Stealing shamelessly from Neu!'s propulsive kraut-rock rhythms, Talking Heads' angular guitars, and Wire's deadpan abstraction, the three Brits who call themselves Fujiya & Miyagi skillfully flatter their obvious sources. There's tension in the coolness of "Ankle Injuries," plus equal helpings of tuneful pop, orderly art, and compressed rock.

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Simon is a Parisian songwriter with a demure, crackly voice whose music is rooted in Björk-esque notions of how technology and nature stream together. And this record, a compilation of tracks from her first two albums and her soundtrack for the French release of March of the Penguins (La Marche de L'Empereur), has a vivid charm.

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Now two records in, this lo-fi duo -- led by former Fugazi and Minor Threat screamer Ian MacKaye -- continue to make charming albums while simply shrugging at their own limitations.

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When an album gets its title from ultrableak playwright Samuel Beckett, you expect to suffer through the plaints of a suicidal folkie or a bunch of pathetic art rockers. Instead, Los Angeles quintet the Broken West (formerly the Brokedown) craft good ol' unironic pop on their debut full-length, proudly echoing everyone from the Beatles to Big Star to Matthew Sweet.

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Lonesome sagebrush guitar meets swirling deep-space technology during the high points of this Australian trio's fourth album, suggesting a futuristic spaghetti western. But curiously, leader Martin Kennedy decides to retreat into New Age blandness whenever the grooves threaten to get really sensual, as if he's afraid of sounding too trashy.