Great Eastern
The Delgados are precisely what you'd expect from a Scottish band named after Spanish cycling champion Pedro Delgado: brilliant, mercurial, fiercely independent, and more than a bit eccentric. On the quartet's third album,The Great Eastern, they explore symphonic pop in a glorious sweep of sound that recalls theFlaming LipsorLambchopmore  than Scottish twee-pop peersBelle & Sebastian.  Co-leaders Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward neatly balance each other.  She has the better voice and prettier melodies to sing; his vocal warts  offer a character-actor charm all their own. Together, they deliver an  album full of graceful brushstrokes and slightly (but delightfully)  askew ambition.--Keith Moerer