Fun fact: Ed Harcourt has put out five albums since 2001. You can be forgiven for not knowing that. His albums are quite good without being great. He's clearly a musician and songwriter of immense potential, but like Ryan Adams he can fall into the trap of liking his own stuff too much. He can do sparkling pop; he can also do underwhelming confessions that drip with emotion but aren't all that rewarding. The perfect candidate for this kind of disc, you'd think. It starts well, with "Born in the 70s," probably Harcourt's best song, and some really good ones: the simple piano-banger "She Fell into My Arms," the locomoting "Black Dress," the shimmering, psychedelic "All of Your Days Will Be Blessed." At this point the Harcourt novice is thinking Ed, baby, where have you been all my life? Jumping around, we'll mention a few others that have been wisely selected: the nearly funky "Visit from a Dead Dog," the hypnotic "Apple of My Eye," and the rushing "Loneliness." By our reckoning, seven of the first 10 tracks here are fantastic; this would be a hell of a studio album. Unfortunately, there are six more tracks to go, and they're generally a drag. Except "Shanghai," which is some sort of weird '80s artifact -- always makes us think of Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride" -- complicated by truly offensive guitar wanking. Still and all, based on the 21st century's best metric (what's on your iPod?), there is some terrific stuff here. If you have no Harcourt, get this Harcourt, and keep your eye on him in the future.

-- Josh Robertson