Would you like some maracas with that? Arizona-based Giant Sand members John Convertino and Joey Burns tap the local legacy on the latest for their side project Calexico, whose Hot Rail takes a road trip of desperation through the old west and south of the border. Reflective musical wanderings trade up with soundtracks to lazy Mexican border towns where the drunks aren't happy and the gunfight ghosts aren't forgotten. For Uncle Tupelo on a lost weekend way past Ensenada, check out the Mariachi mood-strum of "Drenched." Señor Coconut y Su Conjunto take the trans-genre express from Chile to Germany on El Baile Alemán, a collection of Latin interpretations of Kraftwerk songs. Styles range from the Cha-Cha-Cha of "Showroom Dummies" to the Merengue of "Homecomputer" to the Cumbia of "Trans Europe Express." While musicianship and invention are set on high, camp factor arrives unselfconsciously as a natural byproduct of such matchmaking. If only for the pioneering rapid-fire digi editing on "Tour de France," Baile is a must for electronic connoisseurs.

Confessions of a supposed music snob: I slacked in the indie department to the tune of having no Olivia Tremor Control on my shelves to precede the Pavements and Portisheads of the world. That is, until the recently acquired collection The Olivia Tremor Control Presents: Singles and Beyond. Part of the famed Elephant 6 Recording Company collective, OTC mingles its far-out flavors in the same member-sharing psychedelic stew as other kaleidoscopic indie outfits like Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo and Marshmallow Coast. Singles is a Godsend for Tremorites, grabbing its tracks from rare compilations, E.P.s and 7-inches (nothing from the esteemed Dusk at Cubist Castle and Black Foliage: Animation Music albums). Mostly pop, largely lo-fi and sometimes schizophrenic, these songs would rather fly the fantasy flag of "Revolution 9" than visit the sweaty "Twist and Shout" wonderland of the Apples In Stereo. For more Elephant 6 action, try Marshmallow Coast, to whom easy Beatle references no longer stick. Their Marshmallow Coasting is good for those rooms with no furniture -- just a bunch of big pillows and more curtains than windows. If they're not drifting on a cool cloud of California peace pop ("Hung-Up"), the Coast are busy being the life of the lounge ("Lilypad") or slaying with the lonesome acoustic ("Insane"). I'm thinking fans of jazzy pop outfits like the Meat Puppets and The Sea and Cake will want to get in on this lovely and lackadaisical affair.

I don't know what an Arab Strap is, but I think it's safe to say they don't sell them at Target. With volume at perhaps an all-time low, the tension on Arab Strap's Elephant Shoe is off the scale. Which is more naked, the instrumentation or the lyrics, is debatable. Singer Aidan Moffatt doesn't labor over his words, but offers up jagged fragments from the vaults of his love life. He puts us in the rooms where it all went down and in the thoughts that never reached the lips. "You know I'd never stop until I see you cry/make you insist through snot and tears that you'd never lie," sing-speaks Moffatt like he hasn't had his coffee yet on "The Drinking Eye," as a toyish beat and deathbed bassline paint the musical face of the underwhelmed. On the brighter side, Elephant Shoe finds Arab Strap drenching much of the pain in pleasure, sneaking in twilight gems like "One Four Seven One" and "Direction of a Strong Man," where faintly magical guitar melodies emerge like flowers from damp soil.

See ya six feet under.