As usual, ALARM leaves no genre unexplored in our list of this year's overlooked gems.

Sigh: Scenes from Hell (The End, 1/19/10)

Sigh: "The Summer Funeral"

With a history of fusing other revered genres to a doomy combination of black metal and thrash, Japan's Sigh used its eighth studio album to deliver symphonic, epic metal that calls upon classical instrumentation to top its rock foundation.

Brass, woodwind, and string instruments — as well as organ and piano — accent as well as lead sinister melodies that take surprising turns through fanciful themes. Raspy, menacing vocals coat each track, resulting in a dramatic presentation that isn't much at odds with its complex backdrop.

RJD2: The Colossus (RJ’s Electrical Connections, 1/19/10)

RJD2: "Games You Can Win"

Following a divisive album that saw the introduction of poppy, soulful vocals, producer RJD2 returned with something of a split release — an album that leaves no shortage of accessible, vocal-driven tunes but that emphasizes some inventive instrumentals.  Whether or not you dig the soulful RJ, there's no doubt that the music on The Colossus is some of his best to date.

Chicago Underground Duo: Boca Negra (Thrill Jockey, 1/26/10)

Chicago Underground Duo: "Spy on the Floor"

For 15 years, the Chicago Underground Duo (and Trio, Quartet, and Orchestra) has been an avant-garde jazz outlet for prolific Chicago musicians Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Isotope 217) and Chad Taylor.  Boca Negra is an interesting dichotomy, as spiraling vociferation leads to upbeat grooves, shifting piano chords, harmonic electronics, and ambient samples.

Algernon: Ghost Surveillance (Cuneiform, 1/26/10)

Algernon: "Broken Lady"

The brainchild of guitarist Dave Miller, Algernon walks a thin line between melodically driven post-rock and instrumental unconventionality.  Ghost Surveillance places greater emphasis on synthesizers and sprawling song structures, but at its core is the combination of accessibility and technicality that has defined Miller's style. Noisy, circular rock riffs transform to tranquil, wandering passages. "Timekiller," the album's fourth track, is a beautiful, buoyant number — and one of the band's best creations to date.

Bei Bei & Shawn Lee: Into the Wind (Ubiquity, 1/26/10)

Bei Bei & Shawn Lee: "East"

In the hands of a marvel, the guzheng — a gorgeous Chinese zither — resonates with tactile beauty as its many strings are plucked with precision.

Bei Bei, a native of Chengdu, China, is one such musical technician. And this collaboration with Shawn Lee, a prolific producer who can man as many genres as he sees fit, is undoubtedly one of the year's finest albums.  Together, the two use Into the Wind to navigate through funky down-tempo jams, Kung-Fu flavor, hip hop, soul, and driving grooves.

Daníel Bjarnason: Processions (Bedroom Community, 2/1/10)

Daníel Bjarnason: "Bow to String I: Sorrow Conquers Happiness"

Best known as a conductor and arranger for indie groups such as Sigur Rós, composer Daníel Bjarnason also holds a lofty classical résumé. Processions, his proper debut, is, at many points, a challenging classical work.  Powerful cellos scale and race with crackling percussions before settling into gently bowed and pizzicato string accompaniments; easily half a dozen strings battle for dominance in a sorrowful, harmonic piece that resonates long after hearing it.  Undoubtedly, Processions is a daring and original debut.

Shining: Blackjazz (Indie Recordings / Distribution, 2/2/10)

Shining: "Fisheye"

Beginning as an experimental acoustic jazz ensemble, Norway's Shining — the brainchild of saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby — transformed to a progressive jazz-fusion outfit before delving into its darker side for a collaboration with black-metallists Enslaved.

Blackjazz pushes deeper into the band's dark recesses, forging a progressive industrial sound for the young century.  Big, complex rock riffs, twisted through gnarly distortion, form the foundation and support a mass of frantic, whirring synth lines and gut-wrenching black-metal screams.  In all, Blackjazz is a new epic — and perhaps the best metal album of 2010.

Pillars and Tongues: Lay of Pilgrim Park, LP + download (Endless Nest, 2/9/10)

Pillars and Tongues: "The Center of"

With just three members, Pillars and Tongues manages to craft powerful folk abstractions and interwoven, trance-inducing vocal dynamics. Both composed and improvisational, these shifting forms evoke spiritual vibes in their soulful essence, heavenly harmonies, and repeated patterns.

Dessa: A Badly Broken Code (Doomtree, 2/9/10)

Dessa: "Dixon's Girl"

The only female member of Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree, Dessa is a spoken-word vocalist, singer, and MC whose awaited full-length was finally released earlier this year.

On A Badly Broken Code, her true solo debut, Dessa's vocal diversity is matched by its underlying music, ranging from hard-hitting beats and rhymes to lilting harmonic overdubs.

The Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade: The Red List (20 Buck Spin, 2/16/10)

The Bastard Noise: "Mutant World of Shame / Underworld"

A spinoff of treasured "power-violence" hardcore group Man is the Bastard, The Bastard Noise is approaching its 20th anniversary of creating noisy electro-doom brutality.  For this split release with hardcore/punk experimentalists The Endless Blockade, the group utilizes the trademark drum-and-bass style of Man is the Bastard in combination with its far-out sounds.  The Endless Blockade contributes three tracks to the release — one 14-minute epic and two avant-garde remixes.

Freeway & Jake One: The Stimulus Package (Rhymesayers, 2/16/10)

Freeway & Jake One: "Know What I Mean"

Continuing his life after Roc-A-Fella Records, former freestyle star Freeway now makes his debut on Rhymesayers, a fitting new home — if only temporary before a move to Cash Money.  Fellow Rhymesayers standout Jake One provides a funky, malleable backdrop for Freeway's fiery delivery and lyrics that are alternately personal and light in content. And though Freeway deserves his accolades, Jake One's production is the MVP of this collaboration.

Carolina Chocolate Drops: Genuine Negro Jig (Nonesuch, 2/16/10)

Carolina Chocolate Drops: "Hit 'Em Up Style" (Blu Cantrell)

Beholden to the traditions of Americana and early African-American folk, the string trio Carolina Chocolate Drops continues blurring the lines of old and new. On Genuine Negro Jig, the group's fifth album, a few original numbers and a trove of traditionals take root in banjo, fiddle, and percussion. Three-part harmonies shimmer on the famous folk tune "Trouble in Your Mind," and simplicity shines on gripping renditions of "Why Don't You Do Right?" by Kansas Joe McCoy and "Trampled Rose" by Tom Waits.  Most surprisingly, Genuine Negro Jig includes an enjoyable rendition of "Hit 'Em Up Style," an unintentionally farcical pop hit by Blu Cantrell.

Mako Sica: Dual Horizon LP (La Société Expéditionnaire, 2/16/10)

Mako Sica: "I'Itoi"

A translation of the phrase "land bad," Mako Sica has more than a nominal Native American influence; the trio's distant vocal reverberations and dirge-inspired tunes recall the spirituality of America's original inhabitants.

Between the vocalizations of Brent Fuscaldo, the melodies of guitarist Przemyslaw Krys Drazek, and the rhythms of drummer Michael J. Kendrick, Mako Sica maintains a strong balance of abilities — with a brooding combination of jangly guitars, reverberated vociferation, and instrumental dynamics.

High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine (E1 Music, 2/23/10)

High on Fire: "Snakes for the Divine"

Stoner-metal trio High on Fire has built a devoted following over the past dozen years as fans fell in love with Matt Pike's gruff vocals and thunderous guitar riffs. On Snakes for the Divine, Pike uses his throat to channel Lemmy Kilmister; meanwhile, the band has picked up its pace and crafted an album that isn’t as outstretched. Hard-hitting riffery leads an effort that, though diverse at times, may be the band’s most driving release.

Jaga Jazzist: One-Armed Bandit (Ninja Tune, 2/23/10)

Jaga Jazzist: "One-Armed Bandit"

Five years have passed since we've heard the powerhouse melodies of Norway's Jaga Jazzist, the post-rock/"nü-jazz" conception of brothers Lars and Martin Horntveth.

One-Armed Bandit, immediately the group's best album, resembles symphonic prog rock, arguably a few steps removed from parts of Frank Zappa's expansive catalog and closer to countryman Jono El Grande's diverse and theatrical style.  This album, however, is much more cohesive than either of those comparisons suggest, and at times it is nearly overwhelming with grooves and harmonious refrains.

Rob Swift: The Architect (Ipecac, 2/23/10)

Rob Swift: "The Architect"

Turntablist/DJ Robert Aguilar, formerly of the X-ecutioners, has long utilized his love of jazz, R&B, and other musical movements to create compelling hip-hop instrumentals while displaying his tight beat-juggling skills.

The Architect is Swift’s foray into the classical world. In addition to a multitude of sampled styles and sounds, classical cuts comprise a substantial chunk of this Ipecac debut. Rearranged strings, organ, and horns often make the foundation of a given track, occasionally evoking high-tension Italian Westerns, as Swift’s scratches dance atop banging beats.

Rotting Christ: Aealo (Season of Mist, 2/23/10)

Rotting Christ: "Aealo"

For more than 20 years, Athens' Rotting Christ has traversed different directions on the metal path.  With its previous release, Theogonia, the group released a striking, original album that fused its dark sound to the ethnic sounds of its ancestors.

Like its predecessor, Aealo features female Benedictine chants, lingual pipes, and a medieval feel. Combined with dueling high-pitched harmonies and powerful guitar work, these new elements highlight an album that should be among the most original metal releases of the year.

Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté: Ali and Toumani (Nonesuch, 2/23/10)

Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté: "Ruby"

As two of Africa's most internationally renowned musicians, guitar legend Ali Farka Touré and kora phenom Toumani Diabaté have displayed impeccable abilities while integrating the styles of other cultures into their ethnic sounds.

Each Malian, the two collaborated for the acclaimed In the Heart of the Moon in 2005, shortly before Farka Touré's passing in 2006. Fortunately, the two set aside time to record new material before touring for In the Heart of the Moon, and the result is another beautiful set of duets that sees a posthumous release.

Throughout Ali and Toumani, Farka Touré roots each creation in melodious African-blues pieces. Diabaté's virtuosity accents each track in the form of fanciful scales, which at times evoke classical harpsichord passages, perhaps most notably on "Sabu Yerkoy."

Fang Island: s/t (Sargent House, 2/23/10)

Fang Island: "Sideswiper"

Mostly comprised of ex-Daughters, the good-time rock quintet Fang Island was one of the most quickly ascending bands of 2010, jumping onto tours with The Flaming Lips and Stone Temple Pilots following the release of its first full-length album.

The self-titled release is chock full of palm-muted and speed-infused indie-prog anthems, with über-layered vocal harmonies to go with a triple-thick guitar assault and distorted-bass bludgeoning.  It's one of those rare releases that feels absolutely radiant and thrashing at the same time.

B. Dolan: Fallen House, Sunken City (Strange Famous, 3/2/10)

B. Dolan: "The Reptilian Agenda"

Going way back with Sage Francis, rapper B. Dolan is a like-minded MC and slam poet whose style isn't terribly dissimilar to that of his long-time friend. Fallen House, Sunken City is Dolan's second full-length for Strange Famous, and it's full of the sociopolitical themes (if often in quick blasts or asides) and contentious delivery for which he's known.

In addition to some seemingly personal lyrics, Dolan takes passing shots at big business, taxation, the pharmaceutical industry, the concept of ownership of natural resources, the Israeli razing of Palestinian developments, and, among many other things, the so-called New World Order — dropping clips of Dick Cheney and George H.W. Bush in "The Reptilian Agenda."  On top of Dolan's socially conscious rhymes, A-list production by Alias makes this one of the year's top hip-hop releases.

Archie Bronson Outfit: Coconut (Domino, 3/2/10)

Archie Bronson Outfit: "Shark's Tooth"
Archie Bronson Outfit: "Shark's Tooth"

With its warbled vocals and driving percussion, British psych-rock trio Archie Bronson Outfit is like a more adventurous Wolf Parade — as comfortable burning up the dance floor with clean, bouncy riffs as it is turning up the reverb and rocking in a garage.

Coconut is the band's first LP in nearly four years, and it kicks off with a crunchy, swirling guitar line and a hypnotic bongo-laden beat. Produced by DFA's Tim Goldsworthy, Coconut gets spaced-out and drone-like at times, but it always offers a hint of pop accessibility amidst the static and haze.

One morning, in early 2008, Califone front man Tim Rutili woke up to find a piece of paper on his bedside table with a story written in his own handwriting. It was a movie he had dreamt.

Months before, Rutili thought that a good place to start writing for the next Califone record would be to collect some superstitions — his own and others. He went to friends in Los Angeles and family members in Chicago and videotaped tellings of things, such as throwing salt at the backs of suspicious witch-like old women and restrictions on taking anything from a funeral home.

One night, Rutili fell asleep, and the images and words from the videos, the thoughts of his own tendency to knock on wood or touch the roof of his car while driving under bridges, and the melodies inspired by such obsessive compulsions had all mixed together and manifested into a dream. He woke up at three in the morning and wrote it down.

“This is going to sound lame, but I had this dream, and it was this story about a fortune teller, but I kind of dreamt it as a kids’ movie,” Rutili says. “It was like watching a bad kids’ film. It was ridiculous. I got up and wrote it down. I woke up the next day and thought [that] it was a good place to start for writing a movie.”

A year later, Califone is set to release All My Friends Are Funeral Singers on Dead Oceans, a follow-up to the critically acclaimed Roots & Crowns. Rutili also wrote and directed his first feature film under the same name.

All My Friends Are Funeral Singers Trailer from Califone on Vimeo.

Shot in 11 days in Charleston, Indiana, the film All My Friends Are Funeral Singers stars Angela Bettis (Girl, Interrupted and May) as a medium/fortune teller whose only friends, ghosts living in her house, realize they are trapped and try to escape. In the fall of 2009, Califone toured in support of the new record by playing a live, partially improvised soundtrack along with the film.

“I like giving the audience something to see, actually; I love what visuals trigger in us musically,” Rutili says. “But I see it as three different parts of the same project that each stand on their own. The album is definitely not a soundtrack. The film eventually is going to stand on its own without us. The album works as a album, and the show is going to work as a show.”

The members of Califone have a rich history of performing live along with video accompaniment — a style of performance they unanimously enjoy. The first time was in 2001 when the band played along to a film by experimental director Harry Smith, which Rutili says he remembers being immediately artistically satisfying. Later, Rutili and fellow bandmate Jim Becker toured with a film with the band Box Set Ensemble.

“It’s a completely different thing — the feel of what we do when we play to a film,” drummer Ben Massarella says. “It’s similar — it sounds like it us; it feels like us — but when we are playing alone, we are just going for it and playing for the moment, us being the stimulus. With the film, you are able to be improvisational about it but also have real specific things like timing — things need to start right here or end right here. Sometimes it’s songs, [and] sometimes it’s a little more open, and that could be different every night.”

As the album All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is on its own a soulful, cinematic, story-driven follow- up to the much-praised Roots & Crowns, it’s easy to imagine a visual accompaniment. At its core, the record is a collection of emotionally driven, catchy folk-rock tunes, helmed by Rutili’s low, slight twang and given depth by a soundscape strongly infused by electronica, world music, and psychedelic rock.

The opening track, “Giving Away the Bride,” is one of the more unique intersections of styles you’ll hear in 2009. Rutili playfully snakes out a soft and dark melody as a dirty, fuzzed-out bass drives along to an array of percussive instrumentation. Songs like “Buñnel” and “Funeral Singers” are on the one hand more conventional, acoustic-guitar-driven folk rock, but also a testament to Rutili’s ability to convey a sad story through catchy melodies.

Recorded at Clava, the band’s South Side Chicago recording studio, the band agreed that the recording of this record flowed easier than ones in the past. Produced by Brian Deck (Iron and Wine, Modest Mouse), this record features the band’s signature use of multi-instrumentation and found arrangements.

Though Rutili expressed great pleasure in the process, filming All My Friends Are Funeral Singers was a far more challenging process. After Bettis signed on, he pulled as many checks and favors as he could find to get the movie made. Rutili and friends moved out to Chesterfield, Indiana, where a friend said they could film in a house he owned but no longer lived in.

With bags of knickknacks and trucks full of grandparents’ furniture, production designer Joe Bristol led a transformation of the old house into the weird lair of a medium/fortune teller trying to keep her ghosts from fleeing. From there, Rutili shot the film in 11 consecutive 14-hour days.

“It was probably the hardest thing any of us had ever done, but I loved it,” he says. “I like telling stories and exploring characters. I really like working with actors, which was the part I was most afraid of. I was worried that I wouldn’t know how to explain what I wanted, that I would confuse people or explain too much or explain too little. But working with good actors is amazing.”

After the tour is over, Rutili will submit his film to film festivals and hopes to have more experiences in filmmaking in the future. But, for now, the focus is on the show, creating an experience where album and film collide through musical and thematic interaction.

“There is some thematic overlapping, but a lot of it is some of these peripheral characters’ inner dialogue,” Rutili says. “A lot of it is imagery or memories someone who is no longer living would have — little strands of life that they are holding onto that would prevent them from leaving this planet. I see all this sounds kind of crazy.”

Paul "Sage" Francis has built a career out of going against the grain, tackling thorny sociopolitical issues while embracing the limelight of poetry slams and rap battles. His idiosyncratic style garnered him underground buzz well before his Anticon debut in 2002.

Following two more acclaimed albums on Epitaph in 2005 and '07, Francis has delivered the most adventurous album of his career. Li(f)e is a collaboration with a dozen different singer-songwriter and acoustic-music types, finding Francis at his most personal over styles that aren't necessarily conducive to rappers.

Folk, country, western, indie rock, and more — it's all delivered via big names such as Calexico, DeVotchKa, Califone, Tim Fite, ex-Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie, Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, and producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine).

A few moments seem like odd fits, but by and large, Francis' style adapts well to his surroundings. He's at his most poetic, trading between spoken-word confessions and rapid-fire rhymes while building to the occasional eruption.

For Li(f)e, Francis sought singer-songwriters who hadn't worked with rappers, and the results are commendable. Though some pieces were essentially leftover tracks by collaborators, Francis overlays his words with care and works with the dynamics of each track.

"Diamonds and Pearls" with DeVotchKa is one of the best on the album, featuring Tom Hagerman's dancing neoclassical violin lines as well as ghostly backing vocals by Nick Urata and Jeanie Schroder. "The Best of Times" with French composer Yann Tiersen, however, is the album's single, and as its closer, it serves as an apt summary of the album's adventures.

Ultimately, fans may be divided on Li(f)e, but no matter how you feel, it's certain to be a watershed album in an already uncommon career.

Sage Francis: "The Best of Times"
Sage Francis: \"The Best of Times\"

Zs: New Slaves (The Social Registry)

Name any sort of "out there" genre and it likely applies to Zs, a Brooklyn quartet that puts the experiment in experimental. Avant garde, free jazz, no wave, noise — these guys have covered it all, generally with impenetrable rhythms and piercing effects.

Released less than a year after the six-song Music of the Modern White LP, New Slaves may be the group's noisiest but most direct effort. Despite its impregnable qualities, the album possesses a generally hypnotic characteristic, as improvised electronic sounds coat looping beats for a transfixing effect.

True to form, the album is very percussive and very noisy, best described by The Social Registry as "a clanging mishmash of industrial raga," recalling the trance-inducing, non-diatonic elements of Indian music on top of tribal beats.

Those who don't enjoy improvisational or "out" music will skip right over New Slaves, which tosses a 20-minute noise jam after five relatively "short" tracks. But fans of Steve Reich or Terry Riley-esque minimalism may dig a track such as "Masonry," which recalls a rain forest with its über-reverberated xylophone runs over distant thuds and super-speedy humming-bird percussions.

Zs: "Acres of Skin"
Zs: \"Acres of Skin\"

Holy Fuck: Latin (Young Turks / Beggars Group)

Once listeners realized that Holy Fuck didn't sound quite like its name might suggest — with hip-hop beats and electronics instead of screams and blast beats — this "rock-tronica" group caught on in a hurry.

Now, after two essentially eponymous albums, Latin settles the band on a "permanent" lineup. Its touring rhythm section, now a pair of regulars, provides organic break beats and bass grooves for the fuzzy keyboards and hazy and alien effects of Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh.

Latin isn't terribly dissimilar to Holy Fuck's first two albums, but it doesn't need to be. There are enough different sounds and enough instrumental interplay to engage listeners, old and new alike.

Honorable Mentions

Marco Benevento: Between the Needles & Nightfall (The Royal Potato Family)

Howl: Full Of Hell (Relapse)

Misery Index: Heirs To Thievery (Relapse)

River City Extension: The Unmistakable Man (XOXO)

US Christmas, Harvestman, and Minsk: The Hawkwind Triad (Neurot)

Various artists: Egypt Noir (Piranha)

Sage Francis

Sage Francis' new album features Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine), Jim Becker and Tim Rutili (Califone), and songwriting by Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie), Tim Fite, and members of Calexico, DeVotchKa, and Sparklehorse.

"We specifically sought out songwriters who had never worked with a rapper," Francis explains.

The record's title Li(f)e is a deliberate amalgamation of the words life and lie. As Francis says, "What about life is a lie? What we're told about God is a lie. What we're told about race, gender roles, beauty, war, food, drugs, sexuality, capitalism, history, the nature of humankind…a gang of lies. I feel it in my gut, I think it in my brain, I write it with my hands and I speak it with my mouth. That's what makes Li(f)e the general theme of this album."

BK-One is best known as the DJ for Brother Ali and as a mainstay of the Rhymesayers roster. But with the help of beat-making buddy Benzilla, he has further established a name for himself through Rádio do Canibal.

An A-list collaboration with top-tier MCs, Rádio do Canibal is built on a foundation of grooving bass lines and horns. This sets a funky foundation for the crux of the album, BK-One’s playful commingling of samba and bossa nova samples with hip-hop beats (which is directly influenced by his frequent travels through Central and South America).

The MCs, notably P.O.S, Haiku D’Etat, Slug, and Blue Oriny, provide plenty of highlights, although Murs provides a particularly crass lowlight in “Eighteen to Twenty.” Regardless, it’s an all-star lineup, and with additional cameos from Ali, Black Thought, Raekwon, and The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, one would do well to pick this up.

Air: Love 2 (Astralwerks)

Despite variances in style from album to album, Air’s sound is easily discernible to most anyone who is familiar. It’s spacey, synthesized yet organic, and holds a reverence for the squiggly electronic sounds of the late 1970s.

Love 2 is no different in this regard, but it may be the French duo’s most realized creation. A combination of delicate instrumentals and pseudo-sultry ballads comprise the album, which calls upon the duo’s usual armaments in addition to spots of saxophone, marimba, and glockenspiel.

Air won’t be mistaken for holding prog-rock virtuosity, but Love 2 displays some of the best “chops” of any Air album, as best evidenced by the deft piano play and swirling guitar solo of “Tropical Disease.” If you enjoy Air, the duo’s latest album won’t let you down.

A Place to Bury Strangers: Exploding Head (Mute)

After a much-hyped self-titled debut, A Place to Bury Strangers continues to perfect its sound on Exploding Head, its first release for Mute.

The album holds a hard-hitting post-punk /new-wave sound that combines the atmospherics and fuzziness of My Bloody Valentine with the rawness of Sonic Youth and the moodiness of Joy Division. Echoed, whammied chords wash over feedback, speed-picked single-note riffs, and über-reverberated, ride-heavy rock beats.

The result is a sound that is much denser than one would imagine from a rock trio. Undoubtedly, the stars of the album are Oliver Ackermann’s customized guitar pedals, which he manufactures for his own company, Death by Audio.

Honorable mentions:

Bellini: Precious Prize of Gravity (Temporary Residence)
The Black Heart Procession: Six (Temporary Residence)
Califone: All My Friends are Funeral Singers (Dead Oceans)
Betty Davis: Nasty Gal and Is It Love or Desire (reissues — Light in the Attic)
Horse the Band: Desperate Living (Vagrant)
Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isidore: Three Less Than Between (Clean Feed)