For those of us that fell in love with They Might Be Giants as children (circa 1990’s Flood), the duo served as our first introduction to alternative music. Sure, Pearl Jam and others got tagged as alternative, but those of us who spent hours laying in bed poring over those bizarre lyrics and listening to the tapes over and over—if you’re one of us, you know who you are—had our own little secret about what alternative music really was.

When ex-Beatle George Harrison died in 2001, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James was so moved that he recorded these stripped down versions of classic Harrison songs just days after the songwriter’s passing. To say these versions, credited to Yim Yames, are mournful is an understatement.

On its second proper full-length album (discounting 2008’s By The Numbers covers collection), The Postmarks have created epic, cinematic, multi-instrumental pop that meets every lofty ambition of its authors while remaining accessible enough to translate to the masses with its beautiful melodies and alluring soundscapes.

...And the Horse You Rode In On, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir’s new album (their second for Bloodshot), is full of literate, darkly hilarious surprises. From the truly brilliant first line “I hope that you catch syphilis and die alone” to the closing track’s “Now when I catch wind of your successes/I wish I were dead,” the recordings are peppered with sharp, bitter little barbs that will hook listeners and help anyone put their past failed relationships into perspective.

On 2008’s Furr, Blitzen Trapper focused its wild eclecticism, settling on a stylized take on ‘70s country rock. “Black River Killer” is the perfect example, with finger-picked guitar and murder-ballad lyrics (make that multiple-murder). Here, it’s paired with six tunes that already graced a tour CD, recorded during the Furr sessions.

Judee Sill released only two LPs, 1971’s Judee Sill and 1973’s Heart Food, before tragically dying of a heroin and cocaine overdose in 1979. She didn’t live long enough to see her music become popular among Laurel Canyon-referencing indies such as Fleet Foxes and Department of Eagles. American Dust’s lovingly compiled Crayon Angel features gorgeous and tolerable Sill covers from Daniel Rossen (Department of Eagles, Grizzly Bear), Beth Orton, Bill Callahan, Final Fantasy, Marissa Nadler, and Ron Sexsmith.

During the 2000s, The Pastels cultured a lasting connection with the avant-garde pop community of Japan. Thus, the Scottish duo’s long-gestating collaboration with the Tokyo pop duo, Tenniscoats is somewhat predictable. Saya and Ueno Takashi play their instruments like they’re pattering rain on a grassy knoll or butterflies hovering above flowers.

In the liner notes to their eponymous debut album, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero make the point that “A lot of people, when describing our sound, say we play flamenco. We don’t. We blend a lot of styles into our playing, but this area of music is not one of them.” In the three years since the release of Rodrigo y Gabriela, the Mexican duo has become one of the most exciting live acts on the circuit thanks to fluid, rapid-fire guitar play and stylistic experimentation.

In 2000, Blur released The Best of Blur, an 18-song set that represented the band’s ‘90s peak, with all the hits included. Midlife, released in conjunction with the band’s U.K. reunion concerts, totals 25 tracks and avoids some of the hits that were represented on The Best of Blur (“There’s No Other Way,” “Country House,” “Charmless Man,” “End of a Century”). But forgiving these omissions, Midlife is a stellar compilation. Excitingly, 1993’s “Popscene” is included, despite its being left off the 2000 comp.