If the sweetly dreamy but subtly twisted sound of Desertshore sounds a bit familiar, it may be because you're remembering guitarist Phil Carney's previous gigs in Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon -- or you may be picking up on the classical background of his partner, pianist Chris Connolly. On the band's second album, the two are joined by drummers Dave Muench and Mike Stevens, and by Carney's former Sun Kil Moon bandmate Mark Kozelek, who sings on the first six of the album's ten tracks. The resulting sound is utterly gorgeous: if song titles like "Randy Quaid" and "Pollen Hinges" signal any ironic intent, it's thoroughly buried beneath layers and layers of softly ringing guitars, gently relentless melodic hooks, simple-but-elegant piano parts, and Kozelek's disarmingly plainspoken vocals. As enjoyable as Kozelek's contributions are, though, it's the instrumental tracks that embed their hooks most deeply: the shimmering "Matchlight Arcana," the gorgeous and disappointingly brief "Pollen Hinges" and "Light Flowers," and the equally beautiful "Hellborg" (a tribute to bassist Jonas Hellborg, perhaps?). This is an exceptionally lovely album. ~ Rick Anderson, Rovi

1		Diana
2		Mercy
3		Turtle Pond
4		Randy Quaid
5		Vernon Forrest
6		Molle
7		Light Flowers
8		Pollen Hinges
9		Hellborg
10		Matchlight Arcana