Blockhead

As a highly lauded hip-hop producer, Anthony "Blockhead" Simon is behind many of the great tunes and fat beats of big-name indie rappers, including Aesop Rock, Slug, Cage, Murs, and Mike Ladd.

The Music Scene is only Blockhead's fourth full solo album,which seems strange given his decade of production. Nevertheless, it again documents his keen ear for melody, dynamics, and stylistic convergence. "It's Raining Clouds," the album's opener, is one of many examples of this convergence, with head-nodding beats, flute loops, sitar-like sounds, sultry horns, soulful samples, and a whistling backdrop.

Available via MP3 a few months ago, The Music Scene now gets a full CD release through Ninja Tune.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: The Road soundtrack (Mute)

Just months after the release of a "greatest hits" of soundtrack works, rock-and-roll mavericks Nick Cave and Warren Ellis combine forces for another melodic score that belies the post-apocalyptic nature of its film companion.

Centered on violin and piano, this score is alternately beautiful, melancholic, and tense, with emotive passages that speak to the drama and conflict of the protagonists in this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel.

Rempis/Rosaly Duo: Cyrillic (482 Music)

Saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Frank Rosaly are two of Chicago's most productive improv musicians, delighting diehard jazz heads with the likes of The Rempis Percussion Quartet, Engines, Viscous, Cicadas Music, and dozens of other outfits.

Here the two entertain with a dose of free jazz that is as blistering as it is subdued; wild runs lead into relaxed rhythms. Though most of the material clashes with itself as each instrument does its thing, the album is more approachable than its counterparts that carry two or more tonal instruments.

Additionally, there are moments where the two really synchronize. These usually come after minutes of tension, making the payoff that much more rewarding.

Living Legends' MURS and Atmosphere's Slug are two stylized MCs who are best known for their regular gigs. However, this third installment of Felt, a side project begun in 2002, undoubtedly is their best collaboration — and may contend with their other top releases.

Produced by Aesop Rock, Felt 3 is the duo's third tribute to a second-rate actress. Rosie Perez receives the titular honor this time, joined by Kevin Spacey and Paul Reubens (in song titles) and succeeding homages to Christina Ricci and Lisa Bonet.

With 21 tracks, A Tribute to Rosie Perez exemplifies the commitment that MURS and Slug have made to this project — one that could stand on its own as an A-list attraction.

Felt: "Protagonists"
Felt: \"Protagonists\"

Beak>: s/t (Ipecac)

Spearheaded by Portishead producer Geoff Barrow, Beak> is a new project that finds the multi-instrumentalist out of his element, working with studio bassist Billy Fuller (Fuzz Against Junk) and renaissance man Matt Williams (Team Brick) in a live-band setting.

Overdubs are eschewed on this self-titled debut, one that presents minimalist rhythm-section jams that achieve a moodiness and ambience without extra tracking. Hooky synth and bass grooves surround sampled and vocal atmospherics to create a diverse down-tempo disc.

The entire album was written over the course of a 12-hour session. That fact is easily discernible upon hearing this, but this self-titled debut is still well worth checking out.

Beak>: "Backwell"
Beak>: \"Backwell\"

Honorable mentions:

Blockhead: The Music Scene (Ninja Tune)
Underworld vs. The Misterons: Athens (compilation, !K7)
V/A: Forge Your Own Chains / Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges, 1968-1974 (reissue, Now-Again)

Dysrhythmia

As the members of Dysrhythmia have taken time away from their assorted outside responsibilities, these tech instrumentalists grace us with another disc of melodic yet discordant and frenzied yet soothing songs.

Though fans have had to wait another three years for this full-length, they've been tided over in the meantime by guitarist Kevin Hufnagel's outstanding acoustic debut and a Dysrhythmia split EP with Rothko in 2007.  On Psychic Maps, per usual, each song is a powerhouse journey, often pushing into mind-bending territory.

Dysrhythmia: "Festival of Popular Delusions"
Dysrhythmia: \"Festival of Popular Delusions\"

Cage: Depart from Me (Definitive Jux)

Now as well known for having a Shia LaBeouf biopic in the works as for penning hip-hop narratives of personal destruction, Chris Palko returns with the long-anticipated successor to Hell's Winter, the 2005 album that marked a departure from his early lyrical focus.

Depart From Me is a compelling hip-hop/rock/electro fusion with production by El-P, Aesop Rock, Blockhead, Sean Martin of Hatebreed, and the late Camu Tao.  Cage's vocals do detract at moments — particularly some of the quasi-sung passages — but there's no denying that Palko is a talented MC who is making unique arrangements over fat beats.

Cage: "Look at What You Did"
Cage: \"Look at What You Did\"

Zs: Music of the Modern White 12" EP (The Social Registry)

Brooklyn avant-garde trio Zs plunges head first into the murky, amorphous waters where rock, experimental, free jazz, noise, and ambient music meet.  The lineup — Sam Hillmer on tenor sax, Ben Greenberg on electric guitar, and Ian Antonio on drums — isn't a new configuration of instruments, but you'd be hard pressed to find another group that sounds just like this.

A vinyl (and MP3) release, Music of the Modern White splits the group's wild and diverse sounds into two halves, which are each split into three parts.  The music barely cracks 20 minutes, but the depth of style achieved here is remarkable.

Oneida: Rated O (Jagjaguwar)

Arriving as a massive triple-disc (/triple-LP) release, Rated O continues the aural triptych that Oneida began with Preteen Weaponry.

The group has since expanded to five members, and its music is as electronic and experimental as it's ever been. To give you an idea of how epic these tracks are, three of them clock in at more than 10 minutes, and another tops 20.

But as "Bobby Matador" explains on the Jagjaguwar page for Rated O, these are far from extended jams that lean on loops and samples.  To the contrary, the album is constructed in a very traditional sense, and fans of Oneida are sure to hail Rated O as the group's finest effort to date.

Oneida: "Saturday"
Oneida: \"Saturday\"