Black Moth Super Rainbow, 'Dandelion Gum' (Graveface)
Imagine Air's "Sexy Boy" played in a dingy shack for 45 minutes straight by fashion-unconscious 'shroom enthusiasts with a psych-rock fetish, and you've got a peek into Dandelion Gum.
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Sage Francis, 'Human the Death Dance' (Anti-/ Epitaph)
"This is hip-hop for the people," says Sage Francis early on his fourth album. "Stop calling it emo." Stop bellyaching and maybe we will.
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Rufus Wainwright, 'Release the Stars' (Geffen)
The last time Rufus Wainwright walked into a recording studio, it was with a 50-piece orchestra and enough hooks for a pretty great EP. Unfortunately, he left with a double album's worth of material (released in two parts as the critically tolerated Want series, from 2003 and 2004).
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Page France, 'Page France and the Family Telephone' (Suicide Squeeze)
Page France's handcrafted folk pop pushes awfully hard to be quaint. Between the coy vocals of leader Michael Nau and some overly delicate playing -- note the repeated use of bells -- this Maryland quartet's third album has a tendency to bog down in preciousness.
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Mystery Jets, 'Zootime' (Dim Mak)
Zoos haven't been cool since Paul Simon called giraffes "insincere" in the late '60s, yet Mystery Jets make a helluva case for them on this British family band's debut album. In fact, somewhere between the first and 85th time they scream "Zootime!" in the title track, they whip up a raucous mess of thudding bass drum, Exocet guitar screech, and glorious exuberance.
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The National, 'Boxer' (Beggars Banquet)
Since 1999, this Brooklyn-via-Cincinnati quintet has been trying to fuse poetic lyrics, cinematic pull, and nervy, restless rock in a singular way. And on their fourth album, they finally ful-fill those ambitions, adding brass, piano, and backup singers to unveil high drama of the blunt, unclichéd sort unheard since the Afghan Whigs' '90s heyday.


