Björk: Biophilia (Nonesuch)

Björk: "Crystalline"

There’s a reason that Björk, the Reykjavík-born queen of avant-garde pop, is a household name and also remains respected as an artist. It’s because she’s adamant that music is an art and be seen as such. Art isn’t always looking to be liked, and Björk’s music — characterized by a vivid and stubborn imagination since the beginning of her solo career in 1992 — is hardly snuggly. There’s always been a chill to it, an intensity we don’t always know what to do with. Biophilia is no exception.

The much-hyped release is as ambitious as anything before it. For weeks, geeked-out music critics have been drawn like moths to a porch light thanks to Biophilia's extra-musical elements, which include an iPad app, featuring graphic explorations of each track; live shows that use custom-made instruments like the Gravity Harp or twin musical Tesla coils; and a laser-laden video by French director and longtime Björk collaborator Michel Gondry. But it would be a shame if people forgot that beneath the chatter is an album. Biophilia may be unique because of its multiplatform release, but that’s not what makes it good.

Musically, it’s expansive, dramatic, and remarkably accessible. “Crystalline” is a pulsing, glowing sleeper that erupts into a hammering drill-’n’-bass salvo. “Virus” uses the hang masterfully, its warm metallic tones being a suitably alien backdrop for Björk’s iconic voice. These intrasong dynamics are great achievements, as is the subtle emphasis on melody. But the most important thing about Biophilia seems to be its subject matter. In the compositions, the lyrics, and — most noticeably — the album art and apps, the central theme is our physical universe. Björk embarks on a meditative musical exploration of nature, science, and technology, and we’re fortunate to be invited. There should be plenty to explore alongside her.

- Text by Timothy S. Aames

Icebird: The Abandoned Lullaby (RJ's Electrical Connections)

Icebird: "Charmed Life"

With his 2007 album The Third Hand, crate-digging DJ RJD2 took a decidedly soulful and organic turn, transforming into a funk-pop singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His newest project, Icebird, is another advancement, joining forces with soul singer Aaron Livingston to craft groove-heavy electro-acoustic jams.

Livingston, who may be best known for an appearance on The Roots' album The Tipping Point, leads each track with his raspy, powerful croons. Though RJ is no slouch on the mic, Livingston's vocal presence allows RJ to entirely focus on production for Icebird, and it shows. The songs and range of sounds are, respectively, some of the best and most diverse of RJ's career; each track bursts with hooks and harmonies but never goes too sugary.

In fact, nearly any given track on The Abandoned Lullaby could serve as a lead single. Mid-album tracks such as "Spirit Ache" — which shines with its harpsichord and glockenspiel tinges alongside synth and bass grooves — are every bit as infectious as the choruses to "Charmed Life" and "Going and Going. And Going." Any fan of RJ's recent works will love Icebird.

Mayer Hawthorne: How Do You Do? (Universal Republic)

Mayer Hawthorne: "A Long Time"

As the soul revival sound goes, Mayer Hawthorne is in a league of singers who strike the proper balance between old school and new school. Yes, the singer’s act takes greatest influence from the early Northern soul era, but there’s more to Hawthorne’s music than a game of name-that-classic-45.

For this sophomore effort, Hawthorne reaches deeper into the late-'60s, early-'70s reference bag to make a no-frills record packed with tolerantly addictive soul hooks. How Do You Do? covers a lot of ground and shows some new sides to Hawthorne’s musical palette with cleaner and more robust production and instrument arrangements. Whether or not his jump to Universal Republic from Stones Throw has anything to do with it is arguable, but Hawthorne finds a way to use time-honored soul maxims to forge an individual sound.

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

São Paulo Underground: Trés Cabeças Loucuras (Cuneiform)

São Paulo Underground: "Jagoda's Dream"

Fifteen years after the creation of his Chicago Underground workshops and groups, prolific composer/cornetist Rob Mazurek continues to expand his boundaries in exciting new directions.

Trés Cabeças Loucuras is his third album with the São Paulo Underground, an intercontinental quartet that formed in 2000 with the aid of some talented Brazilian multi-instrumentalists. Though Mazurek's Underground incarnations have been more concerned with grooves and melodies than many of his other projects, Trés Cabeças Loucuras presses further into the melodic traditions of his second home.

The music here very much bears Mazurek's style, but it also combines the experimental jazz traditions of Sun Ra to create a type of "cosmic tropicalia." The "miniature guitar" plucking of the cavaquinho combines with deep, buzzing synthesizers, noisy effects, and Mazurek's effortless cornet fluctuations, allowing listeners to enjoy melodies as well as timbral depth. Chicago jazz stalwarts Jason Adasiewicz, John Herndon, and Matthew Lux give "Just Lovin'" and "Six Six Eight" another dynamic layer.

Myrath: Tales of the Sands (Nightmare Records)

Myrath: "Merciless Times"

“Symphonic prog metal” and “North Africa” may not yet be synonymous, but Tunisian metal band Myrath has found its own voice by infusing its compositions with Oriental and Middle Eastern flourishes.

Musically, Myrath (Arabic for “legacy”) writes almost directly from the modern prog-metal playbook, right down to the harmonized keyboard/guitar runs and full-band mid-song showdowns. But Zaher Zorgati’s power/hair-metal vocals reach for a sound more evocative of the ancient Middle East: higher registers, huge vibratos, and inflections that make the band’s sound reflect the pain, confusion, and longing of which Zorgati sings.

Despite the obvious temptation to link Myrath’s music with the upheaval that its homeland witnessed in the early part of the century, the band’s lyrics almost exclusively look inward. Sonically, the group could pass for a roaring war drum, but upon closer inspection, Myrath simply uses big sounds to tackle timeless questions.

- Text by Andrew Reilly. Read our interview with Myrath in Assault of the Earth: Metal Bands from Around the Globe, coming in 2012.

Honorable Mentions

Bill Laswell, Raoul Bjorkenheim & Morgan Agren: Blixt (Cuneiform)

Scott H. Biram: Bad Ingredients (Bloodshot)

Casiokids: Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen (Polyvinyl)

Emika: s/t (Ninja Tune)

Future Islands: On the Water (Thrill Jockey)

Joe Henry: Reverie (Anti-)

Marketa Irglova: Anar (Anti-)

Murs: Love & Rockets Vol. 1: The Transformation (DD1)

Rustie: Glass Swords (Warp)

Trash Talk: Awake 7” EP (True Panther)

John Zorn / The Dreamers: A Dreamers Christmas (Tzadik)

[Chromatic, our 400-page exploration of musicians and color, is out now. Order here!]

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi: Rome (Capitol)

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi: "Two Against One" f. Jack White

After meeting in the mid-2000s, eclectic producer Danger Mouse and Italian composer Daniele Luppi began work on a new project — part pop collaboration and part homage to the classic Italian film scores of the 1960s and '70s.

The two met in Rome to begin recording nearly five years ago, laying down tracks with studio musicians who recorded on some of Ennio Morricone's most famous scores (by American standards).  Now, after a number of trips back to Italy and the addition of guest vocalists Jack White and Norah Jones, the project has finally been released to anxious ears.

Though at least 50% instrumental, Rome falls closer to elaborate pop than Morricone mimicry, with basic foundations allowing for romantic tinges and sweeping strings to flavor the surroundings.  (Think of a less-digitized and more-heavily layered sister album to Air's Virgin Suicides soundtrack.)

There are only minimal doses of reverberating Western guitar leads; tracks such as "The Gambling Priest," with six-string twang and wandering keyboard melodies, are less common than the verse-chorus-verse arrangements, instrumental or otherwise.  Each track is short and sweet, with none clocking in over three-and-a-half minutes, resulting in a beautiful old-school pop album that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Nader Sadek: In the Flesh (Season of Mist)

Nader Sadek: "Petrophilia"

Born in Egypt and residing in New York, visual artist Nader Sadek has become a leading purveyor of extreme-metal imagery, creating backdrops, videos, installations, masks, and more, often for music-related purposes.  Now he has called on many of his metal brethren to help create a collaborative concept album of pummeling death metal with black-metal undertones and brooding interludes.

Credited as a writer and producer, Sadek is the key creative component, but he doesn't play the music.  Instead, that's left to a super-group trio of vocalist Steve Tucker (ex-Morbid Angel), guitarist Rune Eriksen (ex-Mayhem), and drummer Florent Mounier (Cryptopsy) as well as a small army of high-profile guests, including Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Sunn O)))), Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation), Nick McMaster (Krallice), Mike Lerner (Behold…The Arctopus), and others.

Musically, In the Flesh is a bombardment of speed picking, dive-bombing guitar leads, blazing double-bass beats, and deathly growls, but it always demonstrates a sense of balance, avoiding the listening fatigue that's common to the genre.  In addition to the varying riffs and tempo shifts, the album benefits from percussive outros, interjections of dark ambience, and finishing touches such as choir vocals on "Of This Flesh."

The concept is based on the life/death cycle of petroleum (and the animals that turned into it over the course of millions of years).  Sadek draws parallels between this cycle and petroleum's present effect on countless lives around the world.  The music fits the dark theme — one that will be further explored as Sadek rolls out videos for each song on In the Flesh.

13 & God: Own Your Ghost (Anticon)

13 & God: "Old Age"

In 2005, the members of American indie-rap group Themselves and German experimental post-rockers The Notwist combined for a side project called 13 & God. The self-titled release meshed the nasally delivery, super-fast rhymes, and synthesized production of the former with the gentle singing, acoustic guitar, and piano melodies of the latter — while retaining both groups’ affinity for uncommon sounds.

On Own Your Ghost, the successor that’s been six years in waiting, the group is joined by Themselves collaborator Jordan Dalrymple (also known as Antonionian). This addition, on top of further musical maturity, helps 13 & God to become more than the sum of its parts — and more than a collection of beats and melodies with alternating vocalists.

If you missed 13 & God the first time around, now’s a great time to check it out.

The Fierce & The Dead: If It Carries on Like This, We Are Moving to Morecambe

The Fierce & The Dead: "10×10"

A proponent of building listener-ship via social networking and "name your price" sales models, British guitarist Matt Stevens has used 21st Century conventions to build a buzz about his melodic, instrumental works.

The Fierce & The Dead, Stevens' latest endeavor, was spawned out of collaborative improvisations during the writing of his second solo album. With the aid of bassist Kev Feazey and drummer Stuart Marshall, Stevens' song sketches morphed into structured yet improvised post-rock jams, 10 of which comprise the trio's full-length debut, If It Carries on Like This, We Are Moving to Morecambe.

Like much of Stevens' solo work, the guitars here are looped and layered to create a much denser and harmonized sound. His guitar is the most likely instrument to explore spur-of-the-moment directions, thanks to the steady rhythm section, but it never goes on meandering free-time tangents.

Many songs, in fact, might sound entirely composed if not otherwise known. But no matter the method of creation, The Fierce & The Dead's debut engages while keeping things simple. From the slowly building circles of "10×10" to the glitch-y effects and sax cameo on "Daddies Little Helper" to the buzz-saw rock of "Landcrab," this is a promising addition to the post-rock landscape.

Starlicker: Double Demon (Delmark)

Starlicker: "Double Demon"

The members of jazz trio Starlicker are each a mainstay in Chicago's dynamic, intermingled improv scene.  Cornetist Rob Mazurek, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and percussionist John Herndon all have a long history with each other — including in Mazurek's otherworldly hard-bop extravaganza Exploding Star Orchestra — and each is involved in a good half-dozen projects at any given time.

Double Demon is the latest creation by Mazurek as a bandleader.  In the past, the veteran composer and soloist has utilized Adasiewicz in a variety of capacities, but none has found the two balancing duties quite as much as in Starlicker.

Adasiewicz alternates between rapid single-note runs and pounding chords, walking the line that a bassist normally does between melody and rhythm.  Mazurek takes the traditional lead more often than not, but he often syncs up with either the vibes or the drums before the three split for polyrhythmic improvisation.

More often than not, jazz fans will need to appreciate the genre's "free" variety to dig Starlicker, but even if they don't, there's plenty of superb musicianship on display to warrant interest.

Honorable Mentions

Altar of Plagues: Mammal (Profound Lore)

Animal Farm: Culture Shock (Focused Noise)

Austra: Feel it Break (Domino)

Bachelorette: s/t (Drag City)

Bonnie "Prince" Billy / Phantom Family Halo: The Mindeater EP (Sophomore Lounge)

J Rawls: The Hip-Hop Affect [sic] (Nature Sounds)

A Storm of Light: As The Valley Of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade (Profound Lore)

Tokimonsta: Creature Dreams EP (Brainfeeder)

Chad VanGaalen: Diaper Island (Sub Pop)

Weekend Nachos: Worthless (Relapse)

Hank Williams III: Hillbilly Joker (Curb)

Download the podcast for This Week’s Best Albums: February 1, 2011 and subscribe to This Week’s Best Albums for free with iTunes.

Stream the podcast for This Week's Best Albums: February 1, 2011.
This Week\'s Best Albums: February 1, 2011

Carla Kihlstedt & Matthias Bossi: Still You Lay Dreaming – Tales for the Stage, II

Carla Kihlstedt & Matthias Bossi: "The Gyre"

Carla Kihlstedt & Matthias Bossi: "Wandering Secret"

Carla Kihlstedt and Matthias Bossi are two adventurous members of avant-metal band Sleepytime Gorilla Museum; each is involved in a plethora of projects, including Tin Hat (Trio), The Book of Knots, 2 Foot Yard, and Skeleton Key.  With Sleepytime bandmate Dan Rathbun, the two released an album a few years ago called Ravish, consisting of scores for dance and theater companies, and now the couple has self-released a sequel of sorts, called Still You Lay Dreaming — a download-only collection of tracks that were written for the Deborah Slater Dance Theater’s production of Men Think They Are Better Than Grass.

The music, though not as massively far-reaching as each musician’s career, is an eclectic assortment of unorthodox instruments, unusual melodies, and dynamic vocals.  Kihlstedt’s usual vocal power leads the way on half of the tracks, but her superlative violin skills take a back seat to duo’s “closet arsenal” of bass harmonica, pump organ, bathtub percussion, flour sifter, and other oddities.

A general compositional diversity – in addition to distorted, pitch-shifted, and reverberated instruments and vocals – makes the collection a wonderful listen from start to finish.  Fans of the duo’s previous work won’t want to miss it either, as there’s little that resembles what has come before.

V/A: Generation Bass Presents Transnational Dubstep (Six Degrees)

Fleck & Fish Finger: “Rude Profile” (Pan Agnostix flamenco-step version)

Featuring 15 world-infused dubstep tunes, Generation Bass Presents Transnational Dubstep is a journey around the globe as filtered through the pulsing beats and whirring, mechanical sounds of a dance subgenre that continues to flourish.  Compiled by the co-founders and editors of the dance-music blog Generation Bass, in conjunction with Six Degrees Records, it’s a continent-hopping collection of thumping grooves alongside sounds from India, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, South America, and more.

The majority of the tracks, at some point, adhere to the key dubstep directive – blown-out bass lines in triplets – but they often begin or build in very un-dubstep ways.  This is best experienced on tracks such as “Kaliyuga,” which takes a sweeping string melody – possibly from a sarangi – and coalesces it around, sitar, veena, tabla, and a dirty synth line before a wobbling bass line and hip-hop beats break it down.  It’s one of the comp’s best tracks and a great fusion between East and West.

Jono El Grande: Phantom Stimulance (Rune Grammofon)

Jono El Grande: "Borrelia Boogie"

Known musically as Jono El Grande, Norwegian guitarist/composer Jon Andreas Håtun uses his nom de plume to combine theatrical, progressive, classical, jazz, and absurdist styles for performance-art and dada-inspired live shows.  Though you’ll find this on his Wikipedia entry, his music might be best described as a mix between his confessed influences: Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, King Crimson, and Igor Stravinsky.

Following his outstanding and eclectic release Neo Dada in 2009, Jono has now released a collection of re-recorded stage songs and unreleased material.  It picks up where Neo Dada left oft, with fanciful, melodic meanderings that can sound like an acid-soaked version of countrymen Jaga Jazzist – only with strange, often nonsensical vocals in the mix.  Named Phantom Stimulance, the collection is a synchronized mélange of guitar, xylophone, harpsichord, organ, synthesizer, horns, singing saw, and more.

Buck 65: 20 Odd Years (Warner Music Canada)

Buck 65: "Who By Fire"

Last year, Canadian hip-hop artist Buck 65 released a series of digital mini-albums to commemorate 20 years of creating music.  Despite his recent connection to Warner Music, he’s always had an unusual and avant-garde style of rapping and lyricism, collaborating with a host of great artists with independent roots that include Sage Francis, Feist, Tanya Tagaq, Boom Bip, John Herndon of Tortoise, and more.

20 Odd Years is made in that daring, collaborative spirit, with a number of vocal and instrumental guests who take the music in copious directions.  Over the course of 13 tracks – four unreleased and the rest from the mini-albums – it moves through acoustic folk hop, piano-laced trip hop, synth rock, western cinematics, French pop, Eastern-tinged string melodies, and vocal balladry.  It’s often both dramatic and delicate – usually thanks the dynamic guest vocalists – but it also has a little fun, notably with a song about zombies. Ultimately, 20 Odd Years might be the best and most adventurous collection that Buck 65 has created.

Honorable Mentions

Abysmal Dawn: Leveling the Plane of Existence (Relapse)

Arthur's Landing: s/t (Strut)

Tommy Guerrero: Lifeboats and Follies (Galaxia)

Kotchy: Two (Done Right)

Fela Kuti: Vinyl Box Set 1, Compiled by ?uestlove of The Roots (Knitting Factory)

Noisear: Subvert the Dominant Paradigm (Relapse)

Rot in Hell: As Pearls Before Swine (Deathwish)

Seefeel: s/t (Warp)

Download the inaugural podcast for This Week's Best Albums: October 12, 2010 and subscribe to the free podcast via iTunes or another application.

Dimmu Borgir: Abrahadabra (Nuclear Blast)

Dimmu Borgir: "Born Treacherous"

Dimmu Borgir: "Gateways"

Norway's Dimmu Borgir is one of the preeminent names in symphonic black metal, and it garnered particular fanfare from two of its most string-infused albums, Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia in 2001 and Death Cult Armageddon in 2003.

Abrahadabra, the band's first album in three years, is its most spectacular and elaborate release to date.  It features one hundred guest musicians – ensemble players and choir singers – helping make this a symphonic-black-metal masterpiece.

It bears a resemblance to Puritanical Eurphoric Misanthropia and Death Cult Armageddon, but whereas those albums featured large-scale orchestrations as complementary pieces, intros, or interludes, Abrahadabra intricately weaves classical flourishes into nearly every passage.  That’s courtesy, in large part, of composer Gaute Storaas, who arranged the orchestral pieces, but the overall spike in detail owes to the band not writing the album while on tour, which guitarist Silenoz said has led to lesser material.

If you enjoy black metal with orchestral additions — or just dark music in general — be sure not to miss this.

Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty)

Sufjan Stevens: "Too Much"

In 2005, singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens scored a major hit with Come On Feel the Illinoise, his most detailed album and the second installment in his "50-state project."  Last year he released The BQE, an instrumental soundtrack to his film of the same name, and it was even more elaborate and orchestrated than Illinois. But fans have been awaiting his first vocal-based release since Illinois, and now they have it in The Age of Adz (pronounced odds).

Longstanding fans should appreciate this more for being a great cross-section of Stevens’ career, mixing the electronic embellishments of his earlier material with the sophisticated folk of his latter.  It’s well balanced, with enough pop nuggets and layered complexities to attain a happy medium.

Atmosphere: To All My Friends, Blood Makes the Blade Holy (Rhymesayers)

Atmosphere: "Until the Nipple's Gone"

Led by MC Slug and producer Ant, Atmosphere has taken a steady ascent to indie-rap popularity.  The group's last album, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, was a surprise for many, focusing more on live instrumentation than samples and ushering in a feel-good R&B/pop vibe to many songs.

To All My Friends, Blood Makes the Blade Holy is Atmosphere's newest pair of EPs, combined here as a long-player, and it's much closer to the group's roots than Lemons.  The live instrumentation remains — many songs are built around guitars and keyboards — but most songs hit hard, and Slug draws shades of yesteryear.

There's slide guitar and piano in "The Number None," which starts the final three (and poppiest) tracks.  The two songs that follow — "Freefallin'" and "To All my Friends" — are both singles but something of misdirections, as the dual-EP release has, by that point, well established a different vibe.

Circle of Animals: Destroy the Light (Relapse)

Circle of Animals: "Poison the Lamb"

Circle of Animals is a new project by multi-instrumentalist producer Sanford Parker (of Minsk) and saxophonist Bruce Lamont (of Yakuza).  It’s a tribute of sorts to Chicago’s industrial scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s, although it ties in influences from other heavy experimentalists such as Swans and Godflesh.

You have to dig songs that build in layers to enjoy this album, but it’s well executed, and any given track might really pay off four minutes in.  Lamont mostly handles vocal duties here, and Parker is responsible for most of the instrumentation, but the album features a great cast of big-name drummers, including Dave Witte of Discordance Axis, John Herndon of Tortoise, John Merryman of Cephalic Carnage and Secret Chiefs 3, and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth.

Lamont's sister Kelly makes a great vocal cameo on "Poison the Lamb," a track that you can exclusively download at the newest installment of The Metal Examiner, our weekly metal column.

White Moth: s/t (Angel Oven)

White Moth: "Shoot the Clock" (f. Dälek)

Last week we wrote about Sailors with Wax Wings, one of the two new solo projects from Pyramids head honcho R. Loren.  It was jam-packed with guest stars, and now, in as many weeks, Loren releases his second such star-studded solo effort.

Like Pyramids and Sailors with Wax Wings, White Moth bests fits in atmospheric post-metal, but its tracks are more compact and structured more like traditional songs.  There also are much stronger glitch and digital-hardcore influences, and the latter is at least partially thanks to contributions from Alec Empire of Atari Teenage Riot and Ashley Scott Jones of Evol Intent.

The album — hopefully the start of a full-blown series — also has improvised sax work by Sam Hillmer of Zs, a guest rap by Dälek, and an appearance by Lydia Lunch.  If you enjoyed Sailors with Wax Wings last week but want something a little "firmer," pick up White Moth.

Yann Tiersen: Dust Lane (Anti-)

Yann Tiersen: "Dust Lane"

Remember Amélie?  A lot of people fell in love with the 2001 French romantic comedy, and its bustling soundtrack was a big part of that.  That music was by Yann Tiersen, a folksy French composer whose lighthearted pieces use a lot of accordion, violin, and piano but also glockenspiel, harpsichord, and toy piano.

Dust Lane is Tiersen’s first solo studio album in five years, and it’s also his first release on Anti-.  His earlier work was always very melodic and accessible, but this is a push in a much poppier direction, one that maintains some of the intricate accents but wraps them around basic hooks, often built with synthesizers and guitars.

And though Dust Lane is a song-based album, the tunes are structured unlike typical pop songs.  The one weakness is the final track, "Fuck Me," which feels embarrassing despite its serious end-of-the-world theme.  On the whole, however, Dust Lane is a great album and a new chapter in Tiersen's career.

The Gaslamp Killer: Death Gate EP (Brainfeeder)

The Gaslamp Killer: "Carpool Dummy"

A founder of LA's Low End Theory weekly series, The Gaslamp Killer is a dubstep DJ whose mixes and production credits have built his name as much as his own material.

Death Gate is The Gaslamp Killer's third EP, and though it reflects his eclectic taste with the samples on "When I'm in Awe," the five-song effort is a rather stripped-down drum-and-bass release, relying on big beats and spacey effects.

Many might prefer his spliced mixes or collaborations, but Death Gate portends great new solo material on the horizon.

The Black Heart Procession: Blood Bunny / Black Rabbit (Temporary Residence)

The Black Heart Procession: "Blank Page"

After a prolific start as a band, the gloomy, piano-driven sounds of The Black Heart Procession have been heard less frequently over the past five or six years.  Recently, at least, this has been partly due to the reunion of Three Mile Pilot, singer/guitarist Pall Jenkins' old band.

With a new Three Mile Pilot album — and Jenkins' similar vocal style gracing that as well — the release of the Blood Bunny / Black Rabbit "micro-album" should come as a grateful palette cleanser for long-time Black Heart Procession fans.

Featuring three new songs and five remixes, this release takes the group to a few new places.  The new songs go a little further – more guitar, different structures, etc.  There’s a nice contrast from the remixes, including one by Jenkins as Mr. Tube (one of his other endeavors) that gets noisy and samples some kind of PVC-tube instrument.

Blood Bunny / Black Rabbit maintains a nice balance throughout, and though it may not be the ideal starting point for a listener, it accurately portrays The Black Heart Procession without getting stale.

Honorable Mentions

Belle & Sebastian: Write About Love (Matador)

Free Moral Agents: Control This (Chocolate Industries)

Hauschka: Foreign Landscapes (Fat-Cat)

Intronaut: Valley of Smoke (Century Media)

Madball: Empire (Good Fight)

Jon Mueller: The Whole (Type)

Benoit Pioulard: Lasted (Kranky)

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.

For nearly 20 years, the members of Tortoise have exhibited a synergistic effect on each other, enriching their assorted personal contributions to yield an amorphous, anomalous instrumental quintet.

Slapped with cover-all classifications like post-rock, kraut rock, and indie rock, the band’s creations often are indescribable mid-tempo conglomerations of grooves, harmonies, effects, and rhythms.

Swirling synthesizers and haute harpsichords splash against robust bass lines, dueling drum kits, and jazz-inflected guitar melodies, all while rubbing elbows with elements of dub, electronica, and art rock. Overlapped time signatures and percussive passages abound, as a marimba and vibraphone are incorporated with the aid of the band’s shuffling backline of beat makers.

John McEntire

Much of this stylistic diversity is thanks to the members’ backgrounds and outer interests, which branch out to frenetic free jazz, gentle indie rock, beat-based blippery, and unclassifiable weekly improvisational performances.

Using the studio as an incubator, the five pieces of Tortoise have assimilated these ideas and influences, congealing them into something unrecognizable — something exciting and rare. And it’s been there, the studio, where the group has logged long hours, creating, rearranging, editing, and re-editing the vast majority of its material.

“I think that it’s really interesting how the five of us are able to create this world that is sort of the sum of our influences and ideas,” says multi-instrumentalist John McEntire, whose Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago hosts the band’s recordings.

“I don’t know exactly how that works, and I can’t even say specifically that we reference anything in particular while working on [our material]. There’s always stuff floating around in the ether that I think either individually or collectively we maybe reference in an obtuse way.”

Dan Bitney

“It’s a good mix if you can’t even describe the music,” adds Dan Bitney, a fellow percussionist with multi-instrumental abilities. “Everything has sort of a mutant quality to it where it’s not really obvious. We’ll do something where the composition takes it out of a genre, hopefully.”

That genre-less mentality has always been at the core of Tortoise’s intentions. In the early 1990s, the band was borne from the ashes of a would-be “freelance rhythm section” between percussionist John Herndon and bassist Doug McCombs. As the group added more percussionists like McEntire and Bitney, Herndon was freer to experiment with electronics, sequencing samples and MIDI, and filtering drumbeats.

McCombs’ penchant for rhythmic tightness and harmonic accentuation became a staple of Tortoise’s sound, rooting the group in low-end grooves. Meanwhile, Bitney’s addition accentuated the band’s taste for polyrhythms, which were especially effective on seminal albums Standards (2001) and It’s All Around You (2004). Similarly, McEntire’s dynamic abilities and engineering prowess have been crucial to the band’s dense recordings.

But for all the above-mentioned abilities, Tortoise didn’t fully mature until joined in the late 1990s by jazz guitarist Jeff Parker, whose early love affair with low end and bass grooves attracted him to the band’s rhythmically rooted sounds. “I always hear music from the bottom up,” Parker says, “which is kind of why I was drawn to Tortoise’s music before I was in the band — like, ‘Man, I could get with these guys.’”

Squarepusher

Solo Electric Bass 1

Though his eclectic IDM creations as Squarepusher have alternately bombarded fans with dance-y, jazzy, funky, fusion-filled drum-and-bass styles, Tom Jenkinson may be most beloved by his fans as a bass guru.

Taken from a live performance in Paris from September of 2007, Solo Electric Bass 1 showcases Jenkinson's full fretted talents, displaying his uncanny ability to play his six-string bass like a classical guitar — with gorgeous chords and intonations that eerily resemble the nylon-stringed instrument that he has employed on such phenomenal albums as Ultravisitor and Hello Everything.

Jenkinson's skills really must be seen to be believed, but this unedited live disc is the next best thing.  Long-time fans and newbies alike mustn't miss this one.

John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble: Eternal Interlude (Sunnyside)

An enlivened jazz percussionist and classical and worldly composer, John Hollenbeck has brought his many talents to the Claudia Quartet, assorted chamber pieces, collaborations with experimental vocalist Theo Bleckmann, and much more.

This shape-shifting big-band effort grabs a number of regular guests, including Bleckmann, to follow the Large Ensemble's Grammy-nominated 2005 debut, A Blessing.  The engaging result is a hybrid classical/jazz creation that may appeal to fans of each, fans of both, or fans of neither.

Keelhaul: Keelhaul's Triumphant Return To Obscurity (Hydra Head)

Following a hiatus of nearly five years, chugging mathcore quartet Keelhaul steps ever so gently from the shadows on an aptly titled return to form.

Moments of melody, clean-channel passages, and even vocal harmonies are scattered on the disc, but riotous riffage, decimating drums, and gruff shouts steal the spotlight as usual.  In a year chock full of great heavy releases, Keelhaul's Triumphant Return to Obscurity shouldn't be overlooked.

Keelhaul: "Pass the Lampshade"
Keelhaul: \"Pass the Lampshade\"

David Daniell & Douglas McCombs: Sycamore (Thrill Jockey)

For their first recorded collaboration, experimental guitarist David Daniell and pedal-steel guitarist Douglas McCombs lay tape to four long-form creations that intertwine composition and improvisation as well as acoustic/electric foundation and effect-drenched accompaniment.  The resultant disc, Sycamore, is borne from last year's recording sessions, which were diced and reassembled into resonant, ambient creations.

The efforts of McCombs, best known for his bass and guitar duties in Tortoise, play a beautiful and spectral foil to Daniell, whose multiple talents are as obvious as those of his partner.  Sycamore is built on this interplay, which also receives dynamic percussive contributions from esteemed guests Frank Rosaly, John Herndon, and Steven Hess, ranging from distant pings to untamed freak-outs.

Pissed Jeans: King of Jeans (Sub Pop)

Gritty punk fury, driving riffs, guitar squeals, and mish-mashed time signatures again define Pissed Jeans on this, the band's third full-length album.  A bit more focused than the 2007 Hope for Men album, King of Jeans recalls the raw, atonal vocals of David Yow and the rhythmic punishment of the rest of The Jesus Lizard.

Pissed Jeans: "Dream Smotherer"
Pissed Jeans: \"Dream Smotherer\"

The Waitiki 7: Adventures in Paradise (Pass Out)

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood, the Waitiki 7 balances a thematic tribute to Martin Denny and musical stars of yore with piano-driven Latin sounds, modern jazz, lounge, and film motifs.  Adventures in Paradise, as the name suggests, could double as the soundtrack for a cheery private-dick mystery flick, calling upon exotic vocal calls, flute, horns, and vibraphone to create just the right mood.

The Waitiki 7: "Manila" (sample)
The Waitiki 7: \"Manila\" (sample)

Incorporating elements of traditional Mexican and Spanish music into his expansive repertoire, tireless composer John Zorn bangs out another soundtrack, this time for a documentary about Mexican dictator Plutarco Elias. Another accessible, beautiful release, El General is scored for guitar, marimba, bass, piano, and accordion, with drums and vibraphone showing up in spurts.

Mountains: Choral (Thrill Jockey)

Making its Thrill Jockey debut, this electro-acoustic duo creates acoustic melodies that breathe with the field recordings and electronics that surround them. Tranquil, crackling bits pile on layers of atmosphere; drones circle around extended passages and repetitive themes. The result is a serene album that is as apt for detached meditation as it is for intense musical focus.

Mountains: "Choral"
Mountains: \"Choral\"

Rob Mazurek Quintet: Sound Is (Delmark)

Following a solo release and albums from Sao Paulo Underground and Exploding Star Orchestra, jazz composer/cornetist Rob Mazurek returns with a new quintet. The group features a loaded lineup of Chicago standouts, including drummer John Herndon (Tortoise), vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz (Rolldown), acoustic bassist Josh Abrams (Black Earth Ensemble), and electric bassist Matthew Lux (Isotope 217).

With 14 new compositions, Sound Is sees Mazurek continuing to push the boundaries of modern jazz while using semi-traditional instruments.

Steven Wilson: Insurgentes (Kscope)

The founder of English rock band Porcupine Tree, guitarist/singer Steven Wilson has taken a wandering path throughout his musical career, traveling through metal, pop rock, progressive psychedelia, and atmospheric ballads.

Wilson's solo debut, Insurgentes, shows a similar penchant for diversity. Rock structures overlap with electronic ambiance, moody acoustic guitars, dark synths, and soft vocal harmonies, making a malleable foundation as Wilson channels Thom Yorke in much of his signing.

A bit of the balladry gets too close to Coldplay and other melodramatic radio artists, but most of the album is an interesting exhibition in songwriting.

Steven Wilson: "Harmony Korine"
Steven Wilson: \"Harmony Korine\"

Toby Summerfield, Matt Lux, Nick Broste, Jaimie Branch, Katie Wiegman, and John Herndon @ Hungry Brain

This week at the Hungry Brain, an assortment of regular Chicago avant-jazz and rock performers unite in a unique arrangement. Guitarists Toby Summerfield (Algernon) and Matt Lux (bass in Isotope 217) join brass performers Nick Broste (Herculaneum) and Jaimie Branch (Branch/Riordan Duo) as well as vibraphonist Katie Wiegman (Algernon) and drummer John Herndon (Tortoise).

The performers' groups span straight-ahead jazz, psychedelia, post-rock, free jazz, experimental and electronic music. It will be mighty interesting to see what this group, performing for two sets, has in store for the bar's patrons. If you're around and can stay up late on a Sunday, check this out.

Algernon @ Darkroom

Rooted in jazz-tinged post-rock, Chicago quintet Algernon plays Tortoise-style melodies in a psychedelic rock setup (plus vibraphone). Many of the group's members regularly perform in the city's experimental jazz scene, and a pair of them play on Sunday with — lo and behold — Tortoise's drummer, John Hernon (among other noted local musicians — see our post tomorrow morning about Sunday). In fact, Tortoise guitarist and jazz luminary Jeff Parker plays DJ sets at this show.

But that's not to say that Algernon is Tortoise Jr. The group creates original indie-psych soundscapes, led by songwriter/guitarist Dave Miller. If you're in Chicago, this show is a nice deal for just $7.