We've got pretty high hopes for the new David Kahne-produced 2010 project from Austin's Alpha Rev, their first for a major label (Hollywood) and the one we think will take them to a whole new level. Led by former Indochine frontman and songwriter Casey McPherson, Alpha Rev, as we've noted here,  "build songs of drama and vision, at turns grandiose, soulful, gritty and mesmerizing." Warm up to the perfectly timed "Colder Months" from the band's 2007 album The Greatest Thing I've Ever Learned:

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Alpha Rev - "Colder Months" (from the album The Greatest Thing I've Ever Learned)

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We've been fans of the wonderful Rebecca Martin for well over a decade now, having first caught her in the mid 90's with Once Blue, the acclaimed Brooklyn jazz/folk band co-founded by Martin and Jesse Harris (writer of the Norah Jones classic "I Don't Know Why"). Over the course of one beautifully crafted, effortlessly winning solo album after another, singing standards or her own gorgeous melodies, Martin has become one of our finest writers with a depth of emotion and her own special song structures that flow as easily and as nuanced as a classic jazz riff. Listen to the way the melody twists in unexpected directions on the song "Play For Me" in this video recorded live at Joe's Pub in New York. From her 2004 album "People Are Like Ballads." Look for a new Martin album, tentatively titled Twain, this spring.

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We just can't seem to get enough of Boys from Nashville underground chanteuse Cortney Tidwell, an album we've described as "adventurous, critically adored and simply stunning...a schizophrenic dichotomy of dream pop, trip-hop and eerie, even spooky undertones." One of the best tracks from the as yet unreleased (in the U.S.) album is "Solid State", a song that sounds like it came from some lost Twin Peaks scene. More DC on Ms. Tidwell here.

Cortney Tidwell - "Solid State" (from the album Boys)

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One listen to "Someday" from Norway's Susanna Wallumrød (vocals) and Morten Qvenildon (keyboards) - AKA Susanna + The Magical Orchestra - and you'll quickly realize that this is not only a blissfully lovely piece of music...it's also something that would probably never be made here. Taken from their recent album 3, the lushly cinematic "Someday" charmed us to write: "the voice emerges from an electronic noise bed with sublime presence and clarity, taking a dreamy ballad to unheard of heights." More here. Be patient -- the track takes about 30 seconds to take off...

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Susanna & The Magical Orchestra - "Someday" (from the album 3)

Taken from her forthcoming album The Graduate, "Cigarette" pretty much sums up everything we love about Brit singer/songwriter Nerina Pallot: the airily seductive voice, brilliant way with a melody and the simple but effective production. Leading up to The Graduate's matriculation on October 5 (sadly not in the U.S.), Pallot has been recording a special "stripped" version of each of the album's tracks...you can catch more at her myspace or youtube pages. For the "Cigarette" video (after the jump) the spoken intro is underrecorded so you may want to skip ahead to about the one minute mark for the start of the music. More DC (and music samples) on Nerina and The Graduate here.

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Nerina Pallot - "Cigarette" (from the album The Graduate)

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Clever, lovely little animated piece (for the latest from Sara Lov: "Fountain", a track that we've described as a "deceptively simple ballad...with its lingering piano chords draped in her angelic harmonies." Sweetness and light. From the album Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming -- a debut she describes as "simple and sad with a shot of scotch". Whatever you call it, we like it. More on Sara @ DC here.

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"I'm a live singer...performing is very emotional," Nashville's Emily West observes, "they're my songs...my personality set to music." That special relationship with her material is evident most notably on "Blue Sky", a stunning Linda Ronstadt-styled ballad that she wrote about the breakup of her parents' marriage and shares vocally with former Tonic frontman Emerson Hart. We first heard "Blue Sky" nearly three years ago and it continues to knock us out -- and now we hear from Ms. West that a NEW version of "Blue Sky" has been recorded with Keith Urban and scheduled for release in early 2010. While we wait for the remake, check out the original...

Emily West - "Blue Sky" (with Emerson Hart)

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Their new album The First Days of Spring doesn't drop stateside til October 6, but the latest effort from U.K.'s imaginative pop outfit Noah and The Whale, fronted by Charlie Fink, has already got the Brit crits falling over themselves with accolades: "grandiose beauty" (NME), "breathtakingly ambitious" (Mojo), "magical...inspired" (Q). And they're right this time. "Big picture music that remains grounded in melodic pop", we say. Want proof? Check out "Blue Skies"...Understated, elegiac break-up music usually doesn't sound quite this grandly cinematic. More here.

Noah and the Whale - "Blue Skies" (from the album The First Days of Spring)

What's to say? A wonderful song from Rosanne Cash's forthcoming October 6 album The List, a collection of songs taken from a list of "must know" classic tracks given to her by her late father Johnny. Plus we get the appearance of one Mr. Bruce Springsteen. More on Rosanne and The List here.

Rosanne Cash - "Sea of Heartbreak" (with Bruce Springsteen, from the album The List)

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Insidiously catchy, trippy new animated video/single from French Europop/electronica duo Air arrives in advance of their new Love 2 album (October 6). As we have written, "'Sing San Sung' slinks by with an ear candy hook and gently ticking percussion, a kind of loping, mellow 70's porn soundtrack for a lazy, sunny summer day." More Air-ation here.

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Latest track from Will Hoge's forthcoming September 29 album The Wreckage has all the qualities we've come to expect from the Nashville singer/songwriter's deft blend of rugged roots rock, hard country and soulful blues. Anthemic without being grandiose, "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" hits all the right notes, all the right buttons. “The minute we started recording it, it was one of those songs that drove itself," says Hoge. "Everyone in the room understood the sentiment. There was magic in that moment you don’t get very often." No doubt. "Heart" is a free iTunes Discovery Download of the Week through the 15th. Get it. More DC on Hoge and The Wreckage here.

Will Hoge - "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" (from the album The Wreckage)

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Taken from her new album Light and Dark, Brit singer/songwriter Kate Walsh's "Gather My Strength" is as starkly intimate and gentle as a whisper, an example of how something this sweet and mellow can still connect solidly. Lurking in the shadows of the lovely melody and pristine arrangements, however, is the sound of deep melancholy and a heart waiting to be broken (if they're not already damaged). Recently released in the U.K., Light and Dark is on track for a fall release in the States -- actualy date TBA. More here. Watch a second video for "June Last Year" after the jump...

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We've noted that Astrid Williamson's Here Come the Vikings is a "sprawling, intelligent collection of soulful ballads, not-quite-straight ahead rock anthems and everything in between. It struts and soars, exposing nerves and defying rules, challenging perceptions of her self, her music and her vision." The song "Crashing Minis" is a prime example of what makes Vikings such a compelling listen: a simple piano chord, shuffling beat and Williamson's vulnerable, tough and tender voice telling the tale of a relationship hitting the wall. More Viking love here.

Astrid Williamson - "Crashing Minis" (from the album Here Come the Vikings)

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Sometimes as a bystander in the bizarrely dysfunctional world of the music "industry" you watch in wonder and amazement as an artist breaks big. You scratch your head and think, "huh? What am I missing here?" Then there are the times you witness someone like Ingrid Michaelson and you say -- "ok, I get this." The self-made Staten Island DIY success story still is all about the magic of a great songwriting, a fact that is repeated drilled home on her new album Everybody. Proof: check out her latest video "Maybe"...

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Taken from his striking September 29 album Death Won't Send A Letter, this gorgeous, devastating slice of disconsolation and regret sums up what we find so appealing about the music of Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons in just 2 minutes and 38 seconds. Where others my stretch, pad and garnish needlessly, Chisel and producer Joe Chiccarelli keep things straightforward and concise, delivering a song that evokes haunting imagery and a sound that wouldn't seem out of place on Springsteen's Tunnel of Love. Add in some lovely harmonies from Adriel Harris and with "So Wrong For Me" you have just one more reason why we say that Death "just might be the finest album by a newcomer this year." More here and here.

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Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons - "So Wrong For Me" (from the album Death Won't Send A Letter)

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France's tres trippy export Nouvelle Vague have made a name for their tongue-in-chic and ingenious bossa nova covers of mostly 80's rock and pop classics. But their latest, 3, adds some interesting twists. Americana, folk and 60's pop styles merge and meld into a disparate, often haunting production sound on tracks like this one: a remake of the Fun Boy Three/Go-Go's classic "Our Lips Are Sealed" (with origanal FBT member Terry Hall on the duet vocals). And to top it off we get some nice Louise Brooks shots from the silent film era in the video. More on Nouvelle Vague here.

Irish songbird Cara Dillon finds a way to breathe new life into the traditional Celtic folk chestnut "She Moved Through the Fair". As we gushed earlier: "With crystalline clarity, a mix of both fragility and quiet resilience, Dillon's singing has an intimacy, honesty and indescribable appeal that goes beyond the immense technical skill she brings to the recordings. Listening to the classic "She Moves Through the Fair", with just a piano backing, is to hear it as if for the first time, the familiar melody, stripped to it's core, revealing a shimmering, soft-spoken opulence." From her new album Hill of Thieves arriving September 15. More DC on Cara here.

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SoCal-to-London singer/songwriter Jesca Hoop follows up her brilliant, left-of-center and completely underexposed '07 debut Kismet this fall with Hunting My Dress, street date TBA. Included in the new ten-track set will be a fleshed out version of one of our favorites: "Murder of Birds", a song that she recorded for her 2008 Kismet Acoustic EP and which features Elbow's Guy Garvey. Glorious. As Tom Waits (whom she worked for as a nanny) put it: "Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night."

Jesca Hoop - "Murder of Birds" (acoustic version) - (From the EP Kismet Acoustic)

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As a perfect track to kick off September and lead into Labor Day, you can't do much better than Sandra McCracken's ultra-fine "When the Summer's Gone" from 2008's Ampersand, an EP she made with producer/husband Derek Webb. Says PASTE: "Listening to Sandra McCracken’s crystalline voice offers the sonic equivalent of drinking ice-cold mountain spring water at its source." Indeed.

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Sandra McCracken (with Derek Webb) - "When the Summer's Gone" (from the EP Ampersand)

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The Webb Sisters, Charley and Hattie, have accompanied Leonard Cohen throughout his extensive worldwide tour over the past year (and through the end of 2009) bringing what Cohen calls their "sublime" voices and trad-Brit folk style to his classic "If It Be Your Will". With a digital EP Comes In Twos - featuring "Words That Mobilise" (U.K. spelling) - out earlier this spring, we're looking forward to the Webb's Peter Asher-produced full-length (release TBA) along with a special appearance on Sting's forthcoming holiday album. More Webb Sisters on DC here.

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