Indie Vinyl

Perhaps one notch willfully odder than, say, Yo La Tengo, Chicago's Califone have always had an organic, wooden, or "natual" feel to their music. Their newest, All of My Friends are Funeral Singers, is even more so than their five previous albums. A song like "Salt" is positively rootsy. The interesting production has strange sounds popping out everywhere. The cover art matches the record perfectly. And you've got to love a band named after a record player. One of 2009's best, on the Dead Oceans label.