With the flip of the calendar into October I'm shocked that the record companies have basically turned off the spigot of new releases. This is a fantastic opportunity to sweep in an catch the attention of our now oversaturated ears after the September onslaught, but very few are taking avantage of the space.

She Wants Revenge - "She Will Always Be A Broken Girl"
They've improved on their sophomore release, even if it's only from embarrasing sub-Interpol knockoffs to passable Depeche Mode homages. Put it in the guilty pleasure column, the lyrics shallowly crave connections with depressed teens but hit the requirements set forth by "Blasphemous Rumours" so a passing grade will be assigned. Played a different song 10/11/07, because I have a friend in Joanie.

Tarentel - "Mirrors, Gardens"
As far as I can tell it's a CD release of a vinyl-only offering from a few years ago. Concert report music on 10/4/07. Lively experimental opuses mixed in with noise, the type that needs severe studio tweaking to accomplish and illegal stimulus aids to appreciate. Though truthfully I enjoyed it without any help, the compositions are impressive in their friendly unpredictability.

Susanna Wallumrød - "Born In The Desert"
Susanna steps away from the Magic Orchestra for a solo release that actually has much more clarity than the previous release. Her voice is upfront and the instruments distinct, instead of the previous wash of sonorous wallpaper. No change in the pace, it is still glacial but nowhere near as ominous. Played this during the A Distorted Reality fill-in on 10/10/07.

Robert Wyatt - "Just As You Are"
A new song cycle in three parts from Robert that expands from the personal to the political, I plucked this one from the early third. A duet of sorts as female vocal companion Monica Vasconcelos handles the first part of the tune with Robert's fragile vocals embellishing the second part. There's a litany of musical all-stars on this disc, from Paul Weller to Brian Eno to Phil Manzanera. None of them overwhelm the songs, which shamble along as an invitation to prospective listeners who enjoy layers of detail. Played on 10/11/07.

PJ Harvey -"Grow Grow Grow"
This is Polly's most sedate album since Is This Desire, and truthfully if her name wasn't on the cover it could be passed off as someone else's work. This one doesn't rely on much musical punch, favoring arrangements with an ebb and flow to their slow pace while Polly's seemingly disguised voice (has she ever floated this high in the register?) gasps across the expansive landscape. It's a change, can't say it's a favorable one though.

Picastro - "Car Sleep"
Toronto area combo farm similar land as Shannon Wright, with deep female vocals across loose arrangements placing drums forward and guitars in back, with strings adding the flavor. The songs often feel as if they are frayed at the edges, close to unraveling their structure yet somehow reaching a conclusion. This is one of the tighter efforts at a tidy 2+ minutes, played during that 10/10/07 fill-in.

Doveman - "Sunrise"
We're seemingly stuck in an introspective corner of our musical pallette, as this is another barely-there construction of strummed guitars and hushed vocals (male this time) with a few drums and horns punctuating the mix occasionally. Spun on 10/11/07. There are a mix of instrumental interludes between many of the songs to slow down the proceedings even more, so don't even attempt to scale this mountain unless the first sentence sounds remotely appetizing.

Chuck Prophet - "Would You Love Me"
Atmospheric country rock by former Green on Red member, released on Yep Roc. At times it reminds me of Lee Hazlewood in both his (lack of traditional) vocal prowess and ability to craft a setting and characters in song. Nice mix of guitars providing the backing with some other interesting elements such as choral backing vocals (perhaps sampled?) and harmonica. Spun during the 10/10/07 fill-in.

Richard Hawley - "Roll River Roll"
His last record in 2005 was my pick for the year, so it's correct to assume this new one was highly anticipated in my household. When early reviews dismissed it as 'more of the same' I was a bit puzzled, as that was certain my hope. And indeed the formula of smoothly deep Scott Walkerish vocals and sumptuous 60's style balladry is still well in play. However, this release doesn't wrap the listener into a velvet-encrusted version of time and place as his last one did, instead just efficiently aping his heroes. Still worthy of purchase and repeat listens, but I just can't smell the cigar smoke and taste the scotch on this release like I did with the previous one. Played on 10/4/07.

Ice Palace - "She Holds Hands"
This one pulls quite obviously from The National's playbook, with its simple guitar structure, gruff vocals and repeated chorus that adds a few more elements to the mix. It paints an inconclusive picture of the title character, providing just enough information to make you ask "what was that about again?" Musically it doesn't quite build that punch The National have and the faster songs struggle to find some musical character. But this particular selection was worthy of spinning of 10/4/07.

Phosphorescent - "The Waves At Night"
An on-the-border selection which made it to the airwaves 10/11/07. Contains the loping funeral gait of a mid-period Low song with vocals that drawl out every syllable in some sort of haunted chorus. Effective in its intentions though a whole album of this style can be tough to cut.

Band of Horses - "No One's Gonna Love You"
While airing this on 10/4/07 I was both repulsed and enthralled with it's accurate 1975 vibe. The flute-like keyboards really sell it, as well as the unabashedly positive romantic message that blots out any possibility of relationship failure. Of course this is a new century so post-chorus the negative elements do emerge (creepy stalker alert perhaps?). Should have been a top 10 hit 30+ years ago and a school slow dance staple.

Carol Bui - "Rockville"
A historical memory combined with a character study about a neighbor's Luka-like existence steps just over the earnest line. There's enough in this Come-like negative rocker to win my admiration but probably not enough to actually spin it OTA.

Sunset Rubdown - "Winger/Wicked Things"
Swan Lake still remains the pinnacle of Spencer Krug's musical output to my ears, while Frog Eyes is the nadir. That leaves this somewhere in the middle, with much more cohesive structure than his main band but nowhere near the emotional impact of the Dan Bejar pairing in the side project. The songs march along in a Flaming Lips alternate universive of keyboard cacophony and awkward vocal skills punctuated by occasional guitar solos. The calliope is burning down and this is the band playing in the background.

Bad Dream Fancy Dress - "Curry Crazy"
Nabbed this one from a disc Mark Robinson donated to the station during a music purge. Female duo with indiepop icon Simon Fisher Turner providing the backing, which has that energetic barely-together feel of garage indiepop of the era. Competency seems to be the main sticking point as the female leads are fairly incapable of adding a convincing vocal presence, yet do so through their naive efforts.

The Big Lie - "I'm Going To Ruin Her"
If you still miss the earnest power-pop vibes of early 90's Jellyfish here's an accurate reproduction for you, Canadian style. Has those drippy Zander-esque vocals with the Queen style backing in the chorus and vague psych-pop touches to an otherwise straight ahead rock effort complete with overt guitar solo. Played on 10/4/07.

The Resonars - "Places You Have Been"
The arrival of a new Resonars record is always reason for rejoicing, as they do the most accurate knock-off of Move & Byrds style 60's rock available today. This one doesn't disappont, as the sound regresses quite nicely back to their pinnacle release Bright And Dark with harmony backing vocals, strong drumming (oh those drumbreaks) and jangly guitars captured in true mono style. The second half of the record lags in the energy department as the melodies strain for catchiness, but side A is certainly prime material. Played on 10/4/07.

Motion City Soundtrack - "Hello Helicopter"
Don't worry, you haven't missed much if you skipped by this one while glancing at Target's new release section. I happen to have a weakness for well-executed emo and this certainly fits the description. To my ears the enthusiasm is natural and not forced and the guitars are appropriately brawny without overloading the rest of the package. Credit Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys at the production board for hitting the right mix and the band for the relatively restrained execution. The closing song on 10/4/07.

Enon - "Sabina"
This is about as close as Enon has come to making a Brainiac record as John Schmersal seems to take up much more of center stage on this release. Vocally he's in front of the mike on over half of the tracks and his trademarked guitar squall is much more evident, sacrificing much of their pop charm and Toko Yasuda's plaintive vocals. This takes much more of a rock path and while LRC djs should be pleased I can't rank it up there amongst my favorite output by this band. Played on 10/4/07.

Kenna - "Sun Red Sky Blue"
Ethopian vocalist who has the luck of working with the Neptunes on his retro new-wave projects. His first record has a lofty place in my mind as a dance-pop classic, so I knew this one would start out at a comparative disadvantage. That prediction certainly has borne fruit, I can't find anything that matches the urgent addictiveness of the best cuts on his previous record. Still there are some fun songs present, including this one which was played on 10/11/07.

Dethklok - "The Lost Vikings"
I'm unfamiliar with the Adult Swim cartoon about this death metal band, but the disc is littered with well-written gems that parody the genre while providing musical backing that puts it near the top of the quality heap. This particular song about a band of marauding vikings who get lost on the way to a battle has some fantastic guitar work and could easily be mistaken for a serious effort if the lyrics aren't carefully studies. The closing song from 10/11/07.