Kevin Bronson on February 17th, 2009

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Fol Chen, “Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made” (today, Asthmatic Kitty) – As with his previous project Bedroom Walls and its self-christened genre appellation “romanticore,” Adam Goldman remains just as much about creating mythos as music. Oh, he’s still twee as heck, and every bit the art-schooler, only cleverer now. He goes by Samuel Bing, doesn’t take band photos (he has worn masks onstage), spins his thematic material off a character from Vladimir Nabokov’s intractable novel “Pale Fire” and chooses instrumentation like a collagist in a thrift store. As constructs go, Fol Chen is where oblique meets opaque. “John Shade’s” vaguely neurotic avant-pop is cobbled together from seemingly disparate parts – wheezy horns, R2D2 symphonies, cranky synthesizers, fey vocals, acoustic guitars and percussion that often sounds like a garbage truck at 7 a.m. All are arranged with such deft restraint you don’t know if it’s minimalism or emaciation, but on a few occasions Fol Chen nails it. “Winter, That’s All” feels punk compared to some of the album’s whine; “Wedding Cake” is frosting for the lovelorn; and the squiggly “Cable TV” is about the sweetest come-on imaginable. As with many experimentalists, there are hits and misses; it would be far easier to forgive the latter if the talented Goldman (he’s toured as a guitarist for Liars) didn’t engage in so much schtick.

Eleni Mandell, “Artificial Fire” (today, Zedtone) – In the title track of Mandell’s 15-song tour de force, she seems to be telling one story (of a late-night adventure in Montreal) while guitarist Jeremy Drake’s licks tell another. It’s brilliant, and just one of the shining moments on the L.A. singer-songwriter’s seventh album. Lyrically rich and melodically robust, “Articial Fire” finds Mandell and her players stitching together small stories with big metaphors. And if you never knew quite what to drink with Mandell’s early music – martinis, whiskey shots or PBR – this album doesn’t pose quite the challenge her previous excursions from pop to rock to jazz to country did. Our dusky-voiced heroine has never been artificial, and she’s never been more on fire. Recommended.

Lemon Sun, “Run With the Faithless” (Feb. 10, self-released) – If albums were fabric, Lemon Sun’s full-length would be an arresting quilt of flannel and spandex. Earthy guitar and piano and Rob Kolar’s groaner vocals – when he squeaks, you cringe – scream 1990s, but the beats are all Now (so dance, will ya?). Imagine the Killers if they’d broken through in the era of Matchbox 20 and Counting Crows. Kolar ladles on far too much swagger, even when he sings “You can call me a loner if you like / Don’t call me a killer, I ain’t the kind,” but “Faithless” is so infused with hooks and melodies it’s bound to find some kind of audience. Just not me.

Miranda Lee Richards, “Light of X” (Feb. 10, Nettwerk) – The L.A. singer-songwriter has quite a Rolodex (or whatever passes for one in the digital age), boasts a fascinating backstory that includes a major-label incursion and has emerged as something of the prom queen for L.A.’s robust little psych-rock scene. But most of her sophomore album (her first was back in 2001, for Virgin) is so wispy and ethereal that it makes no impression at all. The single “Early November” makes a case for “Light of X” being more than coffeehouse reverie; would love to have more reasons to move farther away from the espresso machine.

Also in my ears

An Horse,”Rearrange Beds” (Mom & Pop) – Ignore the tongue-twisting name, this Australian two-piece makes sharp, sweet, barebones punk that reminds you Sleater-Kinney and the female-fronted part of K Records’ roster. Full of exhilarating, rough-hewn gems. Recommended.

Anya Marina, “Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II” (Chop Shop) – The San Diego-based sprite genre-hops merrily and dishes giddily on her second full-length, her girlish, whiskey-on-the-rocks vocals hopscotching from pop to jazz to rock to bossa nova. She succeeds when she marries her arrangements to her thematic material, and hits the mark most of the time.

The Sleepover Disaster, “Hover” (Devil in the Woods) – This Fresno trio has unleashed a storm of an album that rains its distortion and melodies on the memory of Chapterhouse, Ride and, perhaps, some of the lesser-known shoegazers such as Majesty Crush. Recommended for fans of the genre.