THE SHIVERS More theshiversnyc.blogspot.com With keyboardist Jo Schornikow on piano or organ, singer Keith Zarriello inevitably sounds like a salty old barstool philosopher. When she’s on synth, he becomes an unlikely pop singer—Tom Waits in Prince’s purple finery. Either way, this New York duo keeps it intense, soulful and unpredictable.  Read More →

AITAN Top of the World aitan.com Stylish L.A. synth-pop newcomer Aitan wants either to be the male Katy Perry or his generation’s George Michael. Both are worthy goals—no, seriously—and if this slick, well-crafted EP is any indication, Aitan won’t reside in the indie scene for long.  Read More →

P.J. PACIFICO Outlet pjpacifico.com Life is tough for touring musicians, but less so for those with supportive partners. P.J. Pacifico is grateful for the woman who’s stuck by him for the last 10 years, and on “As Soon as I Can,” the country-tinged pop-rock centerpiece of his third album, he thanks his wife for letting him pack up the car and chase his dreams. He probably got permission by playing her “Home With Me,” his heartfelt telling... 

CIRKUS Medicine cirkustent.com Trailblazing trip-hop producer Cameron McVey and his wife, “Buffalo Stance” singer Neneh Cherry, have been making anything-goes 21st century pop music since at least the late ’80s. For their second album as cirKus, the forward-looking couple again teams with daughter Lolita Moon and producer-guitarist Karmil, creating the musical equivalent of a family juggling act. From the woozy swagger of opener “Drug of Choice”... 

EDIE CAREY Bring the Sea ediecarey.com Artists like Edie Carey provide a valuable, if underappreciated, public service. As per her official bio, Carey occupies that “middle ground between singing at weddings and being Madonna,” and while she might never be a pop star, this strumming balladeer poetess writes truthful, elegant songs for adults. Her seventh album is about following dreams, starting families, overcoming insecurity and losing the destructive... 

LINDI ORTEGA Little Red Boots lindiortega.com Lindi Ortega knows she’s no Elvis Presley—she even sings a song called “I’m No Elvis Presley”—but she comes closer than any female Canadian country singer since k.d. lang. On pop-rockabilly opener “Little Lie,” Ortega revisits the King’s early days, pairing “That’s All Right”–style guitar with the rolling drums of “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum,” the lead track on Bob Dylan’s... 

THE TUNNEL Fathoms Deep thetunnelsf.com A veteran of San Francisco’s avant-garde theater scene, hammy Tunnel frontman Jeff Wagner sings like a theme-park pirate or B-movie baddie. “I’m not of your world,” he warns on “King of the Impossible,” claiming instead to be from a “whole other underworld.” That underworld sounds suspiciously like Australia, as his sound echoes several of that continent’s most influential acts. The most obvious... 

LIL DAGGERS Lil Daggers myspace.com/lildaggers When they’re so inclined, Lil Daggers can take off on a mangy psych-blues ramble as good as any by better-known ’60s revivalists the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or Brian Jonestown Massacre. On “Dada Brown” and “Slave Exchange,” the Miami sextet does just that, setting crud-caked guitars against cheap-o 1966 organ tones. As garage-rock classicists they’re great, but the Daggers cut deepest... 

TRS-80 Horizons trs80.com Jay Rajeck founded TRS-80 in 1997, years before the advent of “chillwave,” or hypnagogic pop, or whatever this week’s correct term is for the current wave of indie music meant to invoke hazy memories of early-’80s video-game soundtracks, New Wave hits and other sounds ingrained in the brains of people raised during the Reagan years. TRS-80 has toured with Ariel Pink and Geneva Jacuzzi—leaders of the movement in... 

ARNOLD McCULLER Soon as I Get Paid arnoldmcculler.com If James Taylor and Phil Collins picked up any extra soulfulness in recent years, they probably got it from Arnold McCuller. A longtime back-up singer for these and other pop giants, McCuller plays smooth bluesman on Soon as I Get Paid, a collection of covers and originals. His own “Gods and Monsters” is the standout—a song about a voodoo guitarist casting spells at an after-hours juke joint.... 

THE WRONGLERS WITH JIMMIE DALE GILMORE Heirloom Music myspace.com/thewronglers There’s a reason country artists—even great songwriters like Jimmie Dale Gilmore—keep coming back to ’30s and ’40s bluegrass. The era’s proto-country songs have it all: humor, heartbreak, outlaw spirit and wellsprings of emotion. Backed here by the virtuosic pluckers, pickers and fiddlers of California’s Wronglers, Gilmore revisits the classics, delivering... 

NINE 11 THESAURUS Ground Zero Generals myspace.com/nine11thesaurus It’s bluntly provocative, but Nine 11 Thesaurus is a fitting name for this Brooklyn crew—five teenage rappers searching for words to describe the post-9/11 world. Some group members lost family members in the attacks, but while they do rhyme about wars and world affairs, they focus more on domestic issues like institutional racism (“Bondages”), police brutality (“Police Sirens”)... 

JOHAN AGEBJÖRN Casablanca Nights johanagebjorn.info To outsiders, the world of European dance music can seem strange and forbidding. There are flashing lights and fashions to consider, and the music breaks down into subgenres—Italo Disco, Eurobeat, Hi-NRG, etc.—distinguishable only to the indoctrinated. Johan Agebjörn is an insider, but on his first solo album of what he simply terms “disco,” the Swedish producer aims for inclusiveness.... 

TITLE TRACKS In Blank titletracksdc.blogspot.com “Everything goes away!” John Davis proclaims on “Shaking Hands,” the first song on the sophomore effort from Title Tracks. As he makes this claim, stampeding drums and his own gruff, jangling guitar threaten to drown him out—and in the process succeed in proving him wrong. One thing that clearly refuses to go away is punky ’70s power-pop, the signature sound on this 32-minute rocket of a... 

DVD MILES DAVIS Live at Montreux: Highlights 1973-1991 [Montreux Sounds/Eagle Eye Media] Let us now praise Claude Nobs. For founding the annual Montreux Jazz Festival, for sure—it’s one of the world’s most venerable and beloved music showcases. But also for having the foresight to document the sights and sounds from as many festival performances as possible, creating a tremendous archive from which a great many essential archival releases have... 

REISSUE R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant (25th Anniversary Edition) [I.R.S./Capitol] While the following year’s Document would be the group’s true commercial breakthrough, the stage for that momentous event had been set by its predecessor, 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant. The indie-rock heroes signaled a willingness to meet the mainstream halfway—OK, at least a little bit of the way—by tapping John Mellencamp producer Don Gehman. Singer Michael Stipe’s... 

BOOK REVIEW SHORTCUTS TO SONGWRITING FOR FILM & TV Robin Frederick [TAXI Music Books] While Robin Frederick isn’t a household name, she certainly has the street cred to call herself an authority on music acquisition for film and television. Starting her career as a New Age artist in the early ’90s, she segued into a long and fruitful career as a writer and executive producer for countless kids’ TV shows and albums (working on such varied... 

DAVID BROMBERG Use Me [Appleseed] Since the start of his solo career nearly 40 years ago, eclectic singer and songwriter David Bromberg has been known for tapping tradition to borrow from the blues. Happily, Use Me—his second release since ending a long studio silence in 2007—finds him in a feisty mood, assured and as focused as ever. Given this edgy series of broadsides, he also brandishes an unusually brusque point of view, with songs such as... 

NICK 13 Nick 13 [Sugar Hill] Twelve years ago, Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness released his country-tinged first solo album—and thanks to Ness’ distinctive, SoCal-sunbaked voice, it still sounded a lot like Social Distortion. Nick 13, whose Berkeley-based psychobilly band Tiger Army is cut from the same cloth as Social D, gets a very different result on his own self-titled solo debut. A straightforward traditional effort co-produced by roots... 

SONDRE LERCHE Sondre Lerche [Mona] Sondre Lerche has undertaken several stylistic transitions in his relatively brief career, from chamber-pop wannabe and crooner of the occasional torch song to would-be rocker. With his latest album, an eponymous effort released independently, the native Norwegian finds a comfortable niche that accommodates all these incarnations. Whether it’s the casual stride that glides through “Ricochet,” “Living Dangerously”... 

JOLIE HOLLAND + THE GRAND CHANDELIERS Pint of Blood [Anti-] A pint is the usual amount extracted when you donate blood. Is that what the title of Jolie Holland’s fifth CD references? Or is it a different sort of bloodletting—perhaps the sort that shows up in “Remember” (“It brings a smile to my lips/When I think of your fist narrowing in on and cracking his ribs”)? Hard to say: Her title is as elliptical as her lyrics, and her singular... 

JOE JACKSON TRIO Live Music – Europe 2010 [Razor & Tie] Joe Jackson should be an expert by now on how to make in-concert albums. This edition of Live Music is the sixth in the series for the sharp-tongued new-waver turned Cole Porter enthusiast, and it carefully highlights the strengths of his touring band while also tossing in a few surprises for fans who bought the first five. A plurality of the set list comes from 1982’s Night and Day,... 

FOSTER AND LLOYD It’s Already Tomorrow [Effin Ell] During their late-’80s heyday, Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd brought a literate, punkish attitude to country radio. Foster went on to a hit-laden solo career, Lloyd created a string of masterful power-pop albums and both remained busy as producers and songwriters for others. Their first new album together in more than two decades picks up right where they left off, with their Everly-esque harmonies... 

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS Join Us [Idlewild] Brooklyn indie-rock originators They Might Be Giants claim to once again be making music for adults, but when it comes to the “the two Johns”—founding frontmen and songwriters Flansburgh and Linnell—“grown-up” has always been a relative term. Were it not for a handful of PG-13 words and concepts, Join Us might appeal to young fans of Here Come the ABCs and Here Comes Science, two of four children’s... 

BLAKE SHELTON Red River Blue [Warner Bros.] Blake Shelton, known outside the mainstream country world as resident cornball on NBC’s The Voice, swarmed to the top of the charts recently with the hillbilly valentine “Honey Bee.” On Red River Blue, perhaps the most pop-sounding collection in his catalog, he works best when exposing the different shades of domestic partnerships. The harmonies of Nashville’s leading women (“I’m Sorry” with... 

GIACOMO GATES The Revolution Will Be Jazz: The Songs of Gil Scott-Heron [Savant] To be clear, The Revolution Will Be Jazz was not hurriedly assembled to capitalize on Gil Scott-Heron’s death on May 27—work on Giacomo Gates’ tribute to the jazz poet and spoken-word artist had already wrapped by that sad occasion. If the album does point some uninitiated listeners toward the visionary, often controversial work of Scott-Heron, then all the better.... 

SUZY BOGGUSS American Folk Songbook [Loyal Dutchess] Suzy Bogguss has tried out her gorgeous voice on a variety of genre projects lately. There was her 2003 Swing set, as well as a Christmas album. As the title of her new album suggests, she’s now taking on classic American folk songs—and it proves to a perfect pairing. Bogguss doesn’t gussy up these traditional tunes, which span the country from the “Erie Canal” to the “Red River Valley.”... 

DAVE STEWART The Blackbird Diaries [Surfdog/Weapons of Mass Entertainment] You have to wonder how Dave Stewart found time to make a new solo album. Between what might be the world’s busiest production schedule (recent clients include Stevie Nicks and Joss Stone), starting the band SuperHeavy with Stone, Mick Jagger, Damian Marley and A.R. Rahman, and writing music for the forthcoming theatrical adaptation of Ghost, it would seem his calendar is... 

THE VACCINES What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? [Columbia] By the sound of it, the Vaccines love a lot of Ramones songs—but if they had to pick a favorite, they might go with the Tom Waits cover “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up.” The title could be a motto for the Vaccines—four good-natured British 20-somethings wary of the adult world. “I’m perfectly aware of what I’m yet to know,” Justin Young sings on “Under Your Thumb,” putting... 

BUDDY GUY Buddy and the Juniors [Verve/Hip-O Select] “Why don’t we play some blues?” Buddy Guy proposes by way of kicking off this 1970 curiosity, now issued domestically on CD for the first time. It’s an unplugged session born of differences between Guy and his record label, which led to the label refusing to provide the budget for a full recording band. So guitarist Guy, his longtime partner Junior Wells on harp, and jazz pianist Junior... 

LIAM FINN FOMO [Yep Roc] You’re almost certainly wondering what FOMO means, so let’s clear that up: It’s an acronym that stands for “fear of missing out,” a common affliction of musicians who are always on the road. Liam Finn devotes his sophomore record to combating that feeling with a batch of pop songs buoyant enough to brighten the occasional dark spot. Finn, the son of Crowded House leader Neil Finn, delivers catchy melodies in a strong,... 

JIM LAUDERDALE Reason and Rhyme [Sugar Hill] Jim Lauderdale is the Pixar of Americana: Like the animation giant, he’s had such a winning streak of releases that one can’t help but look for chinks in the armor whenever he resurfaces with a new project (of which there have been many). Fortunately, Reason and Rhyme, his 20th full-length and fourth bluegrass album in as many years, won’t go down in history as his Cars 2-esque fall-off point. Collaborating... 

BRIAN ENO Drums Between the Bells [Warp] While he’s never limited himself to a single, easily defined sound, Brian Eno is known for minimalism and electronic texture—hallmarks of his work with such artists as U2, Coldplay and Talking Heads. In that sense, this collaboration with poet Rick Holland is a textbook move from rock’s foremost sonic architect. In keeping with Holland’s lyrics—musings on deep-sea mollusks, the infinite cosmos and... 

GILLIAN WELCH The Harrow & The Harvest [Acony] It’s been eight years since the release of Gillian Welch and partner David Rawlings’ last album, Soul Journey, but the darkly written, starkly sung songs on The Harrow & The Harvest are entirely worth the wait. Welch and Rawlings are the only players on this all-acoustic set, their voices often harmonizing in mournful modal fourths and Rawlings’ guitar winding its way around Welch’s studiously... 

BON IVER Bon Iver [JAGJAGUWAR] From obscure indie-folk singer to Kanye West’s secret weapon in a few short years—things have certainly changed for Justin Vernon. He recorded his debut album in a Wisconsin cabin and released it without fanfare under the Bon Iver banner, only to see it become one of the most talked-about records of 2008. Vernon toured hard, contributed to Yeezy’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and then got to work... 

BEYONCÉ 4 [Columbia] Of course Beyoncé can move your booty: She is, after all, the auteur behind radio mega-jams like “Crazy in Love” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” But Beyoncé is more interested in moving your heart on her latest, a collection of songs that focuses on her smoldering side with little of the speaker-rattling sonic bombast of previous efforts. She’s coming from the heart on 4, delivering persuasive takes on heartache,... 

THOSE DARLINS Screws Get Loose thosedarlins.com These Tennessee gals could have gone the Dixie Chicks route, but they growl as well as they harmonize, coming on like a gang of Wanda Jacksons. They also rock like backwater Ramones, playing punk rock with country swagger and plenty of kid-sister sass.  Read More →

TS & THE PAST HAUNTS Caveman Rock myspace.com/tsandthepasthaunts Having led his last band, Piebald, from punk to perky piano-pop, singer Travis Shettel joins British garage foursome the Duke Spirit for a ’60s-influenced EP that’s a little of both. Shettel remains a master of geeky sincerity even on the raging title cut, his invitation to dance like a Neanderthal.  Read More →

SPIRIT PEOPLE Dragoons spiritpeople.bandcamp.com There’s probably an anthropological explanation for the prevalence of tribal percussion in New York indie rock—something about artsy kids migrating from other places and wanting to feel connected. With its restless drumming and appealingly amorphous guitars, this debut will make a fine soundtrack for someone’s Ph.D. dissertation.  Read More →

KREIDLER Tank myspace.com/kreidlerde When the creepy mannequin-robot thing on the cover of this album fancies a dance, he probably reaches for some Kreidler. The German foursome is factory-like in its fashioning of these tracks—quasi-funky, neo-Krautrock jams made from drum thumps, synth squiggles and fat-bottom bass. It’s rigid, but it’s sexy.  Read More →

JACOBS LADDER Back to Life jacobsladdermusic.com With the same sparkle-to-crunch ratio that made stars of Yellowcard, New Found Glory and numerous other ’00s pop-punk bands, Jacobs Ladder aims high with its debut EP. On “Home Alone Tonight,” singer Oren Maisner sits heartbroken “by the fireside”—unexpected imagery for a Miami musician, but effective nonetheless.  Read More →

ZOOBOMBS La Vie en Jupon thezoobombs.com Tokyo’s Zoobombs are finally getting ready to drop on America. These Japanese rockers have been kicking out the jams since the mid-’90s, but as this digital-only, career-spanning sampler points out, their sound is pure 1970: Stooges punk meets Sly Stone funk. Songs like “Way In/Way Out” and “Get It Together” start out as conventional bluesy garage tunes, but the Bombs stretch them out with organ... 

SOMETHING FIERCE Don’t Be So Cruel somethingfiercemusic.com Neither “Future Punks” nor this disc’s title cut is a reggae song, but with their sparse guitars and go-go basslines, both songs have the agitated bounce of “Police and Thieves,” the Clash’s first foray into Jamaican music. Something Fierce has clearly been studying the Clash closely, but the Houston trio is equally fond of the Jam and the Undertones—groups that knew crummy... 

SHARKS The Joys of Living myspace.com/sharks When the Sharks’ James Mattock sings lines like, “Never allow yourself to forget to run against and through the darkness,” his heart is working harder than his brain—and that’s precisely as it should be. Like their American counterparts in Gaslight Anthem, these tattooed, greasy-haired Brits are rock ’n’ roll zealots. They base their faith on two sacred 1978 texts—Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness... 

ROCKY BUSINESS A Rebel’s Roar wearerockybusiness.com “Feeling like Biggie when he laid ‘Juicy,’” rapper Strictly Business announces on his duo’s debut EP, making a comparison that’s not quite right. SB, as he’s known, is a motormouth MC from the Notorious B.I.G.’s old Brooklyn ’hood, but that’s where the similarities end. On “Juicy,” Biggie sipped champagne and celebrated his rise from gutter to penthouse. Contrast that with... 

LAB COAST Pictures on the Wall myspace.com/labcoast Leave it to Canada, the no-big-whoop capital of North America, to produce a band as unassuming as Lab Coast. Lax and lovely, this 12-song, 19-minute collection is available as both a digital download and old-school cassette—fitting, since it sounds like it was recorded straight to boombox. Therein lies the charm: These Calgary rockers take the lo-fi slacker-pop sound of American contemporaries... 

THE HORROR THE HORROR Wilderness myspace.com/thth With the Strokes back in action, stylistic descendents The Horror The Horror picked a great time for reinvention. This is the Swedish quintet’s third album—traditionally the make-or-break one—and singer Joel Lindström knows the dangers of failing to evolve. “Come in with the underground, go out with the undertow,” he sings on “Vanity,” a song about feeling like the last of the ’00s... 

SETH GLIER Next Right Thing sethglier.com Like his hero, James Taylor, Seth Glier has seen fire and he’s seen rain. Also like Taylor, the 21-year-old Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter is a firm believer in keeping cool, taking the good with the bad and never, under any circumstances, raising his voice. Glier’s sophomore album is filled with sweet, slice-of-life piano-pop tunes, and whether he’s singing about bombs falling on Baghdad (“First”)... 

THE GET UP KIDS There Are Rules thegetupkids.com Three years after re-forming a band that started out during Bill Clinton’s first term, the Get Up Kids knew as well as anyone that they couldn’t return with yet another emo-pop album. They instead have chosen to lean heavily on synths and effects to avoid backsliding into familiar territory, creating their bleakest, spikiest, most electronic collection yet. The Kansas City quintet still works toward... 

JIM BIANCO Loudmouth jimbianco.com Even in a bad economy, people are willing to pay extra for products of rare character and quality. Case in point: Jim Bianco’s third album, a fan-funded collection that combines the populist soul-pop of Huey Lewis’ greatest hits with the gruff vocals and skewed humor of early Tom Waits records. Bianco is more Lewis than Waits—he never sounds like a wizened, whiskey-soaked lounge lizard—but he can turn a phrase...