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Loney Dear's gauzy pop can be entrancing, but it's also incredibly easy to tune out: Let your mind wander, and the Swedish act's latest goes full blur. But like M83's Anthony Gonzalez, singer-songwriter Emil Svanängen has an affinity for pretty fuzz and a knack for subtly soulful melodies.

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Franz Nicolay has the best mustache in the Hold Steady, but his songwriting is in desperate need of similar creative twists. Stepping out solo, the energetic multi-instrumentalist -- assisted by guests including Dresden Dolls' Brian Viglione -- does fine when he keeps things forceful: "Jeff Penalty" is a funny, specific rocker about watching the Dead Kennedys with other aging punks.

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Fans of the Rapture might not be familiar with many of the artists on the New York dance punks' swift, 80-minute DJ mix; only a few (Ghostface, Richie Havens!) -- have poked their heads out from the underground. But what Tapes lacks in classic names, it makes up for in flow -- D.C.

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This unlikely twosome seem too ludicrously incompatible to inspire any musical alchemy: She brought extra twee-ness to Belle and Sebastian's twee-est years, and he growled through grunge as the lead Screaming Tree. But when she writes the songs -- dark, deliciously dreary stories of yore -- and coos in the background as he spreads the vocal molasses, there's an audible click.

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Julian Koster's musical saw was part of the exhilarating ether on Neutral Milk Hotel's indie-rock landmark In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, but on this album of winter classics, the spectral instrument goes it alone, jarringly so.

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The moniker of this hip-hop production duo -- who have worked with MCs ranging from Jean Grae to various Wu-Tang and Hieroglyphics affiliates -- sounds far more menacing and dramatic than their music, especially on this subdued collaboration with vocalist Yes Alexander.