The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love (LP, 4AD)

I have been AWOL again, unfortunately other commitments and an elevated state of repose set in. However, if there's any band out there who can help shake off a state of self-imposed somnolence, it would have to be the The Big Pink.

A Brief History of Love? That's a mighty big undertaking. Despite being named after The Band's seminal Music From Big Pink, there's no folk-rock here. The Big Pink's own musical palette of influences is mainly drawn from shoegaze's more cryptic qualities. Comparisons have been drawn far and wide with The Jesus And Mary Chain, but to my mind the duo of Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell sound a lot like The XX (almost eerily similar on the title track).

However, on repeated listens the broad strokes of shoegaze peel away to reveal muscular subtleties. There may be shades of lad-rock in Furze’s inebriated croon, but it’s Milo Cordell’s progressive electronic leanings at play that come to the surface. This is an album created from a sensual palette of sound, with the emotional resonances deriving from the method of its construction. The album's glorious opener "Crystal Visions" closes with a climactic tirade of distortion detonations and points to a hefty, guitar-laden album; that is until it's met by "Too Young To Love"'s improbable breakbeat funkiness, and then by the album's soon-to-be terrace anthem, "Dominos" (trust me, you'll be humming the line "These girls fall like dominoes..." for days to come). "A Brief History Of Love" - a gorgeous duet between Furze and backing singer Jo Apps - would be the highpoint of many an album were it not for some of the exceptional highs that have passed here beforehand.

To be fair, the album is not perfect. There's a dispiriting drop in standards towards the end of the album, with pedestrian fillers. However, the high points of the album are definitely worth it. Yes, there are weaker tracks towards the end, but this album's best moments are the music equivalents of a beating heart.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (LP, Jagjaguwar)

For Emma, Forever Ago is one of those albums that is so complete in it's perfection that any description belies its true beauty. I will, however, try my best.

If the album exudes a strong sense of loneliness & remoteness, that's probably because Justin Vernon sequestered himself in a remote cabin in Wisconsin for almost four months, writing and recording. The result? An album possessing Elliot Smith’s folk-tinged starkness and the analog-tape warmth of Samuel Beam. The album favours acoustic arrangements, skeletal recordings on analog equipment that are close-recorded. Vernon, however, knows the power of crescendo, both in timbre and volume. And now and then, when he lets his voice shed the hushed/floating affectation, he has a raw abandon that’s quite compelling. While a few parts (horns, drums, and backing vocals) were added in a studio, for the majority of the time it's just Vernon, his voice, and his songs.

It's impossible to pick the best track in an album full of them, but "Skinny Love" shows off his range as he climbs down from the heights of falsetto and shouts out the angry and heartachey words quite convincingly. Framing his voice are suitably subdued arrangements built around acoustic guitars and filled out with subtle electric guitars, the occasional light drums, and slide guitar. Vernon has a steady grasp of dynamics too - the ebb and flow of "Creature Fear" is powerfully dramatic and when the chorus hits it's hard not to be swept away by the flood of tattered emotion. Almost every song has a moment where the emotion peaks and hearts begin to weaken and bend: the beauty of that voice is what pulls you through every time. For Emma captures the sound of broken and quiet isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers it to your door with a beating, bruised heart. However, inspite of it's morose undertones, the album never turns into a pity party.

I have no idea who Emma is nor what happened forever ago (Vernon doesn't offer any hints), but it must have been mighty powerful to produce such a meaningful album.

Various Artists - Dark was the Night (LP, 4AD)

Charity albums are much like Christmas albums (don't get me started on the charity Christmas albums) - they start off with good intentions but end up as a collection of uninspired ideas. However noble the cause, it's unlikely that you will ever spin the album a second time.

Dark was the Night, however, is an album that you will keep coming back to. Featuring the who's who of artists on the alternative/folk-rock scene, the album is released by the Red Hot Organisation, to raise funds and awareness in the fight against AIDS. The album is curated by the National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner, and produced by Red Hot's John Carlin. Though the Carlin and the Dessners did not specify a particular theme, the album is surprisingly cohesive.

The triple LP of (mostly) original compositions opens with the whacky and upbeat "Knotty Pine", a collaborative effort from David Byrne and Dirty Projectors. Feist adeptly teams with Death Cab's Ben Gibbard on a cover of Vashti Bunyan's "Train Song" and later slow burns through the outstanding Grizzly Bear collaboration "Service Bell". Spoon provide a badly needed injection of rhythm on "Well Alright". We also get quality contributions from Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, New Pornographers, Yo La Tengo, Riceboy Sleeps, Iron & Wine, and Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch.

Standing out, however, are My Morning Jacket's laid-back "El Caporal" and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings' Shuggie Otis cover "Inspiration Information". Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch adds lyrics to an old Scottish folk song, and the resulting "Another Saturday" is one more quiet triumph for him. Dave Sitek's version of the Troggs' "With a Girl Like You" also gets an honourable mention, as does the Books and José González doing a cover of Nick Drake's "Cello Song". Not to be outdone by their invitees, the National shout-out Pavement on the languid "So Far Around the Bend", recalling Pavement doing the same to one of their favorite bands (R.E.M.) on No Alternative.

Overall, the tracks combine to produce a collection which is eclectic and entertaining, without any of the throwaway b-sides that usually clutter compilation albums. The artists have clearly delivered their best work, and the fact that it's for a good cause doesn't hurt.

Eilen Jewell - Sea of Tears (LP, Signature Sounds)

Although singer/songwriter Eilen Jewell has drawn comparisons with artists like Lucinda Williams & Jolie Holland, her strongest influences appear to be Bessie Smith & Billie Holiday. Having earned a reputation as a folkie with her earlier albums, Jewell moves towards a more guitar-heavy, 60's-flavoured roots rock with her third release, Sea of Tears.

The album is mainly Jewell's own compositions, but there are a few great covers thrown into the mix. Jewell's vocals are subtle, understated, and relaxed, but that doesn't make her any less expressive on moody, melancholy originals such as "Codeine Arms", "Rain Roll In", and "Fading Memory". She's as melancholy on her own material as she is on memorable performances of "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" (a gem that Van Morrison performed when he a member of Them in the '60s) and Loretta Lynn's "The Darkest Day". She also does a great cover of Johnny Kidd's "Shakin' All Over".

Eilen Jewell is a distinctive artist with a voice that sinks into your head and just won't leave. The album will defintely be on your year-end "Best Of" list - it's that good.

Taken By Trees - East of Eden (LP, Rough Trade)

Taken by Trees is the name adopted by Victoria Bergsman, former vocalist of the Concretes and guest vocalist on "Young Folks" from Peter, Bjorn and John's third album, Writer's Block.

Her new recordings found Bergsman abandoning the Concretes' sprightly sound in lieu of a more sombre, stripped-down style that put her in league with Camera Obscura. Taken by Trees' first full-length, Open Field, was released in 2007.

For the next Taken by Trees' album, Bergsman wanted to try something different so she and recording engineer, Andreas Söderström, traveled to Pakistan to record with local musicians. This, apparently, was quite an eventful journey, with Bergsman literally being carried off by some locals shortly after the duo arrived in Pakistan; the fact that she was an unmarried woman evidently made her common property. Söderström saved her by posing as her husband, and thus disguised, Söderström and Bergsman went on to team up with a Pakistani musician named Malik to record this album.

The album kicks off with the haunting flute of "To Lose Someone" before Bergsman's melancholy vocals start. The rhythmic percussion and flute continue to dominate the song and the backing vocals are Pakistani, a theme that continues throughout the album. A version of Animal Collective's "My Girls" - changed to "My Boys" – is set to a stately, dipping rhythm of xylophone and percussion. Noah Lennox repays the favour by adding backing vocals to "Anna".

East of Eden is an ambitious project, and Bergsman manages to pull it off admirably, although some parts of the album are a trifle self-indulgent ("Wapas Karna", "Bekännelse"). Even though she's borrowed a lot here - from Animal Collective, Pakistani music - Bergsman manages to make it her own.

Initial vinyl pressings come with the album on CD and an accompanying documentary.

Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session (LP, Classic)

Apologies, once again, for my tardiness. Will attempt to be somewhat regular with updates in future. But don't hold your breath.

A gem I recently picked up is the Classic Records 200 gram vinyl reissue of the seminal Cowboy Junkies album, The Trinity Session. The Cowboy Junkies consists of three siblings – Margo Timmins on vocals, Michael Timmins on guitar and Peter Timmins on drums – and their longtime friend Alan Anton on bass

Recorded in the Holy Trinity Church in Toronto, Canada, the album was made in one night using one microphone and a DAT recorder. Who says great albums can't be made in a day?

The Trinity Session is a mix of blues and country covers and originals, but all the tracks on the album are given airy, slow-tempo treatments that allow them to slowly and deliberately unfold. This treatment is accentuated by Margo Timmins's extraordinary voice. Ethereal and cool, her voice fills an almost unimaginable space, especially on "Blue Moon Revisted (Song for Elvis)".

The other tracks that stand out on the album are the original "Misguided Angel" and the cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" (which includes the lost verse). "Sweet Jane" is definitely the linchpin that holds this album together, and as the band states - "The last piece to this very abstract puzzle was Sweet Jane. The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed embody what we feel rock music should be about - slightly out of step, intelligent, groove orientated and original. They have to be listed as one of the great rock bands ever and Sweet Jane, for better or worse, is one of their most recognized songs. It was and still is the backbone of cover bands all across America. It has been pitilessly slaughtered countless times on countless nights on countless stages around the world. We thought, 'lets take it and see if we can breathe new life into this tired old work horse'. We got our inspiration from The Velvets live album entitled 1969. To be honest it is one of our straighter covers, we didn't change it a whole lot. Originally we had tried to record it for the Whites album, but we never got the right feel. For this collection of songs we chose Sweet Jane as being 'our song - this is what we listened to growing up, this is where our musical tastes come from'".

The Cowboy Junkies recorded Trinity Revisited in 2007, joined by artists who were shaped by the original - Natalie Merchant, Ryan Adams and Vic Chestnut. I haven't torn the shrink wrap off that one yet, but it's probably nowhere near being as good as the original.

Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band (LP, Sub Pop)

After a hiatus of four years during which he became a member of the Shins and Vetiver, Eric D. Johnson returns to the Fruit Bats to give us another offering of Americana and sun-soaked folk. This time, it appears that he's going to stay for good, as he says in his blog: "After three years or so, Fruit Bats are back in the saddle. I spent the last couple of years playing in The Shins (a fine day job if there ever was one), but I’m back in full force with the first love of my musical life. Songs have been written. Recording dates have been written in permanent ink. To prove that I’m serious about this, Fruit Bats will be touring the west coast of the United States of America. How ‘bout it? Other parts of the country, as well as other nations, will be visited later in the year."

Since the initial inception of the Fruit Bats in 1999, they've seen a rotation of nearly 25 members, believe it or not. In keeping with that theme, The Ruminant Band features yet another cast of characters, of whom few have worked with the Fruit Bats before. Nonetheless, this is a thoroughly collaborative release.

The Fruits Bats stay close to their 70's-inspired roots. It's hard not to hear Neil Young in the guitar on "Primitive Man" and "Feather Bed", or Fleetwood Mac in the opening riff on the title track. Heck, they even reference Three Dog Night in the plaintive "Singing Joy to the World". Not to forget the Rolling Stones-inspired chorus on "Tegucigalpa". A bit of the Allman Brothers Band sprinkled all over completes the package.

The Fruit Bats exemplify a band that is content to create easygoing songs with unashamed nods to the past, allowing you to get lost in eerily soothing indie-folk tunes that will leave you wondering what decade it is.

The Fruit Bats are around to stay for a while, but it's nice to know that Eric Johnson has Other Career Options , just in case this doesn't work out. Somehow, I don't see him as a Swashbuckling Ichthyologist, so lets hope it doesn't come to that.