When we last heard from Alison Goldfrapp, she was indulging her inner hippie-hugging trees and providing ambient down-tempo textures on 2008's Seventh Tree, an album that served as a rustic counterpoint to the glittery electro-glam of 2005's Supernature.

Holly Golightly is a U.K. native who lives on a farm in Georgia where she spends her leisure time raising horses and chickens. After listening to her latest release, Medicine County, you would naturally assume as much.

Perpetually heads and shoulders above the rest of the disco-nouveau/electro pack, London's Hot Chip boldly flies the imperiled analogue-lover's flag on their sophisticated new release, One Life Stand.

The new trend among bands has turned from naming themselves after woodland creatures to naming themselves after repeated letters of the alphabet. First the xx came along with its pulsing R&B grooves, and now jj is back with their second full-length, n*3.

Joanna Newsom has never seemed to care much about mainstream appeal. While her fellow freak folkers Devendra Banhart and Animal Collective have racked up acclaim for their more radio-friendly efforts, Newsom has released a triple album, with some songs clocking in at nine minutes long.