Label: Acony
Release Date: June 28, 2011
Rating: 3/5
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After contributing stunning backing vocals to the Decemberists’ The King is Dead earlier this year, Gillian Welch showcases her dark side on The Harrow & The Harvest, but half the time it proves confused and undefined. 

The Harrow & the Harvest is pitched as Gillian Welch getting in touch with her dark side and indeed this rings true. “Dark Turn of Mind”, a song that comes near the beginning of the record, is about how some women are cheerful and others are dark. The song is tender, making its subject matter contemplative and engaging. With flawless harmonies in tow, the record’s first half comments interestingly on sadness. On “The Way It Will Be”, Welch sings “I’ve never been so disabused / never been so mad / never been served anything that tasted so bad,” but the words are soft and peaceful, like she has accepted her anger.

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Rating: 2.5/5
Label: ATO
Release date: June 7th, 2011
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In an interview with Rolling Stone, Los Angeles-based Americana quartet Dawes said their new album Nothing Is Wrong was “learned and arranged on stage” and thus has more “live quality” than their 2009 debut North Hills. Songs like “Fire Away”, which rides on a chorus the audience is supposed to sing along with (“Well, you need someone to walk away from / Well, you need someone to let you in”) are more compelling live than recorded, where they sound unimaginative. Nothing Is Wrong definitely showcases a confident Dawes—after being handpicked as Robbie Robertson’s live band, how could they not be? —with a new sound polished by producer Jonathan Wilson, who has also worked with Jonathan Rice and the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson. But the new album lacks the nearness and heart of North Hills, which was recorded with analog tape that captured a band playing for no one but themselves. The heartache that suffused North Hills has been tempered by the band’s success and endearing imperfections like audible feedback have been smoothed by a professional studio. Now Dawes knows they have an audience.

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Rating: 4/5 
Label: ATO
Release date: May 31, 2011
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My Morning Jacket has always been a hard band to pin down. Generally speaking, they’re alt-country. But they could also be classified country rock or folk. And some critics cry “jam band:” their song length averages four or five minutes and commonly stretches for seven or eight. Not to mention their legendary live performances, which can run for over three hours like their renowned performance at Bonnaroo 2008. Though Jim James (a.k.a. Yim Yames, also the title of his 2009 solo EP of George Harrison covers) shies away from “jammy,” it is true that MMJ aren’t afraid to take their time with space—and time—in their songs. The breadth of genres explored in all their albums, but especially their latest release Circuital, requires this room to breathe. The result is an expansive album with elements of everything from classic and prog rock to even Thai pop, sung by Jim James’ ever-expanding vocal range. Circuital is a series of highly orchestrated Venn diagrams, with lyrics circling back to earlier songs and repeating instrumental themes.

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Rating: 3/5
Label: XL
Release date: May 24th, 2011
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Friendly Fires proudly belong to the latest crop of bands reviving disco. Like Aussies Cut Copy and the Juan Maclean, Friendly Fires make use of disco staples like 1970s horns, bombastic synths and epic breakdowns in their music. From St. Albans in the UK, Friendly Fires recently put out their second album Pala, which is mostly comprised of tracks that might play at a dance club in Ibiza. Three years ago, Friendly Fires’ self-titled debut went double gold; their tropical beats, funky bass lines and waves of background synths struck a chord with indie-prone listeners perhaps nostalgic for dance music more lush and less tongue-in-cheek than, say, LCD Soundsystem This time around, Friendly Fires built their album around samples and looping. which makes for a more eccentric and experimental album that consolidates elements of older forms of disco music and makes them palatable for today’s audience.

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Label: Atlantic Records
Release Date: May 31, 2011
Rating: 4/5
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As Death Cab For Cutie fans, we are some of the hardest to please in terms of music. Especially when it comes to our beloved band we hold closer to our hearts than any other musical act. Let’s face it - we have a history of dismissing a new Death Cab album every time the band puts one out, but then come to love and cherish the same record once there’s a new one. Perfect example: I thought the world of Transatlanticsm and regarded Plans totally as their major label record. But once Narrow Stairs dropped, Plans was so my album. In retrospect, Plans and Transatlanticsm are practically the same, aesthetically speaking. Sure the songs are different and Transatlanticism rocks a bit harder, but from a production and arrangement standpoint, the band could easily have packaged them as part one, part two, etc.

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Label: Capitol
Release Date: May 17, 2011
Rating: 4/5
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In a 2006 interview with producer Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton, Chuck Klosterman wondered if a signature “Danger Mouse sound” would emerge from Burton’s endless collaborations. At this point, Burton was best known for The Grey Album - a mashup of The Beatles and Jay-Z, and his work with Cee-Lo Green under the moniker Gnarls Barkley. Now, after having produced Broken Bells with the Shins’ James Mercer, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul, as well as another Gnarls Barkley album, it is still valid to wonder what Danger Mouse brings to the production table. His latest release, the Ennio Morricone-inspired Rome, was arranged with Italian composer Daniele Luppi, both of whom greatly admire and emulate Italian film scores. Luppi and Burton have actually collaborated previously on both Gnarls Barkley albums, Broken Bells, and Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul. The latest installment of the duo’s work is an elegant paean to Italian spaghetti westerns. While there are recurring themes throughout Danger Mouse’s (and Luppi’s) albums, it seems a signature “Danger Mouse sound” has yet to be established.

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Label: Domino
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Rating: 4/5
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“I’ve heard of a place / that time can’t erase / of beauty and grace,” sings Cass McCombs in the closing song of WIT’S END, his latest record for Domino out April 26. Throughout the album’s 50 minutes, McCombs takes us on a journey to a beautiful and graceful place, but one that’s filled with dark questions, and twisting, tangled answers. 

The Domino description of the album says they “recommend late at night in solitude” as the ideal time and mood to listen and, truly, the album is a lot about mood. WIT’S END will separate you from whatever you’re doing at the moment and bring you into McCombs’ world, part lullaby and part tragic drama. Filled with downward motion and waltzy music box sounds, the songs all hit the same vein making the whole a prime example of an album conceived of as such, but leaves a little to be desired in terms of variety.

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Label: DFA
Release Date: April 2011
Rating: 4/5
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There’s a reason Holy Ghost! were asked to spin at First Avenue’s famous Saturday night dance party, Too Much Love, after their Minneapolis show with Cut Copy. Made up of childhood friends Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser, who got their start using their enormous synth collection to remix bands like MGMT and Moby, the Brooklyn band played their first live shows on tour with LCD Soundsystem. So it’s only fitting that they would guest DJ where James Murphy spun after his own show in Minneapolis. Like LCD Soundsystem, Holy Ghost! know how to arrange a perfect dance song. They’ve recaptured the essence of disco and made it palatable for today’s audience by mixing it with contemporary techno and electronica—at times you can even hear Tom Tom Club and other New Wave bands—for a tight, cohesive self-titled debut. While the consistency between songs makes for a pleasing listening experience, the album would be better if Holy Ghost! challenged themselves a little more by constructing a song that pushed the boundaries rhythmically and lyrically.

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Label: Sub Pop
Release Date: April 12, 2011
Rating: 4.5/5
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It seems like a lot of bands these days are getting their start at the spur of the moment. Members meet at impromptu jam sessions onstage or on Craigslist and agree to play together based on sheer chemistry. Some might say this takes away from the idea of a band as a group of musicians who have worked long and hard together to produce a coherent album.  To me, it points more to how many talented musicians there are looking to share their talents to produce music listeners haven’t necessarily heard before. The members of The Head and the Heart found each other performing at an open mic in Seattle and never looked back. Their self-titled debut dropped late last year but was re-released on Sub Pop for Record Store Day this past Saturday. The Head and the Heart is a perfect amalgamation of ragtime, Americana and folk and its ebullient melodies buoy bittersweet lyrics for a warm and emphatic album.

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Label: Paw Tracks
Release Date: April 12, 2011
Rating: 4/5
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Noah Lennox, alias Panda Bear, releases his fourth solo album Tomboy this week. Straying unexpectedly from the sound of his prior release in 2007, Tomboy is eery and dark but captivating. Lennox’s passion for reverb and heavily processed guitar leads is far from subtle. Tomboy was produced in a dark, windowless basement in Lisbon, Portugal and is thus an album drenched in a lonely, mysterious vibe.

While the album doesn’t totally dismiss the electro-pop feel of Lennox’s work in Animal Collective, Tomboy is dark, compelling in nature, and exclusive to Panda Bear’s solo sound.

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