I’d already been enjoying Eyelid Movies, the debut LP by Phantogram, and then I read a Los Angeles Times feature on the duo. Besides learning the album was written in a barn, we’re told Sarah Barthel helped introduce her bandmate, Josh Carter, to hip-hop – specifically, indie beatmakers.

Said Carter: “We really love David Bowie and the Beatles and Pink Floyd, but I was really into Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy — French pop from the ’60s was really inspiring to me. I turned Sarah onto that, and she turned me onto beatmakers like the 9th Wonder,” who produced one of my favorite albums from 2006, Murray’s Revenge by Murs. Oh, that’s a woman after my own heart.

The beat-making influence is evident from the get-go on the album’s lead-off track, Mouthful of Diamonds, an instantly catchy marriage of electronic and human elements. Though When I’m Small – a dreamy, beat-heavy gem in its own right – was selected as the official mp3 released via Barsuk, I’ve already pegged Mouthful as a song that likely will end up on the year-end mix I make for friends.

Here’s a clip of the duo playing it for KEXP in December.

It can be hard to keep up with Damien Jurado’s prolific nature and harder still to stomach some of his beautifully gut-wrenching writing. Your dedication is almost always paid in full, though – witness the outstanding 2008 album Caught In The Trees.

Jurado is set to follow that up with Saint Bartlett, produced by the Jason Woodbury-approved Richard Swift and due out May 25 on Secretly Canadian. Damien’s wife, Sarah, wrote a thoughtful preface to the album, offering insight into the personal nature of the songs and the writing/recording process: “Richard was able to bring out parts of Damien that had been limited in the past; every vocal is first take, live with guitar. Two of the songs were written on the spot.”

Jurado must be riding a creative high because he’s also posting a new song every week on MySpace until the release of Saint Bartlett – songs that are not on the album. Told you he was prolific. (He’s even all over Twitter and the abstract/random pictures he posts are alone worth following him. Example.)

One song that will be on the album is Arkansas, the first to be released by Secretly Canadian.

• Damien Jurado | Arkansas

Speaking of prolific, Jurado and his brother Drake – otherwise known as Hoquiam – released a self-titled LP on Feb. 23 on St. Ives, a Secretly Canadian offshoot that specializes in limited-edition runs of vinyl-only albums. (But I’ve also seen the album on eMusic.) Damien Jurado discusses the genesis of the project here.

There’s a free download for that album, too, and it’s called Zombies of the Sea.

• Hoquiam (Damien and Drake Jurado) | Zombies of the Sea

It’s dawned on me that the first single from the forthcoming Radar Bros. album was distributed by Merge Records in January, but having been totally swept up by our trip to Thailand (and the ensuing gallbladder removal upon our return), I let it slip through the cracks of this site.

I need to rectify that now because I’ve always felt Jim Putnam’s band has been sadly overlooked by bloggers. To wit: A search on Hype Machine shows just seven mentions of Radar Bros. in 2010. That’s too bad. I guess Putnam needs to reinvent himself as a “chillwave” artist to get any attention.

For what it’s worth, Putnam has sort of reinvented himself for the new album (the band’s sixth), The Illustrated Garden, due out March 23. He’s joined by new members Be Hussey (bass) and Stevie Treichel (drums). (Former bassist and original member Senon Williams left to, I presume, devote his time to Dengue Fever.) The new rhythm section folds seamlessly into Putnam’s breezy compositions – longtime fans will feel perfectly comfortable with The Illustrated Garden – but the new Bros. help push the tempo in spots, like with the galloping beat on Horses Warriors or bright tones on Rainbow.

You can stream the full album at Merge’s site.

• Radar Bros. | Horses Warriors