Bonobo

 
Big Freedia & The Divas with Rusty Lazer

 
Javelin

 
Dengue Fever

Septicflesh: The Great Mass (Season of Mist)

Septicflesh: "The Vampire from Nazareth"

In 2008, Grecian death-metal quartet Septicflesh made a triumphant hiatus-ending return with Communion, an album that marked a new symphonic direction on the back of guitarist Christos Antoniou's classical studies.

The Great Mass is the group's second post-reunion effort, and it continues this direction with more of Antoniou's marvelous arrangements.  Orchestral and guitar-based hooks lead the way, but there's plenty of double-kick and blast beats, unearthly growls, and lightning-fast picking.

The album also is greatly strengthened by its secondary elements: mid-tempo riffs, Gothic singing, tom-heavy drum pounding, and brooding cinematic motifs.  Tracks such as "Five-Pointed Star," which display nuance and melodic mastery, would be believed as part of a dark Hollywood score (minus the metal elements).

The Great Mass might be the high-water mark of Septicflesh's celebrated 20-year career.  Either way, it's an exciting continuation of the band's reinvention.

Lanu: Her 12 Faces (Tru Thoughts)

Lanu: "Beautiful Trash"

Known for his work in funk/soul band The Bamboos, Melbourne-based producer Lance Ferguson now releases his second solo album of electronic pop as Lanu.

The album, titled Her 12 Faces, has gained steam abroad behind the strength of its first single, "Beautiful Trash," which features lighthearted vocals by Australian pop star Megan Washington (who appears four times on the album's first six songs).  The rest of Ferguson's sophomore effort is just as engaging, however, as it achieves sunny, fuzzy pop bliss without being cheesy or too sugary.

Lounge elements, hip-hop beats, and electronics help create a sultry vibe that is backed by strings, pedal steel, acoustic guitar, sitar, whistling, piano, and minimalist bass grooves.  Ferguson's skills as a producer come to the fore thanks to the diversity of sounds, but it's his penchant for simple yet effective melodies that makes Her 12 Faces one of the year's early pop gems.

Del the Funky Homosapien: Golden Era 3xCD (The Council)

Del the Funky Homosapien: "One Out of a Million"

Following his second dose of mainstream exposure with the 2001 Gorillaz debut, lauded indie MC Del the Funky Homosapien took another step back from major-label success.  A number of guest spots and a new Hieroglyphics album kept him busy, and intermittent work on the next Deltron 3030 release (with Dan the Automator and Kid Koala) kept fans awaiting another of his best collaborations (which, reportedly, is just about finally complete).

Over the past few years, however, Del has gone into hyper-proliferation, releasing four solo albums and a collaborative disc with Tame One since 2008 alone.

Golden Era, a triple-disc release, is the latest in what might come to be considered Del's golden age.  Featuring 10 more tracks of funky, sample-heavy hip hop and poetic cadences, the main disc is another solid installment in what is becoming a massive body of work.  Die-hard fans might find little new direction, but they should love it all the same.  And because Golden Era also includes the physical release of two previously digital-only albums — Automatik Statik and Funk Man — those who haven't kept up on Del's latest releases would do well to grab it.

Dengue Fever: Cannibal Courtship (Fantasy Records / Concord Music Group)

Dengue Fever:"Uku"

Righteously capturing the free spirit of Cambodia’s 1960s surf-rock and psychedelic-pop scene is Dengue Fever's fourth LP, Cannibal Courtship.  For nearly a decade, the Los Angeles-based ensemble, led by Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, has shone a light on the wealth of grooves that Khmer music has to offer, intricately reworking its musical foundations in an approach that is vintage in style with an ear towards global sounds.

Cannibal Courtship shows the band expanding its sound into new territories, playing a more fuzzed-out, rock-and-roll style while keeping true to the dreamy, reverberated guitar licks and driving bass riffs that make its music so hypnotic.  Guitarist Zac Holtzman takes a prominent vocal presence, and Nimol’s English has become increasingly better, resulting in a record that is sung half in Khmer and half in English.

- Text by Michael Nolledo.  Read the full review here.

Graveyard: Hisingen Blues (Nuclear Blast)

Graveyard: "Ain't Fit to Live Here"

It has been three years since Swedish psych-rock band Graveyard released an album. Rather than use that time to modify its sound or explore new territory, the band appears to have been perfecting its bread and butter: classic rock.

Produced, recorded, and mixed entirely in analog by Don Alsterberg (José Gonzales, Junip, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The International Noise Conspiracy), Hisingen Blues takes listeners back to the '70s with rock-solid shredding and vocalist Joakim Nilsson's impassioned wailing.

Yet for as retro as its sound is, Graveyard does show signs of modernity — to varying success. On tracks such as "Uncomfortably Numb," the band flexes its powers of power-balladry. And on "Longing," a downtempo song with subtle percussion and no vocals, an Ennio Morricone-esque whistle couples with tremolo to an understated crescendo.

Ultimately, the album is retreading covered ground, but with tight production and a commanding swagger, Hisingen Blues still hits all of the right notes.

Arkan: Salam (Season of Mist)

Arkan: "Origins"

Formed by drummer Foued Moukid and guitarist/vocalist Abder Abdellahoum, Parisian metal band Arkan began its existence to fuse Arabic and North African timbres and melodies to the brutality of death metal.

The group's 2008 full-length debut, Hilal, contained plenty of Middle Eastern sounds — oud, bouzouki, darbuka, and more — but Salam, its sophomore album, reflects better balance and better songwriting.  Though still plenty heavy, Salam is more melodic, with stronger hooks and smoother transitions between styles.

Abdellahoum's vocal brutality remains a key element, but it's evened out by a greater presence from standalone vocalist Sarah Layssac, who previously toured with the band.  The album crosses into vocal melodrama at times, particularly towards the end, but Salam is a welcome release for lovers of worldly metal.

Honorable Mentions

Bill Callahan: Apocalypse (Drag City)

Gorillaz: The Fall (Virgin)

Harriet Tubman Band: Ascension (Sunnyside)

Illmind: Behind the Curtain (Nature Sounds)

Mazal: Axerico En Selanik (Tzadik)

My Goodness: s/t (Sarathan)

O’Death: Outside (Ernest Jenning Record Co.)

Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Telesterion (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)

Tune-Yards: Whokill (4AD)

Dengue Fever: Cannibal Courtship (Fantasy Records, 4/19/2011)

Dengue Fever: "Uku"

Righteously capturing the free spirit of Cambodia’s 1960s surf-rock and psychedelic-pop scene is Dengue Fever's fourth LP, Cannibal Courtship.  For almost a decade, the Los Angeles-based ensemble, led by Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, has shone a light on the undeniable wealth of grooves that Khmer music has to offer, intricately reworking its musical foundations in an approach that is vintage in style with an ear towards global sounds.

Cannibal Courtship shows the band expanding its sound into new territories, playing a more fuzzed-out, rock-and-roll style while keeping true to the dreamy, reverberated guitar licks and driving bass riffs that make its music so hypnotic.  Guitarist Zac Holtzman takes a prominent vocal presence, and Nimol’s English has become increasingly better, resulting in a record that is sung half in Khmer and half in English. The two linguistic styles are tied together with groovy dual vocal parts from the singers.

Whereas the larger Southeast Asian scene — including Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam — saw an incredible boom of Western-influenced, psychedelic rock and roll as early as the '60s, Cambodia had its golden era of musical mutation before the horrifying Pol Pot regime took over in 1975. During his reign, Western-influenced musicians were killed, and their music was banned and destroyed.

But similar to the neighboring traditions in Southeast Asia, Cambodia’s fusion with Western psychedelia is marked by an anthemic perception of independence, driven by high-pitched instruments and singing styles with modular intonations that range from plaintive to howling.  Early recordings from Ros Sereysothea, with her rock-and-roll siren voice and the free-for-all backup singers yelling their parts, give listeners a perfect point of reference for Dengue Fever’s inspiration.

The title track opens the record smoothly, featuring a wide variety of tempos and moods.  The repetitive guitar lick drives the track forward as the electric organ pulls it back into a heavy groove, all with great emphasis on Nimol’s sensitive vocal emotions.  Psychedelic echoes and high-twang synthesizers are used in great restraint, and the tones at play are fresh revamps of an old sound.

But it's a track like “Uku,” with Nimol singing solo in Khmer, that showcases the band at its best.  With a dense display of rhythms and heavy atmospherics, the band injects a classical Khmer folk-song melody with impressive global sensibilities.  The mid-song flute solo is incredibly infectious; as a tone rarely heard and played with so much funky soul, the mix is a true treat for global groove searchers.

On Cannibal Courtship, Dengue Fever favors original material over covers of old Khmer pop standards.  The band has managed to bridge time periods and distances, creating a neat package that has psychedelic music making a full circle — traveling from the West to the East, and back to the West.  It’s an innovative and inventive sound that stays true to the 1960s music scene without exploiting it, making for a sound that is as much retrospective as it is modern.

Mogwai: Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Sub Pop)

Mogwai: "Rano Pano"

Mogwai, everyone’s favorite Glaswegian post-rock quintet, recently celebrated 15 years together, and during that span, its nearly unaltered lineup has been as consistent as its mid-tempo rock instrumentals. The band’s sound has changed along the way, including intermittent vocal activity, but by and large, fans know what to expect: reverberated guitar melodies, glimmering keyboard lines, steady beats, and lots of fuzz.

Along the way, the band has shifted a bit from hypnotic, repetitive guitar lines to have songs with more conventional rock leads, and a prime example is “How to Be a Werewolf” from its seventh and newest full-length album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Still, nothing here will take listeners by surprise. It’s another 10 tracks of roughly five-minute instrumentals, with a smattering of highlights – a ghostly guitar/keyboard line in triplicate, an upbeat rock track with a half-time breakdown, and a sunny yet sludgy bass melody.

Mophono: Cut Form Crush LP (CB Records)

Mophono: "Be Human Part One"

Another of the up-and-coming DJs/producers from San Francisco’s beat scene, Mophono (also known as DJ Centipede) has just released a neck-breaking full-length debut called Cut Form Crush.  It follows a handful of EPs and remixes that were scattered over the past six years, but outside of beat junkies, it likely is an introduction for most listeners.

Released on Mophono’s own CB Records, Cut Form Crush is an LP/digital-only release where Moog bleeps meet hard hip-hop beats, jazzy fills, heavy funk cuts, and fanatical synth hooks.  Though it features guest spots by Flying Lotus and MC Subverse, Mophono does all of the heavy lifting, splicing samples over boom-bap beats and spacey dubstep passages.

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra: World of Funk (Ubiquity)

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra: "Cairo Cairo"

A super-prolific and accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Shawn Lee has made a career of splicing disparate styles over his foundation of funk, soul, R&B, and more.  Now, just two months after the release of a dub-, funk-, and rock-infused album of classical covers, Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra is back with a world-driven collection of exceptionally funky jams.  It’s not old-school funk, of course, but a similar brand of Lee’s multifarious style – hip-hop and down-tempo beats, grooves galore, and layers upon layers of sounds.

Like usual, Lee employs a small music shop’s worth of instruments to achieve his diversity, this time tabbing sitar, kalimba, charango, bouzouki, tambura, steel drum, castanets, udu, and balafon among other choices.  It helps World of Funk make virtual visits to India, Egypt, the Mediterranean, and many other locales while adding Ethio-jazz, Latin psychedelia, and Eastern funk.  Guest singers also help to establish the global vibes, including some with Brazilian, Egyptian, and Cambodian heritage, with the latter coming from Dengue Fever frontwoman Chhom Nimol.

And with additional guest spots by mysterious beat-smith Clutchy Hopkins, multi-talented bandleader Michael Leonhart, and NOMO songwriter Elliot Bergman, World of Funk is a bona-fide melting pot of talent.

Total Fucking Destruction: Haters (Translation Loss)

Total Fucking Destruction: "Time Theft"

Formed after the first demise of Brutal Truth, Total Fucking Destruction has spent more than a decade presenting themes of nihilism, annihilation, and nonsense over grind, thrash, and punk rock.  Led by drummer/vocalist Richard Hoak of Brutal Truth, the band exists as a mocking assault on the global power structure, the inhumanity of homo sapiens, and mindless consumption.

Musically and vocally, the band has a very defiant vibe, and its new album, Hater, is no different.  There’s a punk-rock flair with overdubbed growls and gang vocals, and there’s the usual dose of rock-'n'-roll riffage, but the base of blast beats, double kick, and power chords remains the same.  Unlike a lot of grind bands, Total Fucking Destruction has plenty of tempo shifts, and though Hater isn’t as off the wall as previous albums have been, it might be the band’s most polished and cohesive release.

Sims: Bad Time Zoo (Doomtree)

Sims: "Burn It Down"

Headlined by Rhymesayers recording artist P.O.S, Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree has some up-front name recognition but also a roster full of talent.  That includes Andrew Sims, an MC and early member of Doomtree who has done his part to help cultivate independent rap.

Bad Time Zoo is Sims’ second and newest solo album, produced by Doomtree associate and DJ Lazerbeak.  There’s enough sociopolitical content – including the call to action of “One-Dimensional Man” – but there are personal themes along the way, such as the unabashed balladry of “Love My Girl” and “When It Rolls In.”

With horn, piano, and guitar samples, double-time hi-hats, and thumping bass and synth hits, Bad Time Zoo sets a head-nodding foundation for Sims’ steady (and often doubled) delivery.  P.O.S drops a guest verse on “Too Much,” but this is far from another group effort, standing on its own as Sims continues to define his style.

Shugo Tokumaru: Port Entropy (Polyvinyl)

Shugo Tokumaru: "Lahaha"

Port Entropy is the latest full-length from Shugo Tokumaru, a Japanese singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who performs or produces every sound on his records.  It’s his first US release on Polyvinyl Records, but Tokumaru has already achieved considerable commercial success in his native nation and abroad, including TV ads and a spot in the Japanese top 40.

With self-professed influences of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Japanese pop, Tokumaru wields an array of sounds behind his cheery, airy, harmonized vocals.  Guitar, glockenspiel, flute, banjo, and homemade percussion are just a handful of what one hears on an average album.  Some may feel overwhelmed by the layer upon layer of major-chord melody, but Port Entropy is another golden nugget of sunshine pop, with chops that aren’t too shabby either.

Honorable Mentions

Arbouretum: The Gathering (Thrill Jockey)

Beaten by Them: Invisible Origins (Logicpole)

Bright Eyes: The People's Key (Saddle Creek)

DC the MIDI Alien: Avengers Airwaves (Brick)

Elk: Let’s Get Married (Shape Up)

The Eternals: Approaching the Energy Field (Plustapes / Addenda)

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake (Vagrant)

Tim Hecker: Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)

The Natural Yogurt Band: Tuck in With… (Now-Again)

Austin Peralta: Endless Planets (Brainfeeder)

Phaedra: The Sea (Rune Grammofon)

La Sera: s/t (Hardly Art)

The Skull Defekts: Peer Amid (Thrill Jockey)

Win Win: s/t (Vice)

The newest solo album of Nile linchpin Karl Sanders is another beautiful acoustic release of Arabic flavors mixed with Western structures.

Following Saurian Meditation from 2004, Saurian Exorcisms is full of gorgeous, dark motifs that run a wider gamut of styles than Sanders' last solo effort.  On Exorcisms, Sanders handles all instrumentation — baglama saz, glissentar, acoustic guitars, guitar synth, keyboards, drums, and percussion.  He even contributes vocals, which complement the haunting vocals and chants of Mike Breazeale.

The music contains some of Sanders' blistering fretwork, but it never strays from its overlying melody and accessibility.  Covering Turkish, Egyptian, Indian, and Arabic styles, Saurian Exorcisms is a must-own album.

Karl Sanders: "Rapture of the Empty Spaces"
Karl Sanders: \"Rapture of the Empty Spaces\"

Crippled Black Phoenix: 200 Tons of Bad Luck (Invada)

Penning epic "endtime ballads," the United Kingdom's Crippled Black Phoenix plays dark folk with dirty guitars, ominous effects, diversified vocals, and countless guest electro/acoustic contributions.

The group's style is predicated on the multi-instrumental prowess of Justin Greaves (former drummer of Electric Wizard), whose lengthy tunes are augmented with a massive cast.  Nine of the songs on this disc clock in at or over five minutes, including the 18-minute musical triptych "Time of Ye Life / Born for Nothing / Paranoid Arm of Narcoleptic Empire."

Crippled Black Phoenix: "Rise Up and Fight"
Crippled Black Phoenix: \"Rise Up and Fight\"

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: Inspiration Information 3 (Strut)

Known as the father of Ethio-jazz, Ethiopian bandleader Mulatu Astatke is an internationally lauded musician whose works may be best known in America through the soundtrack to Broken Flowers or the Ethiopiques series.

Now, for Strut's Inspiration Information studio pair-up series, Astatke creates an outstanding disc of worldly jazz-hop fusion with the help of UK hip-hop/funk/psychedelic all-stars The Heliocentrics.

The collaboration has already received vast amounts of praise, and it comes strongly recommended for anyone into the aforementioned genres.

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: "Masenqo" (radio edit)
Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: \"Masenqo\" (radio edit)

Prefuse 73: Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp)

Guillermo Scott Herren's newest album as his glitchy alter-ego is meant to be a linear work — one that Herren describes as both straight ahead and obscure.

That description is on point, but it could also apply to most other Prefuse releases.  Still, this effort finds Herren's chopped sound collages about as accessible as they come, layered over hip-hop beats that don't stutter like on previous efforts.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: Agorapocalypse (Relapse)

Specializing in über-fast thrash/grind, ANB presents just its second full-length album in 10 years with Agorapocalypse.

The brutal quartet features three vocalists — two of the stand-alone variety — aiding the semi-diversity of sound on the new disc.  Everything is extra heavy, but breakdowns, breakneck solos, and sludge bass combine to make this the band's most realized release to date.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: "Agorapocalypse Now"
Agoraphobic Nosebleed: \"Agorapocalypse Now\"

Two Fingers: s/t (Paper Bag)

DJs/producers Amon Tobin and Doubleclick comprise Two Fingers, an experimental mix of hip hop and drum & bass that features Ghanaian UK rapper Sway and a pair of additional guest rappers.

Nothing lacks in the production, which is a mix of factory-sound dance numbers that boast Tobin's trademark pastiche/found-sound style.  Sway's rapid-fire delivery fits, but it also gets a bit tiresome, particularly with the frequency of certain passages.

Dengue Fever: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (M80)

Following Los Angeles Cambodian/American pop-rock group Dengue Fever through Cambodia, the film for which this soundtrack was created explores the homecoming of singer Chhom Nimol and the journey of the band that she fronts.

Full of the band's psych-tinged tunes as well as great Cambodian rock tunes of the 1960s and '70s, the soundtrack honors a musical culture that was put in peril during the Khmer Rouge's atrocious reign.

Meanwhile, Mike Patton has kept busy with yet another project — scoring his first feature film, Crank 2: High Voltage (out April 17).  His soundtrack for A Perfect Place, a short film noir, was one of last year's best albums.

In an interview with BBC, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys describes the group's next album, Tadlock's Glasses, as being a combination of live playing and obscure samples.  The album is expected to be out later this year.

Rapping virtuoso Doom — dropping the "MF" — has a new album, Born Like This, that will be out March 23 on Lex Records.

After a six-year hiatus, Anticon hip-hop duo Themselves (Doseone and Jel) has returned and will issue a third full-length album, CrownsDown, in August.

Definitive Jux rapper Cage has a new album, Depart From Me, that will be out June 30.  In the coming months, he'll also release a free EP, I Never Knew You, available through Def Jux and Adult Swim.

Mogwai has announced a new North American tour, running from April 20 to May 16.

Dinosaur Jr. has signed to Jagjaguwar and announced a five-week US tour that runs through April.  For these "intimate" shows, concertgoers will receive either a limited-edition 7" or a free digital download.

Atmosphere has announced a lengthy North American tour that runs from April 9 to May 22. The hip-hop duo gets great direct support from P.O.S. from April 9-24.

Psychedelic Cambodian pop-rock group Dengue Fever will provide musical accompaniment to the 1925 silent adaptation of The Lost World during the San Francisco International Film Festival on May 5.

Grizzly Bear's new album, Veckatimest, will be released May 26 on Warp.

One-man grind project Toxic Holocaust has announced a North American tour with Napalm Death that runs from early April to mid-May.

The Sword

Friday, November 7

The Sword @ Bottom Lounge

Chicago's new version of the Bottom Lounge includes two bars (one with a tiki theme), an eating area, a large performance area, and a second-floor deck. The recently reopened venue might need every square foot to contain the massive stoner metal sound of The Sword, which hits the Windy City between tour dates with Metallica and Down.

Umbrella Music Festival w/ Bik Bent Braam @ Elastic Vision Gallery

Dutch pianist Michiel Braam convenes a Chicago version of his Bik Bent Braam orchestra, a localized edition of the 13-piece group that he began more than 20 years ago. On record, the group's sound is one of jumpy, horn-heavy jazz that mixes old-time foundations with freak-out solos.

Saturday, November 8

O'death @ The Empty Bottle

Touring in support of its new album, alt-country five-piece O'death stops in Chicago for a pair of shows. That new album, Broken Hymns, Limbs, and Skin, covers diverse stylistic swaths that range from punkish bluegrass to bittersweet ballads and droning Pentecostal chants. The group also plays at Chicago's Hideout on Sunday.

David Boykin Expanse; David Boykin Microcosmic Sound Orchestra @ The Velvet Lounge

Interstellar jazz saxophonist David Boykin pulls double duty at the Velvet Lounge, where he lays freewheeling grooves and solos in a pair of sets with his eponymous Expanse and Microcosmic Sound Orchestra. The Expanse combines free passages with hard bop, over which Boykin spouts unorthodox rhymes; the Microcosmic Sound Orchestra provides inspired improvisation.

Fun Fun Fun Fest (Austin) @ Waterloo Park

How many huge music festivals can Austin hold? Chicago has its share of major festivals, but Austin keeps cranking out the multi-day madness with the Fun Fun Fun Fest.

The lineup includes festival regulars but strong ones at that; if you're in Texas, head down to see Bad Brains, The National, Atmosphere, Young Widows, Trash Talk, Deerhoof, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, The Black Heart Procession, Dr. Octagon, Dan Deacon, Tim Fite, Bishop Allen, Dengue Fever, Cro-Mags, Parts and Labor, Minus the Bear, and more.