Sounds of Autumn

The pre-Christmas mad onrush of music releases began in the last few days, at a time when consumers are hard-pressed to spare a 99-cent iTunes download. How is one to find the jewels amidst the torrent of dross? Have no fear, Uncle Loring is here to point you to the good stuff. It's not like I've actually listened to the 200-some-odd new offerings since mid-September, I'm just using an intuitive sense of what's indispensable:

TV on the Radio (photo above) - Dear Science, - Some might be compelled to call this TVotR's disco album, since it's clearly the most danceable. Don't think that means that lyricism or arrangements are sacrificed for rhythm. This is probably the most intelligent and layered album from these strange purveyors of urban folk tales.

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue - The sticker on the cover tells us this is a sequel to Rabbit Fur Coat, but there aren't many similarities. In her first solo album, Jenny relied on the Watson Twins for stripped-down country. This album has guest appearances by Elvis Costello, Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, Chris Robinson, et. al. for a straight ahead rockin' songwriter showcase. Another difference - Rabbit Fur Coat, like the 2006 album by Rilo Kiley, More Adventurous, was all about Jenny taking her lyric skills to town. This album, like Rilo Kiley's Under the Black Light from last year, focuses more on song structure and arrangements. But Acid Tongue, unlike Black Light, isn't a 1970s retro throwback, it's Jenny and Zooey showing how Hollywood stars can be great musicians.

Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling - Mogwai's BBC sessions a couple years ago showed the Glasgow band migrating toward more of a mid-period King Crimson sound, and this continues that evolution, with maybe traces of other all-instrumental bands like Dirty Three and Godspeed You Black Emperor. All the songs here have a certain majesty to them, even the ones with silly titles. The early copies of this CD come with a fascinating documentary DVD, Adelia, I Want to Love, about a 90-year-old Italian woman who produces an outdoor Mogwai concert.

Boston Spaceships - Brown Submarine - Robert Pollard puts out music under so many aliases, it's hard to decide what to pay attention to first. In late spring, he put out Off to Business under his own name, filled with traditional pop-rock tunes as classy as those in the dual albums he released last October. Earlier in 2008, the album We've Moved by Psycho and the Birds contained strange, haunting melodies that nevertheless were filled with insistent hooks that drilled into your brain. But Pollard surprised everyone when Boston Spaceships ended up being the band he took on tour. And this album shows why. Every song, from Andy Playboy to Winston's Atomic Bird, is the kind of driving, three-minute masterpiece that made Guided by Voices famous. Is there anything Pollard can't do?

Duffy - Rockferry - If you saw her Saturday Night Live appearance, you no doubt thought she was over the top, like a cartoon hybrid of Dolly Parton and Marilyn Monroe. Listen carefully to the album. This woman cares about bringing back a sense of Motown, and gives you an odd vocal style for orchestrated pop, without the personal dramas of Amy Winehouse.

Kings of Leon - Only by the Night - Several critics have pointed out that the Tennesee-brothers-and-cousin-Followill-family are giving us a more U2 arena sound in their fourth album. I think it's better than that (from the perspective that arena rock bores me). This CD has unpredictable riffs and rhythms with a well-defined sense of play, like teaching a young Joe Cocker contrapuntal rhythms. In fact, songs like 17 even border on pseudo-dissonance. But with Kings of Leon, you know they want to be normal, Southern, macho, and hard-rock-poppy. But on this album, they find a very interesting and inspired path to getting there.