The Swayback, Forewarned(W.A.R.?). The Swayback boldly exposes four distinct personalities in four tracks. The title cut combines lip-licking goth slink and Chuck laces-in-your-faces, while "Earring in the Shag" heads for '69 Detroit. Meanwhile, Eric Halborg talks to angels on the acoustic blues of "Down by the Tracks," and the "Forewarned" remix leaves you positively sticky. -- Eryc Eyl
Sweet Sunny South, Live From the Radio Room (Two Dolla Records). Paonia-based Sweet Sunny South had tongues wagging in Telluride this year with its standout brand of traditional-sounding bluegrass. Reeling off hot ones including "Two Dolla Pistols," "Me and My Old Still" and "Four Eyed Boy," South shines brightly on this live recording, like a new moon over the high country. -- Hutchinson
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Tarmints,Toil Like Devils(Denver Coffee Achievers). The Tarmints have always written darkly cathartic, visceral rock that sounds like it was written in some New Orleans cemetery. On its latest release, however, the band explores new terrain and experiments with dynamics. Harrowing and unbelievably intense, Devils is arguably the act's finest, most representative recording to date. -- Murphy
Eddie Turner, The Turner Diaries (NorthernBlues). In the wrong hands, the blues can seem like a genre whose time has come and gone. Thankfully, Turner, with a big assist from gifted producer Kenny Passarelli, rips into "Dangerous" and the rest rather than treating them with kid gloves. His hands couldn't be more right. -- Roberts
Halden Wofford & the Hi-Beams, Midnight Rodeo (Self-released). Okay, some of the music on this country-music throwback is sorta silly. But Wofford's sky-scraping vocals and his bandmates' mastery of C&W verities on "Don't Care If I Do" and "Road to Old Mexico" more than compensate for those moments when the fun turns goofy. On Midnight Rodeo, the Hi-Beams lasso a winner. -- Roberts
Wovenhand, Mosaic (Sounds Familyre). With 16 Horsepower behind him, David Eugene Edwards is free to take his music into ever more foreboding areas -- and he takes advantage of the opportunity on Wovenhand's latest. Mosaic may unnerve some listeners, but the eerie atmosphere of "Swedish Purse" and other standouts metaphorically evoke the challenge of remaining faithful in a harsh, unforgiving world. -- Roberts
Yonder Mountain String Band, Yonder Mountain String Band (Vanguard). Although these bluegrass boys from Nederland have been shoved into the jam pigeonhole, they can do a lot more than noodle. Under the supervision of producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliott Smith), the Stringers apply their virtuosity to a solid batch of actual songs on their first disc for the venerable Vanguard imprint. The results are thoroughly invigorating. -- Roberts
