Relish Spins

Vampire Weekend

Contra

Label: XL Recordings

If you like: World-beat pop

Song to download: Horchata

Vampire Weekend introduced a unique mix of pop, reggae and African rhythms on its self-titled debut, and the quartet delivers an even richer musical landscape on its second CD.

On Contra, electronic beats blend with African and Brazilian drums, topped with tinkling pianos, sweeping violins, playful marimbas, and layers of percussion and electric guitar. The result is a big, full sound that's dense and light at the same time, with multiple melodies and instruments coloring each track.

The catchy "Diplomat's Son" reveals the band's talent for mixing up rhythms and musical styles. A blend of reggae, dance-hall and Bollywood influences, the song changes tempo midstream to show off finger-picked guitars and a chorus of violins.

Though upbeat like the first album, Contra delves into deeper territory thematically. "Holiday" is a bouncy ska track that touches on themes of war. "Taxi Cab," which relies on an electronic backbone dressed with delicate piano and deep cello, is a ballad about a relationship gone wrong.

Lead singer Ezra Koenig works the Auto-tune on "California English," a driving track rich with harmonies and strings ("It doesn't sound like T-Pain," he stresses in press notes).

The closing song, "I Think UR a Contra," seems to encapsulate the band's evolution on this album: It layers vocal styles and experimental harmonies atop guitars, strings, piano and electronic sounds.

"Horchata," available as a free download on the band's Web site, gives listeners a taste of Vampire Weekend's style: Upbeat and rich musically and lyrically.

Carolina Chocolate Drops

Genuine Negro Gig

Label: Nonesuch

If you like: North Mississippi Allstars, Texas Sheiks

Song to download: "Trouble in Your Mind"

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a young group, founded in 2005 in Greensboro, but its sound goes way back. This black bluegrass trio is heavy on the fiddle, light on the vocals and just as casual as Grandma's back porch on a hot, still Carolina day.

Not to be confused with Appalachian string music in the vein of Bill Monroe or the Country Gentlemen, the group creates a sound that's more mellow than that sometimes frantic, in-your-face kind of bluegrass.

The simply arranged tunes on the Drops' latest CD, Genuine Negro Gig (being released in February), take time to develop, if they develop at all. The CD sounds like three old friends jamming at a party in the barn out back. "Trouble in Your Mind" is an especially fun song that showcases the talented musicians.

The party, however, can get a little dull. The songs often sound thin, lacking intricately woven harmonies that could spice things up.

Various Artists

Cantors, Klezmorim and Crooners 1905-1953: Classic Yiddish 78s from the Mayrent Collection

Label: JSP Records

If you like: Yiddish music and entertainment

Song to download: Katinka

Moishe Oysher! Is there another name as redolent of Jewish life of an age past? And yet, the man himself -- seventh-generation cantor, star of film, record and concert hall -- is nearly forgotten, his golden voice relegated to fragile 78s in dusty basements and attics.

The new three-disc set, Cantors, Klezmorim and Crooners 1905-1953: Classic Yiddish 78s from the Mayrent Collection, digs deep into the archive of early 20th-century Yiddish music and rescues Oysher and many other talented musicians from obscurity.

The 67 cuts are culled from the 5,000 discs collected by clarinetist and record producer Sherry Mayrent, lovingly transferred digitally.

There are operatic prayers sung by such cantors as Pierre Pinchik and Gershon Sirota; there are such klezmer legends as Dave Tarras and Abe Schwartz; there are singers well known (Sophie Tucker) and forgotten (the Bagelman Sisters). There are comedy routines.

Freedy Johnston

Rain On The City

Label: Bar/None

If you like: Sad, sweet songs

Song to download: "What You Cannot See, You Cannot Fight"

Freedy Johnston blames the eight-year hiatus since his last album of new songs on IRS woes and a relationship that soured. Although there's only one jab at the taxman on Rain On The City, there are plenty of sad songs above love gone wrong, death and even a found penny -- but mostly love gone wrong.

The descriptions of heartache resonate more deeply because, as usual, Johnston pairs his lyrics with melodies of uncommon beauty. They are fetching even on the uptempo tunes, such as "Lonely Girl," which rocks as hard as anything Johnston has written. He does Buddy Holly proud on the bouncy but biting "It's Gonna Come Back To You."

More delicate are the melodies snaking through Johnston's slower songs., The lovely, concise "Central Station" is hushed as a prayer -- appropriate for a song about the death of the singer's father.

Hum along to the tracks of his tears.