Valley Of The Giants (2004)

Broken Social Scene's ''You Forgot It in People'' was one of last year's slept-on indie-pop gems. So was ''Heart'' by Stars, another Canadian group with ties to the multifaceted Scene. The Giants is yet another related project, though with a haunted country & western spin. Apparently it was inspired by sitting around a snowed-in farmhouse watching Yul Brynner play a psycho-robot cowboy in the cheesy '70s flick ''Westworld.'' And it sounds like it -- although its faintly Arabic fiddle drones, dreamy mariachi horns, and occasionally snarling guitars make a cooler soundtrack than the movie ever deserved. THE AMBIENT ROOM Richard Pinhas' ''Tranzition'' (Cuneiform) is ambient rock in a similar vein, recalling those old Robert Fripp/Brian Eno records, but with more kick in its guitar-spiraling step.