The Swedish singer-songwriter doesn't want to be remembered when he's gone, but his intricate sophomore effort is downright unforgettable.

After crafting a jazz aesthetic with their debut, the Portland duo switch to a synthesized template, an almost-unrecognizable reinvention that inverts the meaning of a sophomore slump.

Weary from all the dense freak folk?  This is a much lighter affair in the upper air.

Here’s a sample of how weird JV is. On his production notes, he credits someone for “paper tigers” and someone else for “rabbit holes.” And to think I wasted all those years playing clarinet in high school. My search for a decent “distressed mediums” instructor remains fruitless.

Perhaps they're giving their critics too much amo by naming themselves after two complete catastophes. The album itself, though, is not so much a disaster as it is an entertaining mess.

This laid-back outing from the Donkeys arrived to little fanfare in late 2008. John Darnielle loved it; most publications dismissed it. But who was right?

On To Willie, Phosphorescent sends a love letter to the American Outlaw himself Willie Nelson and proves that cover albums don't always have to suck.