Pitchfork

Following last year's "Beach Party", Air France deliver another perfect summertime record. The Swedish group's No Way Down-- currently available either digitally or as a Swedish import-- conjures an idyllic world similar to the one on the Avalanches' dazzlingly great Since I Left You, another record that finds wide-eyed delight in sincerity and beauty.

Nine years after his first solo LP, and on the heels of an unprecedented glut of increasingly remarkable mixtape and internet leaks, Lil Wayne produces Tha Carter III, the epic culmination of a lifetime of eccentricities. This is Wayne's moment and he embraces it on his own terms.

Crystal Antlers look like outcasts from six different bands, and at various points on this record, they sound like it, too. Merging lo-fi, psych, garage, and everything in between, their debut EP is an unorthodox summer record-- not so much for driving to the beach as actually being in its sweltering grasp, equal parts scorched earth and wide open spaces. Though it's tempting to pass this disc off as a stopgap on the way to a triumphant long-player, there's enough triumph packed into its 25 minutes to qualify as one of the year's most promising debuts. Plus, you know what they say about always leaving them wanting more.

Following their spectacular Sun Giant EP, Seattle-based Fleet Foxes' self-titled full-length debut has a lot to live up to. Luckily, the record more than delivers the goods: Incorporating a broad spectrum of styles-- from Appalachian folk and AM country to classic rock and SoCal pop-- Fleet Foxes create a personal synthesis of the music of their peers, their parents, and even their grandparents, and in doing so, make their seemingly conservative approach feel surprisingly innovative, if not outright defiant.