Making an impressive debut on Other Electricities, Nashville duo Tallest Trees is the union of two separate projects — an expansive solo experiment by Thomas Samuel (who began as Tallest Trees) and the looped-cello project of Dabny Morris (dubbed Human Voice).

Together, the two have created their own brand of off-kilter pop, weaving weird effects and echoing vocal harmonies over malleable foundations.

Each element — whether a wash of distorted guitars, a toy piano, or hymn-like singing — combines with the others to create a well-meshed, unique whole.  Glitches, found sounds, feedback, and more give The Ostrich or the Lark a warm, welcome feel.  It's a beautiful pop debut — one that will make many take notice.

Tallest Trees: "Alouette!"
Tallest Trees: \"Alouette!\"

Boris & Ian Astbury: BXI EP (Southern Lord)

Globe-crossing collaborations have become substantially easier in the Internet age, but Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley of Southern Lord have facilitated a pleasant surprise: the collaboration of UK post-punk, goth-rock front man Ian Astbury and Japanese drone-metal trio Boris.

Best known as the voice of The Cult, Astbury is no stranger to collaboration; he was chosen for the 2002 Doors reunion and has recorded with UNKLE and a number of other musicians.  The surprise, in fact, is that his work over these four songs with Boris sounds so natural.

BXI showcases Boris' ability to fit Astbury's style with fist-pounding rock rawness.  But the final track, "Magickal Child," may be the best, combining Boris' doomy qualities with Astbury's vibrato-heavy vocals.  The one cover tune — a version of The Cult's "Rain" — is another standout, featuring Boris' Wata handling vocal duties.

Both parties must be pretty satisfied too, because co-performances are scheduled for the coming months, and they're already discussing a followup.  Wherever that leads, the result is sure to be just as interesting.

Boris & Ian Astbury: "Teeth and Claws"

Asphalt Orchestra: s/t (Cantaloupe)

Co-directed by Ken Thomson and Jessica Schmitz, Asphalt Orchestra is a 12-piece marching ensemble that performs brass-led covers of eclectic selections as well as commissions from esteemed songwriters.

Thomson and Schmitz have ridiculous résumés, but the rest of the lineup is no less preposterous in talent, featuring members of Jerseyband, Gutbucket, Balkan Beat Box, Barbez, and Slavic Soul Party, as well as bandleaders and contributors to ensembles such as Bang on a Can, Alarm Will Sound, So Percussion, and others.

The twelve-tet's self-titled debut is a luminous romp, reimagining tunes from Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus, Meshuggah, and Björk with equal ease.  The group also delivers beautiful commissions by Tyondai Braxton (Battles), Stew and Heidi Rodewald (The Negro Problem, Passing Strange), and composer Goran Bregovic.

With matching uniforms and a diverse songbook, Asphalt Orchestra draws comparisons to Chicago's Mucca Pazza.  This NYC ensemble, however, employs choreographed moves and even more crowd interaction.  If you get the chance, don't miss them on your street.

Asphalt Orchestra: "Electric Red" (Meshuggah)
Asphalt Orchestra: \"Electric Red\" (Meshuggah)

Esperanza Spalding: Chamber Music Society (Heads Up)

Still just 25 years old, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding holds a glut of talents and a set of experiences that few can call their own.  And with African, Hispanic, Native American, and Spanish roots, Spalding has a heritage as diverse as her influences.

Her previous albums have mixed jazz singing, scatting, and down-tempo jazz with elements of chamber, Brazilian, and flamenco music.  For Chamber Music Society, her third full album, Spalding focuses on her chamber influences, albeit with bits of the other styles in the mix.

Best known as a bassist, Spalding has experience across various chamber instruments, and as a child prodigy, she became concertmaster of The Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age 15.  Clearly, the abilities never left, as Chamber Music Society is a collection of deliberate, delicate chamber-jazz tunes.

Spalding's vocals are less of a focal point, often used as accompaniment or absent for long stretches.  When they return, however, it's easy to hear why that aspect of her career is so celebrated.

Her next album, Radio Music Society, is in the works now and will explore funk, hip hop, and rock in genre-less creations.

Esperanza Spalding: "Short and Sweet"
Esperanza Spalding: \"Short and Sweet\"

Honorable Mentions

Brass Menazeri: Vranjski San (Porto Franco)

Camu Tao: King of Hearts (Def Jux / Fat Possum)

Chief: Modern Rituals (Domino)

Drivan: Disko (Smalltown Supersound)

Knights of the Abyss: The Culling of Wolves (Ferret)

Lissie: Catching a Tiger (Fat Possum)

Night Horse: Perdition Hymns (Tee Pee)

Orbs: Asleep Next to Science (Equal Vision)

Valkyrie: Man of Two Visions (Meteor City)

P.O.S.

P.O.S. has saved hip hop. Minneapolis rapper Stefon Alexander, a.k.a. P.O.S. or that guy from the punk band Building Better Bombs, has made what is likely to be the best hip-hop album of 2009.

Never Better draws on Alexander's background in punk and rock music (he plays most of the live instrumentation on the record), making this is a record that categorically defines the indie in indie rap.

Freezing weather, bold racism, wheezy lungs, and zero-balance checking accounts create an unlikely backdrop to this strangely positive album, all delivered through Alexander's dynamic vocal cadence.

Read the extended review of Never Better by ALARM founder/editor Chris Force.

P.O.S.: "Goodbye"
P.O.S.: \"Goodbye\"

The Bad Plus: For All I Care (Heads Up)

Drawing inspiration from both Igor Stravinsky and Nirvana, veteran jazz trio The Bad Plus wields its chops with considerable force and eloquence.

The group’s live and recorded covers, often sprinkled throughout fantastic originals, showcase its broad musical palette. That holds true with For All I Care, the group's first all-covers release.

The album contains two firsts for The Bad Plus: renditions of classical material and the use of a vocalist (alt-rock vet Wendy Lewis). Lewis nails the material’s vocal melodies with stunning power and exactitude, allowing the group to explore other sonic colors.

Nirvana's "Lithium," The Flaming Lips' "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate," and György Ligeti's "Fém (Etude No. 8)" stand out as particular highlights.

The Bad Plus: "Lithium" (Nirvana cover)
The Bad Plus: \"Lithium\" (Nirvana cover)

Kevin Hufnagel: Songs for the Disappeared (Nightfloat)

Whirlwind guitarist Kevin Hufnagel, one third of math-metal trio Dysrhythmia, issues this beautiful, melancholy collection of tunes centered on acoustic guitars and percussion.

Musical themes come and go as quickly as Hufnagel works his frets, tossing around swaths of Spanish and Gypsy guitar before reverting back to haunting rock melodies. Prepared guitar (similar to prepared piano — placing objects between strings) gives tracks like "Hunter/Hunted" a distorted, effected, and percussive feel, making use of a simple method to create relatively rare sounds.

Kevin Hufnagel: "Hunter/Hunted"
Kevin Hufnagel: \"Hunter/Hunted\"

Marco Benevento: Me Not Me

Following last year's solo debut Invisible Baby, keyboardist Marco Benevento (The Benevento/Russo Duo) returns for another studio effort, this time mostly of covers. Benevento's handful of originals have a fuller treatment this time around, employing the type of layered, post-jazz instrumentation that highlighted Invisible Baby.

The cover material is especially interesting for those familiar with the original versions. Led Zeppelin, Beck, Deerhoof, Leonard Cohen, and more are remade, with the pretty piano of Cohen's "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" standing as one of the disc's best moments.

Marco Benevento: "Twin Killers" (Deerhoof cover)
Marco Benevento: \"Twin Killers\" (Deerhoof cover)

Zombi: Spirit Animal (Relapse)

Influenced by the work of Goblin and other 1970s horror soundtrack artists, ambient and cinematic acoustic/electronic duo Zombi showcases a sound that fits these films and any number of other retro soundtracks.

On Spirit Animal, the duo's songs are a bit more focused on modern rock sounds, and they certainly pack a punch. The album doesn't tread new ground, but existing fans of the genre are sure to love it.

Zombi: "Spirit Animal" sample
Zombi: \"Spirit Animal\" sample

Sabertooth: Old Days & The Island (Arena Rock Recording Co.)

Not to be confused with the Sabertooth that frequents the Green Mill, Chicago's storied jazz venue, this album is built around the gentle neo-folk songs of Nicholas Marshall. Far from the over-hyped indie folk and freak folk that have saturated the blogosphere, Old Days & The Island excels with lasting melodies, genuine vocals, occasional strings, and distant effects.

The Bad Plus: For All I Care (Heads Up International)
With a penchant for reworked rock songs, this hard-hitting jazz trio issues a new album full of covers. Three of the disc's tunes are classical pieces; the rest are rock/pop and include vocals, a first for the group.

Powersolo: Bloodskinbones (Crunchy Frog)
A pair of oddball Danish brothers, dubbing themselves "the Railthin Brothers," create eclectic, off-the-wall rock creations as Powersolo. This full-length follows their recent X-mas single Beam Mig Op, Jesus.

Zu: Carboniferous (Ipecac)
This experimental Italian trio combines sludgy alt-metal with complex rhythms and free-jazz freakouts. If it's possible, Carboniferous presents the group's accessible side for one of the winter's better albums.

March

Kylesa: untitled (Prosthetic)
With a new disc for Prosthetic Records, Georgian stoner-metal squad Kylesa issues its first full-length since Time Will Fuse its Worth from 2006.

Dan Deacon: Bromst (Carpark)
Electro-spazz solo artist emphasizes live instrumentation for this anticipated follow-up.

Jerseyband: untitled (self-released)
It's a downright travesty that this East Coast septet is unsigned. Horns + math metal = 100% awesome.

Spring

Mastodon: Crack the Skye (Warner Bros.)
Even when Mastodon issues a dud, it's better than 95% of all metal albums. Here's hoping that it's a return to the form of Remission.

Summer

Mondo Cane: untitled (Ipecac)
Mike Patton's orchestral Italian pop covers. Enough said.

TBD

Coalesce: untitled (Relapse? Hydra Head?)
This previously defunct hardcore outfit doles out crushing grooves, mathy rhythms, and the trademark tracheal attack of vocalist Sean Ingram. Following the outstanding Salt and Passage 7" from late 2007, the group unveils a proper follow-up to 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening from 1999.

Coliseum: untitled (Relapse)
These Louisville hardcore/metal staples Coliseum continue life as a three-piece with their sophomore effort for Relapse.

Converge and Supermachiner: untitled (Epitaph / Deathwish Inc.)
This isn't a joint release, but they're worth mentioning together as Supermachiner is a semi-ambient side project from Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon and guitarist Kurt Ballou.

Crudo: untitled (Ipecac?)
Mike Patton and Dan the Automator, who were the heart of the Lovage album released in 2001, unite as Crudo for what should be one of the better hip-hop efforts of 2009.

Fantômas: untitled (Ipecac)
The brainchild of Mike Patton, Fantômas resurfaces after a four-year hiatus with another unpredictable release. The music could be anywhere between incongruous genre spasms and ambient dirges, but Rock-a-Rolla magazine says that it might be an electronic record.

Garage a Trois: untitled (Telarc)
Beautiful groove rock from vibraphonist/percussionist Mike Dillon, drummer Stanton Moore, saxophonist Skerik, and keyboardist Marco Benevento.

Isis: untitled (Ipecac)
These purveyors of epic, accessible heaviness have gotten progressively more melodic. Whatever this new album sounds like, it should take another step forward while remaining heavy as hell.

Medeski, Martin & Wood: Radiolarians 2 & 3 (Indirecto)
The famed jazz/jam trio continues its experiment of meeting for brief writing sessions, testing out that new material (and only the new material) on the road, recording the material, and then repeating the process.

Secret Chiefs 3: Book of Souls (Mimicry)
The long-awaited follow-up of Book of Horizons from this incomparable Indian/surf/metal ensemble. It has to happen this year…right?

Hard-hitting jazz trio The Bad Plus knows how to pen pieces of proprietary gold. But its three members are also known for their genre-leaping renditions of rock songs, propelled by the chops of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer David King. Here are the group's ten best covers (in order of release).

1. Nirvana: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (These Are the Vistas)

This cover of Nirvana's massive hit features super-scaling runs and occasionally dissonant harmonies from Anderson in one of the final choruses. It ends brilliantly with the quick piano tinkling of Cobain's famed bridge: "And I forget just what it takes, and yet I guess it makes me smile. I found it hard; it's hard to find. Oh well, whatever…never mind."

2. Aphex Twin: "Flim" (These Are the Vistas)

The original version of "Flim" caught some listeners off guard on the Come to Daddy EP, what with its pretty piano line that evoked thoughts of Willy Wonka's "Pure Imagination." This rendition brings Richard D. James' IDM beats to life under the melodic synchronization of Iverson and Anderson.

3. Ornette Coleman: "Street Woman" (Give)

Coming as a rare occasion, The Bad Plus cover a fellow artist in its genre – and a revered one at that. Originally from Coleman's 1971 album Science Fiction, "Street Woman" is bouncy, heavy, cheerful, and threatening – all while skillfully alternating rhythms.

4. Pixies: "Velouria" (Give)

If you're not looking at the track listing to Give, you'll have no idea that you're hearing a Pixies song until near the two-minute mark. This version begins soft and somber, spreading out Charles Thompson's melody over King's distant jingling and tapping. After the early minutes of building, King breaks into a rock beat for some of Iverson's mean improvisation.

5. Black Sabbath: "Iron Man" (Give)

After you hear The Bad Plus' rendition of "Iron Man," you won't go back. Far heavier than the original, this version cracks into full gear when Iverson's low notes thunder over his down-trickling scales, which come raining ominously from the intro. Iverson again grabs the attention over King's heavy beats, layering together chordal harmonies of Tony Iommi's famous progression. For the outro, the group employs a gentle quarter-time interpretation of the original's awesome ending.

6. "(Theme From) Chariots of Fire" (Suspicious Activity?)

Anderson's grooving bass line clashes nicely as Iverson brings in the song's inspirational melody. A free-jazz breakdown follows before Iverson resumes the theme over wildness from the rhythm section.

7. Radiohead: "Karma Police" (Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads)

Soft brush strokes from King lay a delicate setting for the trio's homage to Radiohead. After some loose rhythms under the main melody, the song gets huge when the piano returns with Thom Yorke's "for a minute there…I lost myself" vocal theme. Iverson also handles the original's walking bass line while King plays freeform beats.

8. Rush: "Tom Sawyer" (Prog)

The poster child for radio-friendly prog rock, "Tom Sawyer" gets one of the most "authentic" replications from The Bad Plus. Iverson and Anderson trade off handling Geddy Lee's vocals on their respective instruments, but they can't hold out forever – like clockwork, the tune punches in an improvised break before resuming its course.

9. Burt Bacharach / Hal David: "This Guy's in Love With You" (Prog)

Faith No More also presented a live cover of this chart-topping Herb Alpert song, and though this can't quite compare to one with Mike Patton's emotive vocals, it's just as sensitive as both versions. Randomly, it closes with a quick reprise of the main rhythm from "Physical Cities," an original Bad Plus tune that comes earlier on Prog.

10. Neil Young: "Heart of Gold"

Without a released recording of Neil Young's classic hit, The Bad Plus saves "Heart of Gold" for concertgoers. It often begins with an abstract intro and ends with the three joining together for a harmonized a cappella chorus.

– Scott Morrow

The Bad Plus: www.thebadplus.com
Heads Up International: www.headsup.com