After keeping time for bands such as Rilo Kiley and Conor Oberst's Mystic Valley Band, drummer Jason Boesel proves there's more to meets the eye (or ear) with the release of his solo album debut Hustler's Son (Team Love). With a deft combination of grit and twang, Boesel presents alt-country, Americana leanings tempered with an unvarnished, occasionally ramshackle nasal croon that adds to the project's unpretentious good vibes. Neil Young's folkier rambles come to mind as do The Band's Big Pink shuffles in an intersection of Jackson Browne-styled L.A. folk/rock, ragged Wilco-ish riffs and a more rural, barroom jukebox playlist just this side of the whine of a pedal steel guitar.

"There is a wistfulness and a solemn, sober, time-honored reality to the things that Boesel sings about," says Daytrotter, who recently hosted a live studio session, "most of which is a version of looking at the wholeness of what we've become (or failed to become)...He sings about freedom in a way that feels like it holds a lot of purposefulness and authentic meaning." We're particularly fond of the keyboard-soaked "Hand of God" and chuggin' backbeater "French Kissin'" but there's much to warm to here, including "Hustler's Son", the first song Boesel wrote and one that, thanks to the warm reception from friends, became the inspiration for a promising debut album of simple pleasures.

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Jason Boesel - "Hand of God" (from the album Hustler's Son)

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Highly anticipated new album from New York genre-blurring indie faves Vampire Weekend is the followup to the band's much-praised, self-titled and 500k-selling 2008 debut. "This cosmopolitan quartet has streamlined ska, post-punk, chamber music and Afropop into a glorious ultramodern groove," raved Paste, just one of many worshipful reviews that helped make VW the "it" band for smart, fresh and dynamically rhythmic rock and alt/pop. "Bring any baggage you want to this record," observed Pitchfork, "and it still returns nothing but warm, airy, low-gimmick pop, peppy, clever, and yes, unpretentious -- four guys who listened to some Afro-pop records, picked up a few nice ideas, and then set about making one of the most refreshing and replayable indie records in recent years."

New Contra was again produced by VW's keyboardist and key creative agent Rostam Batmanglij and finds a way to further expand the the Vampire Weekend all-encompassing style, often foregoing the traditional guitar/rock sound as on Contra's debut single "Horchata" where joyous marimbas and scattershot rhythms lay down an infectious and inviting bed. While primarily recorded in New York, there's no doubt that the band's work in Mexico helped add some spice to the mix. Contra promises something bright -- in every sense of the word -- and just plain exuberant fun -- and a great way to beat the winter doldrums when it arrives January 12.Highly recommended.

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Vanpire Weekend - "Horchata" (from the album Contra)

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Produced by fellow Stockholmer Tobias Froberg (Theresa Andersson, Peter Moren), third album from Swedish folk/pop chanteuse Sofia Talvik may have taken well over a year to finally get a U.S. release, but we're of the mind that the modest, simple pleasures derived make Jonestown well worth the wait. Talvik possesses a deceptively airy voice that seems lit with a special inner warmth even as she sings with that chilly, pronounced melancholy that haunts the female Swedish singer/songwriter realm, most notably on the works of Ane Brun, Ebba Forsberg and Anna Ternheim.

 Utilizing Froberg's tasteful production, a mix of acoustic instruments and understated orchestration, Talvik keeps things pretty much on a low simmer emotionally and stylistically. There's an intimate, often graceful presence to songs such as the lovely and haunting title track and even when the pace quickens, as it does on the single "My James Dean", Talvik's cool, detached delivery keeps the overall mood dark and dreamy with just the occasional ray of dappled sun breaking through. Jonestown makes it's belated arrival stateside January 12. "James Dean" video after the jump...

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Sofia Talvik - "Jonestown" (from the album Jonestown)

Sofia Talvik - "My James Dean" (from the album Jonestown)

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Her new album July Flame doesn't arrive until January 12 but critical darling Laura Veirs isn't wanting for advance press from some famous friends. Fellow Portlander Colin Malloy of the Decemberists (with whom Veirs collaborated on a track from the Crane's Wife album) has already used his predictive powers to declare July Flame as his favorite album of 2010 while another Veirs fan (and Flame guest) Jim James of My Morning Jacket describes their relationship in more apiological terms: "Laura’s like the queen bee and my ear is her hive; she nests and makes honey in the hairs of my cochlea."

New album is her first since 2007's Saltbreakers and is described by her label scribes as "a magical and flawless collection of songs, drenched in wood smoke, sunlight, pastoral dales, fireworks and warm nights...the lyrics explore the dichotomy between one’s desire for permanence and security and the realisation that such things rarely exist." Heady words yes, but an advance listen of selected tracks does reveal that the advance buzz (more bee references, sorry) is more than justified. Tantalizingly melodic with a vision that remains appealingly askew, Veir's new songs such as the art-pop gem of a title track and neo-folk atmospherics of "I Can See Your Tracks" (featuring James on backing vocals) make July Flame an eagerly anticipated contender.

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Laura Veirs - "July Flame" (from the album July Flame)

Laura Veirs - "I Can See Your Tracks" (from the album July Flame)

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So exactly where has Freedy Johnston been? On the strength of his critically acclaimed '92 album Can You Fly and '94 major label debut This Perfect World (featuring the radio hit "Bad Reputation"), the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter was named Rolling Stone's "Songwriter of the Year" in 1994...and for good reason. Raved the mag: "Freedy has joined the elite cadre of songwriters — Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Elvis Costello — whose brilliant pop compositions turn magical with the addition of a defiantly, idiosyncratic singing voice." Johnston went on to record a string of excellent albums throughout the 90's but outside of an album of covers in 2007 it's been eight long years since his last album of new, studio recordings.

Fortunately for us, the dry spell is over January 12 with Rain On The City (Bar None), a fine new album recorded this past year in Nashville with producer and multi-instrumentalist Richard McLaurin. “It takes a while to re-adjust one’s priorities and get back on track after working with the big budget that the majors give you,” says Johnston. “I went through issues with the IRS, had a relationship go south and a touring vehicle grind to a halt but through it all I never gave up writing and gigging whenever possible.” With new songs such as the instant Nick Lowe-meets-Buddy Holly classic "The Other Side of Life" and rollicking "Don't Fall In Love With A Lonely Girl", Rain heralds the return - and welcome return to form - of one of our best tunesmiths.

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Freedy Johnston - "The Other Side of Life" (from the album Rain On The City)

Freedy Johnston - "Don't Fall In Love With a Lonely Girl" (from the album Rain On The City)

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After 15 years of recording one exceptional album after another, it would be appropriate to toast legendary New England singer/songwriter Ellis Paul's sheer longevity in a business that often overlooks the original voice and rewards mediocrity instead. But with the release of The Day After Everything Changed we're struck more by the fact that Paul is still playing at the top of his game to such an extraordinary degree. It is, as always, the quality not the quantity but in this case we're rewarded with both. For anyone unfamiliar with the output of one of the defining voices of American songwriting, this steller new album is a great place to start.

Sumptuously produced, The Day After boast a full array of songs both personal and socially aware, from the gloriously soaring title track to the heartbreaking, Randy Newman-styled portrait of a post-Katrina New Orleans in "Hurricane Angel". If there's a more devastating indictment of the events surrounding that defining moment in history we've yet to hear it. "I need to keep feeling refreshed," says Paul. "I'm looking around and trying to learn new things, experience other people's music and stories. I have no idea where I'm headed, but I think it'll make me a broader artist." Recommended.

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Ellis Paul - "The Day After Everything Changed" (from the album The Day After Everything Changed)

Ellis Paul - "Hurricane Angel" (from the album The Day After Everything Changed)

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* = DC Recommends a listen...

All Time Low - MTV Unplugged (Pop/Rock)

Ellis Paul - The Day After Everything Changed (Folk/Pop/Rock)*

Freedy Johnston - Rain On the City (Pop/Rock)*

Kellie Rucker - Blues Is Blues (Blues/Rock/Country)

Laura Veirs - July Flame (Pop/Alt/Folk)*

Lion King On Broadway (CD/DVD) (Broadway Shows)

Melissa-Bel - Brave (Pop)

OK Go - Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (Pop/Electronica)

Omarion - Ollusion (R+B)

Polysics - Absolute Polysics (Rock/Pop)

Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Country/Rock/Alt)

Ringo Starr - Y Not (Pop/Rock)

Sad Day For Puppets - Unknown Colors

Sharon Shannon - Saints and Scoundrels (Irish/Folk/Pop)

Sofia Talvik - Jonestown (Pop/Folk)*

The Cute Lepers - Smart Accessories (Pop/Punk/Rock)

The Gilded Palace of Sin - You Break Our Hearts We'll Tear Out Yours (Rock/Pop)

The Wolfmen - Married to the Eiffel Tower (Rock/Pop)*

Vampire Weekend - Contra (Rock/Pop)*