Have there been any good non "indie rock" releases this year?

The two promo videos I've seen for songs from the album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7O-IDGXRgE&search=tokyo%20jihen

(note: album version does not feature dubious humorous rap, but sticks to a guitar solo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzrzSl3nr58&search=tokyo%20jihen

If you are remotely interested in current salsa (which I realize most people are not), Michael Stuart's Back to da Barrio is really exceptional.

As for recent music, I've mostly just been trying to find albums of the psych/hippie variety. That doesn't really represent my tastes however, so some all-time favorites off the top of my head:

The Rolling Stones
Gram Parsons
Royal Trux and Pussy Galore
The Swans
The Boredoms
Hanoi Rocks
Sonic Youth (not so much the newer stuff)
The Wipers
The Melvins

Hmm... Most everything "new" I see in my iTunes is "indie" in one way or another And nothing has really bowled me over - as an album, anyway - although there have been intreresting things. Most of which have been written about on ILM ad nauseam:

- Neko Case, "Fox Confessor..." (alt-country)
- Essex Green, "Cannibal Sea" (60s jangle pop - v. strong album)
- The Knife "Silent Scream" (dark, weird, electronic pop)
- The Research "Breaking Up" (indie-electropop)
- The Pipettes, "We Are the Pipettes" (indie retro-girl group pop)
- Ellen Allien, "Orchestra of Bubbles" (electronica/dance, only a couple of vocal tracks - interesting)

(Most of these don't fit your criteria, but I figured I'd try to be helpful. All are pretty strong albums, IMO)

but really, grizzly bear and scott walker are all you need. maybe.

leanne kingwell
crash kelly
electric boogie dawgz
hank davison band
science fiction idols
mardo
shooter jennings
variant cause (a reissue, but what the heck)
towers of london
red swan
dc snipers

That's exactly what I thought, but somehow the request was better than usual, so what the hell...

If this is indeed the sentiment, then I sympathize. Nobody rocks like Jon Spencer anymore, not even Jon Spencer.

also, could someone explain the appeal of grizzly bear to me? i've listened to their records and seen them live almost three times, and i've never been anything but kind of bored.

Baloney.

>not even Jon Spencer<

Well, if you mean he hasn't rocked like those first few Pussy Galore records since those first few Pussy Galore records, I see your point.

>Unless I am missing the same mark <

Probably. But then I've got nothing against frat-boy bar-rock, much of which rocks harder than much of the stuff Reynard said he likes (so if I'm missing the boat, it may be that I assumed he *did* want stuff that rocks, when maybe he prefers stuff that just kinda drones loud. In which case he should read the rolling metal thread. But there's plenty of stuff I recommended above that fans of Hanoi Rocks or the Wipers or Rolling Stones definitely *should* like.)

Variant Cause, for starters.

It's the best thing.

I dig the Spank Rock and (intermittently) the Gnarls Barkley records. Funny, smart, catchy, well-suited to yr traditional summertime applications. And I'm looking forward to Plastic Little, which should drop sometime soon. Goofball indie rap. Dunno that any of that shit would appeal to folx who define their tastes in terms of the Swans, tho...

On the "pained and gnarly" tip, may I suggest that "Shallow" by Pissed Jeans is FUGGIN' AWESOME? I was pointed towards this by some ILM folk just the other day, and majestic ass-rulage quickly ensued. Nasty, vacant garbage with a BIG nod to Flipper and the Drunks with Guns. Plus wheedly little gtr leads buried in the muck, to give it "the edge."

Warhammer 48K? Dunno where they're from, but check their "Uber Om" LP from a few months back. Not "metal", zactly, though horns are thrown with some abandon. Basically, you got yr. sludgy, primal, pounding noises, with other noises that want to make holes in your eardrums, often instrumental, but with hideous bellowing glued on here and there. Then again, they've got a "sensitive" side and tend to go all Slinty when you least expect it. Even kinda catchy, if that's yr bag...

The new Unholy Trance LP ("The Trident") ain't quite as ass-kicking as last year's "In the Red", but it's still pretty fuckin' kickass. Some almost-kinda-psuedo-emo vox and briefly "soaring" chords in the opening moments briefly bummed my shit out, but that turned out be an "overture" or something (?), and from there on, it's bleak and filthy and HEAVY AS HELL. Somewhere in between Eyehategod and the Melvins, with a trace or two of Khanate creep, and shit, they even condescend to go all Motorhead occasionally. Which is nice.

BARONESS. Fuckin' Baroness, dude! Fuck! Their "Second" EP came out late last winter, and it decided to be AWSOME (yes, awesome is always in caps). Less Maiden than 2005's "First", but more bigger-than. Borrows all that cool-but-boring Isis shit and just mashes it to a bloody pulp. Hell, they even throw in a few tasty, melodic guitar leads to keep it real. Maybe a bit too impressed by the Mastodon band, but so what? Aren't we all?

Finally, I love the hot, wet shit out of the "Witch" album by the band that is also called Witch. It has some old guy in it (who plays guitar and who looks like Tiny Tim), but the main point is that it is RAD. People say that it is "stoner rock," but whatever for that. It is the fully heavy Sabbath shit, with hilarious Geddy Lee vocals and songs about wizards (natch). Amazing tunes, crazy heaviness, and lots of excellent, D&D-type mystery themes. Best thing of this sort in AGES.

Oh, but more finally than that, Akimbo's "Forging Steel and Laying Stone" should be heard by people. Massive, crazy hardcore-metal-BUTTRAWK from the lumber country regions. Ignore the fact that it is on Alternative Tentacles: it is actually worth it. The singing is much less cartoonishly "core" than on past releases, and the action is totally go. Highly recommended for those about to rock...

Unearthly is all about the cosmic shit, while unholy is more about devils and stuff. I mean, it's all cool, but that doesn't mean that they should be together in people's mouths. Right?

Fucking kill me now.

the new josh ritter is pretty good as well. also same catagory

None of these could be classified as indie, hardly any of them rock at all.