Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah ($12.89) [I just bought this yesterday, expecting something good, but not *this* good. The name of the band doesn't really fit their style as it's not something you'd be especially inclined to clap your hands to (although it's got a pretty good beat-- you could clap your hands if you wanted to). I'd call it modern rock along the lines of the Arcade Fire, and possibly just as good. A reviewer below went on and on about the vocals being bad, but I can't imagine what it is she didn't like about them; he's certianly no Billie Holiday, but you could a LOT worse nowadays. He actually sounds almost exactly like David Byrne from the Talking Heads. The music is serious and very textured, well-orchestrated and while it dips back into the 80's for much of its idiom, it is distinctly progressively contemporary music. ]

Cowboy Junkies - Early 21st Century Blues ($13.99) [In February, 2005 the Cowboy Junkies gathered together for five days of music making at their Clubhouse studio in Toronto. Each band member brought along a handful of their favorite songs by other writers -- songs which focused on the themes of war, violence, fear, greed, ignorance and loss. The atmosphere that week was so magical that the band decided to simply roll tape and document the sessions. The result is Early 21st Century Blues, an album filled with a very special intimacy unmatched since the Junkies released their landmark The Trinity Session album 18 years ago. Early 21st Century Blues features interpretations of songs from artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon, plus two new Junkies originals, and is the Junkies' own 'small document of hope' for the times we live in. ]

Gilmore Jimmie Dale - Come On Back ($13.99) [Jimmie Dale Gilmores first album since his critically lauded One Endless Night (2000) is a collection of songs introduced to Jimmie by his father as he was growing up in Lubbock, Texas. Most of the songs were written and/or made popular by classic country artists such as Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, and Ray Price. Jimmie makes each song his own with the same soulful, timeless delivery which has made him an American treasure since his early days with The Flatlanders. ]

Mraz Jason - Mr A-Z ($14.99) [Jason Mraz presents his latest offering and his second studio album-Mr. A-Z. Produced by the legendary Steve Lillywhite (U2, Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, et al) at Allaire Studios near Woodstock, NY, Mr. A-Z is Mraz's most inspired and thoughtful record to date. ]

Nickel Creek - Why should the fire die ($12.99) [Why Should the Fire Die? is Nickel Creek's first album without Alison Krauss in the producer's chair, and on it, the trio's genre-expanding acoustic music has shifted even farther away from its bluegrass origins. The opening 'When in Rome' perfectly encapsulates the aggressive approach the band favors, and features poetic lyrics far more obtuse than those of most groups with similar roots. The disc's first half stays rooted in a fairly conventional folk mode, with a lovely cover of Bob Dylan's 'Tomorrow Is a Long Time' (one of the few solo vocal turns from fiddler Sara Watkins) and 'Jealous of the Moon' (cowritten with the Jayhawks' Gary Louris) obvious highlights.]

Thompson Richard - Front parlour ballads ($13.99) [Front Parlour Ballads is almost entirely acoustic, with all instruments but percussion played by Richard Thompson himself. Despite the basic approach, however, this is not a sparse album. His guitar playing is as complex as ever, and the songs stand comparison with any of his best. The opening track, 'Let It Blow,' is a funny account of a relationship conducted in the grubby glare of the tabloids, and 'For Whose Sake?' and 'Miss Patsy' are sterling illustrations of Thompson's ability to frame modern sentiments and stories within time-served folk idioms. 'Boys of Mutton Street' starts with a riff which is surely intentionally an echo of Thompson's previously best-known acoustic song, '1952 Vincent Black Lightning,' and 'Solitary Life' sounds like it might be Thompson's take on Radiohead's 'Fitter Happier.' ]