EDITOR'S NOTE: This post is excerpted from Joe Koch's blog, Of Figs and Mint. As well as being a music reviewer and commentator, Joe is a user and an artist on Amie Street.

The most apt descriptor I've seen of Cortney Tidwell's music is "gothic country." Though she certainly leans more to the gothic side, I hear plenty of Patsy Cline in her voice to complement the Depeche Mode in her arrangements. Like Ida, Tyler Ramsey and many other folk and alt-country artists these days, Tidwell has a knack for creating dense soundscapes (Tidwell being in the groove-driven, Mazzy Star vein of "soundscape," as opposed to the more ambient Eno brand) and then topping it off with lonesome fiddle or pedal steel strains for distinctive results.

Hanne Hukkelberg is slowly accruing notoriety stateside with the recent US release of Rykestrasse 68, for which she won a Norwegian Grammy. Apparently, the Grammys are much different there then here, as it would be hard to imagine the LA musicos handing out any kind of award for sparse noise-folk created through acoustic instrumentation and scratching spoons on grout. Filler noises created in this way make Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco's most distinctive album, but Hukkelberg is apparently not content to play with microphones in bathrooms and kitchens for one album only. I enjoy Rykestrasse 68, but I must say that Little Things is my favorite from her, as the songs still maintain the semblance of structure without forsaking the depth of ambience at which Hukkelberg is so deft at creating.

This is by far my favorite album to stumble upon in the recent weeks. A side project from Portland's electro-rock outfit Jessamine, Fontanelle is composed of guitarist Rex Ritter and keyboardist Andy Brown creating a subtle interplay of jazzy melodic lines on a funky Herbie Hancock backbone. I believe that this is the final in a series of 3 EPs and albums that were produced under the Fontanelle moniker and was released in 2002, but if you like electrofunk this is the finest I've heard in a long time. The title track incorporates the best clav-wah since "Superstition."

This last one is for you indie rock types who think George is the coolest Beatle and enjoy Stereophonics and Matt Pond PA. The songs are straight up pop rock with pop themes and progressions, but that is by no means a bad thing when done right. Instant Happiness is the group's 2006 release, and the occasional yet masterful incorporation of strings and/or electronic components adds the flash that this album needs to separate it from the mass of vague-sounding Beatley rock that proliferates that crazy Interweb thing these days.