when a voice and piano were entertainment enough for a young boy growing up in the Deep South. It's pop music in its purest, most unfettered incarnation. Because it is so elemental, it can inarguably be considered jazz, roots or blues in light of its elemental.

Passion Pit -
Manners
French Kiss

Taking Back Sunday -
New Again
Warner Brothers

311 -
Uplifter
Sony Music

White Rabbits -
It's Frightening
ATO

Redemption. Paranoia. Guilt. And brief glimpses of a better tomorrow, all cloaked in pop hooks that truly help the medicine go down. What is this? Another lost LP from Brian Wilson's sandbox phase? If only things were that simple. What we're really alluding to here is Passion Pit's first proper full-length, Manners, a bird-flipping break from the blogosphere by a 21 year old with much more on his manic mind than girls, girls, girls. You know, important matters, like the end of the world and learning to love someone other than the man in the mirror. Manners is an irresistible, filler-free glimpse into the mind of a man who'd like to unleash his very own Pet Sounds someday. Check it out!

From the opening title track, an anthemic rocker that recalls U2 circa Boy and October, New Again shows off Taking Back Sunday's broad scope. Throughout the record, the band displays its expanded musical boundaries, bounding from the heavy vocal stylings on the rocking "Catholic Knees," to the engaging pop hooks on "Summer, Man," a song that the band's youthful fans will definitely see themselves in as Lazzara sings, "The summer is over and I doubt I'll be seeing you around." But New Again assures that Taking Back Sunday aren't going anywhere.

Just in time for Summer: Uplifter is the 311's first studio record in three years and its produced by the legendary Bob Rock (who you may remember from that crazy-ass Metallica documentary). As the title suggests, the band's new album is an uplifting collection of 311's trademark blend of rock & reggae; elevated by inspired songwriting, dynamic musicianship and big anthemic choruses. As a treat for fans (and, perhaps, a plea to keep you off Kazaa), a deluxe edition of Uplifter will include a special DVD documentary, "The Road to 311 Day."

Freshly signed to a new label, White Rabbits wasted no time in creating a makeshift studio in their basement rehearsal space to demo new material. After enlisting tourmate, friend and songwriter Britt Daniel (Spoon) as producer, the pair began the process of exchanging demos between Brooklyn and Portland. White Rabbits recorded It's Frightening over the course of four weeks. The sessions, recorded at Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, NY, took special care to recreate the unhinged nature of the original demos. Upon the completion of tracking, White Rabbits traveled to Austin, TX to mix the record with studio wizard Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Trail Of Dead) using his exceptional ears to transform It's Frightening into a uniquely rewarding headphone experience. If it sounds like one of the year's best records, that's because it is.

Stardeath and White Dwarfs -
The Birth
Warner Brothers

mewithoutYou -
it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright.
Tooth & Nail

Cracker -
Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey
429 Records

Dane Cook -
ISolated INcident
Comedy Central Records

A lot has been made of the connection between Stardeath and  White Dwarfs and The Flaming Lips, so let's go ahead and get that out of the way so we can move on. Yes, they are from Oklahoma... And, yes, head Dwarf, Dennis Coyne, is the nephew of head Lip, Wayne Coyne. They also collaborated with the Lips on a cover of Madonna's "Borderline" that people seem to be taking quite a shine to. The Birth gets inside your brain and takes you over for 35 minutes. These boys have studied at the metaphorical feet of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Glen Campbell, Pink Floyd, Sly & The Family Stone, Elton John, Dr. Dre and the Butthole Surfers (among others), and all disparate influences have all rattled around their caffeine and THC-riddled brains and come out through their voices and instruments in a way that sounds completely fucked up and unique.

Fans have long anticipated the fourth wake-up call from mewithoutYou, it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright. Surprises abound: Much of the mewithoutYou anguish of old has given way to a sense of gentle wonder, as on the celebratory "Timothy Hay" and "A Stick a Carrot and a String." Jehanian, Mazzotta, Mike Weiss, and a whole slew of guest musicians have unearthed strange and beautiful sounds that accompany the album's many marvels. That's not to say that this album is afraid of the dark. "The Angel of Death Came to David's Room" is a stark treatise about where we're all headed, and "The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate" recounts an old fable about the blistering fate that awaits the fearless truth-seeker. So, to sum up: The title says it all. Check it out!

Cracker are back with Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey-- a rich new trove of sharp-witted songs showcases a bristling, late 70's - early 80's power pop punk aesthetic which hits as hard as it did at the band's formation 17 years ago. Eight albums (one platinum and three gold) and a barrel full of anthemic hit songs later, Cracker endures, using their ability to weave decades of influences into an album that is seamlessly riveting. With Sunrise... Cracker train a watchful eye on the current socio-musical landscape as they weave an eerie yet strangely soothing story of escapism, apocalypse and renewal. John Doe, Patterson Hood, and Adam Duritz all guest.

Dane Cook scores a double play with his CD/DVD ISolated INcident. The two-disc set contains a full-length CD of his best new material (which premiered on Comedy Central) as well as seven bonus tracks of additional material. The second disc is a DVD featuring an hour-long documentary on the making of the album and well as the outrageous promo for his special. This intimate show was performed in a nightclub atmosphere in which Cook shared the audience's energy in a real-time performance without a safety net. Here, he showcases a darker and more personal set with cutting edge material that pushes the envelope. So stop making fun of his jeans!

Parachute -
Losing Sleep
Mercury Records

Buckwheat Zydeco -
Lay Your Burden Down
Alligator Records

Meat Puppets -
Sewn Together
MRI

Iggy Pop -
Preliminaires
Astralwerks

Mixing full-throttle rock with dollops of blue-eyed soul, vintage R&B and melodic pop radio anthems in-the-making, Parachute has arrived. Losing Sleep takes off from the individual members' shared histories, from "She Is Love," the ballad torch song and first single, with its Van Morrison-like scatting by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist and piano player Will Anderson, to Nate McFarland's chiming, The Edge-styled chunks of guitar laced through "Back Again," "Under Control," "Ghost," "Words Meet Heartbeats" and "All That I Am." Parachute is music intended for a happy landing. (wink / nudge)

Lay Your Burden Down is the most ambitious, deepest and varied recording of Buckwheat Zydeco's career. It is a remarkably conceived, rocking album featuring five new Buckwheat originals and complete reinventions of songs by Memphis Minnie (When The Levee Breaks, made famous by Led Zeppelin), Bruce Springsteen (Back In Your Arms), Gov't Mule (Lay Your Burden Down), Captain Beefheart (Too Much Time), Jimmy Cliff (Let Your Yeah Be Yeah) and JJ Grey & Mofro (The Wrong Side). Guests on the album include Sonny Landreth, Warren Haynes, Steve Berlin, JJ Grey and Trombone Shorty.

Out of all of the bands that made SST Records a towering force in the American underground during the mid-'80s, the Meat Puppets lasted the longest, surviving where other bands fell apart. Their seminalalbum, Meat Puppets II, was a well-known love of Kurt Cobain's life, and that fact helped our heroes garner mainstream success... Only to see it disappear under dark, dark circumstances. But the 2007 album, Rise To Your Knees, was filled with renewed vigor -- of which fans and critics took notice. And with Sewn Together the promise has been delivered. Whether you're an old fan or new, you need to hear this. Welcome back, Pups!

Iggy Pop, the Godfather of Punk, takes on the language of romance and gets "dangerously near jazz" on his new album, Preliminaires. The album is inspired by French author Michel Houellebecq's 2005 novel The Possibility of an Island. "The book "is about death, sex, the end of the human race, and some other pretty funny stuff," says Iggy. "I created music that would have been the music that I would hear in my soul when I read it." Graphic novelist and award-winning film director Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) designed the packaging of Preliminaires, and it's another beautiful twist on this altogether strange and engaging project. Check it out!

Jeff Buckley -
Grace Around The World
Legacy Recordings

Diane Birch -
Bible Belt
S-Curve

Zee Avi -
Bitter Heart
Brushfire Records

Better Than Ezra -
Paper Empire
MRI

As Jeff Buckley's now classic debut album, Grace, had no "hit single," he was constantly tinkering with his sets - both on stage and on TV. He therefore performed almost every track from Grace at least once in his many appearances on local broadcasts around the globe. Grace Around the World focuses on previously unreleased live performances from concerts and television from the U.S. and UK, to Germany, Japan and France Accompanying the 108-minute DVD will be an audio CD counterpart. A special limited-edition deluxe package will also contain the one-hour documentary, Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley, thus totaling 169 minutes (nearly three hours) of a great artist the world lost too soon.

For Diane Birch, a girl growing up as the youngest child of a traveling preacher, music became a refuge. Learning to play by the Suzuki method she was able to lose herself in music and, in doing so, discovered an extraordinary gift. Bible Belt was recorded in New York and New Orleans with an impressive group of accomplished musicians, all of whom were so dazzled by Diane's songwriting that they agreed to come together as her band for the recording:  Lenny Kaye (of The Patti Smith Group), Adam Blackstone from The Roots, George Porter of The Meters, acclaimed drummers Stanton Moore of Galactic. Prepare to be impressed.

At 17 Bornean Zee Avi started locking herself in a room for hours on end to learn to play guitar. Years later Zee began recording her songs on a webcam and posting them on YouTube for a friend to hear. Before she knew it, Zee was on a plane to L.A. to record her debut at Brushfire Records' Solar Powered Plastic Plant. With an eclectic pool of influences that range from such eccentrics as Cat Power, Regina Spektor, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Jolie Holland, Daniel Johnston and Chris Garneau, to jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, to classics like Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin, this self-described "rock lover at heart" captures the dark, bittersweet qualities of romance with a crack left open for hope and optimism. Bitter Heart swings with sweetness, light, and a touch of darkness. Colbie Caillat she is not. Check it out!

Better Than Ezra got their start in the late eighties while attending LSU. After slugging it out in New Orleans the surrounding areas, the band decided to go west in search of success. In 1993 they moved to Los Angeles and released their first full-length disc, Deluxe, by an independent label, the album received first-class reviews in the indie circuit and eventually the band was signed to Elektra Records who re-issued Deluxe in February 1995 to great success based on the single "Good." The hits went away band stayed lively on the touring circuit, which brings us to Better Than Ezra's latest and, quite possibly, greatest effort, Paper Empire. First single, "Absolutely Still" seems to be finding some love -- especially since it's a catch song that fits nicely into the bands strong, yet overlooked canon. So check it out. It's guhooouhod! [groan]

Girl In A Coma -
Trio B.C.
Blackheart Records

Wavves -
Wavvves
Fat Possum/RED

New York Dolls -
'Cause I Sez So
WEA

Miike Snow -
Miike Snow
Downtown/Fontana

Girl in a Coma, hailing from the Lone Star State, formed when best friends Jenn Alva and Phanie Diaz met in Jr-high school art class over a mutual love of The Smiths, Nirvana, and skipping school. All they needed was a singer. Enter Nina Diaz, Phanie's then 12-year old little sister. Nina blew them away with her mesmerizing vocals, a powerful voice some critics have compared to Bjork, Patsy Cline, and the band's hero, Morrissey. In 2006, the Girls played for Joan Jett and long-time song writing partner and producer, Kenny Laguna. Jett and Laguna were so impressed with the band that they signed GIAC on the spot. Trio B.C. is a unique amalgamation of eclectic influences: oldies, rockabilly, 90s alternative, and contemporary bands both indie and mainstream.

Filled with silly synths, California harmonies, Sonic Youth guitars, and enough silly weed references that will make you ache for the only fun Sebadoh songs, Wavves brings lo-fi fun to the digital age... And, in a way, fulfills the promise of what that movement offered: To make great music without a lot of fuss while simultaneously giving a brazen middle finger. If you're not a jaded old (well, in his late thirties) indie putz, you'll do nothing but delight in the fuzzy joy that Wavves has to offer and, again, the promise within: Fuck being a rock star - you'll have more fun having fun with the tools you have at your disposal. And that's the joy that makes music great. So dig it... And do it yourself.

The New York Dolls swaggered onto the New York music scene in the early '70s, influencing a generation with its subversive mix of high-decibel rock and high-heeled androgyny. The original band recorded a pair of milestone records-the classic, Todd Rundgren produced New York Dolls (1973) and Too Much Too Soon (1974)-before breaking up in 1977. In 2006 David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain reunited again to record the New York Dolls' third studio album, One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This, and now the group reunited with Rundgren to record their fourth studio album, 'Cause I Sez So. 'Cause I Sez So is the sound of miscreants all grown up, asking what it meant, and figuring out what they can do again. It's hardly sappy, but it is moving and whole lot of fun. Dig.

Miike Snow is a band. Swedish duo Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg are childhood friends who spent time playing in bands and working on various projects in studios throughout Gothenburg. After separate moves to Stockholm they reunited in 2000 when their paths crossed with American Andrew Wyatt to write a pop album for a someone else. The release was small, there was little distribution and an alleged large sum of money was lost in the process The three stayed in touch and a friendship was formed and in 2007 Miike Snow was born. Miike Snow's self-titled debut is a full-band collaboration, showcasing deft mastery of the studio while acknowledging each members unique talent for songwriting, production, arrangement and performance. Dig it.

Elizabeth & The Catapult -
Taller Children
Verve/Ume

Hill Country Review -
Make A Move
Razor & Tie

Tori Amos -
Abnormally Attracted To Sin
UMGD

Utada -
This is the One
Island Records/UMGD

The title of Elizabeth and the Catapult's Verve Forecast debut album Taller Children reflects the unique blend of pop playfulness and grown-up introspection that defines Elizabeth Abby Ziman's distinctive songwriting.  Such memorable originals as "Rainiest Day of Summer," "Apathy," "The Hang Up" and "Hit the Wall" embody a vibrant mix of open-hearted wonder, whimsical humor and forthright emotional insight, merging classic pop melodicism with an array of acoustic textures, jazz twists and orchestral flourishes. Produced by the one and only Mike Mogus (Bright Eyes).

Change is good. Just ask the North Mississippi Allstars. Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson and long-time friend Chris Chew have spent their entire adult lives playing together. For them, change is good for the soul and the cortex. That's why Luther is working with the Black Crowes, and Cody and Chris have launched a new group, Hill Country Revue, with a new album -- Make a Move. Much of Make A Move was written by Garry Burnside -- the youngest son of legendary Mississippi bluesman R.L. Burnside. They think of themselves as "the modern blues band for the new generation," which might sound lofty, but they are rooted in the music of the region. "It's the music we grew up on, and our goal is to bring a fresh take to it. We play the blues of the Mississippi hill country as though it's been dosed with Viagra." Hot Damn!

Tori Amos describes Abnormally Attracted To Sin as "really handmade. I wanted to make a treasure, something people will value." The object itself, though, is a state-of-the-art Christmas present. The packaging shows Amos in a variety of guises, photographed in various rooms of a plush, cream-colored Victorian hotel room by glamour expert Karen Collins. The sound of the album is typically detailed and wide, dominated by dark, rich reds and hints of silver. ("I want to make audio mescaline," Tori said.) One of the most valuable parts of AATS is the bonus DVD, which contains sixteen "visualettes" directed by Christian Lamb, who filmed Amos and her band during the "American Doll Posse" tour. "Christian jumped on the bus and made daily montages of the band's life on the road, using music from the live shows as a soundtrack to the footage," Tori said. "When I saw what he had done, the new songs started to come to me." Impressive? You bet.

Born and raised in Manhattan and educated at Columbia University, Hikaru Utada had strong ties to Japan as her father, Utada Teruzane, was an accomplished musician and producer and her mother, Keiko Fuji, was a successful Japanese enka (ballad) singer. By age 11, Utada had written and recorded her first song. By the time she graduated from junior high school, the bi-lingual singer had signed onto a major record label EMI and released her first Japanese album. With a number of album and single releases over the last ten years in Japan, the young star has become one of the most successful and acclaimed pop singers in Japanese music history with record sales of over 52 million. Utada's latest album, This Is The One, features 10 self-penned songs recorded with top producers Stargate and Tricky (Britney Spears, Madonna, Mariah Carey).

Grizzly Bear -
Veckatimest
Warp/Redeye

Rhett Miller -
Rhett Miller
Shout! Factory/Sony

Paul Gilbert & Freddie Nelson -
United States
MRI/RED

As they did with Yellow House, Grizzly Bear found grand inspiration in places. In July, the band spent three weeks at the Glen Tonche house in upstate New York. The beauty, mystery and surrealistic feel to the estate made anything seem do-able, possible and even magical. After breaking briefly for the Radiohead tour in August, the band convened at a house on Cape Cod (graciously provided by Droste's grandmother) where they re-addressed and solidified the compositions they'd started at Glen Tonche. Lastly, Grizzly Bear came home, to a church in NYC, to fine-tune and complete the album-named Veckatimest, after a tiny, uninhabited island on Cape Cod. It's been three years since Yellow House blew collective minds -- and you'll find that Veckatimest was worth the wait.

Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller's self-titled album - his first since 2006's The Believer - will take fans on an up-close-and-personal journey through love, loss and redemption. Of course this eponymously titled set features the kind of rollicking tunes for which Miller is well known -- but what else would you expect from a guy loves a coked up Johnny Cash and David Gedge of The Wedding Present in equal measure? Rhett Miller was recorded in our hero's hometown of Dallas and produced by Salim Nourallah, who also produced the latest critically acclaimed Old 97's release, 2008's Blame It On Gravity. The album also features multi-instrumentalist and producer Jon Brion on guitar and bass, The Apples In Stereo's John Dufilho on drums and Billy Harvey on guitar.

Paul Gilbert began his career with the legendary shred-metal band RACER X in 1986. Since then, his guitar playing has brought him number one hits with the band Mr. Big, and a devoted following of guitar and music lovers all over the world. Paul's recent foray into instrumental guitar music brought him even more attention, and has resulted in extensive touring with Joe Satriani's "G3" tour in North America and over 100 shows as a headliner in Europe, Japan, and South America. His latest album is a collaboration with Freddie Nelson entitled United States, and it contains ten tracks of high-energy hard rock that has been described as a cross between Queen and Mr. Big. This shit is big in Japan, so it's about time you Yankees got on board.