[click links for track listings and soundclips]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Greendale (Reprise, 2003) Rating: 11/20
The most exhausting album of Young's career has 10 tracks averaging almost eight minutes apiece, and horribly perfunctory music which sounds like it was written in eight minutes. Coming off in his liner notes like someone who wrote the whole album in a thick haze of pot smoke, Young spends all his creative energy on a weak narrative about a small-town family (prime elements: a cousin kills a cop, a father paints, a grandfather dies, Satan makes mischief, a restless daughter works on a banal art project) and, with Crazy Horse guitars set to "default fuzz," puts hardly any effort into singing, instrumental solos, chords, melodies or anything else beyond his rumpled lyric sheets.

Tarkio: Omnibus (Kill Rock Stars, 2005) Rating: 13/20
Not just a historical curiosity, Colin Meloy's initial, late-'90s combo shares many of the Decemberists' virtues -- earnest vocals, graceful melodies and sharp, airy arrangements -- but rocks a bit harder and sounds more "American" (blame it on the banjo, perhaps). Over two hours of collected tracks show a young songwriter still grounded in a middling, dork-in-a-college-town perspective, but the second disc (especially "My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist," "Mountains of Mourne" and "Never Will Marry") has a few precocious glimpses of his later group's fanciful, 19th-century syntax.

The Merry-Go-Round: Listen, Listen: The Definitive Collection (Rev-Ola, 2005) Rating: 16/20 Stunningly overlooked even by most '60s-music fans, the Merry-Go-Round was a superlative guitar-pop band who may not have experimented as much as the Beatles, but was nearly as clever and surehanded with melody (albeit within a much smaller catalog). This indispensible, 78-minute CD collects essentially everything the group recorded (including a rare, hidden cover of "California Girls" with Herb Alpert on trumpet), and wunderkind Emitt Rhodes' serenely mature vocals and consistently top-rate writing ("Live," "You're a Very Lovely Woman," "Had to Run Around," "Pardon Me," "Mother Earth," "'Til the Day After," "Someone Died," "Saturday Night," the ingeniously arranged "Time Will Show the Wiser"...whew!) make his industry-suffered indignities and rapid fall from glory all the more tragic.

Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl, 2005) Rating: 13/20
Kevin Barnes continues to spin Of Montreal in unexpected directions on The Sunlandic Twins, dropping his child-like fantasies into psychedelic pop, dance music, quasi-orchestral pomp and even a touch of African mbaqanga ("I Was Never Young"). His willfully tacky choices in keyboards and synthetic drums can be irksome (more and more, one wonders what the band would do with a major-label budget), but the best tracks -- "Requiem for O.M.M.2," "Forecast Fascist Future," the Krautrock-like propulsion of "So Begins Our Alabee," "I Was a Landscape in Your Dream" (Barnes channels Sufjan Stevens?), the funky "The Party's Crashing Us" -- are uniquely charming.

Imitation Electric Piano: Blow It Up, Burn It Down, Kick It 'Til It Bleeds (Drag City, 2006) Rating: 12/20
Following a 2001 EP and 2003's Trinity Neon, Stereolab bassist Simon Johns is back with a second album under the Imitation Electric Piano banner, compiling another low-key set of eclectic, sci-fi pop. New singer Mary Hampton (not to be confused with Hopkin?) adds a welcome human touch with her frail, Brit-folk vocals, while "Tension," "I Mean Wow," the surprisingly rootsy "For the Best" and the cinematic "Come Into Force" balance some aimless tracks found elsewhere.

Maxïmo Park: A Certain Trigger (Warp, 2005) Rating: 13/20
Much like their pals the Futureheads, this wiry U.K. quintet plays an energetic brand of lurching, hyperrhythmic pop which looks back to vintage New Wavers like the Jam, XTC, the Stranglers and Magazine. Dependably anxious singer Paul Smith can't match the harmonic intrigue of the Futureheads' contrapuntal vocal lines, but the group integrates keyboards into its sound unusually well and top songs such as "Apply Some Pressure," "Signal and Sign" and "I Want You to Stay" have a delightful knack for keeping the listener off-balance and engaged.

Komeda: Pop På Svenska (Minty Fresh, 1993) Rating: 12/20
Sort of a Swedish cousin to Stereolab, Komeda debuted with this non-English collection of sleek, harmonically skewed pop. Lena Karlsson has a smooth, pleasing voice (imagine a calmer, less affected Siouxsie) and the group is brilliantly tight but, beyond two excellent opening tracks, the music's complexity far exceeds its catchiness.

The Folk Implosion: The New Folk Implosion (ARTISTdirect, 2003) Rating: 12/20
The new three-man lineup of Lou Barlow's "other band" failed to revive its fleeting commercial success with this drab, sluggish set of ponderous musings. The prime appeal here is Barlow's pure, soothing voice and the sheer intelligence of his disillusioned lyrics, because the grinding music (showing a greater math-rock influence than usual, especially on "Creature of Salt") is quite monotonous.

The Replacements: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (Twin/Tone, 1981) Rating: 13/20
The Replacements' raw, punky, premature debut -- 18 tracks frantically crammed into 36 minutes -- sounds like it was recorded at 3am by drunken teenagers who had been screaming all night, and that's probably not far from the truth. Westerberg's voice is so hoarse that his lyrics are uncharacteristically tough to decipher (in any case, his topics are much more in line with standard suburban-punk complaints), but signature glimpses of his future songwriting flair peep out in "Careless," "Kick Your Door Down," "I'm in Trouble" and the unexpectedly somber "Johnny's Gonna Die."

Gram Parsons: GP (Reprise, 1972) Rating: 15/20 The definitive document of Parsons' baby-blue melancholy, GP alternates his aching, country-hybrid originals with similar heartbreaking covers (alas, "That's All It Took" and "Kiss the Children" seem somewhat pedestrian in this context). The blend of his yearning, boyish purr with Emmylou Harris' reedy counterpoint transcends its genre, and the forlorn sweetness and underrated melodic invention of classics like "A Song for You," "She," "The New Soft Shoe" and "Still Feeling Blue" seems just as powerful today.

The Dresden Dolls: The Dresden Dolls (8Ft., 2003) Rating: 12/20
This proudly neurotic girl/boy, piano/drums duo from Boston packages itself as an updated cabaret act, adding an alt-rock edge to the smoky, Germanic angst of Kurt Weill and Marlene Dietrich. Flamboyant to the core (and perhaps to a fault), the androgynous pair explores decadent, sexually tortured themes best heard in "Girl Anachronism" and the perversely whimsical "Coin-Operated Boy," but other tracks can be repetitive and unmemorable, more worried about sustaining the proper stormy lurch than crafting a solid melody.

The Feeling: Twelve Stops and Home (Cherrytree/Interscope, 2006) Rating: 13/20
A mysterious flop in the States (a poor choice of single could be the culprit), the year's biggest guilty pleasure compensates for lightweight lyrics and dainty, cloying vocals with attractively spacious production and an undeniably sharp set of clever, addictive melodies. These London boys are all about pure-pop craftsmanship with almost every part scripted down to the note, and the expert hooks of tracks like "Never Be Lonely," "Kettle's On," "Fill My Little World" and especially the euphoric "I Want You Now" are bound to thrill the ever-devout Jellyfish cult.

Robyn Hitchcock: Luxor (Editions PAF!, 2003) Rating: 12/20
Recording on his own and doing what he pleases, the veteran British singer/guitarist spins through these bare, casual tunes, keeping them generally acoustic, undubbed and less cluttered with his peculiar, divergent imagery. More concerned with odes to women than usual (one highlight, "One L," is a straightforward tribute to his girlfriend Michele, though the frisky "Ant Corridor" returns to creepy-crawly arcana), Luxor is undone by its loosely written music, where plodding tracks too often seem like circular picking patterns with stanzas of lyrics growled off the cuff.

The Go-Betweens: Oceans Apart (Yep Roc, 2005) Rating: 13/20
Grant McLennan's sad, unexpected death means this is the final Go-Betweens album, and it's a lovely farewell for these Aussie pioneers of shimmering guitar pop. Two of the 10 songs seem slight and underwritten, but the railroad-rattling "Here Comes a City," "Finding You," the growling "This Night's for You" and the elegant ripples of "The Statue" have all the reflective eloquence and flowing hooks of the group's finest tunes.

The Pastels: The Last Great Wilderness (Geographic, 2003) Rating: 11/20
This snack of a disc (just 24 minutes) collects the twee-pop stalwarts' wistful contributions to a film centered around a mysterious Scottish village. Dominated by soft female vocals, murmuring trumpet, lullaby bells and simple strums of acoustic chords, the instrumentals recall the soundtrack work of old progsters like Popul Vuh and Pink Floyd, while the best reasons to grab the disc are a hushed transformation of Sly Stone's "Everybody Is a Star" and the climactic "I Picked a Flower" (a one-time collaboration with Jarvis Cocker which, ironically, is a lot funkier than the Sly cover).

Tom Waits: Real Gone (Anti-, 2004) Rating: 15/20 Waits' derelict imagery and unique, rusty-hacksaw arrangements retain their incredible atmosphere on this lengthy disc, but his total abandonment of piano unfortunately removes much of his music's warmth and beauty. Real Gone presents a decayed, nightmarish world with few relief moments of redemption, and powerful tracks such as "Hoist That Rag," "Make It Rain" (the album's best vocal), the demonic heave-ho of "Don't Go Into That Barn" and the 10-minute "Sins of My Father" don't fully cover for the lurching tunelessness elsewhere.

The Beards: Funtown (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2002) Rating: 12/20
Featuring Cub's Lisa Marr and the Muffs' Kim Shattuck, this raw female trio sticks to its proven strengths with this zippy 30-minute disc, bounding through alternately sweet and vicious pop/punk tunes loaded with sharp hooks and roaring guitar. The more famous Shattuck takes a back seat, grabbing the lead on just three songs plus a cover of Frank Black's "Thalassocracy," while Marr (whose voice is much more soothing and well-enunciated than Shattuck's thick-tongued howl) makes a fine underdog showing with tunes like "This Girl," the poisonous "True Confessions," "All About You" and the chiming, keyboard-driven "Sidewalks."

Matt Elliott: The Mess We Made (Merge, 2003) Rating: 12/20
Elliott celebrates (or mourns?) the retirement of his Third Eye Foundation moniker with eight dour, meditative pieces which draw more from chamber music, European folk and Tin Pan Alley than the contemporary electronic world. A few water-logged vocals, some druggy backmasking and a couple of short percussive sections are the only nods to trendy accessibility, while the indulgent track lengths and sparse, piano-dominated arrangements make the disc best suited for background listening.

Polara: Jetpack Blues (Susstones, 2003) Rating: 11/20
Ed Ackerson's poppy, post-shoegaze assemblages of effects and guitar noise are about 10 years out of date (Medicine and Swervedriver, anyone?), but his obvious energy and enthusiasm are enough to forgive this D.I.Y. comeback. Sounding surprisingly big-budget despite the group's loss of Interscope funding, this densely layered disc leads off with three captivating tracks (including the roaring wall of "Can't Get Over You" and the chunky, gospel-flavored title tune) before dull lyrics and a formulaic sound dissipate the momentum.

Tom Verlaine: Songs and Other Things (Thrill Jockey, 2006) Rating: 13/20
Sixteen years had passed since the influential Television frontman's last song-based album, but he doesn't sound rusty at all on this nicely produced set of understated rumbles. Verlaine's thin, muttered vocals are too difficult to understand and signs of Television's spiralling instrumental frenzies are scarce ("From Her Fingers" and "All Weirded Out" are the only scraps for punk lovers), but his clean, haunting guitar style still glows in more focused tracks like the Stan Ridgway-esque "Orbit," the waltzing "Blue Light," the near-Eastern jam of "The Day on You" and the lovely spirituality of "The Earth Is in the Sky."

Foetus: Love (Birdman, 2005) Rating: 13/20
As its title sardonically suggests, Love is a relatively mellow affair (at least by Foetus standards) which is less about industrial thunder than low symphonic moans and clockwork tinklings of bells and harpsichords. Unfortunately, the more restrained, cinematic passages reveal the limitations of Jim Thirlwell's voice, melodic sense and monotonously bleak lyrics, and the brutal moments in tracks like "Not Adam," "Aladdin Reverse" and "Time Marches On" makes one long for the terrifying power of his best work.

Elliott Smith: From a Basement on the Hill (Anti-, 2004) Rating: 14/20 Practically finished before Smith's tragic death, this album -- which truly feels like an "album" rather than a set of pieced-together leftovers -- is not as accessible as his two DreamWorks discs, and suffers from a few woozy, meandering tracks overstuffed with noisy auxiliary players. Still, many of the ensemble tunes do pay off (especially "A Passing Feeling" and the ethereal "King's Crossing"), and Smith's acoustic-folk wizardry ("Let's Get Lost," "Twilight," the frisky perfection of "Memory Lane") remained exquisite to the end.

Neil Finn: One All (Nettwerk, 2002) Rating: 12/20
On the surface, Finn's second solo album has an inviting, well-produced sound -- less experimental than 1998's Try Whistling This, and loaded with guest talent including Sheryl Crow, Wendy & Lisa, Mitchell Froom and Lisa Germano -- but the album's relentlessly downbeat, melancholy tone is wearying. Avoiding the bright pop which made his fortune with Crowded House, Finn is alienated, lonely and frustrated (not to mention mourning his mother's death), and only the opening "The Climber" (striking use of E-bow guitar) and the light/dark contrasts of "Hole in the Ice" transcend his doldrums.

Caribou: The Milk of Human Kindness (Domino, 2005) Rating: 12/20
Perhaps the legal struggles which preceded this disc led to creative distraction (bedroom auteur Dan Snaith was forced to surrender the name "Manitoba" due to pressure from Handsome Dick Manitoba's estate), because Caribou/Manitoba's mild-mannered, somewhat trivial third album is more blandly listenable than actively exciting. Focused on a hybrid of inert motorik grooves, textural smears and wan vocal snatches (see "Yeti," "Barnowl" or "Hello Hammerheads"), the disc breaks the flow with four quirky fragments but peaks with "Brahminy Kite" and "Pelican Narrows," where varied moods and more jagged percussion tracks create intriguing tensions.

Tiny Tim (with Brave Combo): Girl (Rounder, 1996) Rating: 11/20
Patiently assembled over an eight-year period, Girl is a surprisingly credible twilight release from the inimitable entertainer, blending a few contemporary novelties ("Stairway to Heaven," two Beatles tunes, a sweet duet on the Goffin/King obscurity "I Want to Stay Here") with the Tin Pan Alley relics that Tiny loved most. The keyboards and drums can be too shopping-mall sterile (just one reason why polka bands are stigmatized!) and his vibrato endured better than his bloodcurdling falsetto, but the performances of "That Old Feeling," "Sly Cigarette" and "Over the Rainbow" still have an eerie, sentimental magic.

They Might Be Giants: The Spine (Idlewild/Zoë, 2004) Rating: 12/20
The cottage industry otherwise known as They Might Be Giants seems more interested in specialty projects and work-for-hire nowadays, so this straightforward pop disc is refreshing to find amidst the duo's magazine collaborations, children's albums and television themes. Unfortunately, this blast of quick tunes (16 tracks in 36 minutes) is not one of the essential TMBG releases -- underproduced, less eclectic, less manic and short on humor (there's even a song about alcoholism), it has too many tunes which are familiar rehash and too few with any fresh sense of whimsy ("Stalk of Wheat," "Experimental Film" and the brassy waltz of "Museum of Idiots" are delightful fun, though).

Peter Holsapple: Out of My Way (Monkey Hill, 1997) Rating: 12/20
The solo debut of the dB's co-founder is a modest sleeper, roughly performed and recorded but still blessed with the parent band's skewed harmonies and unusual, sliding chord changes. Clunky drumming ruins at least one track ("Couldn't Stop Lying to You") and Holsapple's vocals are somewhat colorless, but the seductive drag of "No Sound," the wriggling riff of "I Been There," the post-Bo Diddley "Don't Worry about John" and a pair of bittersweet, Paul Westerberg-like ballads ("Shirley," "Pretty, Damned, Smart") transcend their homely presentation.

The Knitters: The Modern Sounds of the Knitters (Zoë, 2005) Rating: 13/20
Twenty years after the first Knitters album (and 12 years since X's last studio disc), four erstwhile X members and upright bassist Jonny Ray Bartel are back with another set of brightly colored (some will say cartoonish) hillbilly tunes, including a few choice originals, old folk/country standards, two revamped X classics and a too-kitschy cover of "Born to Be Wild." The giddyup tempos don't leave much room for emotional depth, but the inimitable John Doe/Exene harmonies, Dave Alvin's righteous guitar licks and the perverse wit of tracks like "Give Me Flowers While I'm Living," "Try Anymore (Why Don't We Even)" and "The New Call of the Wreckin' Ball" are more than enough to carry the album.

The Fiery Furnaces: Rehearsing My Choir (Rough Trade, 2005) Rating: 12/20
Attempting a bizarre concept album which would make even the Residents' heads spin, the Friedberger siblings base Rehearsing My Choir around the recollections -- and dowdy voice -- of their 83-year-old grandmother, constructing theatrical pieces so discontinuous and modular that the CD's index seems almost irrelevant (indeed, the lyric booklet suggests that the same music was originally split into nine tracks instead of 11 -- and it might as well have been 40). "The Wayward Granddaughter" has an affecting story, some vaguely danceable sections and the benefit of being separate from the main narrative, but otherwise, the nostalgic pleasures of Matthew Friedberger's ragtime-era keyboard licks aren't enough to unify his frenetic, tuneless switching of ideas.

Super Furry Animals: Phantom Power (XL/Beggars Banquet, 2003) Rating: 13/20
The Furries' sixth album is mellower and less widescreen than 2002's splashy Rings Around the World, but the gang sustains a polished mix of British Invasion, the Beach Boys, a touch of electronics and their native Welsh folk. Featuring a recurrent anti-war motif, Phantom Power is sometimes too mainstream ("Liberty Belle," the "Spirit in the Sky"-like "Golden Retriever") and often too subdued, but the throbbing "Out of Control," "Venus & Serena" (about two pet turtles, not the tennis stars), the near-Brazilian lope of "Valet Parking" and the spooky psychedelia of "The Piccolo Snare" are all fantastic.

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