London-based band Trailer Trash Tracys aren’t likely to find themselves anywhere near prefabricated housing after releasing their gracious and nuance-driven debut album, Ester.

With songs washed in lo-fi greatness around every corner, lead singer Susanne Aztoria and her trio of supporting musicians have succeeded in doing something with Ester that several other bands embracing the lo-fi sound (and there have been a ton of them in the last two years) haven’t done. They have allowed the focus to remain on the album’s svelte genre diversity instead of creating songs that sound alike and struggle to find their own individual identity.
Opening with the acid jazz-inspired track “Rolling-Kiss the Universe,” Ester takes subtle and inspiring turns into ambient rock on “You Wish You Were Red,” island pop on “Dies in 55,” and reaches a rousing apex on the seventh track “Candy Girl.” A song that channels haunting David Bowie-esque pop over the bass line from Twin Peaks, “Candy Girl” may not immediately seem like the album’s climax, but its sweet comforting approach makes it a track that listeners are likely to return to over and over again. Utilizing an array of electro-drum beats, Ester is an album for fans of Braids and Phantogram. And as a result of its slight style shifts between songs, this collection is the possible evolution for dark lo-fi music in 2012.

Two members of our local music community, both of them named Andy and both of them insanely accomplished and talented, teamed up to released a Christmas album this year. Andy Stokes (vocals) and Andy Warr (Saxophone) recorded ‘Zat You Santa over the summer of this year and managed to create a crafty, jazz-influenced take on a number of classic holiday tunes and one show tune (“My Favorite Things”).

With a sexy, jazzy feel, Warr and Stokes employ an early ‘90s R&B milieu to songs like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “This Christmas” while maintaining the ability to create more subdued sounds when they slow things down for “Silent Night.” Stokes, a longtime veteran of the Oregon music scene and member of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, has a strong voice that blends nicely with Warr’s saxophone riffs that makes these two an excellent pairing.

The sophomore album from New Jersey lo-fi pop group Real Estate continues creating the iridescent analog landscapes of the band’s self-titled debut release, but much of the haze that kept the first album feeling a little stuffy is replaced with a sunny, hot-air-balloon-ride sound. The beach-influenced guitars of members Martin Courtney and Matt Mondanile remain, though this time crisper, filling each song with poppy melodies.

Considered one of the best new bands of 2009, Real Estate has built upon that foundation and found a little more to talk about this time around. Still shying away from wordy lyrics, hopeful and specific pictures are nevertheless painted on some songs. The album’s first single, “It’s Real,” drops you straight into a romance and like other songs on Days, the music is thick with optimism. The fourth cut “Kinder Blumen” is the same kind of imaginative instrumental found on the opener, while “Wonder Years” lovingly harkens back to the peace-loving folk rock sound of the ‘60s.

Days is a compelling follow-up for a band that had a lot to live up to after the acclaim garnered by their first album. Now signed to London-based record label Domino, Real Estate seems to be embracing the pop side of their music with more relationship-based songs that are easier to sing along to, and ultimately that’s just fine.

If you were at the Church of Neil on Saturday night, you saw the musical range of local singer-songwriter Anastacia, who donned a floppy Neil Young-esque hat and ripped through some amazing covers, including a roaring version of “Old Man.”

That was impressive, but it’s not exactly what you’ll hear on her new EP, Where the Road Meets the Sky, a six-song collection that showcases her silky voice and poppy songwriting chops. The album kicks off with “Where the Angels Fly,” which features the sort of ethereal and cosmic lyrics and charging chord progressions we’ve come to expect from this chanteuse.

With the skilled chops of her backing band creating a foundation, Anastacia lays out an album that builds on the gypsy folk sounds of 2009’s Grains of Sand. We hear this exotic sound most on “Forever Wife,” an almost eerie song that features tender yet sultry vocals, laying down a poetic and mysterious storyline. She does rein in the gypsy vibe for cuts like “Golden Hair,” which wraps up the EP with a delicately built blend of soaring melodies that gives us a listen to this stalwart of the local scene at her best. – Mike Bookey

Anastacia CD Release Party

7pm Saturday, November 19. Harmony House Concerts, 17505 Kent Rd, Sisters. $15.

When I tell people I hate bands that have numbers in their names, I don’t feel I need to explain my reasons (blink 182, Sum 41, Maroon 5). But I trip myself up because M83 formed in the early part of last decade, and I rather love the imagination of Anthony Gonzales (who essentially is M83). When he releases an album, it’s grand-slam material, and Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming may be his biggest “hit” yet.

With 22 tracks, this gorgeously packaged double album has more than 70 minutes of melancholy tinged fantasy, daydreams, frogs, neon lights, stars and heavy hearts. Hurry Up sounds like an M83 record, but Gonzales’ vocals are commanding, the anthem’s fanfares are bigger, pop moments and choral responses brighter and the somber, spaced-out ambience links it all together for a seamlessly cinematic album.