The lovely people at Barsuk Records have agreed to help host our second CD give-away. If you want your name thrown in the mix to receive one of these fabulous releases, email me: alice@inradio.net.

Rocky Votolato: The Brag & Cuss. 'The Brag & Cuss' moves from the minimal acoustic guitar and vocals of 'Makers' to a fuller sound. Most of this record was played by a full band, featuring James McAllister (Sufjan Stevens) on drums, Bill Herzog (Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter) on bass, Casey Foubert (Pedro the Lion) on electric guitar, banjo, mandolin and all percussion, and Rick Steff (Cat Power, Hank Williams, Jr.) on Hammond b3, piano, and accordion. The bare emotion that made 'Makers' great is still present in spades, but this time Votolato has ventured further into classic country territory. Votolato paints broad pictures with a simple turn of phrase, and he pulls you into a world of reminiscences and feelings that are truly timeless and eminently human. A profound sense of freedom and release comes across in the new record, which in turn is more hopeful, laid-back, and embraces life with a resigned optimism.

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter: Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul. This album is a musically deep piece of work, addressing themes of love, illusion, forgiveness, and the universality of the human experience. The band's musical growth has been mirrored by the evolution and maturation of Sykes' distinctive singing voice, which time has saturated with a weathered wisdom that connects to something beyond the singer and the song. And the visual aesthetic of Sykes' songwriting has never been more evocative. Listen closely to her stark descriptions of isolation, sometimes-swaggering toughness, fragile human emotion, and the possibilities of love, and you'll hear something that perfectly, tenderly, and surprisingly captures the feel of the 21st century so far — it's the sound of vulnerability, and the sound of the best and most relevant piece of art Jesse Sykes has ever made.

John Vanderslice: Emerald City. John wrote the bulk of his new album, 'Emerald City' (out July 24), while knee-deep in legal limbo after a visa application for his girlfriend, a French national he met in Paris, was rejected by US Immigration. The songs and themes are fueled by an era of deep insecurity and paranoia; they develop in front of a backdrop of ritualized and mythologized current events. Lyrically, JV's characters and storytellers track Manifest Destiny from burning wagon wheels to two-bedroom homes with full amenities in Bakersfield, California. Along that rough road, there are bewildered commemorations, peace-lovers and revenge-lusters, psychotic reactions to unnamed episodes, and the grief-stricken and the vengeance-hungry wrapped up in the same skin. Weaving throughout the entire album is the ever present danger of opposition. But at its simplest, 'Emerald City' is made up of JV's love songs — confused and angry, afraid and defeated. The red tape tie-up for JV and his girl remains unresolved.