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This Swedish project began way back in 1999, but was sidetracked mainly by the solo success of frontman Jose Gonzalez. They’re finally releasing an album, and it’s an excellent set of prog-influenced folk-rock with a hazy, atmospheric sound distorted around the edges, combining acoustic and electric guitars, organ, analog synths, drums and Gonzalez’s soft vocals into hypnotic, propulsive songs with echoes of German prog-rock, Ethiopian music and Gonzalez’s own mesmerizing folk-pop. 9/8/2010 -Don Yates

The latest album from the legendary gospel/soul singer is a first-rate set that taps into the bluesy gospel spirit of the Staples Singers’ early recordings, with material ranging from traditional gospel songs and vintage soul and rock chestnuts to a couple of new originals penned for Mavis by the album’s producer, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. Tweedy’s intimate production is a great fit for Mavis, as is the backing group assembled for the record, especially blues guitarist Rick Holmstrom, who masterfully conjures Pops Staples’ heavily reverbed guitar tone. 9/8/2010 -Don Yates

This Brooklyn duo’s debut full-length is an excellent set of arty yet intimate-sounding electro-pop inflected with shades of New Wave, R&B, dub and more, using a variety of danceable beats to propel an evocative blend of skuzzy guitar lines, New Waveish keyboards and sultry vocals. 8/31/2010 -Don Yates

This musically restless LA band made quite a few waves with their 3rd album, 2008’s tropical-punk Skeleton, but they take yet another left turn on their 4th full-length, a decidedly colder-sounding set of brooding post-punk with sterner melodies, dramatic goth vocals, chilly synths and occasional drum machines. They also do it incredibly well, and Crush sounds like their most consistently strong and fully realized set of songs to date. 8/31/2010 -Don Yates

This Scottish band led by Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee reunited in 2008 for a series of successful tours, and they’re now following up with their first studio album in 21 years (and only the 2nd of their career). They do a fine job resurrecting their jangly twee-pop sound with sugary harmonies contrasted by lyrics ranging from the frankly sexual to the sinister. 8/27/2010 -Don Yates

The 6th album from this Seattle band led by former A-Frames drummer Lars Finberg is one of their strongest efforts yet of wiry post-punk combining angular guitar riffs, jittery rhythms and some seriously catchy pop hooks. 8/27/2010 -Don Yates

After two excellent albums dominated by dark, droning psych-rock, this Austin band broadens their sound by using a greater variety of tempos and instrumental colors on their 3rd album, while at the same time sharpening their song craft and ending up with perhaps their strongest record to date. 8/27/2010 -Don Yates

This North Carolina band sounds totally rejuvenated on their first album in nine years. While 2001’s Here’s To Shutting Up found Superchunk aging gracefully, it wasn’t the band’s most exciting release, which makes Majesty Shredding that much more welcome. It’s a glorious return to peak form, stuffed with one great anthemic blast of catchy, well-crafted pop-punk after another, with surging guitar riffs, boisterous harmonies and fist-pumping shout-a-long choruses. Sure, they’re older and wiser now (meaning the lyrics are also more reflective), but they also sound vibrant, recharged and ready to rock the indie world again. 8/24/2010 -Don Yates

While last year’s impressive Midnight At The Movies was a huge leap beyond his raw but engaging 2008 debut The Good Life, Justin Townes Earle’s third full-length sounds like his most cohesive and consistent album to date, masterfully blending Woody Guthrie troubadour folk, reflective indie-pop, rockabilly, soul, ‘60s folk-rock and more into well-crafted songs rooted in but not enslaved to various folk traditions. The stellar musical accompaniment includes former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell on guitar for nine of the album’s 11 songs, but it’s JTE’s continued artistic growth that impresses most. 8/24/2010 -Don Yates

This LA-based band’s debut full-length is a first-rate set of ‘60s-influenced soul-pop with strong roots in Motown and other kinds of Northern Soul. Fitz & co. evoke that classic soul era with a guitar-less sound featuring keyboards, bass, drums, sax, occasional flute and plenty of handclaps, along with strong lead vocals from Michael Fitzpatrick complemented by Noelle Scaggs’ equally powerful backing vocals. 8/20/2010 -Don Yates

Twin Shadow is the New York-based project of George Lewis Jr. His debut full-length is an excellent set of gauzy, New Wave-influenced pop produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, who gives the album a dense, rich sound of twinkling synths, fuzzy guitars, danceable rhythms and Lewis Jr.’s own smooth, Peter Gabriel-influenced vocals and melancholy lyrics. 8/20/2010 -Don Yates

As the album title implies, this is Marc Anthony Thompson’s final album as Chocolate Genius. He’s going out on a high note with this sparsely produced, almost unbearably intimate and absolutely gorgeous set of melancholy, soul-tinged indie-pop. 8/20/2010 -Don Yates

This Brooklyn band’s 5th regular studio album is another rock-solid, adrenaline-fueled set of aggressive post-punk featuring catchy, anthemic songs that combine angular guitar lines, bashing drums and energetic rhythms with frontman Tim Harrington’s excited shouting and hedonistic, often-lascivious lyrics. 8/20/2010 -Don Yates

The 2nd solo album from this LA singer (who used to rap with the hip hop duo Emanon) is an impressive set of soul and funk, with stripped-down production putting the focus squarely on Blacc’s strong vocals and socially conscious lyrics. 8/20/2010 -Don Yates

This Seattle guitarist/vocalist takes a big leap forward on his 2nd full-length, which features a richer, more dynamic sound on doom-laden, fire-and-brimstone songs ranging from loud, dramatic rock to haunting, atmospheric ballads, fleshed out with rumbling, reverb-laden guitars, violin, cello, slide and steel guitars, organ and more. Nick Cave is an obvious touchstone, but you can also hear echoes of Jeff Buckley, Ennio Morricone, Led Zeppelin and David Lynch. While Wade’s early recordings showed promise, his apocalyptic musical vision comes to full fruition here. 8/20/2010 -Don Yates

The debut album from this Brooklyn-based band (that includes both members of Tanlines) is a jubilant, vibrant, tropical set of electronic-pop that features celebratory vocals, bouncy synths, worldly rhythms, and a restless energy that could fill an arena. In addition to Tanlines, Restless People's enthusiastic spirit is reminiscent of Passion Pit, Delorean, Underworld, and Lemonade. 8/20/2010 -Alex

This Seattle band’s 7th studio album (and first in five years) is one of their most adventurous releases. Imaginative arrangements and unusual sounds spice up the band’s Beatlesque power-pop, though they also still deliver plenty of bright melodic hooks and sublime harmonies. 8/12/2010 -Don Yates

The 3rd album pairing the former Belle & Sebastian vocalist/cellist with the ex-Screaming Trees frontman finds them stretching out a bit with an eclectic set blending elements of dark, brooding rock, folk, blues, R&B/soul, country and gospel. Willy Mason duets with Campbell on two of the songs, but it’s the ones with Lanegan that strike deepest. 8/12/2010 -Don Yates

This young Anacortes band has showed plenty of potential so far, but this EP sounds like they’re ready to take a giant step forward. Produced by Death Cab’s Chris Walla (The Lonely Forest are the first band signed to Walla’s new Trans label imprint), the EP features a surging, anthemic indie-rock sound and contains some of the band’s finest songs to date, especially “Live There,” a sublime hymn to living in the Northwest. 8/12/2010 -Don Yates

Air 2 A Bird is the positive result of a negative situation. South Seattle lyricist Gabriel Teodros was due overseas for a European tour when his journey came to an abrupt halt upon being denied entrance to London's Heathrow Airport. Stuck in NYC for two weeks, he set-up shop in a friend's studio along with Seattle producer Amos Miller (who produced Teodros' solo debut Lovework) with only GarageBand, a microphone, and live recordings of actual birds at their disposal. The end product was later fleshed out at home with some help from friends, and it's an impressive, refreshing set of jazzy, soulful hip-hop with Miller's warm production and Teodros' smooth flow and conscious lyrics (as well as plenty of chirping birds) peacefully sharing the spotlight. 8/12/2010 -Alex