Primal Scream, 'Beautiful Future' (WEA International)
After 20 years of alternating between thrilling electronic experimentation and random Rolling Stones pastiches, Primal Scream take a pleasingly lightweight turn on their ninth album, embracing a breezy, effervescent '80s pop aesthetic (with production help from Bloc Party soundscaper Paul Epworth and Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John).
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School of Seven Bells, 'Alpinisms' (Ghostly International)
Alpinisms' sweeping, ethereal pop owes a stylistic debt to My Bloody Valentine and the Cocteau Twins, but the debut album by former Secret Machines guitarist Ben Curtis' new project reveals a range of influences and a sophisticated approach to arrangement that sets the trio well apart from less imaginative latter-day shoegazers.
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Electric Six, 'Flashy' (Metropolis)
Electric Six’s fifth album may begin with "Gay Bar Part Two," but the sardonic sextet are only parodying casual fans’ desire for a sequel to their flukey 2003 debut hit, Fire. Flashy expands on the themes of the group’s more recent efforts, delving into the excesses and vacuous nihilism of a post-TMZ America.
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Deerhunter, 'Microcastle' (Kranky)
Deerhunter's name implies aggression and brutality, but even at their loudest, the Atlanta band's music possesses a bewildered fragility that suggests they identify more closely with the innocent creature caught in the crosshairs. Lanky, waifish leader
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Douglas Armour, 'The Light of a Golden Day, the Arms of the Night' (The Social Registry)
The debut album from this versatile Los Angeles singer/ songwriter is split into two distinct sides: The first half skews in favor of melancholic post–Postal Service synth pop, and the other focuses on a slightly more ambient version of the Shins' folk pop.
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Adem, 'Takes' (Domino)
This Turkish-English folksinger's album of cover versions is an exceptionally well-curated disc with intriguing selections penned by Low, Yo La Tengo, and Tortoise. But despite his good taste, Adem's competent yet generally uninspired acoustic arrangements make him sound like a coolly ambitious street busker.
