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It seems like the cycle that weaves behind the music world has once again completed itself and several new albums have come out recently which are giving my ears reasons to be happy again. It should be noted that I am an albumist – I like the listen to the complete album from start to finish. Thus, I tend to judge a work in its entirety looking at things like completeness, the emotional arc, and how songs stand next to each other.

What follows are not full reviews, rather thumbnail sketches.

At Mount Zoomer – Wolf Parade

Wolf Parade, the Canadian quintet that shook the indie world with their debut album Apologies to the Queen Mary is back with their sophomore effort. This time around, expect the pianos to be much more up front, forcing a sound that makes use of larger instruments than Queen Mary, yet still somehow manage to have empty, hollow spaces. Sadly, it’s the hollow spaces that seem to stand out in memory when you take the cans off. And alas, the album seems to be missing the hook laden tracks and quirky sci-fi effects that made the first album stand out.

That being said, Mount Zoomer is a very listenable album. It makes better than decent use of those empty spaces to skew the album darker than Wolf Parade’s previous release.

Thumbnail verdict? Give it a few listens.

Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst

Oh, the ultra-divisive Oberst has left behind the Bright Eyes name now and struck out under the one his parents gave him. I’m half certain that Conor did this so that people would start referring to Bright Eyes as “him” and not “them.”

Oberst recorded his first album in a little of the myth from which he gains so much of his reputation, in the Mexican city of Tepoztlán. The album has a good deal of vague Mexican influences in it, carrying on with the dalliances Oberst has been playing with the mystics of the Southwest for quite some time now. His musical genre has shifted away from the pairings of folk and electronic that Bright Eyes banked on, and instead towards the seventies outlaw country rock that peer Jenny Lewis graced with her first mostly solo album.

Granted, where Jenny brushed, Oberst dove into. His first solo album embraces the feel and faith of the road, and if he were to perform this album live in a top hat with a feather in the back, I don’t think anyone would be surprised.

Thumbnail verdict? For those who like Bright Eyes and understand musical history.

Acid Tongue – Jenny Lewis

I must confess. I have it bad for Jenny Lewis. No, not that confession. I must confess I’ve yet to make it all the way through this album. It was a recent pick up and I’ve yet to find the time to completely indulge myself. Jenny has flipped the sawdust off of her first solo album, and instead seems to be going for a very seventies pop vibe, not disco, but not too far off. It’s almost Arizona disco, in that the landscapes she paints are vast, empty, and isolating. Haunting and beautiful, but still quite empty. I’m going to have to give this more listens, plumb the depths a bit.

Thumbnail verdict? Not enough evidence at this time.

And finally, this isn’t released yet, but this is one of my personal biggest anticipations. The Spinto Band is finally releasing a follow up to 2005’s Nice and Nicely Done. Moonwink was released in Europe on the 23rd of September, and is schedule to release here in the states on October 7th. The lead single from that album is embedded here: