Since their 2001 signing to 4AD, the Mountain Goats have matured steadily, improving sonically from their boom-box-recorded, cassette-only beginnings but also taking huge steps in songwriting, as John Darnielle has established himself as a brilliant and essential lyricist. Darnielle has opened up over the course of these last few records, offering a more naked window into his dark imagination and tempering the sometimes crushing oblivion with a unique lightheartedness that permeated earlier material. The spare instrumentation that has defined the group’s sound also opens up on Heretic Pride, blending strings and scant harmonies into perfectly straightforward acoustic arrangements. Impassioned shouters like “Lovecraft in Brooklyn” and “Autoclave” take their place in a line of ultra-catchy, upbeat MG anthems, offset by icy introspections like “San Bernardino.” This album offers the best and most fulfilling example of the band’s growth, leaving the listener almost proud of what’s transpired and excited about what’s to come. (Fred)

Every so often a ray of light emerges, rising above the strummy-strum of the indie-folk ghettos and crystallizing everything pure about simple American roots music with an approach that works perfectly and reminds you how good it can be. It’s never as discernible as just a unique voice or an especially nice way with words, it’s more like a total one-of-a-kindness that separates, inexplicably, their sound from any other. Bon Iver is one such ray of light, the newest addition to the hierarchy of the Oldhams, Newsoms, Banharts and other such rare performers who become instant forever favorites. For Emma, Forever Ago is an album of irresistible intimacy, finding Justin Vernon, the man behind Bon Iver, ruminating gently on remote memories, cycling through swells of emotion. His voice is incomparable, feeling like he’s simultaneously singing to himself in a room or to the entire world. The album draws you in and merits repeat listens, all day if necessary, much like any record that becomes synonymous with a specific time in your life, eventually establishing itself as a unique, identifiable experience. Highly recommended. (Fred)

Grand Archives is the new project of former Band of Horses guitarist Mat Brooke. The Seattle-based quintet’s debut album is a wonderful collection of pop songs that only occasionally reference Band of Horses’ signature style – clean, echoing guitar strums and country leanings – and have an overall feel of warmth and optimism rather than sadness. Some of the songs are jangly 60s-style pop reminiscent of the Pernice Brothers, while others shimmer with the same kind of beauty as the Flaming Lips’ more mellow songs. While each track displays a different combination of influences, what they all have in common are rich, gorgeous vocal harmonies and carefully layered instrumental tracks that work together to create a deep, expansive pool of sound you’ll feel as if you could dive into. This effect is the strongest tie that Grand Archives has to Brooke’s past work, and it’s a pleasure to hear it applied to a very different sound. (Kiri)

Sian Alice Group’s debut album, 59.59, follows closely on the heels of their recent single for The Social Registry’s “Social Club” series. In no way is this an easy album to categorize: while songs like the atmospheric opener, “As the Morning Light,” might lead you to categorize the band alongside shoegaze revivalists, other songs, such as the percussion-driven “Countours” and “Motionless,” feel more akin to the beat-driven experiments carried out by the likes of Telepathe. Vocalist Sian Ahern has a range that moves from bold (“Way Down to Heaven”) to yearning (“Murder”), and the rest of the band is adept at the shifting modes and moods that 59.59 requires in order to work. (Toby)

The production by Arcade Fire’s Howard Bilerman, Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis, Jarvis Cocker) gives BSP big, ear-filling walls of sound grander and more enveloping than anything Phil Spector ever conceived of. There’s plenty of contrasts, though – of dynamics, of timbres, of singer Yan’s various voices. Credit the band as well; its dark-burning intensity and energetic enthusiasm are exactly what makes this disc greater than the sum of its parts. The fact that their evolution over three albums and various EPs has avoided repetition will be mourned by some who want only the familiar, but refreshingly enables them to avoid sounding outdated. (Steve)

On their debut release for the Brooklyn-based Social Registry label, local drone/electronic warriors Growing transform lush tones and mini-melodies into tremoloed echos of fractured sound. The musical gravity of the four compositions on this EP stick around only long enough to leave a muddy footprint before floating away to give curious space for the next movement to arrive, somewhat similar to the work of Pan Sonic and Alva Noto. The introspective and heady nature of Lateral asks more questions than it provides answers, but it is up to us to dig for the truth in this music. A provocative and surprising artistic statement worth exploring! (Adam)

Sounding more like the mind-blowing opening act at a Sabbath show in ‘74 than a contemporary band from Portland, Danava brings heavy to new heights on their sophomore album. The seven highly compositional tracks on “Unonou” epitomize the term epic. Sludgy and riff-heavy rock, bordering at times on prog or bluesy stoner jams, but shying away from metal histrionics in favor of power. Occasional brass arrangements are another unexpected element of what sets Danava’s sound apart from the lurching slow-metal legions, expanding the songs into Zorn-conducting-Blue Cheer like epiphanies and coming off sincere rather than campy, focused and dark rather than ironic.

Though it begins with some vintage keyboard sounds, Throw Me the Statue’s debut album is a classic slice of indie pop, its strummed guitars and clear vocals hearkening back to Silver Scooter, Eric’s Trip or lo-fi-era Guided By Voices. Note “This Is How We Kiss” or “A Mutinous Dream”: these are head-nodding, fist-pumping anthems, easy on the ears and equally memorable. That said, lead Statue Scott Reitherman is also fond of the change-up, and the horn-driven “Groundswell” and slow-burning “The Happiest Man on This Plane” attest that his songwriting aesthetic makes room for a wider range of moods. Moonbeams places Reitherman on the map as a solid pop songwriter, and while the album’s production can feel busy in places, the overall result is a uniformly catchy work. (Toby) 

New Zealand’s Liam Finn is the 24-year-old son of Neil Finn (Crowded House, Spilt Enz) and the former frontman of the band Betchadupa. I’ll Be Lightning is a triumphant solo debut that showcases his songwriting talent and range. For the most part, the songs feature simple but effective instrumentation – guitar, sometimes bass or piano, a basic drumbeat – and are carried by Finn’s high, expressive voice delivering lovely Elliott Smith-style melodies and poignant, bittersweet lyrics like “I’m not broken, just a little energy spent.” This formula works well, yielding memorable songs including “Better To Be,” “Second Chance,” and “Fire In Your Belly.” Finn also throws in a few surprises, though, like the mostly a capella hymn “Lullaby” and the rocker “Lead Balloon,” on which he cuts loose with his best rock ‘n’ roll scream. Finn will have no problem stepping out of his father’s shadow. (Kiri)

Liam Finn will perform a free in-store at Sound Fix on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 7pm

It is only befitting for a band as hip and ironic as the Raveonettes to name their debut on Vice Records LUST, LUST, LUST. The formula hasn’t changed – earfuls of candy pop processed and chopped up through a wall of distorted guitars dished out with loads of attitude. Yet this time an unmistakable confidence snakes its way through the entire album. It makes you believe every hypnotic drone and chainsaw riff and makes you also realize that lyrics as potentially silly as “I know that you want the candy, gimme candy I’ve never had, tastes so sweet makes good love bad” are actually pretty sexy. The verdict? A carnal and luscious album. And if you must pick only one sin to give into during this Lenten season, I say, LUST, LUST, LUST. (Carrie)

The release of last year’s album From Here We Go Sublime by the Field brought the Kompakt label some long overdue recognition (it even cracked the Village Voice’s vaunted Pazz & Jop poll!), and the third album from Germany’s Justus Kohncke should only solidify Kompakt’s reputation as the world’s premier techno label. Safe and Sound features some of the most sublime dance music you will hear this year, loaded with ready-for-the-club electro jams and irresistible mid-tempo grooves. Kohncke brings subtle flourishes to these songs that add spark and variety to the whole affair, with disco-inspired beats and plenty of lush, ambient tones. The ferocious opener, “Yacht,” sets the tone with its whimsical, synthy chords, while the album’s highlight “(It’s Gonna Be) Alright” features a terrific bassline (reminiscent of Madonna’s “Holiday”) and a steady, pulsating groove. (James) 

So these two musicians (Rob Millis and Jeffery Taylor of Climax Golden Twins) are obsessive collectors of 78 RPM records. Not the kind of collectors who specialize in a genre and have checklists and go around looking for specific discs, either – these guys will seemingly buy anything they see (at yard sales, thrift shops, etc.) that looks even remotely cool or intriguing. Nor are they only into the music – they love the labels, and any related visual ephemera. This set of two CDs and a full-color, 144-page clothbound book is one result of their obsession. Among these recordings from the 1920s through the 1950s, the music comes, quite literally, from around the world: 17 countries, representing every continent. From Asia alone, we get Japanese folk songs, Burmese guitars, Cantonese opera, the irresistible “Big Idiot Buys a Pig” from Hong Kong, shenai and tabla from India, daegeum from Korea, Buddhist nuns, Thai ballads, and more. Africa and the Middle East are also well represented (Europe less so aside from Portugal’s fado tradition). But there are more performers from the U.S.A. than from any other country: Blind Boy Fuller, Noble Sissle, Don Redman, Tennessee Ramblers, Jessie May Hill, Roy Smeck, and more obscure sorts. Although their styles are more familiar to us (jazz, blues, jugband, hillbilly, gospel, etc.), in this context, some of the non-pop material can seem as exotic and ancient in origin as the world music tracks they’re juxtaposed with, and none of the selections are already over-anthologized, so they still sound fresh. (Steve) 

In 1978, the U.S. release of Nick Lowe’s first solo album was marred with controversy when CBS Records changed the title of Jesus of Cool to Pure Pop for Now People to avoid offending some people. Thirty years later, Yep Roc Records are releasing a wonderfully exhaustive anniversary edition of the album with its original tile and packaging. Jesus of Cool explores many musical genres, from the reggae of “No Reason,” The crude rockabilly-punk of “Shake that Rat,” the power pop of “Born a Woman,” the rousing pub-rock of “Shake and Pop,” to the iconic new wave sounds of “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass.” This edition features seven bonus tracks, including a live version of “Heart of the City,” so what more could you ask for? The must-buy rerelease of the year! (Morgane) 

A beautiful album from an unlikely pairing: the legendary electronic pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto and Bay Area guitarist Christopher Willits, a relative newcomer to the scene (compared to Sakamoto, anyway). Together the two have put together an inspired record capturing the awesome majesty of the ocean in all its forms, from dense, heavy waves of sound to gentle ripples. Ocean Fire is as dark, mysterious and beautiful as the nature the artists pay tribute to. 

Britain's Chris Watson has been gaining admirer’s lately from his soundtrack work for David Attenborough's Life in Cold Blood series, and now his classic 2003 recording, Weather Report, has finally been re-issued. Watson is one of the world’s leading recorders of wildlife and natural phenomena, and on Weather Report you find him at his artistic peak. There are three pieces, each roughly 18 minutes long, each a collage of field recordings from different parts of the world: Kenya’s Masai Mara, a Scottish highland glen and an Icelandic glacier. Can you hear ice? You can in Watson’s world, and it’s a world you don’t want to miss, a world where, in his words, he puts a microphone where you can’t put your ears. Everything here is mother nature, from the roar of animals to the chirping of birds to the moving of ice glaciers. Who needs a white noise machine? Put Weather Report on endless repeat and let yourself drift away. (James Bradley)