alternative pop

Cross traditional Irish alt folk with US folk miserabilists such as Smog and the result is this minimal, pared-down, fragile slice of singer-songwriting that no iPod should be without. It may be a style of music that's ten-a-penny these days, but that only makes artists such as Adrian Crowley, who stand out from the crowd, all the more impressive. ALBUM REVIEW: Opening track Bless Our Tiny Hearts is bleak and beautiful, as is the third offering, Star Of The Harbour, both recalling the archetypal forlorn troubadour strumming a lonely guitar on a sea wall as the storm clouds gather.

GB is Glenn Bennie, a driving force behind the Underground Lovers, one of Australia's most innovative bands of the '90s. GB3 refers to the collaborative nature of the album - in the studio at any one time were Glenn, his studio off-sider Tim Prince, and a guest vocalist or musician. The collaborators are a mix of Glenn's musical heroes (including Steve Kilbey and the late-great Grant McLennan) and the hottest new stars in Australian independent music (including Sarah Blasko and Sianna from Love Outside Andromeda).

Le Futur Pompiste, which released one marvelous album in 2004, Your Stories and Your Thoughts, before the vagaries of adult life scattered them far and wide; and Cats On Fire, whose debut long-player, 2007's The Province Complains, captivated all who were lucky enough to hear it (among them the writers at superlative U.K. magazine The Word). It was inevitable that this pair of bands, whose music shares a poise and sophistication rarely heard anywhere, never mind within the modest environs of Finland, would find each other.

Aimee Mann was born in Richmond, Virginia, and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the young snakes; the band released the EP Bark Along with the Young Snakes in 1982, and a compilation album was issued in 2004. In 1983, seeking a return to "sweetness and melody", she co-founded with Berklee classmate and boyfriend Michael Hausman the new wave band 'Til Tuesday, which achieved minor success in 1985 with its first album, Voices Carry.