Van Morrison's Astral Weeks has come to signify a soulful impressionism that wells up from sources Wordsworth deemed "too deep for tears." Every note Nick Drake recorded before his accidental overdose in 1974 throbs with similar aching beauty. Morning-glory vocals, couplets of such Elizabethan elegance as "Open up the broken cup/Let goodly sin and sunshine in" and arrangements that wed jazz freedom to the dignity of string quartets make his music — part folk song, part art song — incandescent. Working a single mood almost exclusively — ecstatic yearning — Drake captures in songs like "Northern Sky" and "Time of No Reply" moments of uncanny grace.

A swirl of guitars, violin, trumpet, vibe and bassoon, Tindersticks' nearly 80-minute debut is mood music of a more anxious variety than Drake's. From Nottingham, England, the sextet overlays Stuart Staples' espresso-dark vocals with rough, rich texture. Their best tunes — "City Sickness," "Nectar," "Jism" — glimmer like dreams.

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”