(photo by grazi badke)

A crazy cross-section of titles today — the solo record from Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, neo-goth from Cold Cave, and the Jason Molina back catalog on sale. Let’s get to it!

Julian Casablancas, Phrazes for the Young: Ceci n’est pas un Julian! Solo record from main Stroke skews surprisingly synthy, but just as hooky as ever. eMusic’s Matt Fritch sums it up like so:

Phrazes For The Young begins with a carnivalesque keyboard swirl atop a classic Strokes guitar chug, and opener “Out Of The Blue” soon launches into the kind of soaring, laser-sharp Euro-pop and “Volare”-esque “whoa-oh-oh”s last heard on a Tilt-A-Whirl ride in 1987. Those who cried “Cars!” at the sound of synths steering the Strokes’ “12:51″ will have a lot more trainspotting to do with Phrazes, from the Flock Of Seagulls-evoking echo of “Left & Right And In The Dark” to the New Order-taking “11th Dimension.” It all amounts to an unexpected sugar rush that deftly removes the gritty, lo-fi taste of the Strokes without washing away Casablancas himself; he’s still half-apologizing for bad behavior (”The ones who I made pay were never the ones who deserved it/Those who helped me along the way, I slapped ‘em as I thanked ‘em”) and calling for cease-fires with embattled girlfriends (”4 Chords Of The Apocalypse”). With the woozily strummy “Ludlow St.,” he takes a walk on the mild side of his East Village digs, complaining that “faces are changing … yuppies invading.”

Molina and Johnson, Molina and Johnson: It would be kind of funny if this was, like, Art Molina and Louie Johnson, two dudes from Kansas. This is what you’re hoping: Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Co. and Will Johnson of Centr-O-Matic team up to do what they do best: make us sad. And there ain’t a thing wrong with that. And as if that’s not enough, for one week only, the Jason Molina Catalog is ON SALE. Check out the marked-down titles here.

Of the collabo, eMusic’s Amanda Petrusich sez:

Recorded with their own cash in Argyle, Texas, Molina and Johnson can be genuinely heartbreaking (”Almost Let You In,” “Each Star Marks A Day”) or, on occasion, toe-curlingly spooky. On “All Gone, All Gone,” Johnson’s crackly Texas drawl — augmented by singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe’s plaintive guest vocals — is paired with a singing saw; the contrast between Johnson’s scratchy pipes and the saw’s warbling alternates between nightmarish and beautiful. Opener “Twenty Cycles to the Ground” is the most campfire-friendly track here, with Molina and Johnson’s voices melding comfortably over a few acoustic guitar strums and a bit of synthesizer. Because most of these cuts are so stripped down — guitar, maybe a bit of piano, vocals — the chemistry between Molina and Johnson is, by default, the focus of the project — and, happily, it’s undeniable.

Cold Cave, Love Comes Close: So I love the Cold Cave comp Cremations, but haven’t made up my mind about this yet. It’s pretty gothy, lots of grizzled guitars and low, low, low vocals. eMusic’s Andrew Parks sez:

A strange thing happened when an engineer — specifically, former DFA employee Eric Broucek — lifted the heavily-distorted outer layers of an early mix of “Love Comes Close”: Cold Cave founder/frontman Wesley Eisold realized he could sing. Not that he couldn’t hold a tune in his previous pair of post-hardcore bands, Give Up the Ghost and Some Girls. It’s just that they required a healthy amount of shouting, too, not anything that would allude to the pitch-dark pop tunes of, say, Nitzer Ebb and New Order. And now that Cold Cave’s shifted from the experimental solo singles of its Cremations compilation to a consistent power trio that includes Caralee McElroy (ex-Xiu Xiu) and noise demigod Prurient, Eisold is fully embracing his long dormant love of dance music for people who aren’t afraid of the dark.

Various Artists, Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968 – 81: If you don’t have this already, what in the world are you waiting for? Yet another amazing comp from the good people at Soundway. Having this label on eMusic was a dream for me since I started, and now that it’s here, we should all take advantage of the bounty. This compilation gives to the music of Ghana the same treatment that Nigeria Special gave Nigeria. Words cannot express how marvelous this is. And look at the track-to-credit ratio! Why don’t you have this already?

Brilliant Colors, Introducing: An in-house favorite. Cannot say enough good things about this band — think Raincoats, Delta 5, etc etc. Truly great stuff. eMusic’s Douglas Wolk sez:

Brilliant Colors’ sound of choice seems to appear on a 23-year cycle. In the early ’60s, that sound belonged to the young garage-girl groups, whose cavernous production and straining voices never quite hit the charts; in the mid-’80s, it mutated into the speedy, sloppy, melancholy U.K. indiepop proffered by bands like the Shop Assistants and the Rosehips, whose frontwomen cared more about charm than power or accuracy. And now, a new set of terse four-amp-busting-chord wonders and bam-bam-BAM-bam beats have turned up, this time on the debut album from singer/guitarist/songwriter Jess Scott’s Bay Area trio Brilliant Colors, who bluster through ten airy little stompers in slightly under 23 minutes.

DJ/rupture, Solar Life Raft: Latest from DJ/rupture caught us by surprised — formal review is on the way, but previews certainly make this sound like another worthy addition to his catalog. I cannot get over how prolific this dude is. Dubsteppy in spots, weird, ghostly samples floating around in electronic haze.

DOOM, Unexpected Guests: Compilation gathering up a cross-section of DOOM guest appearances. Not absolutely essential, but fans may want to check it out. eMusic’s Nate Patrin sez:

Unexpected Guests, assembled with the same seamless-transition segues and comic-book interludes as his best albums, exists for the sole purpose of highlighting those frequent times where DOOM played well with others. Some are familiar — a couple Dilla-produced tracks, the Ghostface team-up “Angels” (in its mostly drum-free pre-Born Like This mix) and Operation: Doomsday highlight “? (feat. Kurious)” are longtime fan favorites. But the one-offs, drop-ins and cameos collected here come from a long line of work that frequently saw DOOM popping up wherever he seemed to fit. Which was just about anywhere: this is DOOM at his most versatile.

Arrington De Dionyso, Malaikat Dan Singa: OK, I’m gonna throw this out there: if you like Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart there is no reason you wont like Arrington De Dionyso. For years I’ve felt Old Time Relijun was massively underrated — fans of the avant-garde, Arrington is your savior! Embrace him! Love him! Worship him! His solo work skews more “difficult” than the OTR stuff but, man, if you’re one of those people who, like, went as the Trout Mask Replica album cover for Halloween, you should DL this immediately.

The Mary-Onettes, Islands: This sounds awesome. Dour, stately, theatrical, synth-heavy British pop music (but it’s on Labrador, which means they’re probably Scandinavian). I’m really enjoying this — it sounds like a long cry on a rainy Saturday night.

Oh, don’t front. You know what I’m talking about.

King Khan & the BBQ Show, Invisible Girl: King Khan is not so much for me, but I know some people dig this, so here it is! On a semi-related note, you know what I’ve been getting really, into lately? Norton Records. The comps on this label are exemplary — fans of King Khan, make that your next stop!

Rickie Lee Jones, Balm in Gilead: Latest from Rickie Lee Jones traverses in her time-honored tradition of country and blues. Her voice sounds lovely here, and the songs are hushed and soothing.

The Chi-Lites, Original Brunswick Hit Recordings: Classic R&B and sweet soul from pioneers of the genre. Literally every song on here is a hit — “Have You Seen Her” is like proto-hip-hop and what else can be said about “Oh Girl” except that it’s a stone classic.

Her Space Holiday, The Astronauts Are Sleeping Vol. 1, The Astronauts Are Sleeping, Vol. 2: Man, I loved these records way back when. There’s a subgenre of black metal called “depressive black metal,” and so in that spirit, I’d dub this “depressive indie rock.” Slow, small, quiet, Bedhead-esque with glimmering filament guitar lines and hushed vocals. This guy completely lost me after these records, but this is super chilly and remote in the best possible way. I’m gonna drop a reference to the Prayer Chain’s Mercury, and the few of you who know what I’m talking about, that’s what this reminds me of.

Vitalic, Flashmob: Here to stay this time! Latest from Vitalic after a looooooong gap. eMusic’s Philip Sherburne sez:

Less widely feted than his countrymen Justice, Vitalic isn’t really paparazzi material, even on the hipster circuit. But he knows how to rile up his crowds, making Flash Mob a pretty spot-on title, evocative of the throbbing, strobing sea of bodies and cameras lapping up against the stage at his sweaty, adrenaline-charged performances. Vitalic’s not as bombastic as some of his peers in the so-called nu-electro scene. Yes, Flash Mob has plenty of full-bore moments, like the opening “See the Sea (Red),” lashed with overdriven synth leads and rock-inspired stomp, or the rave revival “Terminateur Benelux,” which explodes a vocal sample (from Moby’s “Go”) over a breathless disco gallop, cowbells and all, and fires up zig-zagging synth stabs in homage to the amphetamine glory of Belgian hardcore.

Gift of Gab, Escape 2 Mars: I’ve been hearing good things about the latest solo effort from Blackalicious member Gift of Gab. I’ve got a soft spot for this kind of hip-hop anyways, but what I’m hearing sounds pretty good — neo-R&B choruses, dry-as-sandpaper vocal delivery, outer space production… I’m looking forward to spending more time with this one.

Blockhead, The Music Scene: Latest from (in my opinion) underrated producer Blockhead finds him still trafficking in all the things that made him great: smoky soul samples, scuffed-up soundtrack music, weird choral interludes. This is dank, grimy instrumental music that some aging rapper should appropriate for a comeback.

CunninLynguists, Strange Journey Volume Two: So the name is terrible, but this is 100% not-bad old school style hip-hop, featuring guest appearances by E-40, Sean Price, Freddie Gibbs and many more.

Hypocrisy, A Taste of Extreme Divinity: Extreme indeed! Swedish black metallers are still badass, and their latest rivals their best work. Uncompromising, brutal death metal sure to satisfy fans of the genre.

Let the Night Roar, Let the Night Roar: MeteorCity kicks back into action with this fantastic slab of stoner metal. Massively detuned guitars, growled vocals and sludge, sludge, sludge. Fans of Earth, take note!