Midnight Sun [CD]

"We've finally developed a sound we're happy with," says Sean Lennon, describing The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, his spaced-out project with girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl. For their second LP, the duo spent months at their New York home studio, messing with odd instruments (a calliope dating from the 1890s) and recording techniques (running drums through a Leslie organ speaker). Highlights include "Poor Paul Getty," a Brit-pop ode to the grandson of oil tycoon Paul Getty, who was kidnapped for ransom by the Italian mob (they cut off his ear). "I related to the idea of having a famous last name that attracts attention from creepy people," says Lennon. "His story always gave me chills."