THE MOUNTAIN GOATS - Heretic Pride

If you had your hopes up, based on the title/doomy cover/gothic font, that John Darnielle had finally reconciled his well-enough-documented metalhead scribe side with the well-enunciated confessionals he pens as leader of and writer for The Mountain Goats, let me sadly but inevitably dash them. One thing Darnielle's music continues to share with the heavy metal he loves, though, is its polarizing nature--either you're devoted to his stories and the oft-unlikely settings of such ("Lovecraft In Brooklyn"'s two-chord bar-rock, "Sept 15 1983"'s National Public Reggae), or you just can't stand it.

GARY LOURIS - Vagabonds

The Jayhawks frontman, Golden Smog lurker and recent Sadies producer finally ventures out under his own name, the pictured 40-track "master song list" suggesting that Louris has been keeping quite a few tunes in his back pocket. Picking ten tracks with help from producer Chris Robinson (Black Crowes), this is an incredibly understated session, with Hammond organ and pedal steel aplenty, the relaxed nature of which bears fruit with the backing vocals of the Laurel Canyon Family Choir, better known as friends such as Robinson, Jenny Lewis, Vetiver's Andy Cabic, and lead Bangle Susanna Hoffs. 

AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB - The Golden Age

Like longtime contemporary Mark Kozelek, AMC's Mark Eitzel can make the ugliest scene serene, and here's no exception, turning hard living into easy listening (well, at least AAA), speaking the soft truth like some grumpy soothsayer. Telling cautionary tales that have the ability to burrow in thanks to the trojan horse of their almost-innocuous delivery, how much one gets out of The Golden Age may come down to how much one wants to invest in its lyrics and tune into its dark heart.  

RUFUS HARLEY - Re-Creation of the Gods

Rufus Harley is the real pied piper of jazz. He is the first American Jazz musician to adopt the Scottish Highland bagpipe  as his primary instrument.  He has said the bagpipes are a spiritual instrument as the drone uses the ancient vibrations of the universe. Rufus adopted idioms of jazz, blues and funk into his playing. His technique was quite unorthodox, but yet still incorporated all facets of the bagpipes' sounds. To some Rufus seemed like an oddity and gimmicky, wearing a traditional Scottish kilt and Viking-style helmet. To others, Rufus was redefining the sound of '60s jazz.

SILVER APPLES - Contact

This is the second album released by NYC's The Silver Apples in 1969. This group are known for building a crazy system of audio oscillators that provided most of their driving bass beats, and mixing them with drums and poetic lyrics. Contact is full of minimal psychedelic electronic elements, drones, dissonance, pulsing beats, raw emotions and BANJO!  I love that they layered the banjo into the bassy beat mix, something that makes them stand out from the likes of  Spacemen 3 and Suicide, whom the band are often compared to. Tracks like "Ruby" and "Confusion" showcase the use of banjo, and "I Have Known Love" could quite possibly be one of my favourite songs of all time. Bassy Banjo Goodness!

BRITISH SEA POWER - Do You Like Rock Music?

Recorded in England, the Czech Republic and Montreal with Bark Psychosis' Graham Sutton and Howard Bilerman (ex-Arcade Fire) & Efrim Menuck (Godspeed, Silver Mt. Zion), this disc has its ambitions written all over it. BSP's needly, fast-picked fretwork, lapses into group chants, and penchant for the odd string arrangement all suggest an affinity for the above bands' crescendoed catharsis, only to revert to jangle-pop more in line with fellow NME regulars Bloc Party and Klaxons, narrowing their art-rock aims squarely into the sights of the festival circuit, where they'll surely be in their element.

JIM FORD - Point Of No Return

AWOL for decades until he was tracked down in a Mendocino trailer park, Bear Family has already graciously given us an expanded edition of Ford's lost 1969 R&B/country classic Harlan County as Sounds Of Our Time (#21 on our Staff Best of 2007 reissues, for those playing the home game). After Sounds' success, reissue producer L.P. Anderson planned to put together a new studio album and even a live concert appearance for his client, all to take place in 2008. Sadly, Ford died in November of last year--this collection is the second of what Anderson promises will be a series of archival releases.

ROBERT POLLARD - Superman Was A Rocker

A half-hour album consisting of the ex-Guided By Voices leader recording new vocal takes over top of old tapes dating as far back as 1980 (an approach similarly taken in reggae by Brenda Ray's recent store fave Walatta), the resulting confusion creates the ideal conditions for Pollard's madlib irreverence to thrive. Fidelity fluctuates as wildly as the eras of GBV providing the backing tracks, with practice-space squalls interspersed with multitracked vocal slurrings. Appreciated interruptions include a hilariously heated radio call-in and a hammy mock DJ continually cutting in; you can really hear the beer.

KATE MAKI - On High

For her third album, Sudbury's Kate Maki headed due east to Ottawa, enlisting Dave Draves of Little Bullhorn Studio and Howe Gelb of Giant Sand (a return visitor, having tracked his gospel-tinged 'Sno Angel Like You there) to engineer/produce. Plainspoken and melancholy, Maki's voice is less adorned with rootsy drawl than many of her peers, a style that suits the direct, off-the-floor feel. There's a great group dynamic at work here between Maki, Gelb and Draves on the board, and crucial contributors Nathan Lawr and Dale Murray, especially evident on the unassumingly strange jug-band number "To Please".

JASON COLLETT - Here's To Being Here

For his fourth full-length under his own name, the former Bird-man keeps rolling down the same road which has given him a loyal fanbase that consistently sells out multiple-night residencies. As intimate and amiable as the Radio Mondays he once hosted, these twelve tunes are both approachable and radio-ready, lazily drawled yet crisply produced, even dabbling with a slight disco beat for the chorus of potential single "Out Of Time".

KELLEY STOLTZ - Circular Sounds

With a breathy voice that's weary but genteel, Stoltz's jaunty tunes are mannered with a glint in their eye, an approach in many ways reminiscent of The Kinks' Ray Davies. While to these ears this new batch of songs may not be as immediately arresting on the whole as previous long-player Below The Branches, the sequencing's bottom-weighted enough to draw you in more the longer you listen, until you're wanting to bring it back and take it from the top for another sugar shot.

DEAD MEADOW - Old Growth

At this point, the already-converted know what they're getting when it comes to Dead Meadow. Now that they've expanded their audience of early adopters with those (this writer included) who jumped aboard in time for the recent reissue of the first two albums, it's the perfect opportunity for the band to capitalize on this rekindled interest with a new record. More diverse than the casual fan of their stony side might expect, the handful of pared-down/acoustic numbers on Old Growth makes for a varied listen that keeps the proceedings from strictly focusing on the flat-out riffery they've made their name with.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6

With an emphasis on the post-Biafran War early '70s and making a concerted effort to extend beyond the well-mined Lagos-centric scope, Nigeria Special brings together highlife and Afro-rock obscurities, many of which have never before been issued on CD. Boasting lovingly reproduced Waxpoetics-style sleeve spreads of all the sourced LPs and 45s and detailed biographies of the featured bands, this hefty comp is a testament to the wealth of music made in Nigeria in this golden age of African funk.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Vampire Weekend

As 2008 wakes up and stretches its weary arms, Vampire Weekend is the band playing on its clock radio. And despite the radio station's promise of a "No-Repeat Work Day!", they somehow manage to sneak in a song at the lunch hour, then one in the middle of the afternoon, and yet another during the drive-time commute. But hey, skeptics aside, I'll be damned if these New Yorkers' naive take on Westernized Afro-pop doesn't make 2008 quite happy to hear their indie-rock Graceland vibes over and over again. So go ahead Mr. DJ, play another track! It feels like summer already. 

XIU XIU - Women As Lovers

Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart has carved out an impressive niche. Courtesy of a deep catalogue of uncompromising releases, Stewart has solidfied his reputation as a creator of music that is as harsh and jarring as it is full of melody and wonder. It still seems a bit of a stretch to call Xiu Xiu's music "catchy", but it is alluring. The man is no simple sonic terrorist--for all his delight in making one uncomfortable, once he has your attention, it's his intensely revealing delivery that ultimately makes his albums rewarding. Whether you find it creepy or compelling, Women As Lovers is always honest.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS - This Gift

This underrated Scottish garage crew play to their strengths on LP no.3. Production by ex-Suede Bernard Butler has slicked up the sound a touch, but these lads and lasses have more than enough attitude to keep things swinging. Like a girl-group singer turned wise, Adele Bethel walks the line between naughty and nice on these sharp pop tunes, even using "Split Lips" to crib the melody from Elastica's "Waking Up" (a band to whom This Gift bears a few similarities). When the album hits its stride with "Rebel With The Ghost", "Chains" and "This Gift", it feels pretty great to have these Scots back.

CHRIS WALLA - Field Manual

Your enjoyment of this album depends greatly on your opinion of Plans, the last LP by Walla's day job, Death Cab For Cutie. Was it a gently-refined expression of the human heart, or the OC-approved band's final detour to Destination: Alt-MOR Blandness! Field Manual is, like most of DCFC's latter work, immaculately produced and tuneful. Walla's voice may not as affecting as Ben Gibbard's, but the guy can sing a lovely melody. Even if this album goes the way of many solo projects--a treasured curiosity for die-hards--you get the sense Walla was just excited to be calling all the shots for a bit.

INSTRUMENTS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Music From The Films Of R/Swift

ATTENTION: Fans of Broadcast! From a place that you'd not think to look comes a rich slab of glitchy/gloopy Kraut/Eno-style instrumentals. Richard Swift has up until now been known as a purveyor of some excellent orch-pop records. So, maybe it's because it sits in such diametric opposition to his past output, but man, is his new project ever great. Low-key, atmospheric, and full of retro-future fun, Instruments of Science and Technology is certainly not without musical precedent--not by a long shot. But if you're gonna do it, do it right. With this unassuming, incognito release, Swift has done so exceedingly well.

THE MARS VOLTA - Bedlam In Goliath

Basking in the glow of absolutely rapt devotion, The Mars Volta are as divisive a band as you can find. Brandishing an ambition that lunges for all it can cram into its rampaging maw, the title Bedlam In Goliath could easily refer to the band itself. So, is it enjoyable to listen to? The band's Santana on steroids manifesto ain't for everyone, but The Mars Volta still make an adrenalized noise unlike anyone on the planet. Unfortunately, Cedric Bixler Zavala's already sky-scraping vocals are seemingly never without a pitch-shifting effect, making too much of the record sound like a duet with the Chipmunks. AL-VIN!

SERGE GAINSBOURG - Les Annes Psychedelics 1966-1971

Despite being a cult favourite for decades now, Serge Gainsbourg remains an enigmatic figure to many, known for little more than his salacious duet with Jane Birkin. For anyone curious as to just how capable this French icon really was, this compilation of his psychedelic output ain't a bad spot to start. This is less of a 'greatest hits' package than a treasure trove with highlights for even the biggest fans of the man. Many tracks were previously only available as very rare 7" vinyl singles or even found on commercially unavailable master tapes. A gifted arranger who was fond of always expanding his instrumental palette.