Pitchfork

After years of enjoying tangential connections to fellow Canadian indie rock stars Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, and the Unicorns (RIP), this Jagjaguwar group is finally ready for its close-up.

MP3:> The Besnard Lakes - Various Tracks

Atlanta band seems to have found the ideal context for their brash, loud, and sloppy garage rock: live onstage in Tijuana, recorded by John Reis of Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu.

MP3:> Black Lips - "Not a Problem"

James Blackshaw
The Cloud of Unknowing
[Tompkins Square]

This is a long-overdue gift for fans of acoustic guitar music; Blackshaw-- growing into his prodigious own at the startling age of 25-- has finessed his abilities and 12-string acoustic guitar into a veritable solo symphony, schooled equally in complex 20th century composition and uncommon beauty.

Kathy Diamond
Miss Diamond to You
[Permanent Vacation]

Sheffield singer collaborates with Mu's Maurice Fulton for a record stuffed with hooks, accentuated by a never-intrusive mix of rock drums, funky bass, and synth patches used both sparingly and to perfect accompanying effect.

Earth
Hibernaculum
[Southern Lord]

Legendary Seattle drone-metal group follows its excellent 2005 comeback Hex, or Printing in the Infernal Method with a four-track collection of re-recorded songs and a DVD documenting the band's post-Hex European tour.

Lucky Soul
The Great Unwanted
[Ruffa Lane]

Guitar pop band sets out to capture the teenage melodrama of 60s girl groups but they won't leave you humming "Be My Baby"; instead, the group pays more attention to composition than to homage, and the result is one of the year's best indie pop records.

MP3:> Lucky Soul - "The Great Unwanted"

Marissa Nadler
Songs III: Bird on the Water
[Peace Frog/Kemado]

Backed by the revered Philly psych-folk group Espers-- and produced by that band's frontman, Greg Weeks-- singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler's latest outing is her best yet, ensconsing songs of sorrow in impressionistic phrases and careful musicianship. [Note: This record will be released next month in the U.S. on Kemado.]

MP3:> Marissa Nadler - Various Tracks

No Age
Weirdo Rippers
[Fat Cat]

Over the course of five EPs issued on five different labels-- the highlights of which are compiled here-- this Los Angeles duo's mastered a low-tech immensity that allows its songs to seem much bigger than their constituent parts. [Note: This record will be released next month in the U.S. on Fat Cat U.S.]

MP3:> No Age - "My Life's Alright Without You"

Pharoahe Monch
Desire
[SRC/Universal]

This long-delayed sophomore album is a best-of-both-worlds record that combines a backpacker's sense of social justice and overclocked verbiage with a mainstream star's outsized charisma and furious delivery.

MP3:> Pharoahe Monch - "Body Baby"