Damien Jurado is the alternative musician's singer-songwriter, able to combine a core deep loveliness with an occasional guitar skronk. On My Way To Absence moves between gently contemplative and pointed, through quite beautiful, to a song (I Am The Mountain) which sounds like the resurrection of legendary alt country band Uncle Tupelo. The best thing about this album is the complete excision of any blandness, from Jurado's slightly off-kilter voice to the rhythm changes, to the deftness of touch in the arrangements. It is never overblown, sounding like it was recorded in a real room rather than a studio, which allows the essential rightness of the songs to shine right through. Damien Jurado should be an immediate purchase for anyone familiar with artists like Lou Barlow, Mark Kozelek or Iron and Wine.

ACE rating 9/10

Ben Folds has enjoyed favourable comparisons with Randy Newman, Squeeze and pop rock bands like Weezer, and some less favourable nods to artists like Andrew Gold. Essentially a remarkable pianist with a penchant for sneery pop rock, albums with Ben Folds Five suffered from a tendency to smart-arseness. It is only his second solo album since dissolving the band, and already he seems to have discovered a pleasing maturity, reining in the arch cleverness. Songs for Silverman is an album Keane might make if they gained a literate lyricist and a breezy Californian attitude. All Bruce Hornsby piano runs and (whisper it) Barry Manilow drama, Silverman is reminiscent of early Billy Joel albums - if Scenes from an Italian Restaurant ever did it for you, this is your bag right here. Themes explored reflect Folds' middle age and fatherhood, and all that adds up to an enjoyably sophisticated listen.

ACE rating 8/10

Bands with a boy and a girl seem to be becoming all the rage, and that's no bad thing when we end up with The White Stripes, or, coming from a different direction, Joy Zipper and newcomers The Bad Machines. With Michelle Margherita's sweet, girlie voice recalling the heyday of Lush, floating over spiky and hook-laden instrumentation, provided solely by Paul Scott, Telling Lies is an unexpectedly pleasurable 45 minutes of indie pop. Pieces of electronica, dance, indie and punk interchange effortlessly and coherently - just when you think they could do with more noise, or more space, some comes along, recalling bands like The Bangles in places, and Moby in others (and I could swear Debbie Harry is trapped in at least one song). Undoubtedly a band that will go places, if the success of even talentless bands like The Duke Spirit signals our hunger for girl-fronted indie pop.

ACE rating 8/10