"Strict Joy"

The Swell Season, (Anti)

Heartbreak and unease have rarely sounded prettier.

Maybe it's the circumstance -- The Swell Season's Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova were a real-life couple before they played one in the movie "Once" and subsequently broke up just as the accolades, including an Oscar for best original song, started rolling in. Or maybe it's that Hansard's weary delivery of raw, introspective lyrics fit perfectly with Irglova's delicate harmonies and the spare, acoustic folk backdrop.

In either case, The Swell Season's latest effort shows how simple arrangements can still communicate volumes about life's complexities. Hansard's vocals and compositions are uniquely flexible, summoning Damien Rice's vocal pain one moment ("Back Broke") and R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck ("High Horses") the next, sliding between acoustic Radiohead orchestration ("The Verb") and current country ("In These Arms").

It's no accident that the most joyous moment on "Strict Joy" comes during "I Have Loved You Wrong," where Irglova takes over the lead vocals.

After asking for forgiveness for several verses, she builds a bridge of possibility by repeating, "You're every now and then on my mind" as Hansard's harmonies and the accompaniment swell and retreat until the duo is singing a cappella and they seem caught up in a happy memory.

Then again, maybe it was an accident. After all, The Swell Season is usually best in its unguarded moments.

-- Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

"By a Thread"

Gov't Mule, (Evil Teen)

Gov't Mule doesn't waste any time launching this, their eighth studio album. The inveterate rockers dig their heels in from the first licks of opener "Broke Down on the Brazos," which sees front man Warren Haynes battling axes with Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. That track broadcasts each of the jam-prone quartet's strengths: Haynes' throaty vocals, a hulking rhythm section set low to the ground and a generous, blues-informed guitar sound. There's a dogged work ethic on display that befits half of the band's name and some political content befitting the other half. More intent on rugged boogie power than aimless noodling, Gov't Mule is more accessible than most jam bands, especially when Haynes and company introduce a soulful swagger to the mix.

-- Doug Wallen, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Mahler: 4 Movements"

Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Pavo Jarvi, (Virgin Classics)

Even for devoted Mahlerians, this disk is of limited interest. Three versions of movements that were reworked for his nine completed symphonies, and the adagio from his uncompleted 10th, make up the program. The lightly scored version of the "Totenfeier" material that later became the first movement of the Symphony No. 2 is fascinating, and it's interesting to hear the complete "Blumine" music that was used in short form in the Symphony No. 1 finale. But Benjamin Britten's chamber orchestra reduction of the second movement from Symphony No. 3 is of passing value, and the adagio from Mahler's uncompleted 10th symphony is widely available elsewhere.

-- Jay Furst, Post-Bulletin

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