Reworked from it's original version, Peter Bradley Adams fresh take on "Los Angeles", from his superb 2008 album Leavetaking, replaces echoing piano chords for shimmering acoustic guitar lines. The former eastmountainsouth singer/songwriter's reflective, downtrodden vocals leave a bittersweet aftertaste of melancholy and the melody is sublime. Pick it up at iTunes...and check out Adam's recently released Traces as well -- it is, as they say, all good. More DC on Traces here and eastmountainsouth here. And pick up a free 3-song EP here.

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Peter Bradley Adams - "Los Angeles" (Winter '09 Version) (original on the album Leavetaking)

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It's been more than a decade since London's Turin Brakes -- aka founders Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian -- helped redefine 21st century British acoustic music with their Mercury Prize-nominated debut album The Optimist LP. Eager to eschew any formal or restrictive categorization, Knights and Paridjanian have made a career out of doing the unexpected, whether turning their creative spark toward a darker, more electric bent or adding some unique rhythmic, soulful aspects to their craft. New album Outbursts (March 30) -- their first studio project since the 2007 Ethan Johns-produced Dark On Fire and first for the Cooking Vinyl label -- marks a sharply focused return to the shapeshifting neo-folk form that we've come to expect -- and appreciate -- from the Brakes. “We thought 'Let's go back and do this whole thing like we used to',” Paridjanian says. “Do it as a duo. That's where the magic is.”

And, true to their word, the self-produced Outbursts recaptures much of what made Turin Brakes an influential and dynamic force to begin with. Raw and immediate, with both hauntingly personal touches and intense, driving thrust, songs such as lead single "Apocolips" seem to be lit from within by an urgency to create something new and special, a quality that's rare from a veteran band. “We loved the idea that these songs were outbursts that were going to happen whether we liked it or not,” Knights' reflects. “It's an album that has been made with no outside briefing or preconceived plans. It is absolutely true to ourselves.” Recommended. Watch the brief EPK video after the jump...

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Turin Brakes - "Apocolips" (from the album Outbursts)

Turin Brakes - "The Sea Change" (acoustic version) (from the album Outbursts)

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Portland OR trio Mimicking Birds' self-titled debut album began primarily as a solo project for singer/songwriter Nate Lacy, bedroom recordings that have been fleshed out live and in the studio with the addition of childhood friends Tim Skellinger (guitar) and Aaron Hanson (drums). Produced by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock and Clay Jones, recorded at Brock's home studio and releasing March 9 on his Glacial Pace label, Mimicking Birds' gentle, mostly stripped production allows the atmospheric elements of the compositions to breathe with plenty of space.

Lacy's hushed vocals have a tender, near whisper quality that serves to further heighten the up-close intimacy of the recordings. Lead tracks "The Loop" and "Burning Stars" have a low-key, lo-fi approach with a mesmerizing, often reverbed feel, particularly on the aptly titled "Loop" where chiming guitar runs repeat to create a pattern of circulating aural textures. Throughout the album there's a sense of large, ambient space brought down to a small, personal proximity, subdued and ethereal but with enough energy -- as on the lithe and limber "Burning Stars" --  to keep the lights of Lacy's thoughtful, cosmic lyrical imagery aglow. Highly recommended. Watch a live, in-studio session here.

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Mimicking Birds - "Burning Stars" (from the album Mimicking Birds)

Mimicking Birds - "The Loop" (from the album Mimicking Birds)

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An odd pairing? Maybe. But anytime you put megawatt pop/R+B juggernaut Justin Timberlake and renowned Texas guitarist/producer Charlie Sexton (Arcangels, Bob Dylan) together on a project together, well...just put us down as "highly interested". Just released January 19, When Everything Breaks Open from childhood Timberlake chum and noted songwriter Matt Morris (and one of the first signings to Timberlake's new Tennman label) handsomely lives up to the obligatory industry buzz with a vision that appears to know no genre boundaries, easily bridging rhythmic, soulful and even bluesy pop styles with a charging and impassioned folk/pop troubadour heart. Yeah, it's that good.

“Charlie and Justin can be seen as representative of different sides of my music,” Morris says. “There is an earthy, rooted, sometimes melancholy side to some of my writing that is in line with Charlie’s personality and approach. There is a playful, high-energy, soulful side that speaks to who Justin is, as a person and producer. The two people are very different from one another, but they both have impeccable instincts.”

Lead track "Just Before the Morning" reflects that stylistic dichotomy, shimmering Edge-like guitar arpeggios giving way to Morris' soulfully expressive tenor-to-falsetto vocals and richly textured production, a rapturous pop anthem of power and purpose. And despite the heavyweight help, this is ultimately Morris' own ambitious personal statement: a category-defying album of smart, nimble adult pop, modern soul vibe and surprisingly imaginative risktaking. Highly recommended. Update: check out Morris' performance on Ellen after the jump -- named by the host as her "favorite new musician."

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Mark Morris - "Just Before the Morning" (from the album When Everything Breaks Open)

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Yes, yes, we're playing a little game today. So shoot us. All we know is that we've got a great new song by an established artist who, if you knew who it was, you might just say "haven't I heard enough?" or "how good could this possibly be?"...Frankly, that's kinda what we were thinking. Until we heard it. So click on the player and play "Name That Artist" with us.

Don't have a clue? Well you can always cheat and go here.

After a well-received 2007 independently released debut, Casey McPherson and his Austin TX band Alpha Rev return with some retooled favorites along with new songs on New Morning, due April 20 (Hollywood). Combining passionate, often orchestral melodic rock with a singer/songwriter's personal touch, Alpha Rev has carved out a niche of intelligent, emotionally driven songs played out on an expansive creative stage. Led by the fine new title track (now at iTunes - video after the jump), New Morning redefines the substantial passionate edge of one of Austin's best kept secrets with solid production from veteran studio knob-twiddler David Kahne (The Strokes, Regina Spektor), breathing new life into the band's signature songs such as "Colder Months", "Phoenix Burn" and "Get Out."

Live and in the studio, Alpha Rev utilizes a pair of string players to heighten the dramatic impact of McPherson's songs of desperation and isolation, allowing the frontman's charismatic intensity to shine through. As we've noted here earlier, Alpha Rev "build songs of drama and vision, at turns grandiose, soulful, gritty and mesmerizing." "The music and lyrics come from a very honest place," says McPherson. "You realize there is a relationship between the listener and the songwriter, and you want to build on that relationship. You want to challenge, but you also want to bring people with you." 

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Alpha Rev - "New Morning" (from the album New Morning)

Alpha Rev - "Colder Months" (original version)

Our streams are for sampling only -- please support the artists and buy the music!

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We first caught the jubilant Mumford and Sons live as opening support (and backing band) for divine neo-folkie Laura Marling. Full of blustery, buskery energy, raspy-voiced Marcus Mumford and his remarkable players stomped, and occasionally waltzed, their way into our hearts with a passionate, all-too-short set filled with harmonied, countrified British pub-folk crossed with a sweaty rock n' roll drive. With twanging banjo, slide guitar, sprightly piano runs and an irresistible, infectious joy, Mumford and Sons left us exhausted and exhilarated. So it is with not a small of pleasure that we welcome (finally) their very special, unassumingly epic debut album Sigh No More to these shores February 16 (Glassnote).

The powerful "Dust Bowl Dance" probably epitomizes the Mumford aesthetic best: building slowly from a piano and banjo folk ballad, with Marcus' gin-soaked voice in full lament, into a rampaging storm of boot heels slammed into woodboard, a flurry of acoustic instruments meeting an electric jolt of fuzzed, wall-of-sound mayhem. It is just one brilliant, spine-tingling moment from an album that is blessed with many. "What we write about is real," says Son Country Winston, "and we sing and play our instruments more passionately 'cos we feel like we need to. We love honest music." Clearly. Highly recommended. Catch them on Letterman February 10.

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Mumford and Sons - "Dustbowl Dance" (from the album Sigh No More)

Mumford and Sons - "The Cave" (from the album Sigh No More)

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There's such an overwhelming air of sadness in Corinne Bailey Rae's "I'd Do It All Again", the lead track from her forthcoming January 26 album The Sea -- a quality even more apparent in the stunning video. "Nothing too sunny" she told video director Jamie Thraves and we get a dark and emotional look at Rae's statement of grief (she lost her husband to an accidental drug overdose) and unconditional love. More DC on The Sea here. Stream the new album here.

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Following up her brash and brilliant Watch The Fireworks '07 solo debut, former Delgados principle Emma Pollock returns with a new March 2 album that may raise the bar even further. While some albums can't seem to find a creative center due to a lack of ideas or musicality, The Law of Large Numbers' own breathless stylistic careening is a joy to behold.  Fireworks had a generous share of intelligent, spangled delights, but the complex and compelling Law lays down an even bolder, more urgent ante. "It should be about not tying up loose ends, not controlling everything and leaving room for a more immediate response," observes Pollock. "If the idea's good then it should hopefully produce a great result."

This time around any traces of a smooth art-pop veneer and moody elegance on Pollock's songs are, for the most part, pulled taut and replaced with a more brooding angular edge. Even the quieter moments have a palpable tension. On the galloping lead track "Hug the Harbour", guitars churn, drums tumble and crash and Pollock's voice has a demanding, knowing assurance as the melody twists and turns from one major mood change to another, over too soon. We love big albums with big ideas and an even bigger sense of adventure -- and The Law of Large Numbers promises to be one of those albums. Highly recommended.

Emma Pollock - "Hug The Harbour" (from the album The Law of Large Numbers)

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Blurring the boundaries has always been easy for Clarence Greenwood, AKA Citizen Cope. Over the course of three albums (on as many record labels), the Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter has always gone off the mainstream road to find his own musical path: acoustic blues shuffles, stinging rock riffs, singer/songwriter intimacy and gritty urban rhythms combined into a streetwise alloy of "urban folk". “The only way to explain my music," says Greenwood, "is to say you gotta listen to it." And many have. Sales for Cope have topped 400k in the U.S. alone and he remains a strong concert draw, here and internationally.

New self-produced, self-released album The Rainwater LP (March 2), his first in nearly four years, wears its "LP" moniker with pride. “I wanted the record to have an LP feel,” he says.  “Vinyl can only have a certain amount of songs. It takes you on a journey and then when it’s done, you can go, ‘Cool.  Let me check that again.’” Lead track "Healing Hands" reaffirms Cope's distinctive style -- and his fascination with 70's icons and influences as disparate as Randy Newman and Stevie Wonder. Beginning as a folk ballad, his husky voice atop an acoustic guitar, "Hands" quickly evolves into a quiet but insistent funk groove, a modern Bill Withers-styled jam that rides a rock steady reggae-tinged backbeat. Recommended.

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Citizen Cope - "Healing Hands" (from the album The Rainwater LP)

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"I just wanted to do something simple," says indie veteran Juliana Hatfield of her stripped and intimate February 16 album Peace and Love. Unlike her last, the fine, fully-produced How To Walk Away (2008), Hatfield decided to take things into her own hands -- literally -- with a DIY, self-produced collection of starkly rendered songs where she played every instrument and decided every aspect of the recording process.  "I was able to follow every instinct, " she observes, "without worrying that anyone was going to think it was a kooky idea."

The "up close and personal" nature of Peace and Love goes to the heart and soul of Hatfield's songs as well, many of which find the singer/songwriter ruminating on relationships broken and, in their painful wake, taking the pulse of her own life. "Evan" finds Hatfield looking at a lengthy but frayed and neglected friendship and the powerful bonds that still remain. "Let's Go Home" finds her coming to the realization that superficial disagreements often mask deeper problems. The appeal of the album's self therapy is simple and direct, an engaging, thoughtful collection of songs that have a maturity and strength reflective of Hatfield's own life. From an artist, you can't ask for more than that.

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Juliana Hatfield - "Let's Go Home" (from the album Peace and Love)

Juliana Hatfield - "Evan" (from the album Peace and Love)

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If you're like us, you might be slightly taken aback by Brooklyn alt-pop songwriter Lara May Meyerratkin, AKA El May, and her delightfully cryptic self-titled debut album (January 19). The loose lo-fi atmosphere, left-of-center song structures and her occasionally unvarnished, understated vocals are deceptive on the surface as the tracks, in the course of just a minute here or there, reveal themselves as deeper, distinctive and completely original approaches to modern indie pop. Meyerratkin, who began her musical career as lovable, idiosyncratic popster Ben Lee's on-stage instrumentalist, brings much of Lee's shaggy charm to her own sharp, engaging songs.

El May's debut is, not surprisingly, pretty much a D.I.Y. affair, recorded in Nashville, New York and L.A. this past year with Meyerratkin producing and handling nearly all of the instruments and vocals. Listening to tracks like the bright and buoyant "Don't You" (featuring vocals from Nada Surf's Matthew Caws), gorgeously Bangle-ish "Draining A Lake" and layered retro-pop tapestry of "Want For Wonder" evoke thoughts of El May as the long lost niece of Brian Wilson. The offbeat melodies and kitchen-sink production are entangled with striking harmonies and a sound that isn't so much sunny as mellow-in-the-shade. Don't rush...spend some time with El May. You'll thank us.

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El May - "Don't You" (from the album El May)

El May - "Order In the Nothingness" (from the album El May)

Photo: Louisa Bailey

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Scottish trio Zoey van Goey have what we have described as "twee nerdy charm" on their January 19 debut album The Cage Was Unlocked All Along, but don't let the lighter-than-air vocals and breezy art-pop veneer fool you...there's some darkly surreal imagery at play here as well. "The Best Treasure Stays Buried" is just one highlight from an beguiling album that plays nicely at 2am. Trust us. More here.

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Zoey Van Goey - "The Best Treasure Stays Buried" (from the album The Cage Was Unlocked All Along)

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Aussie-born singer/songwriter Toby Burke and a small revolving cast of supporting musicians make up Horse Stories, a critically-lauded fusion of Americana folk/rock and lovingly lush, orchestrated chamber pop. After the release of his 2005 Everyone's A Photographer -- hailed in the Brit press as "unfettered melancholy bliss" (NME) -- and a supporting worldwide tour, Burke settled in L.A., holed himself up in a makeshift garage studio and began a two year process that has now yielded his discreetly audacious fourth album November, November set for digital release stateside January 19.

Set on an sonic landscape of brushed percussion, strummed acoustics, lonesome guitar textured highlights and the occasional keyboard fill, Burke's voice - a mix of nasally disaffection and sobering, matter-of-fact attitude - inhabits his songs with casually plaintive understatement. Songs such as hymnlike "Believer" and lead track "Hummingbird (We'll Be OK)" ebb and flow with an appealing languid naturalness, comfortably resting somewhere between Dylan's New Morning, The Band's Cahoots and a more impressionist take on the modern sounds of Wilco and a slew of Lone Star singer/songwriters. "Very special indeed...Like '68 Dylan", says Uncut in a **** review. Watch the "Hummingbird" video after the jump. Highly recommended.

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Horse Stories - "Hummingbird (We'll Be OK)" (from the album November, November)

Horse Stories - "Believer" (from the album November, November)

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Have One On Me is the title of the forthcoming third album from Joanna Newsom, harpist and well, let's just say "distinctively voiced" singer and songwriter. New project is set for a February 23 release, according to her Aussie label and follows up her acclaimed 2006 album Ys.

Noted Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis has announced that four actors have been chosen (and are in negotiations) to play the Fab Four in a 3-D remake of the Beatles' classic animated film Yellow Submarine scheduled for a summer '12 premiere.  Peter Serafinowicz (Shaun Of The Dead) is set to play Paul McCartney,  Dean Lennox Kelly (Robin Hood) will play John Lennon, Adam Campbell (Epic Movie) will tackle the role of Ringo and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) will take on George Harrison. Sixteen Beatles songs and recordings from the original film are being incorporated into the Zemeckis-penned script including "All Together Now," "All You Need Is Love," "Eleanor Rigby," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "With A Little Help From My Friends."

In other movie/music news, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals will revive the classic Jefferson Airplane homage to Alice In Wonderland (and hallucinogens, of course) with a version of "White Rabbit" to be included in the mainly mainstream pop soundtrack to the forthcoming Tim Burton film Almost Alice. The Cure, Avril Lavigne and Owl City are among those with new songs featured in the movie starring Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and young actress Mia Wasikowska, as Alice, who was delivered knockout performance in the first season of the HBO series In Treatment.

DC fave singer/songwriter Pieta Brown (pic) will get some nice exposure for her upcoming self-produced April 6 album One and All (Red House) as the opening act for ex-Dire Straits-man Mark Knopfler on his 28-city U.S. tour kicking off April 8. Brown's recent Don Was-produced EP Shimmer was one of the best releases of last fall. Look for a preview of One and All here as we get more info and some advance music.

Twelve rare tracks from Jimi Hendrix will be featured on Valley of Neptune, the first release of retrospectives and reissues coming through Sony Legacy and the Hendrix estate. Valley, newly remixed by original Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer, is scheduled for a March 9 street. The tracks are taken from sessions laid down over a four month period in 1969 and are notable as the legendary guitarist's final studio recordings. Also arriving March 9: deluxe, expanded CD/DVD editions of Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland and First Rayd fo the New Rising Sun.

New T-Bone Burnett-produced album Country Music, arriving April 13 from Willie Nelson and Rounder Records, will feature members of Burnett's famed Rising Sand band from the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant project and tour. A couple of Nelson originals will likely appear on the album of mainly classic country covers. Look for a PBS Soundstage concert airing at the end of March in support of the new album.

Guillemots frontman Fyfe Dangerfield's solo debut Fly Yellow Moon arrives March 16th. Look for a DC feature post soon...DC fave Amy Macdonald follows up her 3 million-selling debut album (alas, few of them here in the States) with a new March album, tentatively titled A Curious Thing. Ex-Jam frontman Paul Weller guests. Look for first single "Don't Tell Me That It's Over' as a DC Daily Track soon...We've updated the info on the forthcoming k.d. lang retrospective CD (and CD/DVD box set) Recollection with info and track listings here...Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy is producing the new studio album from 70-year-old soul legend Mavis Staples...New Christina Aguilera album Bionic drops in March...

Chicago-raised Andrew Belle first came on our radar as a 10% share of this year's Ten Out of Tenn tour, a wonderful and uniformly excellent, ever-changing collaborative mix of mostly Nashville-based singer/songwriters. Hearing his music it comes as no surprise that in high school Belle often escaped to his bedroom to revel in what he calls the "meaningful pop music" of the time: the melodic rock of Counting Crows, Verve Pipe and Third Eye Blind. Wondering "maybe I can do this someday", Belle began to write and then perform his own songs. Now after logging hundreds of shows on his own, Belle is following up on the promise of his recent 5-track EP All The Pretty Lights with with his debut full length The Ladder now set for a February 23 release.

Even with the success of his shows, it's clear that Belle's bright, densely layered songs are meant for a grander production scale onstage, more Fray meets Coldplay than solo personal introspection. First track from Ladders, "Static Waves" (featuring TOT tour cohort Katie Herzig) is a scarily infectious gem of staggered rhythms and detailed construction with an ear candy hook of monumental proportions. We're guessing that Ladder will also up the ante with some more muscular pop/rock on display via the Lights EP, where the arena-sized guitar riffs and anthemic choruses of tracks like "Replace Me" and "In Your Sleep" add some welcome heft.

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Andrew Belle - Static Waves (w/ Katie Herzig) (from the album Ladders)

Andrew Belle - "All The Pretty Lights" (from the EP All The Pretty Lights)

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Best known as a "go-to" studio producer, Seattle's Aaron Sprinkle steps to center stage for a second time as the creative mastermind of Fair, an impressive, unpretentious band whose sophomore album Disappearing World arrives February 9 (Tooth and Nail). With a boyish voice and sumptuous, surprisingly deep grab bag of punchy, melody-packed songs, Sprinkle inhabits his World with gloriously rendered styles that straddle old-school bright, jangling "new wave" and modern indie/pop smarts. It's a rare delight when an album sheds its stylistic inhibitions with such unabashed verve and confidence.

“Musically I wanted to really tap into my influences, which are mostly ‘60s and ‘70s and lot of ‘80s too,” says Sprinkle. “And that’s really the feel of this record -- a lot of very retro moments wearing those influences on our sleeve.” There's much to like here, but we're particularly fond of the lavish, gorgeously hooky title track and propulsive kick of "One Last Time", both near-perfect examples of the past gracefully and forcefully bumping up against the present. Recommended.

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Fair - "Disappearing World" (from the album Disappearing World)

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Maybe it's the clock-like percussive precision. Perhaps the way the melody reveals itself as if peeling back the layers of an onion. Or the slow build to a glorious crescendo. But whatever it is, Norwegian Lucy Swann's "For Heaven's Sake" is a promising peak at her forthcoming full length debut La Petit Mort due this spring. A bit of Sia quirk, a tad of Jesca Hoop twisty phrasing, a dab of Bat For Lashes richly layered production, "Heaven's Sake" is, well, just heavenly.

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Lucy Swann - "For Heaven's Sake" (from her forthcoming debut album La Petit Mort)

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For a decade, Mercury Prize-nominated Brit singer/songwriter Tom McRae has quietly found a way to carve out his own special path, often trudging stylistically in the cold, damp shadows of dark introspection and that special Anglo melancholy. Now at the age of forty and with four acclaimed albums under his belt -- including '04's wonderful Just Like Blood -- McRae has returned to his London streets and recorded a striking new album The Alphabet of Hurricanes (March 16, Cooking Vinyl). Self produced at his own studio, Alphabet again finds McRae mining the depth of his own soul for ten songs of spare folk musings and distinctive, intelligent and angular pop/rock.

Poet Simon Armitage, who penned Alphabet's liner notes, remarks that McRae "believes in language, not just words, and he trusts the silences that sometimes appear in songs – those gaps which open up between verses or even between notes, into which our imaginations pour." Listening to the moody and somber tones at the heart of songs such as the poignant "Out of the Walls" or the exquisite "Can't Find You" you can practically see McRae alone in his studio in the early hours, meticulously crafting his songs with the care of an artisan. Even when the energy swells on the upbeat stomper "Please" McRae reins the quickening pulse with a master's touch. Highly recommended.

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Tom McRae - "Can't Find You" (from the album The Alphabet of Hurricanes)

As always, our streams are for sampling only. Be good blokes (and blokettes) and buy the music.

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To get a sense of what's new with the upcoming February 2 album from Jimmy Lavalle and his band The Album Leaf you only need to look at the title: A Chorus of Storytellers (Sub Pop). After a decade (and four fine albums) of the San Diego composer/multi-instrumentalist's singular D.I.Y. process of holing up in a studio and creating music on his own, Chorus signals a group effort at work -- and, as Lavalle serving as "conductor" -- an entirely new perspective and approach. "I wanted to name it according to what happened with the whole process," he explains. "It took two-and-a-half, close to three years to make. There were so many different things that went into it and there's a lot of storytelling behind it."

The result is yet another outstanding album of cinematic, often instrumentally-focused music that fuses ambient electronica with floating indie pop dreamscapes, progressive themes of exceptional scope and vision but without a hint of pompous pretense. Tracks such as the stagger-stepped rhythmic instrumental "Stand Still", rich with a ringing keyboard/guitar riff and delicate synth washings, and the finely tuned, sweeping vocal track "Falling From the Sun" herald an album of big, ambitious ideas executed with elegant style and remarkable musicianship. Highly recommended.

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The Album Leaf - "Stand Still" (from the album A Chorus of Storytellers)

The Album Leaf - "Falling From the Sun" (from the album A Chorus of Storytellers)

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