Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, 'Angles' (Strange Famous)
Brit duo bluntly address the world's (and hip-hop's) ills.
By Jon Young 10.14.08 7:07 PM
Audacious yet modest, MC Scroobius Pip has no fear of big topics, from the worship of false pop idols ("Thou Shalt Always Kill") to the meaning of life ("Waiting for the Beat to Kick In").
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Kasai Allstars, 'In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy by Magic' (Crammed Discs)
Noisy collective pushes concept of old school to the limit.
By Jon Young 10.14.08 6:53 PM
Adapting ritual African music once used by bushmen and women in pagan trance ceremonies (considered satanic by Europeans), this sprawling, 25-member Kinshasa ensemble jump-starts the third installment in the Congotronics series.
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Neil Halstead, 'Oh! Mighty Engine' (Brushfire)
Brit folk-pop vet deploys understatement to sharp effect.
By Jon Young 10.14.08 6:41 PM
On Halstead's second solo outing, the Slowdive and Mojave 3 founder is content to spotlight his hushed singing and acoustic guitar, adding miniscule dashes of piano, steel guitar, etc., for color.
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Emiliana Torrini, 'Me and Armini' (Rough Trade)
No longer an enigmatic pixie, icy-hot singer devastates.
By Jon Young 10.13.08 3:56 PM
Emiliana Torrini Davíðsdóttir can pass for fellow Icelander Björk Guðmundsdóttir when the mood strikes, as shown by her meticulous imitation on 1999's Love in the Time of Science. Torrini's much more engaging, though, when cooing Me and Armini's less flamboyant folk pop, which hitches her wistful voice to vignettes of white-hot emotion.
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The Spinto Band, 'Moonwink' (Park The Van)
Uneasy romantics grit teeth, pretend to be carefree dudes.
By Jon Young 10.13.08 3:53 PM
More than a decade after getting their start under the name Free Beer, Delaware's Spinto Band have perfected a delicate balance of form and content.
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The Rosebuds, 'Life Like' (Merge)
Sensitive North Carolina couple yield to misery's embrace.
By Jon Young 10.13.08 3:41 PM
Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp trade the savvy dance-floor moves of last year's Night of the Furies for haunted guitar pop on their mesmerizing fourth album. Joined by Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Matt McCaughan (Portastatic), they use mopey melodies and nature imagery -- floods, dead foxes, elusive robins -- to evoke hearts near the breaking point.
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