São Paulo Underground: "Jagoda's Dream"

"The sound you do not hear but see, and the visual you cannot see but hear, is the work,” says Rob Mazurek. “The rest is up to the imagination." That sentiment shouldn’t be surprising to fans of the prolific cornet player, composer, and Chicago-based avant-garde luminary. His entire two-decade career has been an adventure in experimentation, and he serves as a gravitational hub around which dozens of bright talents orbit as members of his various ensembles. At present, Mazurek is the leader of the compact duo and trio versions of Chicago Underground; its antipodal counterpart, São Paulo Underground; the expansive, sprawling Exploding Star Orchestra; and the nascent Sound Is Quintet. Though his various projects all offer unique perspectives on sound and structure, they’re all propelled at some level by Mazurek’s fascination with the visual and often seek out new sounds through the expressive manipulation of color.

Imagination is an important part of Mazurek’s methods. His compositions exist in a dreamy world that incorporates elements of jazz, post-rock, electronic music, and noise, drifting, floating weightlessly in a limbo that practically demands the listener to dive deeply into the piece and create form in the spaces and gaps left open. Mazurek isn’t content to let the listener have all the fun, however, and facilitates imagination not just in the consumption of his work but also in its conception. On many of his albums, he uses unorthodox methods of composition and conducting to imbue his sounds with new passion and flavor, and color plays a significant role in that mission.

“Recently, I used a sequence of square paintings with a very specific layering of color ― graphite, white, red, and green,” Mazurek says. These paintings were to serve as visual prompts for his ensemble, in lieu of a traditionally written score or set of instructions. “Written music is very much what it is,” Mazurek says, with an air of exasperation. “These experiments push the player to imagine what could be there, what's behind the obvious. It's exciting. The top color, green, was pushing out from the painting, while the other colors were barely seen — as if inaudible. The suggestion of the reds, graphites, and whites could only be read as interpretive projections of imagined colors and textures and shades.”

Such exercises conjure sound using color and visual treatments as an input, but Mazurek’s belief in the malleability and interchangeability of the aural and the visual has led him to work from the other end, with sound as input and color as the output. "I did a work called Music for Shattered Light Box and 7 Posters where the sound from a CD player played very specific shards of my compositions,” he says. “The sound goes into a light box and affects the light source. You do not hear the sound; you only see the effect that the sound has on the light and the shards of that light being projected through the shattered glass.” For him, the lights and colors emitted by the box is the performance. Whether or not one actually hears the music is an afterthought for him; it’s practically irrelevant. “You can take the CD and play it and hear what the sound is,” he says, “but only afterward, if you're interested enough [by the lights]."

Given his interest in manipulating sound and color, it’s no wonder that Mazurek considers himself a visual artist as well as a musician. "I paint,” he says. “It flows quite naturally. I see my work as a visual artist and a musician as the same at times, and at other times, completely different.” His paintings deal with bold color and shape, in their rawest forms. Highly evocative of the chromatic abstracts of Mark Rothko, these works appear simple at first glance, but closer inspection reveals layers of details and subtle inflections. Some of his work has served as album art on his Chicago Underground records, such as Axis and Alignment (2002) and Synesthesia (2000).

“The paintings I made for these records are special,” he reveals, “in the sense that they are not quite what they seem. They seem like large-format paintings, when actually they are very small and done with small brushes over a long period of time.” Mazurek named the latter album for a neurological condition that can affect a person’s perception. Senses become crossed and combined in strange ways. Numbers and words can have a taste to a synesthete; months can acquire personalities, and sound can suggest color. It’s a peculiar syndrome that often results in creative, artistic types. Mazurek doesn’t claim to be a synesthete, but his belief in the intimate connection between color and sound certainly make him sympathetic to one’s worldview.

“I especially enjoy the painting on Synesthesia, where I used linseed oil under the whites to make it crack a bit and reveal underneath,” he says. “This was probably my first discovery of this idea of not revealing too much of what is underneath and to let that power shake the foundation of the painting.” These vibrant, nuanced covers are indicative of Mazurek’s artistic philosophy. All his work, regardless of medium, is geared toward discovery, and for him, music and visual art are two sides of the same coin, two ways of achieving the same goal, inexorably intertwined with one another. "Color, form, texture, power,” he says. “These ideas all seem to be applicable, in sound and in plastic."

This mindset was not exactly shared by Mazurek’s idol and collaborator, free-jazz legend Bill Dixon. Like Mazurek, the trumpet legend also moonlighted as a visual artist and painter, and he created the cover art for Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra, the pairing’s 2008 collaboration. Though the art is abstract, the approach is markedly different than the one that Mazurek took on his Chicago Underground covers. Whereas Mazurek’s art uses fuzzy borders and bleeding edges seeping out from large blocks of bold color, Dixon’s cover is far more structured and precise, with heavy stripes and lines of dark hues falling on top of one another but never fraternizing, always observing clear definition and distinction. This difference in artistic manner between the two horn players carried over into their views on the relationship between their visual art and their music.

Dixon, who passed away in June of 2010 at the age of 84, considered his two domains to be separate. Mazurek sees things differently, however. "I could always make my own parallels to his music and paintings,” he says. “His golden tone and striking lines, the colored nuances in his dynamic flow, the intense brightness in his upper register of the horn and cavernous blackness of the lower end. His ingenious turn of a melodic fragment and bursts of sun-flare excitement — that's a painting right there! Anyone interested in the ideas of sound, color, and form should study his works deeply. He will be greatly missed."

Despite this ideological impasse, Dixon was game enough to engage in one of Mazurek’s imaginative scoring methods on the aforementioned album. The first six minutes of “Constellations for Inner Light Projections,” the album’s centerpiece, was composed using a video score that presented The Exploding Star Orchestra, which includes such notable Chicago musicians as Nicole Mitchell, Jason Adasiewicz, and Jeff Parker, with an array of colors to be interpreted by the players individually and transformed into music. The result is a curious olio of reactions that reflects the disparate emotional and sensory reactions of the musicians. "In the beginning, there was some general confusion,” Mazurek says, “but after their eyes and brains got used to the idea, wonderful things started to happen ― quite indescribable things. It has a kind of cloudy haziness, and when it breaks out of [the visual score], the piece has more of a hard sound."

On deck for Mazurek is a particularly ambitious project, even for a seasoned veteran like him: a 10-volume set of music for his partner’s new label, Sun Core Records, that further elaborates upon his theories on the link between light, color, and sound. "I have been working with the folks at La Grande Fabrique [recording studio] in Dieppe, France on this goal,” he says. “This is their area of expertise, and with their technology, I am creating video pieces and sound pieces built entirely on this premise, juxtaposing each on the other and creating a whole different universe. It's quite exhilarating.”

Mazurek calls the potential for such juxtapositions “endless,” and indeed, his inspirational compositions are drawn from a colorful palette that appears to be inexhaustible. As he delves deeper and deeper into the visible spectrum, pulling out shards of sound from little-investigated regions, we can only imagine what will follow — and that might be Mazurek’s true goal after all.

Man Man: Life Fantastic (Anti-)

Man Man: "Knuckle Down"

When we last left Man Man, the quirky and peerless pop five-piece was drawing high marks for Rabbit Habits, an album that better refined its oddball melodies and gruff balladry while retaining the range of sounds and styles that listeners love.

With stronger musical chops and a greater feel for melody and structure, the album helped to expand the band's critical reach.  Now Man Man has hit new heights with Life Fantastic, its fourth album and second for Anti-.

This new batch is the band's first recording to feature a professional producer, and it shows.  Though the compositions themselves are Man Man's best to date — punctuated by twisting melodies and off-the-wall lyrics — Life Fantastic gets a boost from string arrangements by Bright Eyes multi-instrumentalist Nate Walcott.  His resonant accompaniments and pizzicato plucks give the album a new element and infuse it with even more life.

On top of the accordion and tropical-horn additions to the lounge-tinted "Haute Tropique," there's also a heavy dose of squiggly synthesizers this time around to pair with the band's zany mixture of marimba, whammy guitar, piano, horns, and woodwinds.

Rabbit Habits was a huge step forward from its predecessor.  But Life Fantastic achieves equal progress, and it easily takes the mantle as Man Man's best album.

Spindrift: Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1 (Xemu)

Spindrift: "When I Was Free"

Mixing influences from Italian-western composers like Ennio Morricone with elements of psychedelic rock, Spindrift has pioneered its own brand of western music. Its style is manifested through a diversity of sounds, including guitar, organ, pedal steel, flute, autoharp, sitar, tabla, and bass, but its musical résumé is more than merely instruments.

The band's latest, Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1, is an album of unreleased movie themes and new material that captures its eclectic nature and cinematic tendencies.  From the trippy tones of "Theme from Confusion Range" to the otherworldly aura of "Space Vixens Theme," each track visits a new land or tells a new tale.  The twangy, reverberated, psych-effected guitars are a staple in nearly every sonic journey, but with the assorted accents — glockenspiel, Theremin, quasi-Cambodian backing vocals, and even howling wolves — you never feel like you've quite been there before.

- Text by Jenn Beening. Read the Spindrift Q&A here.

Liturgy: Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey)

Liturgy: "Returner"

Since its debut full-length in 2009, Brooklyn-based quartet Liturgy has helped to steer black metal into a bold new direction.

On Aesthethica, the group's sophomore effort, Liturgy comes armed once more with Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s mostly indecipherable howl and quasi-anthemic guitar lines blasted with co-pilot Bernard Gann, both positioned over Greg Fox’s machine-gun drumming and Tyler Dusenbury’s frenetic bass lines.

Odd-pattern tremolo picking gives “Tragic Laurel” a progressive feel that leaves the door open for the sucker punch of its main section, and “True Will” stacks layers of screams over a seesaw chord progression, interrupted only by a skipping-CD breakdown.  Between brief moments of ambience and hypnotic chanting, the music hits with full force, as with the out-of-left-field sludge of “Veins Of God” or the persistent “Returner.”

Aesthethica, however, also can be taxing due to its unconventionality, notably on tracks such as on the seven-minute, one-riff “Generation,” a song that plays with rhythmic dynamics.  But with its special emphasis on unorthodox instrument application (the static opening on “High Gold” or the waterfall effect of so many guitars on “Glory Bronze”), it gradually becomes apparent that Liturgy, despite its upside-down-cross artwork and full-metal sound, really stands closer to Sonic Youth or The Boredoms than to Black Breath.

- Text by Andrew Reilly. Read the full review here.

Other Lives: Tamer Animals (TBD)

Other Lives: "For 12"

After releasing one album under the name Kunek in 2006, Oklahoma quintet Other Lives changed names and presented a striking "debut" that landed somewhere between indie folk and chamber pop.  It was both melancholy and melodic, sparse and dense — and it was a portent of greatness to come.

Tamer Animals, the group's sequel on TBD Records, is a profound advancement.  Whereas the group's previous album placed a greater emphasis on singer-songwriter song structures, this collection intersperses more moments of instrumental prowess between the verses and choruses, giving the vocals more room to breathe and resulting in elongated intros, outros, and bridges.

The album is replete with vocal harmonies (some evoking classics like The Beatles' "Because"), and it's just as packed with instrumental timbres — quickly twitching and slowly sliding string clusters, tinkling piano flourishes, acoustic guitar strums, western guitar licks, vibraphone accents, neoclassical woodwind repetitions, and many others.  Though the band is roughly placed in the "indie rock" category, Other Lives proves to be much more, and Tamer Animals demonstrates a mastery of melody, harmony, and balance.

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres (Constellation)

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter One excerpt

Chicago native and New York / Montreal resident Matana Roberts has spent much of her career exploring the outer limits of free jazz, offering her alto-sax talents in collaboration with legends such as Fred Anderson and contemporary greats such as Jeff Parker, Vijay Iyer, and Nicole Mitchell.  She also has worked with experimental rock darlings such as Godspeed! You Black Emperor and TV on the Radio, providing an extra layer of musical dexterity.

As for her own projects, Roberts carries a belief that her music should comment on the world's many inequalities, and her latest is no exception.  Coin Coin, her newest effort as a bandleader, is an ongoing narrative that's based on the history of a dynamic black woman who went from being a slave to an established businesswoman, giving refuge to people of color such as Roberts' great grandfather.  For the project, Roberts uses the trajectory of its namesake — Marie Thérèse Coincoin — as a starting point for a live music piece that's fused with performance art.

The first chapter, which has been performed around the USA for a few years, now sees release as a live disc.  With the help of an expanded ensemble, the music is all over the map, from somber to noisy to radiant and from ragtime to bebop to modern.  But no matter where it goes, it's tied together by the narrative, a moving fictionalization that reminds us how despicable humankind can be — and that great strength can manifest in the face of oppression.

Zombi: Escape Velocity (Relapse)

Zombi: "Shrunken Heads"

Channeling the horror-infused synth vibes of Goblin and John Carpenter, space-rock duo Zombi has made a commendable career of 1970s nostalgia — but with a bit more punch and dance-ability.

Escape Velocity, the band's fourth full-length album, pulls back a bit from the epic melodies and distorted low end of Spirit Animal, its 2009 release that preceded a split LP with Maserati.  With fewer dramatics and atmospherics, this album gets straight to work building grooves.

Just like its predecessors, Escape Velocity is five tracks of long-form synth-rock jams, but it's significantly shorter overall.  At 33 minutes, it's roughly 2/3 the length of an average Zombi full-length, but ironically, this may be a benefit; the songs feel more concise and don't ramble quite as long.

Honorable Mentions

Africa Hitech: 93 Million Miles (Warp)

Bill Gould & Jared Blum: The Talking Book (Koolarrow)

Le Butcherettes: Sin Sin Sin (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)

Chrissy Murderbot: Women’s Studies (Planet Mu)

Empty Space Orchestra: s/t (self-released)

Helado Negro: Canta Lechuza (Asthmatic Kitty)

Horseback: The Gorgon Tongue: Impale Golden Horn + Forbidden Planet (Relapse)

Jesu: Ascension (Caldo Verde)

Mexicans with Guns: Ceremony (Innovative Leisure / Friends of Friends)

Rene Hell: The Terminal Symphony (Type)

Mountains: Air Museum (Thrill Jockey)

Okkervil River: I Am Very Far (Jagjaguwar)

Oxbow: King of the Jews (Hydra Head)

The Sea and Cake: The Moonlight Butterfly (Thrill Jockey)

Ben Sollee: Inclusions (Thirty Tigers)

Blueprint: Adventures in Counter-Culture (Rhymesayers)

Blueprint: "So Alive"

Known for his lyrical virtuosity, Columbus MC Blueprint won fame as half of Soul Position with legendary indie-rap producer RJD2. After that group dissolved, he produced and released an admittedly retro solo album in 2005 (called 1988) and went six years without releasing a new solo LP.

But while RJD2 has spent his time moving away from hip hop, Blueprint’s new record, Adventures in Counter-Culture, makes it clear that he has spent his time going deeper.  The album’s first song, “Go Hard or Go Home,” serves as the album’s manifesto. Over a beat with droning, echoing synthesizers, Blueprint outlines his intentions: “I’ma tear rap down, then rebuild the shit, with total disregard of if the pieces even fit.”

Distant, sterile, inorganic synthesizers dominate the beats, serving as an aural complement to Blueprint’s lyrical themes of disconnection and alienation.  Certain sounds draw more comparisons to Brian Eno than a rap song, whereas other tracks (“So Alive,” for example) are agreeably soulful synth-rockers.  There are a few unfortunate moments of seeming machismo, but there also are moments that praise intellect over ignorance ("My Culture") and that defiantly slam mass-appeal pandering ("Radio-Inactive").

- Text by Tom Harrison. Read the full review here.

3:33: 333EP1 (Parallel Thought LTD / Alpha Pup)

3:33: "333N4"

With an identity currently under wraps, 3:33 makes its mysterious debut with 333EP1, a seven-track introduction that falls somewhere between sample-based experimentalism and dark, instrumental hip hop.

Eerie, atonal backgrounds either establish a brooding atmosphere or introduce massive, head-nodding, and often-distorted hip-hop beats. Melancholy piano loops offer some of the EP’s only real melodies, while the rest is built from rustling, jangling, shrieks, whispers, and whirring electronics. Apt comparisons can be made to industrial hip-hoppers Dälek, particularly after hearing the bonus digital cut of “333N4,” a vocal version that features guest rappers Del the Funky Homosapien and Tame One.

The Kills: Blood Pressures (Domino)

The Kills: "Satellite"

Comprised of American vocalist Allison Mossheart and British guitarist Jamie Hince, international duo The Kills has spent three albums drawing interest for its lo-fi but bottom-heavy blend of bluesy rock riffs, electronic beats, and harmonized boy/girl vocals.

Blood Pressures displays the same diversity of sounds as on previous albums, moving from up-tempo fuzz rockers to string-backed piano ballads.  Then there's the electro-dub feel of "Satellite," an infectious single that reflects the best of Blood Pressures — gritty bass and synth distortions beneath Hince's resonant guitar licks and Mossheart's haunting whoa-ohs.

Though each track maintains the duo's minimalism, Blood Pressures feels as complete as any Kills album, and it might be the strongest from start to finish.

Chancha via Circuito: Río Arriba (ZZK)

Chancha via Circuito: "Cumbion de las Aves"

Assembled by Argentine producer Pedro Canale, the sounds of Chancha via Circuito channel the native drum traditions of Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, and other music-rich South American nations while mixing in modern electronic and percussive elements.

Whereas Rodante, Canale's first album, explored cumbia — a cross-continental dance style with roots in the slave trade, incorporating both native South American and African influences — Río Arriba is a jump to folkloric sounds, now subtly recalling the "folklorica" of label-mates Tremor.

Though still minimal, the music of Río Arriba includes new layers, with samples taken from many sources (such as the sporting sounds of "Deportes").  Interestingly, two of the first three tracks are remixes, including one of sociopolitical folk singer/songwriter José Larralde's "Quimey Neuquén."  But ultimately, Río Arriba is an album that helps Chancha via Circuito establish a sound of its own — one that should continue to grow and flourish.

Colorlist: The Fastest Way to Become the Ocean EP (Serein)

Colorlist: "Light Conditions"

Colorlist, now on its third studio recording, is a dynamic Chicago duo (plus guests) that concocts ambient, polyrhythmic jazz that leans on loops and sequencers.  Though only 26 minutes long, The Fastest Way to Become the Ocean is just as adept at building and releasing as the previous releases by saxophonist Charles Gorczynski and percussionist Charles Rumback.

This is thanks, in part, to each member's multi-instrumental prowess: Gorczynski also mans the harmonium (an accordion-like keyboard instrument), synthesizers, and looping equipment, making him a sort of one-man harmony machine on top of Rumback's bells and melodica.

But the duo's penchant for building slowly and creating multi-layered sound collages is just as prominent, albeit with a key cameo on an impressive track: the scaling guitar of jazz virtuoso Jeff Parker (Tortoise, Exploding Star Orchestra), which echoes Gorczynski's sax midway through "Nine Lives" before taking its own path and disappearing into the distance.

Honorable Mentions

Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya: Sotho Blue (Sunnyside)

Débruit: Sis Sürpriz EP (Civil Music)

Henry Mancini: The Complete Peter Gunn (Chrome Dreams)

Mono/Poly: Manifestations EP (Brainfeeder)

Negura Bunget: Focul Viu live CD/DVD (Prophecy)

Rasputina: Great American Gingerbread (Rasputina Rarities & Neglected Items) (Filthy Bonnet)

Timber Timbre: Creep On Creepin’ On (Arts & Crafts)

V/A: Tron: Legacy Reconfigured (Disney)

As you wait for a new Tortoise full-length, check out photographer Drew Reynolds' captures from the performance, and then click on over and revisit guitarist Jeff Parker's late-2010 show with Andrew Bird right here.

Contributing photographers Sanchez and Kitahara captured these images of the December 15 performance.

Chicago Odense Ensemble "Soup"

Chicago Odense Ensemble is the latest foray of Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Chicago Underground, Isotope 217) into large-group jazz fusion. The Ensemble — Jeff Parker and Dan Bitney of Tortoise and Isotope 217, Matt Lux (also of Isotope 217), Jonas Munk and Jakob Skøtt of European psych band Causa Sui, and percussionist Brian Keigher — recently released its self-titled album on Adluna Records.

Starting today, Chicago Odense Ensemble is offering a special discount on its record to ALARM readers, good through Friday, December 3. Both CD and vinyl versions will be printed in limited numbers (250 vinyl, 500 CD), so be sure to act quickly to secure your own copy. Pricing is as follows:

- Vinyl is 30€ instead of 45€

- CD is 12€ instead of 15€

- Vinyl + CD pack is only 40€ instead of 55€.

- Each offer includes free shipping worldwide.

To take advantage of this special ALARM discount, go here: http://www.chicagoodenseensemble.com/alarm/

Chicago Odense Ensemble: s/t (Adluna)

Chicago Odense Ensemble: "Soup"

Hajduch: Chicago Odense Ensemble is the latest foray of Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Chicago Underground, Isotope 217) into large-group jazz fusion.  He's brought along some of his previous collaborators (Jeff Parker and Dan Bitney of Tortoise and Isotope 217; Matt Lux, also of Isotope 217) as well as some fresh faces (Jonas Munk and Jakob Skøtt of European psych band Causa Sui and percussionist Brian Keigher).

Fans of the previously mentioned bands have a pretty good idea of what to expect here: Mazurek's compositions tend to mine pretty similar territory, electric-era Miles Davis that sprawls out gradually.  Mazurek has an ear for catchy melody that shines through even when the playing is wide open.  Over the course of the (mostly lengthy) tracks, one melody line will give way to an echoed-out drone, from which a new idea will usually emerge and take over.

The guitar interplay — Parker's filtered, muted scales in one channel, Jonas Munk's wocka-chicka psych octaves in the other — turns Mazurek's usual In a Silent Way meandering into something more like On the Corner.  The drums are saturated with dub echo, and at times it is left to Mazurek's insistent cornet lines and the steady bass of Matt Lux to hold a groove down.

Morrow: We've both heard the Chicago guys play in a number of permutations, and though they're by no means allergic to grooves, it's nice to hear them on another improv album that centers on riff patterns.  Each player is very capable of wild, "free" performances, but each is just as adept at captivating melodies and adapted accompaniments.

Despite the overlapping complexities on this album, it never loses its focus as an accessible collection.  The contributions from Munk and Skøtt (each from Odense, Denmark) cannot be understated; it seems that they often draw in the right accents, whether it's a soft cornet part from Mazurek, a restrained bass line from Lux, or a warm guitar harmony from Parker.

Hajduch: I don't know if it's the psych influence of the new players, or the nature of the compositions, but this album feels more locked-in in terms of riffs than previous Mazurek projects.  Exploding Star Orchestra, in particular, prefers huge, multi-section pieces, with lots of space for solos.  Chicago Odense Ensemble pieces tend to have a lot of playing in the margins, but there usually is a bass line and one other member holding down the groove.  Without a lot of far-flung experimentation, it feels a bit the same at times, but none of that takes away from Mazurek's ear for melody.  You might get lost for a few minutes as you zone out to a groove, but you won't catch yourself thinking that it's monotonous or un-listenable.

One thing that is slightly disappointing is the lack of a second horn.  Mazurek frequently works as the lone horn player in his bands, but his gift for writing ensemble lines is inspired (pretty much every track on his album with Chicago Underground Orchestra has a great example of this; also see "Looking After Life on Mars" from Isotope 217's Utonian Automatic, where he plays a duo lead against Jeff Parker's guitar).  In light of this, it's unfortunate that he doesn't take the time to harmonize any truly memorable lead lines here.  With the range of talent on display, it feels like a missed opportunity.

Morrow: I don't know.  I love a lot of stuff with big brass front lines, but I'm glad that we're not horned to death here.  Also, I assume that this is a true collaboration between the parties, not just another of Mazurek's projects, and his penchant for great leads and solos already puts him in the spotlight.

Ultimately, Chicago Odense Ensemble feels like some of its players' other projects, but I think that we agree that it's a really well-done disc with great grooves.  Also, we should point out that Adluna Records planned a special subscription offer for this release, which is limited to 500 CDs and 250 vinyl records, so pre-order it here if you want to secure a copy.

Circle of Animals: Destroy the Light (Relapse, 10/12/2010)

Click here to download Circle of Animals' "Poison the Lamb"

Producer/multi-instrumentalist Sanford Parker (Minsk, Buried at Sea) and saxophonist Bruce Lamont (Yakuza) have long and assorted ties in and around Chicago, where the two reside and contribute to the city's vibrant underground.

Parker, in addition to his main gig in Minsk, has produced the likes of Pelican, Rwake, Unearthly Trance, Jai Alai Savant, Lair of the Minotaur, and Nachtmystium, and Lamont, outside of Yakuza, recently finished recording a solo album and regularly plays with other experimental metal and noise outfits (Decayist, Sick Gazelle) as well as improvised-jazz players (Jeff Parker, Ken Vandermark, Dave Rempis).

Each man's résumé is a mile long, and now the two have come together to pay tribute to Chicago's late-'80s and early-'90s Wax Trax! industrial scene with their new project, Circle of Animals. A diverse and widely recognizable cast of drummers rounds out the lineup on this release, with names like Dave Witte (Discordance Axis, Municipal Waste), John Herndon (Tortoise), John Merryman (Cephalic Carnage), and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) lending their talents.

The band's press release specifically references the Chicago industrial scene, and one can pick out more than a bit of Ministry influence on this album. However, Godflesh, Swans, and neo-folk come off as bigger inspirations. This is not terribly surprising, as Parker has shown quite a bit of respect for the works of Justin Broadrick and Michael Gira in interviews.

The bigger surprise might be Lamont, whose main role, outside of general sonic direction, is as vocalist.  Parker is responsible for most of the recorded instruments, including guitar, bass, synthesizer, and programming, but he also vocally backs Lamont throughout.  (As a side note, Lamont's sister Kelly provides an excellent vocal guest spot on "Poison the Lamb.")

Historically, this brand of industrial music is based upon layering textures and rhythms into sonic paintings rather than creating hooks or riffs — a technique that can be very hit or miss. When it misses, it results in boring sonic experiments and sympathetic nods of “cool idea — never want to listen to that again.” Circle of Animals, however, has hit the mark, and Destroy the Light is exciting and engaging throughout. The soundscaping pushes visceral buttons that stimulate the subconscious. "No Faith," for example, functions as an NON-esque burgeoning swell, sweeping the listener away in a wave of epic synths and chattering crowd noise.

An ominous sense of foreboding ties each of these tracks together. This is deeply uneasy music that captures a state of longing and dread. It has a consistent, pulsing rhythm, whether from breakneck tom triplets or unflinching, echoing snare hits. This is the perfect soundtrack for questioning whether or not a modern metropolis is the right place to live out the rest of your days.

The true test for this record will come in the coming months when its experimental tendencies are no longer a novelty. Will it stand out enough to bear repeat listens down the line? The depth of its immediate emotional impact, coupled with its rich atmosphere, seems like more than enough to relive its experiences.  But only time will tell.

Named after the awkwardly constructed Nintendo device of the late 1980s, Powerglove is a power-metal quartet that combines the shredding, über-harmonized, finger-tapping insanity of a band like DragonForce with the kitschy nostalgia of video-game covers.

On the band's first EP and LP, it tackled late-'80s and mid-'90s classics from Tetris, Mega Man, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, F-Zero, and assorted Final Fantasy games.  Now the group turns its video-game MO to the realm of Saturday-morning (and prime-time) cartoons for Saturday Morning Apocalypse, its first release on E1.

With maximum riffage and maniacal beats, lighthearted themes turn epic, sinister, or anywhere between.  Comic nerds whose formative years came in the '90s will smile upon hearing the album opener, the theme to the X-Men cartoon series — which, after three minutes, segues into a classical-guitar breakdown before finishing with full force.

Themes from The Simpsons, The Flintstones, Pokémon, Inspector Gadget, and The Transformers each are remade with squealing pitch harmonics, chugging guitars, and rapid double-kick beats.  There's a dark, powerful rendition of the Batman cartoon theme, with a glockenspiel providing a few complementary passages.  In the Batman theme — and throughout the disc — keyboards play a vital role, as killer programming accounts for the sweeping faux strings, "orchestra hits," synth arpeggios, and general spookiness.

And though these selections primarily are from Saturday-morning cartoons, there are a few other treats as well, including a fantastic metal rendition of "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  The absolute highlight is the Winnie the Pooh song ("Heffalumps and Woozles"), taking the grandeur to another level with an interlude of harp, pizzicato strings, bells, and more.

As the teenage antagonist from the 1989 film The Wizard would say, "I love the Powerglove.  It's so bad."

Powerglove: "This is Halloween"

Victoire: Cathedral City (New Amsterdam)

Formed in 2008, Victoire is an all-female electro-chamber quintet that was founded by composer Missy Mazzoli.  In just a few years, the classically trained group has issued an EP and landed a number of notable gigs, slowly building buzz around Brooklyn.

Cathedral City is Victoire's proper debut, and it's a striking album that marries emphatic string motifs to minimal yet clever accents of keyboards, clarinet, melodica, and rapturous vocals.

Other chamber ensembles have pushed boundaries in the 21st Century, but Victoire does so in a way that feels completely natural.  Digitized hi-hat beats, looped/glitched vocals, and touches of electric guitar (courtesy of The National's Bryce Dessner) subtly complement a harmonious blend of violin, double bass, and the aforementioned elements.

Epic classical-rock composer William Brittelle, bassist/composer Florent Ghys, and gifted soprano vocalist Mellissa Hughes also make appearances on Cathedral City, adding more character to an album that doesn't lack it. Cathedral City is an exciting arrival.

Victoire: "Cathedral City"

Aloe Blacc: Good Things (Stones Throw)

Starting his career as an MC in the hip-hop duo Emanon, Egbert Dawkins III — known as Aloe Blacc — transitioned to a solo soul singer early last decade.  The two careers overlapped for a stretch, but Dawkins began focusing on his solo career midway through the decade, following his 2003 debut EP with a 2006 full-length album, Shine Through.

Dawkins sang a lot on Shine Through, but he still offered a few raps to go with hip-hop production values, Latin sounds, and even a few pop vibes (like the Justin Timberlake-esque "Are You Ready?" and "Want Me").  Good Things, his sophomore follow-up, focuses on his soulful and R&B elements — with a few funky twists — in an effort to create "positive social change" through good vibrations.

A lot of it feels as personal as on previous albums, but tracks such as "Life So Hard" tackle political topics like the cruel hand of capitalism.  A similar sentiment is expressed on album opener "I Need a Dollar," a tune that has doubled as the theme for HBO's How to Make It in America.

Thanks to production assistance from the in-house team at Truth & Soul Records, Good Things remains sonically eclectic, tabbing strings, a vibraphone, and more in addition to the usual soul instrumentation.  It doesn't reach as far, stylistically, as Shine Through, but it refines Aloe Blacc's approach while expanding his political influence.

Aloe Blacc: "You Make Me Smile"

Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards: South Side Story (19/8)

Jazz saxophonist Greg Ward has accomplished so much over the past decade that it’s hard to believe he’s still in his late 20s.  His list of musical cohorts is so long that there's only time to mention a few big names — Hamid Drake, Jeff Parker, Von Freeman — and despite his relocation to New York, he's back in Chicago, his previous residence, nearly every other week for one-off gigs.

Fitted Shards is one of Ward's newest ensembles as a leader, and it features three other excellent young Chicagoans: bassist Jeff Greene (Blink.), keyboardist Rob Clearfield (Loom), and drummer Quin Kirchner (Nomo).

From the get-go, the quartet's debut, South Side Story, is unconventional for an album that is thoroughly jazzy.  "Segue," the opener, is built on a short bass repetition, providing latch-able ground for Ward's dexterous runs before an unexpectedly dense wave of keyboards provides some oomph.

The rest of Ward's compositions fall somewhere on the jazz spectrum, but each tune has its own feel and flair, including decidedly un-jazz elements like prog-ish synth accents on "All In" and distorted guitar backing on "Step Forward."  Additionally, Clearfield's talents are indispensable, as he brings Ward's softer melodies to life.

Greg Ward's Fitted Shards: "Step Forward"

Honorable Mentions

Jason Adasiewicz: Sun Rooms (Delmark)

Rahim AlHaj: Little Earth (UR Music)

Bad Religion: The Dissent of Man (Epitaph)

Ben Folds & Nick Hornby: Lonely Avenue (Nonesuch)

Black Anvil: Triumvirate (Relapse)

Enslaved: Axioma Ethica Odini (Indie Recordings)

Floored By Four (Mike Watt, Nels Cline, Yuka Honda, Dougie Bowne): s/t (Chimera Music)

Adam Haworth Stephens: We Live on Cliffs (Saddle Creek)

Alan Moore: Unearthing (Lex)

Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green: Apex (Pi)

Three Mile Pilot: The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten (Temporary Residence)

Unearthly Trance: V (Relapse)

Pete Yorn: s/t (Vagrant)