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 the Flaming Lips or Lambchop more than Scottish twee-pop peers Belle & 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