L.A. singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart has been saddled with responsibility for spearheading the freak-folk movement, but with each of his six albums that term has become an increasingly irrelevant way to describe his sound. Rolling Stone’s Kevin O’Donnell says that’s the case again on Banhart’s latest LP, What Will We Be, an eclectic LP that dips into lots of classic rock styles. He even warbles in a baritone that’s eerily reminiscent of Jim Morrison on “Rats.” (more…)

The “Christian Rock” pick in this week’s New Music Report (contributing editor Christian Hoard’s current fave) is Scars, the fifth album from British house duo Basement Jaxx. The group’s 2001 album Rooty featured the hit “Romeo,” which charted in the States thanks to its synthetic yet warm vibe, and Scars is their best album since then. All the tracks are all sung by guest vocalists including Santigold and Kelis, as well as smaller names like Paloma Faith, who takes the lead on “What’s a Girl Got to Do.” It’s a song that’s ready for an iPod commercial with its clipped disco groove, keyboard stabs and rejiggered New Orleans brass.

The beats on Scars are often stronger than the songs, but when Basement Jaxx get a hot beat and a hot tune together you get something magical: progressive pop. It is dance music that can venture into the cheesy — but it’s a good cheesy.

Check out all of Rolling Stone’s album reviews.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don't have iTunes, download it here.]

Rolling Stone’s Kevin O’Donnell guides you to two killer releases in our weekly New Music Report. First up, Losing Feeling, a new EP from SoCal skate-punk duo No Age. Last year’s full-length Nouns was a messy collection of noise rock, and on their new EP the pair tone down the fuzz to focus on hooks — kind of like if Brian Wilson collaborated with Black Flag. (more…)

Christian Hoard returns to host his “Christian Rock” segment of the New Music Report this week. His pick: Built to Spill’s latest album, There Is No Enemy. The long-running Idaho band led by Doug Martsch refused to be interviewed on camera when Hoard was covering All Tomorrow’s Parties for RS last year, and Martsch strikes Hoard as a shy, a small-town guy who likes to shoot hoops and hang with his kids when he’s not cooking up guitar riffs. His songs project a grounded daydreaming — he’s not afraid to indulge idle thoughts about Canada’s beauty, but he knows how to construct a straight-forward song, too. (more…)

Air are well known for their cool electronica records full of mellow space grooves and robo-funk jams, and while their fifth disc, Love 2 isn’t a big sonic departure, there is one key change: the songs were recorded with live instruments. The French duo get help from session drummer Joey Waronker, who’s currently teaming up with Thom Yorke in the Radiohead frontman’s new band featuring Flea and Nigel Godrich. The LP’s key track, “Missing the Light of Day” blends intertwined synth riffs as the pair sing about returning home after a long night of partying. (more…)

Rolling Stone’s Kevin O’Donnell spotlights the Avett Brothers’ major-label debut, I and Love and You, in this week’s roundup of essential new releases. The North Carolina trio get an assist from Rick Rubin on the disc, which results in polished songs including upbeat jams and pretty piano ballads, like the title track, which shows off brothers Scott and Seth Avett’s Beatlesque harmonies. (more…)

On new supergroup Monsters of Folk’s debut album, Jim James, M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis deliver 15 songs that touch on straight-up country and bluegrass, but they also veer into atmospheric ballads, like opener “Dear God.” The best part of the album: it doesn’t sound overworked. Instead, it comes off like a couple of buddies sitting around on the porch at a late-night jam session, especially on standout “Whole Lotta Losin’ .”

Also on the New Music Report radar this week: A Brief History of Love, the debut from duo the Big Pink, delivers druggy shoegaze crafted with synths and squealing guitars. (more…)

In this week’s roundup of the best new releases, Kevin O’Donnell breaks down the debut EP from the Drums, one of indie-rock’s biggest buzz bands this fall. Summertime delivers spiky post-punk and super-catchy songs about surfing and going to the beach, kind of like an upbeat Cure. Plus, there’s Yo La Tengo’s Popular Songs, one of their best and most diverse albums yet. The Hoboken, New Jersey trio break out delicate ballads, ghostly pastorals and feedback-drenched jams on their latest LP. Listen to samples of the records’ best tracks and get the full report in the video, above.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.]

Rolling Stone’s Christian Hoard names Yacht’s See Mystery Lights his “Christian Rock” pick of the week in the latest edition of the New Music Report. Get a listen to summer jam “Summer Song” and learn a bit more about the Portland duo above. Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans record dance music tricked out with oddball spoken word sections, sing-along hooks and an assortment of sound effects. It can be raw, snarky and luxuriantly digital and it’s like a Talking Heads album in sensibility — topics covered on See Mystery Lights include gentrification and the afterlife — but while it’s arty music, it’s easy to get down to.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don't have iTunes, download it here.]

In this week’s roundup of vital upcoming releases, Rolling Stone’s Kevin O’Donnell sizes up the new album from South African band BLK JKS (a recent RS Artist to Watch). Their debut After Robots is an awesome prog-rock odyssey, and the Johannesburg outfit spice up technically demanding songs with horns, African chants and sparkling Afropop guitars. If TV on the Radio aren’t adventurous enough for you, this may be what you’re after.

And there’s Album, the LP from Girls. The band’s frontman Christopher Owens has a nutty back story: he was raised in the Children of God cult, escaped at age 16 and survived on the streets for several years. But his songs aren’t gloomy — his album is packed with gorgeous uptempo tunes that range from Buddy Holly-style rock & roll to massive folk-rock epics and strummy prom-night ballads. (more…)

This week in the New Music Report, Rolling Stone contributing editor Christian Hoard presents a new segment of “Christian Rock,” where Hoard shines the spotlight on one of his latest favorite under-the-radar artists that have nothing to do with Christian music (yes, we read the comments). This week, Hoard focuses on Chicago rapper Serengeti, an ultra-prolific rapper — 12 albums in the past three-and-a-half years — who makes rapping about his native city an art form.

Hoard’s been spinning Serengeti’s Dennehy (Lights, Camera, Action!) obsessively in recent weeks, and it’s an album ripe with Windy City references, memorable quotes and slow-funk beats. It’s like a hip-hop version of Sufjan Stevens’ Illnois. (more…)

Rolling Stone’s Kevin O’Donnell breaks down two recent hot releases — Brendan Benson’s My Old Familiar Friend and Jay Reatard’s Watch Me Fall — in this week’s new music podcast. Up first, Raconteur Benson returns with his fourth solo LP, which he recorded with Pixies and Foo Fighters producer Gil Norton. Overall, it’s a killer record of ’70s style power pop that takes cues from ELO and Big Star — and sounds like nothing you’ll hear from his band with Jack White. (more…)

Christian’s Hoard’s best new music pick for the week — a little thing we call “Christian Rock” in the New Music Report — is Golden Silvers. These stylishly underfed guys are Hoard’s new favorite English band. On True Romance, they hearken back to new wave, but rather than grab from jittery post-punk, Golden Silvers look more to white soul, busting out harmonies and loads of warm keyboards. Their album does include a post-punk rocker (”Shakes”) and a piano ballad (”Fade to Black”), but overall they exude a suavely romantic quality that helps the album sound fresh. Plus, they may be the only non-emo band around who can get away with the line “Wouldn’t it be sweet if you died from a broken heart.” Hear some of their tunes, including “True Romance (No. 9 Blues)” in our video, above.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don't have iTunes, download it here.]

In this week’s New Music Report, RS‘ Kevin O’Donnell tackles My Morning Jacket’s Jim James (known here as Yim James) and his George Harrison covers EP Tribute To. James’ interpretations are solid, and his bright, high croon sounds great over the skeletal arrangements. Plus, there’s the major-label debut from Owl City, also known as Minnesota’s Adam Young. His album Ocean Eyes is filled with appealing dreamy electro-pop (vocally he recalls Ben Gibbard in the Postal Service), but his lyrics veer towards the cheesy a bit too often.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don't have iTunes, download it here.]

Christian Hoard’s “Christian Rock” pick in this week’s New Music Report is the latest album from rapper Mos Def, The Ecstatic. Mos Def has been making rap records for more than a decade, but his latest is definitely his best since 2004’s The New Danger, Hoard says. There are upbeat songs and soulful tracks, but the overall sound is arty and grimy and the LP plays like a mixtape. Madlib produced several tracks including “Auditorium,” which boats an eerie beat and a nice Slick Rick cameo where he imagines himself as a rapping soldier who gets hated on by an Iraqi child. (more…)