In 2005, Dimanche a Bamako served as this blind Malian couple's international breakout, but producer Manu Chao's contributions -- found-sound snippets, liberal use of his own vocals -- sometimes overshadowed them.

It's easy to create intimacy with just voice and guitar, but how many artists can squeeze a drum line into that equation?

The latest project from Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, comes with a cute backstory about a group of friends dropping by a Brighton, England studio for '70s-era jam sessions with Cook and producer Simon Thornton. Though the timeline is fabricated, this mash of rock, soul, and rocksteady is distinctly collaborative.

Just eight months after releasing their first full-length, Hold on Now, Youngster..., these Welsh indie poppers come bounding back with another album that's as melodramatic as a teen love letter. This time, though, the scrawl is a bit neater.

In the spirit of music milestones such as Dylan going electric and Kiss removing their makeup, Sigur Rós have written their first song in English. They save the big reveal for the end, but the rest of their fifth album proves to be almost as noteworthy, swapping ethereal splendor for tighter songcraft.

This U.K. group's 2004 first album was a breakneck feat of dazzling harmonizing, while 2006's follow-up was a bit of a snoozer, but their third recaptures, and reshapes, that original vigor. This Is Not the World isn't quite the breathless playground once populated by robots and carnival kids, but "Think Tonight" possesses a fist-pumping riff that's one piano short of an Andrew W.K.