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(Photo: Victoria Renard/Courtesy of Shore Fire)

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Neko Case
Noted of late for her ecstatic, megamelodic contributions to New Pornographers tunes, the redheaded songstress returns to her roots on the country side of alt-country.

TOM: When Neko Case sings with the New Pornographers, she delivers her lines with a precision that, while appropriate to the task at hand, doesn’t begin to hint at her range as a vocalist. On this album, however, spacious arrangements leave her ample room to put her throat through the paces, and it’s damn impressive. If she’d written a few more choruses worthy of her pipes, you’d really have something.
Rating: 6
Best Track: “Margaret vs. Pauline”

ADAM: Artsy chicks in L.A. probably go nuts for this. Neko sings about cinnamon and sisters and tender places in the heart: not really my thing, though the songs are melodic enough, and the tasteful arrangements are a relief after listening to Matisyahu. She hits every note perfectly, but especially compared with someone like Cat Power, I find it so clean it’s unmemorable—a backup singer’s voice.
Rating: 7
Best Track: “Star Witness”

SARAH: The 8-year-olds have never heard anything close to country before, but when I put this on, they know what to do: “Yeeeehaw!” one of them shouts. Others jump up in a spontaneous square dance. That may be a premature reaction. These songs are slow and pensive, and the lyrics thoughtful. I ask them a little later what message they’re getting from the songs. “She’s feeling sad,” says one.
Rating: 8
Best Track: “That Teenage Feeling”

(Photo: Marisa Pritiver/Courtesy of Matador Records)

The Life Pursuit
Belle and Sebastian
The Glasgow ensemble that made its name with a thousand wry, tastefully orchestral ballads about nostalgia and sexual confusion continues widening its musical range.

TOM: Musically, this album doesn’t have an original bone in its skinny body, but these guys know what to steal. The soft, compressed vocal sound is pure Zombies, the fuzz bass vintage Sly Stone, the jangly chord arpeggios early R.E.M. The glam-rocky groove on “White Collar Boy” might have been sampled straight from “Rock and Roll Part Two.” Lyrically, the band’s characteristic sense of black humor is still in evidence. It adds up to a pastiche masterpiece.
Rating: 9
Best Track: “White Collar Boy”

ADAM: I used to love Belle and Sebastian. Then I saw them live and couldn’t believe how unenthusiastic, uncharismatic, and soft (as in literally playing at an unacceptably low volume for a rock band) they were. That, coupled with their move toward white-boy-groove nonsense, led me to take an extended hiatus from the group. I stand by that decision. There are a couple of standout songs on the album, but on the whole Stuart Murdoch’s voice is too thin and weak to match the lounge-pop accompaniment.
Rating: 4
Best Track: “Another Sunny Day”

SARAH: The kids like this album. “It’s sparkling in my head,” one of them says. They impress me by likening “Another Sunny Day” to Fleetwood Mac, and “White Collar Boy” to the Apples in Stereo. They know what they’re talking about: The album is heavy on soft-pop psychedelic influences, with a bit of funk and blues thrown in. The songs grow on me after a few listens, but like a lot of heavily influenced albums, this one makes me want to hear the influencers much more than the influenced.
Rating:7
Best Track: “For the Price of a Cup of Tea”