Annuals, 'Be He Me' (Ace Fu)
Indie-rock phenoms reveal a dazzling sonic kaleidoscope.
By Julia Simon 11.17.06 4:00 AM
The debut album by this Raleigh, North Carolina collective sprawls with confidence, combining sunny layers of strings, classical piano, stomp-rock riffs, entrancing space noises, and triumphant shouts.
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The Divine Comedy, 'Victory for the Comic Muse' (Parlophone)
Opulent, funny orchestral pop for the show-tune lover in you.
By Doug Brod 11.16.06 4:00 AM
It's hard to listen to one of Irish roué Neil Hannon's lush records without imagining him in an ascot and smoking jacket drinking a brandy. Whether relating to a horny teen's plea ("To Die a Virgin") or sneering that a pop diva indeed has "special needs," Hannon gazes at hypocrisy and other annoyances with a jaundiced, often hilarious eye.
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Honeycut, 'The Day I Turned to Glass' (Quannum Projects)
Tuneful neurotics hit the dance floor, twitching and lurching.
By Jon Young 11.16.06 4:00 AM
Old-fashioned soul music collides with the age of endless uncertainty on this San Francisco trio's debut. As RV Salters plays mood synthesizer riffs, promising romance and intrigue, Tony Sevener's drum programs produce brittle grooves that offer cold comfort. Meanwhile, Bart Davenport carefully approaches the abyss.
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Juggaknots, 'Use Your Confusion' (Amalgam)
Ten years later, indie rappers return with strong rhymes, sketchy beats.
By Thomas Golianopoulos 11.16.06 4:00 AM
As products of the thriving mid-90's New York City underground rap scene, Juggaknots performed at the famed Lyricist Lounge, freestyled on Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia's tastemaking local radio show, and had their 12-inches stocked at record store nexus Fat Beats. They also released an excellent debut album, 1996's Clear Blue Skies.
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Electric Six, 'Switzerland' (Metropolis)
Slick disco rockers have only one joke, but it's a good one.
By David Peisner 11.15.06 4:00 AM
Electric Six continue their life's work of turning rock's corniest riffs and dumbest impulses into an irony-heavy dance party. Guitar solos that crawled from a Foghat album mix with prog-rock synth homages and the sort of cheesy funk that Styx peddled on "Mr.
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Bound Stems, 'Appreciation Night' (Flameshovel)
Noisy avant-popsters outshined by their own debut.
By Peter Gaston 11.15.06 4:00 AM
Released at the tail end of last year, Bound Stems' nerve-splitting hodgepodge EP, The Logic of Building the Body Plan, felt like a significant arrival, a sneak peek at the next Built to Spill. But it's telling that the best song on the Chicago quintet's first full-length is "Wake Up, Ma and Pa Are Gone," a holdover from that record.
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