The White Stripes release their first-ever live disc, the affable "Under Great White Northern Lights," which offers a pleasently furious take on some modern classics, but fails to to take full advantage of the geography and premise behind their Canadian tour.

The geographically dispersed band Liars single-handedly bring the fear and loathing back to rock music with their stunning fifth album Sisterworld, a summary and refinement of the twisted sound they've made their own.

The third album from this cartoon pseudo-band (largely the work of Blur frontman Damon Albarn) finds the genre-hopping of their previous work dialed down, in favor of a more focused, almost narcotic sound. 

The Man in Black's final album in his American recording series may not be the last Cash disc you'll find for sale, but it's a fitting spiritual end to his half-century of performance, with stark covers of Tom Paxton, Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson, and more.

Peter Gabriel, who hasn’t released a record in so long that I didn’t know who he was the last time he released a record, has broken his silence with a covers record, taking on some interesting choices in the least interesting way possible.

Are these lads from London ever going to make a stone-cold classic album? Considering how flooring their run of singles has been - from “Over and Over” to “One Life Stand” - it’s almost criminal how they’ve managed to sidestep a masterpiece. Whether through the faux hip-hop irony of Coming on Strong (2004) and The Warning (2006), or the watered-down ballads of Made in the Dark (2008), their subtle sabotaging of that possibility has kept fans dangling on the line for far too long. One Life Stand could be considered their attempt to get down to business.

Texas folk-rock band Midlake deliver their masterful third album The Courage of Others, a deceptively straightforward attempt to dig up the bones of pre-’80s folk music and craft a beast for our age, one more bemused than angry. Smith isn’t aligning himself with the radicals of decades past, simply standing, alone, where they used to be. It’s also the least rocking of all Midlake’s albums, with only “Children of the Grounds” rising above mid-tempo, and the fiery electric solo in “Winter Dies” acting as one of a few reminders that this is a post-Neil Young recording. 

As much as I’ve listened to and enjoyed Basia Bulat, I don’t know if I could pick her out of an audio lineup. Her voice and musical approach aren’t exactly anonymous, but they belie her skills as a songwriter, and the sheer joy that can come from listening to her perform. It may take a few spins for it to register, but she’s as good as Feist, without the corporate sycophancy.

The Magnetic Fields' ninth album, Realism, has been described as a “folk album,” and that is exactly what is given: folk songs. Dance-with-the-village songs. Virtually no percussion, and no synth from a band that did their share of making synth pop ubiquitous, removed from the woe-is-me persona that Merritt has been somewhat unfairly saddled with, like they got off the boat before he picked up his first guitar.

Woodhands' story yields interest: two skilled, energetic guys with fine resumés team up to add some pop to Toronto’s electronic music scene. They make several promising releases, including the Heart Attack LP, which lands them in TORO’s Garage in 2008 (they did a fine job). Then they keep the moniker going with the equally promising Remorsecapade.