The first album for the latest "band" from Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt (he's pretty much solo here) is intended as a companion to Lemony Snicket's series of books.

Laura Cantrell, Peter Holsapple, and Annie Hayden guest on Mac McCaughan's second Portastatic album of 2006.

The Brooklyn trio's third album, produced by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr.), marks their debut for Sub Pop.

This the third album for the Canadian folk trio includes a cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry."

This is the second LP for the Chicago-based avant-pop outfit.

The New Zealand rock band returns with a third album.

Tony Hoffer (Beck) produced this first album for the Brighton, England four-piece.

Originally intended as an EP, 'Warrior,' at seven tracks and 45 minutes, now stands as the Brooklyn band's second full-length release.

Nigel Godrich produced the latest eclectic release for the prolific Los Angeles-based artist, which is more varied and uptempo than their previous collaborations.

Flood and Alan Moulder handled production for the popular Las Vegas band's second album.

The Brooklyn-based rockers move to emo label Vagrant for this John Agnello-produced release.

The duo's second remix compilation this year includes their take on tracks by Junior Senior, N.E.R.D., Nine Inch Nails, Goldfrapp and more.

The Montreal band led by Murray Lightburn is a little more rocking and a little less orchestral on this follow-up to 'No Cities Left.'

'Crane Wife' marks the literate, Colin Meloy-led band's major label debut.

Fans of the Grammy-winning band have waited three years for them to return with a second album, which returns Dave Fortman as producer but no longer includes guitarist-songwriter Ben Moody.

The Australian rockers reunite with producer Dave Sardy for this second album.

The veteran musician is backed by REM and/or Minus 5 members Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, and Bill Rieflin (together, the Venus 3) on his first release since 2004's 'Spooked.'

The singer's first album in eight years includes instrumental help from Jon Brion and Matt Chamberlain, as well as guitarist Harper (son of Paul) Simon.

Steve Albini co-produced the artist's first album in three years.

The anticon crew that includes Doseone--and, fortunately, the nearly-killed Dax Pierson--makes the jump to a more major label (EMI/Astralwerks) for the first time.

The Fleetwood Mac guitarist's first solo outing in over a dozen years features bandmates Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on two tracks of a largely acoustic set.

Joe Pernice & co. return with an album produced by Michael Deming.

This is the much-blogged-about first album for the Baltimore duo of Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand.

The Evan Dando-led band (now down to a trio) returns with its first studio disc in ten years. J Mascis guests.

The surprisingly successful party band's second album includes a track co-written with Elton John.

Mark Linkous' first Sparklehorse album in five years includes collaborations with Danger Mouse, Christian Fennesz, and Tom Waits.

The first solo album for the Metric singer finds her backed by members of Stars, Metric and Broken Social Scene (together billed as The Soft Skeleton).

The noisy, intense Michigan band returns with a follow-up to 2004's 'Burned Mind.'

This double-disc live set features 21 tracks (many from last year's 'Z') recorded at The Fillmore in San Francisco.

This is the second album of home-made recordings for multi-instrumentalist and former Fridge bassist Adem Ilhan.

'Darkel' marks the solo debut for Air's JB Dunckel.

This is the third studio album for the Toronto collective headed by Joel Gibb.

'Empire' marks the second release for the English dance-rock band.

A true solo effort, this self-titled release finds the 25-year-old Kweller handling all of the instrumentation himself for the first time.

Jim White and Paul Oldham are among the guests on prolific songwriter Will Oldham's latest Bonnie "Prince" Billy studio recording.

The singer-songwriter's fifth studio album is the first for his new record label, Lonely Astronaut.

Mitchell Froom produced the latest for the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers.

This ten-song effort is a sequel to the singer's 1975 album 'Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy.'

Stephen Street produced this sophomore set for Liverpool's Zutons.

The veteran Swedish band's sixth studio album was finally released in the U.S. in September 2006, nearly one year after it first surfaced in Europe.

David Bowie guests on the highly-anticipated second LP (and major-label debut) from the distinctive NYC band.

Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante guests on the prog-rock band's third studio disc, which features eight tracks clocking in at an epic total of 76 minutes.

The New York City dance-punk outfit returns with a sophomore album a full three years after their debut 'Echoes.' 'Pieces' sees them ditching The DFA for new producers Ewan Pearson, Paul Epworth and Danger Mouse.

After two relatively subdued albums, Ira, Georgia and James return with a much more varied effort that at times recalls pretty much every stage of their history. Roger Moutenot again produces.

TAL's fourth disc is almost a Jimmy LaValle solo recording, with the band leader handling the bulk of the instrumentation, vocals, and production.

This is the fourth LP for the minimalist blues-rock duo of Patrick Carney (drums) and Dan Auedback (vocals/guitar).

The band's third album finds producer/songwriter Andy LeMaster once again joined by Azure Ray's Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor, plus drummer Clay Leverett.

This fourth album marks the Barsuk debut for the eclectic Portland, Ore. husband-and-wife duo of Kevin and Anita Robinson.

Deerhoof's Greg Saunier produced this fifth album for the experimental Bay Area band led by Jamie Stewart.

The singer-songwriter reunites with producer J.D. Foster for his eighth album, which also finds him backed by former members of Guided By Voices.

Everclear leader Art Alexakis produced the band's first studio disc in three years, which finds him backed by four new band members and without a major-label contract.

The Atlanta metal band's third album marks their major-label debut.

The 61-year-old rocker returns with his first new album in 11 years.

This is the incredibly prolific Jason Molina's second studio album with his blues-rock outfit Magnolia Electric Co.

This is the second album for the eclectic, multi-lingual New York band that, despite its name, is largely male and definitely not Brazilian.

The follow-up to 2004's 'The Ride' is a timely 13-track song cycle about American immigration.

The all-female Japanese experimental rock outfit led by The Boredoms' Yoshimi P-We returns with a fifth album.

The Detroit party-rockers return with a third album.

Brendan O'Brien produced this third release for the Chris Cornell-led band.

This intricate second album for the Brooklyn-based band led by Edward Droste is their first for Warp Records.

Dylan's first studio release since his 2001 hit 'Love And Theft' is his 44th album overall.

The Los Angeles-based California-rock outfit led by Darren and Ann Do Rademaker returns with a third album.

Dave Grohl and the Dixie Chicks guest on the singer-songwriter's third album.

The Tim Kasher-led band has lost its cellist (Gretta Cohn) but added a horn section for its latest release, produced, as always, by Mike Mogis.

Chris Thomas (U2, Pulp) produced this brief, self-titled follow up to the Johnny Borrell-led band's 2004 debut 'Up All Night.'

This B-sides and rarities complilation contains 18 previously-released (although not always easy-to-find) tracks.

This is the tenth album for the very large Nashville band led by Kurt Wagner.

John Darnielle follows 'The Sunset Tree' with this equally personal 12-song set.

The Slint and Tortoise guitarist's second solo album under his given name expands on the sound of his first by adding a rhythm section into the mix.

Rob Schnapf produced album number three for the James Walsh-led band.

Brendan Canty (Fugazi) produced this third album for the Oregon band, down to the duo of Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster after the departure of original drummer Jordan Hudson.

The singer-songwriter's fifth release finds him backed for the first time by a full band, which includes Rachel Blumberg (The Decemberists) and Jordan Hudson (The Thermals). Neko Case and My Morning Jacket's Jim James guest.

The Stars vocalist makes her solo debut, backed by members of that band as well as of Broken Social Scene, Do Make Say Think, and Metric.

This is the second solo outing for the former Archers Of Loaf and Crooked Fingers frontman.

The Canadian musician's follow-up to 'Infiniheart' was once again recorded solo at his home.

Anyone disappointed by the last Daft Punk album might enjoy this funky, largely instrumental second album for the New York duo.

This 2004 debut album for the Austin, Texas band was re-released (with four bonus tracks mixed by Spoon's Jim Eno) in 2006 when the band signed with Barsuk.

The indie-pop trio from Illinois--making their debut with 'Kindness'--features former members of Maserati and Absinthe Blind.

One of six (!) new albums recently recorded by the Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. frontman, the mostly-acoustic 'Let Me Go' is a vinyl-only release (that conveniently comes with a full CD version of the album).

Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Warren Ellis (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds), and Will Sergeant (Echo and the Bunnymen) guest on the band's first album in four years, which ditches the aggressive, electronic elements of their previous two outings in favor of a more traditional blues-rock homage.

Three former members of Jane's Addiction--including guitarist Dave Navarro--are joined by singer Steve Isaacs for this new project.

This seven-song follow-up to 2004's 'Blue Cathedral' adds a bit more melody and cleaner sound to the band's usual noise assault.

The latest studio outing from the prolific singer-songwriter features production by Mike Napolitano (along with DiFranco herself) and contributions from touring musician Todd Sickafoose.

This double album marks the first solo release for the "brother" half of the brother-sister duo Fiery Furnaces. While the 'Holy Ghost' disc is as bizarre and experimental as recent Furnaces releases, 'Winter Women' marks a detour into more accessible pop.