joe henry - blood from stars

Joe Henry's been around for a while, but has never really garnered much mainstream attention... perhaps following the same course as Tom Waits in that regard. He's mixed it up quite a bit in the past with elements of country, swing, jazz, folk. Blood From Stars continues with the genre-challenging theme. It took a few spins for it to soak in for me, but since taking hold has really stuck with me. Interesting note: Joe's married to Madonna's sister, Melanie Ciccone, and their son Levon Henry plays sax on the album.

White Rabbits - It's Frightening

I haven't listened to this much at all, I just got it for my birthday, but I wanted to get it up to you guys. It's produced by the lead singer of Spoon, so that gives you an indication of the genre of music it is. So far from what I've listened to, it's excellent alt-pop. Enjoy.

Broken Bells

Broken Bells is a collaboration between Danger Mouse & James Mercer (front guy for the Shins). After listening to an All Songs interview with them, its safe to say that Broken Bells is a band, not a Danger Mouse produced Shins record. It reminds me of Phoenix because its a slickly produced pop record for indie kids. Check out tracks 1, 5, 1o to start.

3.5 stars on Paul's iTunes