Mazzy Star

No, Mazzy Star isn't the lead singer. That honor belongs to Hope Sandoval, whose Melanie-on-downers vocals manage to sound at once angelic and abandoned to lust. Hers is a voice that enfolds listeners in warm, velvety wings, rocking them into languid, erotic daydreams. On "Fade Into You," the band's most noteworthy single, Sandoval and guitarist David Roback perfectly realize their attempts to fuse droning psychedelic folk with lonesome cowboy flourishes. By embellishing the abject minimalism of Nick Drake's Pink Moon material with pedal steel and harmonica, Mazzy Star hit upon a sound that is rustic without quite sounding country. It serves as the perfect format for Sandoval, whose mournful, misguided-angel vocals can sound as lonely as a leaf swept through empty streets, or a feather adrift in a world made of rain. This is music you'll want to listen to alone -- with a box of tissue nearby.