The Shins

When Zach Braff featured two of The Shins' songs in his hit movie Garden State, the one-time side project was firmly entrenched as a mainstream success. Wincing the Night Away, The Shins' eagerly anticipated third album, is primed to be the band's biggest yet.

All Songs Considered's list of the 50 most important recordings of the decade continues, from OutKast to Sigur Ros.

Tens of thousands of listeners voted in the All Songs Considered poll for the year's best CDs. It was tight for much of the race, but in the end, Radiohead's In Rainbows was an overwhelming winner as 2007's most popular album.

The Shins' fine new Wincing the Night Away is built of the same solid stuff that made its predecessors famous: lush pop melodies, rich harmonies, vaguely obtuse lyrics, and sly, sideways hooks. It also features a gorgeous, brightly swooning ringer in "Phantom Limb."

The band the Shins have a quirky but compelling sound of ringing guitars and piercing vocals. Their smart and intense lyrics have made them darlings of the alternative rock scene. But after two albums and songs on TV's The O.C. and the film Garden State, the band is spending the spring doing a low-key tour of mid-sized venues.

Wincing the Night Away is the third full-length album of indie popsters, The Shins. The group gained widespread notice for the songs they contributed to the soundtrack of 2004's Garden State.

The Shins' fine new Wincing the Night Away is built of the same solid stuff that made its predecessors famous: lush pop melodies, rich harmonies, vaguely obtuse lyrics, and sly, sideways hooks. It also features a gorgeous, brightly swooning ringer in "Phantom Limb."

Weekend Edition Sunday music director Ned Wharton presents his annual holiday gift guide, with the latest edition of "Director's Cuts." Suggestions include the Blind Boys of Alabama (left), whose new CD, Go Tell It On the Mountain, features vocals by Tom Wait, Chrissie Hynde and others.