San Francisco-based singer/songwriter Barbara Manning may not be one of the most prolific artists in the world, but she constantly pulls off new tricks in her solo work and in the bands she has been a part of: World Of Pooh, S.F. Seals, The Glands Of External Secretion, 28th Day. Her new 1212 (not to be confused with Rush's 2112) finds Manning in top form, playing her unpredictable brand of folk-rock—which often switches into barely constrained fits of space-rock, country-rock, and disquieting sound collages. The album starts with the four-track mini-opera "The Arsonist's Story," a tale which is neither cautionary nor glorifying, just lonely and empathic. This tone carries on throughout 1212, both in her originals (the touching "Isn't Lonely Lovely") and her covers (such as Richard Thompson's "End Of The Rainbow"). Amazingly, the album's downbeat tone never gets too depressing or tiresome: One of Manning's greatest gifts is her ability to sing about alienation without sounding like a gloomy buzzkill. That, her pretty voice, and her tight backing band provide ample reasons to look into 1212.