For us, 2011 was another year of taking in as much as we could and sharing the best with you. Next year, however, will be a homecoming of sorts, a return to rock-'n'-roll roots. We'll soon be able to share the projects that we have in store — across multiple mediums — but for now, dig into this rock-focused list of must-own albums.

And for more, revisit (or simply visit) our lists from 2010 and 2009:

100 Unheralded Albums from 2010
50 Unheralded Albums from 2009

Steven Drozd: The Heart Is A Drum Machine (The Score) (Twinkle Cash Co., 1/18/11)

Steven Drozd: "Born"

A multi-instrumentalist and the third-most-tenured member of The Flaming Lips, Steven Drozd marked his first official solo release early this year with the nearly instrumental accompaniment to the documentary The Heart is a Drum Machine.

The music shares a lot of characteristics with the Flaming Lips of the past dozen years – synthesized grooves, big rock beats, fuzz bass, airy keyboards, and different instrumental flourishes weaving in and out. But listeners are unlikely to confuse the two, and the score succeeds as a standalone album as well as a film accompaniment.

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Tao of the Dead (Richter Scale Records / Superball Music, 2/8/11)

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: "Weight of the Sun"

There has been no shortage of grand themes and allegories in the canon of Austin post-punk quintet …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The band’s newest album, however, better matches its ambitious themes with its music, presenting an epic pair of pieces for Tao of the Dead.

The album recalls progressive albums of yore, from the likes of Rush and King Crimson, but channels them into easily digested movements. Stretches of heavy distortion and drum thrashing will appeal to the more metal-minded Trail of Dead fans, but there’s also plenty of hook-laden, radio-ready alternative rock.

Wires Under Tension: Light Science (Western Vinyl, 2/8/11)

Wires Under Tension: "Electricity Turns Them On"

Light Science is the exciting debut from Wires Under Tension, a duo comprised of violinist/multi-instrumentalist Christopher Tignor and drummer Theo Metz. With help from a few friends, including Jared Bell of Lymbyc Systym, the two combine live performance with electronic manipulation, sounding something like a progressive Dirty Three with horns, hip-hop beats, and post-rock guitar swells.

This seven-track release is a dense, fluid collection that retains consistency thanks to Metz’s steady rhythms. Electro-mechanical piano, clavinet, and synthesizers mesh with loops and samples to round out an impressive first release.

Pitom: Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes (Tzadik, 2/22/11)

Pitom: "Head in the Ground"

Combining heavy, fuzzy rock jams with Jewish melodies, Pitom is one of many projects from guitarist, bassist, and composer Yoshie Fruchter. Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes, the quartet's second release on Tzadik, follows the same path as its predecessor, but it does so with a bit more cohesion and restraint.

Built from the ground up with distorted bass and violin, the band's music carries similarities to that of Skeletonbreath and Miasma & The Carousel of Headless Horses. Whether driving a song with an infectious melody, commingling with the violin in the high end, or simply taking over a track with raw ability, Fruchter knows when to go full throttle (the punk power of "An Epic Encounter") or pull back (the dark slow jam of "A Resentful Repentance").

The Psychic Paramount: II (No Quarter, 2/22/11)

The Psychic Paramount: "RW"

Though relatively silent for the past six years, New York noise-rock trio The Psychic Paramount returned in February to release its first full-length since 2005. Effected guitar loops, devastating low-end grooves, and bashing rhythms again form the core of the band's sound, but II is a direct yet dynamic rock explosion.

Between the guitar, the cymbals, and the effects, the mid-range gets a constant workout. Those who are turned off by this kind of music may find it to be an exercise in patience, but the lengthier durations are a testament to the trio's skills at climax and denouement.

DeVotchKa: 100 Lovers (Anti-, 3/1/11)

DeVotchKa: "100 Other Lovers"

Following the fame from its Oscar-winning soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine in 2006, Denver multi-instrumental quartet DeVotchKa has playfully tinkered with its sweeping, emotive sound. Though it already tossed together elements of folk, rock, Mexican, and Gypsy music, it remained united by the sullen croons and songwriting of frontman Nick Urata.

That unifying factor remains, but its newest album, 100 Lovers – its second post-Sunshine full-length – continues to expand the band’s scope. The material adds new and often subtle flavors to DeVotchKa’s repertoire. Uninitiated listeners might hear more of the same, but 100 Lovers is perfect for content fans – moving in new directions without a radical departure.

Stateless: Matilda (Ninja Tune, 3/1/11)

Stateless: "Ariel"

Matilda, Stateless' second full-length, showcases the British electro-rock group's continued maturity. Lead singer Chris James hits an impressive range of notes, from reverb-cloaked backing croons to soulful leads, atop an amalgamated mix of styles, sounds, and beats.

With contributions from The Balanescu Quartet, DJ Shadow, and Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), Matilda is stylistically inventive, with familiar worldly touchstones reworked into new contexts.

Grails: Deep Politics (Temporary Residence, 3/8/11)

Grails: "I Led Three Lives"

With cinematic soundscapes, Westernized Indian melodies, film-noir mystique, 1960s psychedelia, and crushing heaviness, Grails is an instrumental rarity. The Portland band's newest offering, Deep Politics, is an engaging and epic mix of acoustic intonations, indigenous sounds and melodies, spaghetti-western motifs, somber piano balladry, and more doom-filled, Eastern-infused stylistic transcendence.

And thanks in part to arrangements by Timba Harris, the mighty violinist from unparalleled genre annihilators Estradasphere and Secret Chiefs 3, Deep Politics vies to be Grails’ best album yet.

Parts & Labor: Constant Future (Jagjaguwar, 3/8/11)

Parts & Labor: "Constant Future"

After establishing itself early last decade as an interesting new name in noise rock, Parts & Labor delivered a flurry of releases over the span of just a few years. Since then, the band has scaled back to a trio built around the fuzzed guitar, bass, keyboard hooks, and tight rock rhythms.

Featuring some of the band's sturdiest songs yet, Constant Future is direct, potent, and catchy. Behind Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw's echoing, harmonized vocals are dirty, thick grooves that power the overlaid electronic freak-outs.

Adebisi Shank: This is the Second Album from a Band Called Adebisi Shank (Sargent House, 3/15/11)

Adebisi Shank: "Micro Machines"

Released to European acclaim in 2010, the aptly titled second album from Irish electro/math rockers Adebisi Shank achieved North American release this year thanks to the peerless Sargent House.

The management company / record label describes the trio as a blend of Fang Island’s shredding riffs with Battles’ electronic quirkiness and rhythmic playfulness. That description isn’t off the mark, but readers won’t get a sense of the band’s real abilities until they hear its hyper-melodic, polyrhythmic, and — most importantly — jubilant songs in full.

Second Album delivers a maelstrom of zany electronics, unusual distortions, and triumphant, rapidly ascending scales mixed with vintage synths, marimba, horns, and other accoutrements. This is all packaged between and around gloriously catchy and powerful rock riffs, resulting in a manic and buoyant sophomore effort.

Tom Waits: "Bad as Me"

Tom Waits is legend, larger than life. Few musicians are as cloaked in mythology. Yet his music has always been what music should be: comforting in places, jarring in others, pushing boundaries while always honoring the legacy of American songwriting. Bad as Me, Waits' first studio album in seven years, is all of these things, continuing the direction that he established with Closing Time in 1973 and hammered into the ground with Swordfishtrombones a decade later.

At the time, Swordfishtrombones signified a new Waits, a man unafraid to be confronted. The confidence came in large part from his marriage to Kathleen Brennan. They’re still married, and Waits credits Brennan as his support, collaborator, and muse. Here, every track was written and produced by Brennan and Waits together. Those tracks oscillate between manic and maudlin, flip-flopping throughout the entire album. Where a Depression-era blues tune ends, a ballad begins. Waits’ voice is a freight train and then a frail leaf.

That voice, of course, is a wonder. Waits can sound like a woman down on her luck, a Mississippi blues man, a possessed mule, and an army of brokenhearted ogres. Every harsh word has been employed to make sense of the ragged clatter that emerges from Waits’ throat. It’s as if his voice has always been 60 years old and his body only now caught up.

The record begins with the chugging “Chicago,” a runaway tune led by banjo, piano, and saxophone. At the end, Waits calls out, “All aboard!” in a nod to Anaïs Mitchell’s folk opera Hadestown, which itself was one giant nod to Waits and his world of devils and hobos.

That isn’t the only reference. On “Satisfied,” it’s doubtful that Waits can sing the word “satisfaction” without knowing he’s treading on Rolling Stones territory, but halfway through it becomes apparent it’s not an evocation — he’s singing at the Stones. “Now Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards / I will scratch where I been itchin’,” he squawks, adding the chorus, “I will have satisfaction / I will be satisfied.” The punch line of the joke is that Keith Richards is playing guitar on the track.

Richards is elsewhere too, and he’s not the only superstar on the album. Flea plays bass. So does Les Claypool. Marc Ribot, who’s played with Waits since 1985, lends his Latin-infused guitar licks to just about every tune. Waits and Brennan’s son, Casey Waits, plays drums and emerges here as a versatile musician in his own right, switching expertly from a shuffle to a heavy blues riff to his dad’s iconic junkyard percussion.

Despite several blistering tracks, the best song on the album is also its softest. “Pay Me” is a tearjerker. It’s a ballad that Waits might’ve played at The Troubadour when he was first starting. Augie Meyers’ accordion and David Hidalgo’s violin wrap themselves around the piano while Waits sings, “I’ve sewn a little luck up in the hem of my gown / The only way down from the gallows is to swing / I’ll wear boots instead of high heels / And the next stage that I am on, it will have wheels.” An instrumental coda is the perfect end to the melancholy reverie, and in that moment, Waits seems like nothing more than an anonymous and soft-spoken piano player.

Of course, it’s only a moment. Three minutes later, he’s back to his droll wordplay and violent howls, talking at us in spoken asides and then cackling in our faces.

Tom Waits: Bad as Me (Anti-)

Tom Waits: "Bad as Me"

Few musicians are as cloaked in mythology as Tom Waits. Yet his music is both comforting and jarring, pushing boundaries while always honoring the legacy of American songwriting. Bad As Me, Waits’ first studio album in seven years, is all of these things. The songs oscillate between manic and maudlin, flip-flopping throughout the entire album. Where a Depression-era blues tune ends, a ballad begins.

There are multiple references throughout, the most obvious of which is when Waits calls out Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on “Satisfied.” The punch line of the joke is that Richards is playing guitar on the track. And he’s not the album’s only superstar. Flea plays bass; so does Les Claypool. Marc Ribot, who’s played with Waits since 1985, lends his Latin-infused guitar licks to just about every tune. And Waits’ son, Casey, plays drums, emerging here as a versatile musician in his own right.

Despite several blistering tracks, the best song on the album also is its softest. “Pay Me” is a tearjerker. An instrumental coda is the perfect end to the melancholy reverie, and in that moment, Waits seems like nothing more than an anonymous and soft-spoken piano player. Of course, it’s only a moment. Three minutes later, he’s back to his droll wordplay and violent howls, talking at us in spoken asides and then cackling in our faces.

- Text by Timothy S. Aames.

Russian Circles: Empros (Sargent House)

Russian Circles: "Mlàdek"

In 2009, instrumental rock trio Russian Circles released Geneva, an album that both introduced the worming bass lines of Brian Cook (of These Arms are Snakes) and showcased the band’s balance of metallic fury and melodic beauty. Complementary strings and horns also dotted the sonic landscape, creating a superlative post-metal opus.

Empros cuts away the complementary pieces of Geneva, instead focusing on the trio’s interplay. Cook has further ingrained himself in the Russian Circles sound, allowing the galloping rhythm section just as frequently to play the lead as Mike Sullivan’s effects-heavy, overdubbed guitars. And the usual ear for dynamics is present once more, building moments of tension and release to go with the killer riffs.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

Dub Trio: IV (ROIR)

Dub Trio: "Control Issues Controlling Your Mind"

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When dub-rock powerhouse Dub Trio last released a full album at the start of 2008, it marked a significantly heavier direction, with chugging hardcore and sludge-metal tendencies creeping into its unparalleled blend of grooves and riffs. The trio’s newest, IV, continues that trajectory, committing the group first and foremost to metal.

Dub remains a key factor, albeit more subtly. Few tracks bear the mark of modern reggae or dub music, but individual instruments are tweaked at key moments. “Ends Justify the Means” is the band’s first venture into the wobbly bass sounds of dubstep, but palm-muted and manipulated guitar stabs make it entirely new. And “1:1.:618” is an experiment in prepared piano and improvised effects, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of this inimitable outfit.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

Kid Koala: Space Cadet graphic novel and soundtrack (Ninja Tune)

Kid Koala: "Main Title Theme"

Canadian artist Eric San, better known as Kid Koala, is a non-traditional, storytelling turntablist, classically trained pianist, and accomplished visual artist. Like his 2003 release Nufonia Must Fall, Space Cadet is a joint graphic novel and soundtrack, each of which has been meticulously handcrafted between other artistic endeavors.

Over 132 pages of etchboard images, Space Cadet tells the tale of a guardian robot and a girl whom he raises to be a great astrophysicist-slash-space-explorer. It touches on themes of love and seclusion, as San sets the tone with a gentle and somber piano score. His turntable work makes intermittent appearances, usually to give the piano or other accompanying instruments (strings, horns, marimba) a warped and “drunken” feel.

The album’s tracklist provides follow-along page coordinates for the music, providing the type of audio/visual synthesis that is central to his “headphone concert” tour of 2011.

- Text by Portia Medina. Read our Q&A here.

Darkness Falls: Alive in Us (HFN Music / Fake Diamond)

Darkness Falls: "Noise on the Line"

Part of Copenhagen's blossoming pop scene, Darkness Falls is a two-woman dream-pop duo with throwback flair consisting of singer/keyboardist Josephine Philip and guitarist/bassist Ina Lindgreen. The two made a splash in April with their debut EP, and now on their first full-length effort, produced by DJ/composer Anders Trentemøller, they present a fuller and more dynamic sound.

In no small part from Philip's haunting harmonies, the music serves an atmospheric and hypnotic mood. The timbres are assorted yet thematic, united by guitar tones that drip with twang and surf-rock reverb. Accents of acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, Theremin, harp, and harpsichord join the spooky synths and sparse percussion for a soundscape that's alternately minimal and flourishing.

In all, Alive in Us is a promising debut that shouldn't be overlooked due to its Danish origin. And if you want to hear more of Philip's talents with Trentemøller, listen to the heartbreaking ballad "Even Though You're With Another Girl" on the producer's outstanding 2010 album, Into the Great Wide Yonder.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

Corridor: Real Late (Manimal)

Corridor: "Objective Lens"

Led by multi-instrumentalist Michael Quinn, Los Angeles-based Corridor is a quirky one-man pop experiment, crossing streams with classical and world sounds. But Quinn, who released a self-titled debut as Corridor in 2009, also cites influences such as industrial/folk art-rockers Swans, medieval English folk, and Django Reinhardt, creating one massive — but cohesive — confluence of styles.

Corridor’s blend of electronic looping and acoustic plucking is often dark and emotive, with an almost grunge/metal heaviness. Real Late also is populated by thumping tribal percussion and distortion on the verge of squealing, avant-garde hysteria. Even when venturing into dirge-ful, down-tempo territory, a jazz-like sense of melodic phrasing pulls it all back together.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson and Scott Morrow.

Mr. Gnome: Madness in Miniature (El Marko)

Mr. Gnome: "Ate the Sun"

Formed in 2005, Cleveland-based duo Mr. Gnome has been offering introspective, spooky indie rock ever since its inception. Even though the art-rock band is composed of just singer/guitarist Nicole Barille and drummer/pianist Sam Meister, Mr. Gnome finds a way to make a lot of noise.

Madness in Miniature, the duo's third full-length album, flexes its muscles frequently. Oscillating between raucous guitars, atmospheric soundscapes, persistent drumming, and Barille’s full-on belt-outs and soft-spoken vocal layers, the body of work immediately calls to mind the best stuff by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Kills, with hints of Queens of the Stone Age peppered throughout.

“House of Cards” is the clear-cut hit here, featuring an array of sonic qualities: clean guitars at the intro and verses, riff-laden interludes and bridges, forceful choruses, both sweet and distorted vocals, creepy harmonies, pulse-pounding percussion, and Halloween-esque howling. This variety is reflected in the rest of the album, making Madness in Miniature an indie-rock success.

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

The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble : Mr. Machine EP (!K7)

The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble: "Pretend" (f. Emika)

On its debut album, You Make Me Real, German “acoustic techno” trio Brandt Brauer Frick introduced the world to its unholy marriage of dance-floor forms and neoclassical minimalism. Over the course of the last year, the band has performed, on occasion, as a 10-piece ensemble, which has enabled it to transfer its digital components into the hands of even more humans.

Now that 10-headed beast, known The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, has released Mr. Machine, an eight-song EP. The title track kicks things off with a steady, spare drum beat and half-cooked instrumental detritus populating the wide-open spaces. From there, things should sound a bit more familiar, as four tracks are reinterpretations of tracks from You Make Me Real and three are reinterpretations, including "Pretend" by Ninja Tune recording artist Emika.

The production is incredibly rich without being dense, and each of the instruments is given equal measure of the spotlight. It’s definitely headphone music; you’ll want to catch every new wrinkle and texture.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

Honorable Mentions

The Boddie Recording Company retrospective release (Numero Group)

Deer Tick: Divine Providence (Partisan)

Dirty Projectors & Björk: Mount Wittenberg Orca (Domino)

East of the Wall: The Apologist (Translation Loss)

Giant Squid: Cenotes (Translation Loss)

Junius: Reports From the Threshold of Death (Prosthetic)

Justice: Audio, Video, Disco (Ed Banger)

Morkobot: Morbo (Supernatural Cat)

Nordic Nomadic: Worldwide Skyline (Tee Pee)

Gary Numan: Dead Son Rising

Prurient: Time’s Arrow EP (Hydra Head)

Ralfe Band: Bunny and the Bull OST (Warp Films / Ghost Ship)

Raleigh Moncrief: Watered Lawn (Anticon)

El Rego: s/t (Daptone)

Roedelius Schneider: Stunden (Bureau B)

Roots Manuva: 4everevolution (Big Dada)

Slugabed: Moonbeam Rider EP (Ninja Tune)

Star Fucking Hipsters: From the Dumpster to the Grave (Fat Wreck Chords)

Statik Selektah: Population Control (Duck Down)

Christina Vantzou: No. 1 (Kranky)

Wild Child: Pillow Talk (Major Nation)

Zakarya: Greatest Hits (Tzadik)

Primus: Green Naugahyde (ATO / Prawn Song, 9/13/11)

Primus: "Tragedy's a'Comin'"

"It's kind of like trying to describe a wine," chuckles Primus bandleader/bassist Les Claypool. "Everybody has their different adjectives that they use."

Responding to the suggestion that the oddball Bay Area trio's new album, Green Naugahyde, was recorded and mixed with a more transparent "sound" than previous work, Claypool doesn't necessarily agree or disagree. The album is the band's first full-length in 12 years, and listeners, of course, are bound to draw their own conclusions.

"Whatever 'transparent' means to you," he continues, "might be different than what it means to me. From a production standpoint, the approach to this thing was very similar to what we've always done, which is record ourselves at my house. Over the years, I've collected a bunch of old vintage gear — we recorded to tape through an old API console, so it's a very clean, very crisp, very clear recording. And for the most part, we weren't coloring things after the fact. It was going to tape as raw as we could possibly put it to tape. But there's also a lot of contrast between the individual songs."

Certainly, the instrumentation and overall mood both vary dramatically from song to song. As an example, Claypool points to how newly returned drummer Jay Lane uses larger, "more bombastic" drums on certain tunes as opposed to others, while the toy-like rattle of Lane's bells and high-pitched percussion takes center stage on "Eternal Consumption Engine," which also features a bowed acoustic bass and evokes the giddy disorder of a 19th Century sideshow. That song is immediately followed by the hard-charging Bootsy Collins-meets-Larry Graham funk of "Tragedy's a' Comin'," which in turn is followed by the static, claustrophobic apprehension of "Eyes of the Squirrel."

Such variety, though, is nothing new for a Primus album, and in the bigger picture, the most significant contrast comes courtesy of Lane, whose very presence sets the new material apart from the band's entire (official) back catalog. Lane, who has also worked with former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir's group RatDog and Charlie Hunter among others, comes back to Primus after a long history with Claypool: he was the band's drummer just prior to the recording of its first album, 1989's Suck on This, and took part in the one-off 1994 reunion of the pre-Suck on This lineup under the name Sausage. Since 2000, he also has participated in several of Claypool's solo-oriented projects and releases. Compared to his more forceful predecessors, Tim "Herb" Alexander and Bryan "Brain" Mantia, Lane's loose, winding style allows the band to indulge its lighter, more flexible side.

"He's always been my go-to guy when I could get him," explains Claypool, whose esteem for Lane's musical ability dates back to the '80s, when Lane was playing in San Francisco world-beat ensemble The Freaky Executives. "Even when he joined Primus back in the day, we couldn't believe it. It was like, 'Wow, Jay Lane wants to play with us!' Unfortunately, he had a record deal with The Freaky Executives, and when Primus started getting popular, we were like, 'Hey, dude, you need to make a decision here.' He went with the record deal. We made our first record a month later, and away we went."

Lane's return reconnects the band to the time before long-time guitarist Larry LaLonde became a member. In fact, until 2010, the two had never been in Primus at the same time. A quick re-cap: In 1988, Primus consisted of Claypool, Lane, and guitarist Todd Huth (later reunited as the aforementioned Sausage). At the time, that lineup had already come up with the bulk of the material that would end up in live form on Suck on This and in studio form on the band's 1990 signature classic Frizzle Fry. Though Huth wrote most of the guitar lines on those songs — Claypool and LaLonde both credit Huth profusely for his contribution during the band's formative stages — LaLonde's indescribable style and searing electro-static tone made an indelible mark on the sound. Before joining, LaLonde had played in the thrash band Possessed and taken guitar lessons from Joe Satriani. He also had played with Claypool in the progressive-metal band Blind Illusion. But by the time he tried out for Primus, LaLonde was turning the corner on a fresh way to approach his instrument.

"It's funny, because I was just cleaning out my garage the other day," LaLonde says, "and I found some old Possessed records. I was listening to them and I was like, 'Wow, this music was actually kind of crazy.' It was definitely challenging, guitar-wise. But hearing things like King Crimson and [Frank] Zappa made me want to write crazy guitar stuff. When I joined Primus, it was like, 'Here's my chance to make the type of crazy music that I grew up listening to.'"

LaLonde himself was impressed with how natural it felt to accommodate Huth's established parts.

"It was definitely one of the weirdest things about when I first got in the band," he reminisces. "When I started learning some of Todd's parts, I was like, 'Whoa, this reminds me of the style I was going for already.'"

"For me," Claypool offers, "it was just about chemistry. I didn't realize it back then, but I realize it much more now: the way somebody plays is like their speaking voice. I think people's playing very much represents their personalities. As much as we all have individual, unique personalities, there are people that try and conform and be very much like other people and not step outside the box. The people I've always been attracted to on any level — even as far as hanging out — are people who are a bit odd. So it seemed natural that someone like Ler would be in my camp.

"I'm sure that both of those guys would agree — maybe they won't — but to me, Todd was more like Robert Fripp, whereas Ler was more like Adrian Belew. They both have similar styles that complement each other very well. Todd was a little more precise, but he would play the freakiest, most odd-time shit you ever heard in your life. We used to call it 'Todd time' because he had a hard time playing in 4. If you said, 'Okay, on your own, play something in 4,' he would have a hard time. He could play any Tony Iommi or classic-rock lick, but when he plays his own stuff, to this day — and we're actually going to stream the new Porch album on our website because it's really cool — he has this certain way of playing that's just Todd. It used to drive Jay Lane crazy."

Claypool expounds further on the differences between the various players, and how Primus' sound shifted with each personnel change.

"Jayski is like the funkiest guy on the planet," Claypool says. "He has this sort of Dave Garibaldi-meets-Stewart Copeland thing. He's Mr. Hi-Hat guy. He's got that Minneapolis-funk thing goin'. Whereas when Tim came in, it was like, 'Whoa, now we got Bill Bruford-meets-Neil Peart.' With Jayski, it was way more funky. And obviously, Ler's got more of an edge to him. He was playing through a Marshall half-stack, so I knew, as soon as the three of us started playing: 'We're a rock band now.' Before, we were more like — I don't even know — like a funky XTC or something."

In order to bring Lane back this time, however, Claypool first had to get over his initial reservations about the drummer's existing commitment to Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir.

"It kind of got to where I was stepping on Bob's toes," Claypool says, "so I stopped working with Jay for a while. Bob's such a great guy, and I didn't want to bum him out. But it was time for Jayski to come back."

Lane's contribution, Claypool insists, runs much deeper than the music: "Just on a personal level, Jayski's a big, happy guy. He's one of these people that wakes up with a smile on his face. He's very positive and happy. That's a huge thing to have in your life and one reason why we've been friends for so long."

Lane also makes it easier for the band to be more spontaneous and free in coming up with new material.

"The thing about Jayski that I've always found incredibly exciting," Claypool raves, "is that no matter how much his kit is set up, as soon as I start playing something, within two measures he jumps right in with me. And he always has. It could be just a snare and a kick drum and hi-hat with everything else splayed all over the floor, and as soon as I start playing, he starts playing too. He's that intuitive."

So much so, apparently, that Claypool cites his comfort level with Lane as the primary reason why Primus is back together in the first place. Green Naugahyde marks the band's return to full-time status since a series of touring reunions that began with the release of the 2003 EP Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People. Throughout those reunions — which reinstated the classic lineup of Claypool, LaLonde, and Alexander — Claypool and LaLonde repeatedly expressed interest in making a new studio full-length but remained non-committal. That album never materialized. All the while, it was never officially confirmed that Primus was back together on a long-term basis.

"I sort of always assumed that at the end of those tours, we would do a record," LaLonde says, speaking while on a break from a recording session scoring "some crazy horror movie" with former Primus drummer Mantia. "Then those tours ended and everyone went and did other things. It's hard to say why. I was usually the guy that was trying to get everyone to do it. I'm not sure why it never totally took off. I think we both knew that Tim wasn't totally into doing it. And we also knew that if Jay wanted to do it, we'd be excited."

Claypool clarifies: "Primus wasn't actually back together from 2003 to 2010. Primus got together in 2003 and did some stuff, and then we got together again in 2006 and did some stuff."

Those bouts of touring, naturally, drew a lot of attention back to Primus, and Claypool says that he grew frustrated with people referring to his work outside of the band as his "side projects."

"Primus was actually the side project," he stresses. "From 2000 to 2010, my focus was doing my stuff. That 10-year period was the most amazing, most prolific time of my entire life. I loved it, and it was very difficult for me to give up the band I had for [2009 solo album] Of Fungi and Foe to come back and do Primus.

"If it wasn't for Jay Lane, I wouldn't have done it. Tim is a great guy and he's an amazing player, obviously, but we've never really had a great personal relationship. It was always…'fine,' but it wasn't like we were all excited to get together and hang. We've actually never hung out at all. And from the creative standpoint, we'd kind of hit the wall. Even when we were talking about doing a record, there just didn't seem to be any interest. When we'd do soundchecks, which is when we'd try to jam and come up with interesting ideas, it just wasn't happening. The notion of making a record wasn't flowing naturally, so it wasn't an exciting prospect for me. But making this record was incredibly easy."

Though it's unfair to conclude that this new-found ease shaped the music in any direct, tangible way, Green Naugahyde makes for a less challenging listen than, say, the murky abrasion of 1993 album Pork Soda, or the strobing post-metal psychedelia of Frizzle Fry. Whereas those early albums capture Primus striding into uncharted creative territory with an almost manic fervor, the new album falls within boundaries that the band established more than two decades ago. With that said, the more we take Primus' sound for granted today, the more it speaks to what the band has accomplished. The new material, in fact, demonstrates just how adept Claypool, LaLonde, and Lane (all of whom contributed songs for the album) have gotten at writing hallmark Primus songs without simply regurgitating old ideas. And, as always, sinister shadows lurk within the music's deceptive, cartoon-like bounce. Every Primus album harbors an undercurrent of human drama, even pathos, but Green Naugahyde reflects a harsher, more personal edge than previous efforts.

"Last Salmon Man," for example, at first come across like a goofy tale about a father-son pair of fishermen before revealing itself as an ominous warning. Claypool sings of a declining fish population and the ruin that ensues as the twin specters of human excess and ecological disaster loom at the edges of the frame. Typical of Claypool's style, his delivery remains impassive even while he paints a picture of mounting desperation. Elsewhere on the album, he references heroin addiction, cancer, the Gulf Coast oil spill, the shooting of a pedophile, and (on three separate songs) the ravenous demands of material consumption and advertising.

"I've always been exorcising demons in Primus' lyrics," Claypool says. "A lot of it has to do my family in terms of substance abuse. But I've always done it through these characters. I'm a big fan of [Frank] Capra, Elia Kazan, and the Coen brothers, and they always have these very compelling characters that tend to be very tragic. But you also like seeing them. You love seeing Steve Buscemi shoot that guy in the parking lot in Fargo, even though it's such a fucked-up thing. That's the way a lot of these characters are in my music. And even though now and again there's a beaver or Tommy the Cat that's a little more lighthearted, there's always this tragic undertone to all of them.

"With this new record, there's a lot of shit going on in my life. My mom is on her way out right now. She's got this disease that's affecting her nervous system, and it's really hard to watch. Plus, my brother's little baby boy was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year. So that's where 'Tragedy's a' Comin" comes from. But the music itself is so lighthearted and 'up' that it's a contradiction."

Contradiction of a different sort has also become a staple element of the live show. When Primus initially broke up in 2000, the band was sharply defined by its progressive tendencies. Like Rush, a group that has exerted a huge and obvious influence, Primus had up to that point flexed its musicianship predominantly in the context of music that held to a rigid structure. But when the band returned to the stage in 2003, it had expanded its approach to incorporate a high degree of improvisation. In retrospect, this makes sense given LaLonde's enduring affinity for Frank Zappa, whose music not only demanded technical mastery but also the ability to think and react on the spot. (For a glimpse into LaLonde's Zappa preferences, see the 2002 Rykodisc compilation Zappa Picks — by Larry LaLonde of Primus.)

Lane's working resume with members of the Grateful Dead, of course, only reinforces Primus' improvisational leanings. But it was Claypool's work in 2000-2001 with Phish bandleader Trey Anastasio and Police drummer Stewart Copeland in the group Oysterhead that inspired him to go further out on a limb.

"We've always had these elements within certain songs where we could stretch out," he explains. "But the Oysterhead thing blew the door wide open to the jam world for me. I didn't even know what the hell the 'jam' world was. Prior to that, I thought, 'I know Trey Anastasio and a couple of the guys in the Grateful Dead' — to me, that was the extent of the jam scene. Then I started to get asked to put together projects. I remember going to do the Oysterhead thing and Trey saying, 'Let's just write a bunch of songs on the spot.' I was like, 'What?' Stewart was even worse. He was like, 'What the hell are you talking about?! Oh, my god, we need to have a plan!' We got out there and we played that [debut] set at the Saenger Theatre [in New Orleans]. Parts of it were just a mess, a train wreck, but parts of it were so amazingly glorious. And it made me realize, 'You know what? These people want to see you take chances.'

"So when I came back in 2003, I had this renewed — well, not renewed, but this sense of 'hey, let's take some chances here. There's a whole group of people who don't want to see you play the song the same every night.' Not that we ever really did that, but in the early days of Primus, there was quite a long period there where we were doing half-hour, 45-minute sets, so there wasn't a whole lot of stretching going on. When we were doing our own tours, there was more stretching, but when we came back in '03, I was stretching out a lot. It definitely has evolved and helped the band evolve. It's also helped me as a player be way more comfortable with the notion of just going out and wingin' it."

On its current run of live dates supporting Green Naugahyde, Primus not only plays two sets but modifies each of the setlists nightly so that the show is never the same. Lane, Claypool says, lobbies most staunchly for the obscure stuff.

"Every night," Claypool says with a laugh, "Jay goes, 'Let's play this song!' and I'm like, 'We've only ever played that song once.' And he's like, 'Let's do it! Let's do "Del Davis Tree Farm."' I'm like, 'Dude, I don't even remember how to play that.' And he'll be like, 'Aw, come on!'"

Claypool ensures, though, that fans of hits and deep cuts alike will be happy.

"Basically," he adds, "we're going to be playing a shitload of music."

KILLL: s/t CD/DVD (Fysisk Format)

KILLL: "194"

Synchronized light shows have come a long way at rock concerts, but few — if any — outfits have approached the sensory-overload intensity of Oslo's KILLL.

Comprised of members of JR Ewing, Jaga Jazzist, and Altaar — and including visual/sound artist Are Mokkelbost (featured in Chromatic) — KILLL is a live-only band that collides mechanical yet fervid noise metal with insane strobe and LED visuals.

Its concerts feature an enormous backdrop hung to form an open box around the band. Kyrre Karlsen, the band’s de-facto lighting technician, sets off an intense series of colors that are in perfect time with the music, creating a pulsating illusion of movement against the backdrop.

The video footage that was captured for this DVD is unable to recreate the optical phenomenon, so the music videos therein are collages of hyperactive video cuts, built in large part from third-party sources (audience members, show organizers, etc.). Witnessing KILLL's live show is the only true way to experience the band, but if you can't get to Scandinavia anytime soon, grab this dual CD/DVD release — and brace yourself.

- Text by Noah Davis and Scott Morrow.

*** WARNING! This video contains heavy strobe and LED effects. People with medical conditions should avoid viewing! ***

Das Racist: Relax (Greedhead)

Das Racist: "Michael Jackson"

With two free mixtapes under its belt, Brooklyn-based hip-hop trio Das Racist has cornered the market on hyper-literate slacker rap. Its sound is defined by above-average dance-hop beats (from the likes of El-P, Diplo, and Boi-1da) and an unmistakably blasé style laden with off-hand references to everything from philosophical texts to drunk texts.

On Relax, the group's debut album, its satirical nature is on full display, mixing repetitious refrains of frivolous topics with name-dropping nods to critical thinkers. This dichotomy often plays out in rapid succession, demonstrated from back-to-back tracks like "Girl" and "Shut Up, Man." The former is a tongue-in-cheek love rap about "what we came to do," and the latter (featuring production and a guest verse by El-P) references novelist Isabel Allende (a first cousin once removed of Salvador Allende) and 1960s counterculture figure Timothy Leary.

On the surface, it's easy to dismiss Das Racist's music as joke rap or hipster rap, but there is serious thought and effort behind the façade of carelessness. Just try to keep up as the razor-sharp wit and rapid-fire, stream-of-consciousness rhymes draw parallels between seemingly disparate ideas and challenge traditional, mindless rap bravado.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson and Scott Morrow.

Primus: Green Naugahyde (ATO / Prawn Song)

Primus: "Tragedy's a'Comin"

The oddball rock trio known as Primus is one of those intermittent reminders that something different and strange can pierce the veil of mainstream radio every so infrequently.

Though Les Claypool's pet project has been active on and off in a touring capacity for most of the past decade, the group now is back with its first studio album since 1999. Green Naugahyde is quintessentially Primus on many levels, but it notably includes pre-Suck on This drummer Jay Lane, who has collaborated in some of Claypool's countless "solo" incarnations and who is credited for breathing new creative life into Primus.

Lane's kick-heavy beats keep things moving throughout the album. But first and foremost, of course, the album is carried by Claypool's funky bass distortions and quirky vocals and Larry LaLonde's psychedelic, funky, idiosyncratic guitar blurts.

Predictably, Green Naugahyde is full of more tales of weirdness and occasional sociopolitical commentary (such as "Eternal Consumption Engine," about America's bottomless consumerism, and "HOINFODAMAN," about selling out to the advertising world). The vocals are another dose of half-sung and faux-dramatic bizarreness, alternately doubled by deep and falsetto harmonies, that few can pull off well. In essence, it's everything that you'd want from a Primus album.

The Dirt Daubers: Wake Up, Sinners! (Colonel Knowledge / Thirty Tigers)

The Dirt Daubers: "Wake Up, Sinners!"

The Dirt Daubers is a slight change of pace for JD Wilkes, the wild front man for the raucous, rockabilly-inspired blues-punk band The Legendary Shack Shakers. Joined by his wife, Jessica Wilkes, and Shack Shakers bassist Mark Robertson, Wilkes has slowed down a bit to help craft ragtime-inspired country blues.

The trio's sophomore album, Wake Up, Sinners!, finds JD's gritty and rumbling vocals balanced by Jessica's rich tones and harmonies, floating over finger-picked banjo, bellowing blues harp, and thumpin' bull fiddle. The Southern gothic lyrics spin tales of traveling outsiders, a strong-willed woman, and the true tale of a misunderstood boogey man from the deep woods of Kentucky. The trio's toe-tappin' rhythms and earnest sincerity are apt ingredients for a slice of Americana.

- Text by Portia Medina. Read the Q&A here.

Vader: Welcome to the Morbid Reich (Nuclear Blast)

Vader: "Come and See My Sacrifice"

Vader holds a pronounced place in Polish metal, helping to usher extremity into the country's underground scene in the mid-1980s when Communist rule still reigned.

Welcome to the Morbid Reich is the band's ninth studio album and second for Nuclear Blast. Still led by guitarist/bassist/vocalist Piotr Wiwczarek, the band now features another new lineup (although drum tracks were laid down by the last drummer, Paweł "Paul" Jaroszewicz), and a few new members help to make their presences felt.

New second guitarist Marek "Spider" Pająk is credited for the music on four tracks, including a haunting symphonic interlude. Symphonic accents, in fact, are a little more pronounced here, but an extreme blend of trash and death metal still rules the roost. Over Jaroszewicz's jaw-dropping kick-drum prowess and impossibly fast blast beats, Wiwczarek and Pająk are left to run wild with speed riffs, chugging discordance, and eruptive solos.

Honorable Mentions

Anthrax: Worship Music (Megaforce)

Arabrot: Solar Anus (Fysisk Format)

Astronautalis: This is Our Science (Fake Four)

Barn Owl: Lost in the Glare (Thrill Jockey)

Mick Barr: Coiled Malescence (Safety Meeting)

Anomie Belle: The Crush

Big Harp: White Hat (Saddle Creek)

Blitzen Trapper: American Goldwing (Sub Pop)

Cymbals Eat Guitars: Lenses Alien (Barsuk)

Einjerher: Norrøn (Indie Recordings)

Glenn Jones: The Wanting (Thrill Jockey)

Ladytron: Gravity the Seducer (Nettwerk)

Lydia Loveless: Indestructible Machine (Bloodshot)

W.W. Lowman: Kumquat May (Atavistic)

Mates of State: Mountaintops (Barsuk)

Mogwai: Earth Division EP (Sub Pop)

Neon Indian: Era Extraña (Mom & Pop Music)

Novalima: Karimba (ESL Music)

Jack Oblivian: Rat City (Fat Possum)

Chuck Ragan: Covering Ground (SideOneDummy)

Shimmering Stars: Violent Hearts (Hardly Art)

Toddla T: Watch Me Dance (Ninja Tune)

Toro y Moi: Freaking Out EP (Carpark)

Wild Flag: s/t (Merge)

A Winged Victory for the Sullen: s/t (Kranky)

Wooden Shjips: West (Thrill Jockey)

The Dirt Daubers: "Wake Up, Sinners!"

The Dirt Daubers is a slight change of pace for JD Wilkes, the wild front man for the raucous, rockabilly-inspired blues-punk band The Legendary Shack Shakers. Joined by his wife, Jessica Wilkes, and Shack Shakers bassist Mark Robertson, Wilkes has slowed down a bit to help craft ragtime-inspired country blues. The trio's sophomore album, Wake Up, Sinners!, finds JD's gritty and rumbling vocals balanced by Jessica's rich tones and harmonies, floating over finger-picked banjo, bellowing blues harp, and thumpin' bull fiddle.

The Southern gothic lyrics spin tales of traveling outsiders, a strong-willed woman, and the true tale of a misunderstood boogey man from the deep woods of Kentucky. The trio's toe-tappin' rhythms and earnest sincerity are apt ingredients for a slice of Americana. ALARM caught up with JD to ask about the roots of The Dirt Daubers and what’s up next.

What compelled you to start The Dirt Daubers?

I made a documentary called Seven Signs, a movie about Southern culture and music, that was selected by the Raindance Film Festival in London, England. The festival coordinators told me they would pay for my flight over if I came and played some music. My wife and I had been practicing banjo music, somewhat in secret, so I talked her into going. We got flown over, got wined and dined, played the gig, and had a blast. It was my first time playing banjo in public and her first time playing in front of people ever. Why, Les Claypool, of all people, was in attendance and told us it was great. So we decided to press onward and upward…eventually becoming the Dirt Daubers!

Is there a necessary balance between The Legendary Shack Shakers and The Dirt Daubers? What purpose does each band serve for you?

The Shack Shakers is the wholesale flaunting of my unfettered id. The Dirt Daubers puts a completely different demand on my skill set as a musician. In this band, if I stop playing banjo, there's a huge hole in the song. So, yes, I like this new challenge of being responsible for the bulk of the band's sonics.

How is the dynamic for you working in a band with your significant other?

We get along great and mostly just joke around and eat candy driving down the road. She does all the behind-the-scenes tour-managing stuff, and I drive the car. If Mark (our bassist) is along for the ride, it's even more fun.

Tell us more about the song "Can’t Go To Heaven" and how you came to meet John Akin, on whom the song is based.

John Akin was the subject of one of the "chapters" in my film Seven Signs. He was introduced to me by a friend (and fellow filmmaker) who administered home healthcare at Akins' "haunted house." John was considered to be a devil worshipper by the folks in his small town. It turned out he was just an eccentric, trickster-type character. I won't give away the whole story. You have to watch the movie to find out the rest.

What motivated you to pay tribute to the blue-collar working class with the song "Trucks, Tractors, and Trains"? Was that a big part of your upbringing?

My grandpa worked on the L&N. And a few of my extended family are farmers in Kentucky. I figured as long as they're out busting their hump all day, the least I can do, as a lazy, shiftless musician, is write them an anthem. Maybe they'll think I'm an okay guy. Naaah, who am I kiddin'?

JD and Jessica, when did you two decide that you wanted to play music together and make an album? Was that something you always wanted to do?

JD: Yes, it just seemed to happen naturally. Originally, we played music around the house for the "right" reason…for fun! Then we recorded an earlier record back in 2009. It's self-titled and came out on Arkam Records, the label started by fellow ALARM subjects The Pine Hill Haints.

Jessica: I love playing together. Admittedly, I'm fairly new to music. Before we were married, I tried learning different instruments, but I was always too shy to play. JD has been very encouraging of me when it comes to singing and performing. I've come out of my shell quite a bit since we started. He's created a monster!

Will The Dirt Daubers be an ongoing project?

Sure! This is the kind of music you can grow old playing. There's nothing more disturbing than some paunchy, balding dad trying to rock out on stage.

I can just sit my octogenarian ass in my wheelchair and play banjo 'til I croak. I can hardly wait!

A Lull: Confetti (Mush)

A Lull: "Weapons for War"

Building off its early buzz for the single “Weapons for War,” Chicago quintet A Lull has drawn plenty of early attention for its debut album, Confetti.

Comprised of five multi-instrumentalists who each have a hand in its percussive style, the band unites assorted characteristics of contemporary indie electronica, with textured timbres, humming ambience, and melodic hooks building over pitter-pat beats and thumping toms. The vocals are equally as multi-layered and harmonized, alternating between soft pop refrains and “rat-tat-tats” and other percussive utterances over waves of deep, distorted low end.

Young Widows: In and Out of Youth and Lightness (Temporary Residence)

Young Widows: "In and Out of Lightness"

Now more than a few album cycles removed from its transition from post-hardcore outfit Breather Resist, Louisville's Young Widows continues coming more and more into its own.

The trio's last full-length album, Old Wounds, marked its arrival as post-punk powerhouse.  Its newest, In and Out of Youth and Lightness, displays another progression in the band's songwriting skills while also emphasizing the "quietness" in the genre.

Guitarist/vocalist Evan Patterson's reverberated instrument walks an eerie line between clean and dissonant. The rhythm section favors a ceremonial plod, often accenting select beats instead of playing straight through, but it's more than capable of mixing in urgent rock rhythms.  In between, there's a roomy silence, occasionally breached with a wandering guitar echo or backing vocal.

From the weird twang, Black Heart Procession vibes, and enveloping vocal harmonies of tracks such as "Right in the End" and "Lean on the Ghost," In and out of Youth and Lightness has plenty of new direction for familiar fans, but it's also an excellent jumping-off point for new listeners.

- Text by Scott Gordon. Read the full review here.

Atmosphere: The Family Sign (Rhymesayers)

Atmosphere: "Just for Show"

Back after last fall's double-EP release, Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere presents an album that is a true family effort.  Though its 2008 album was chock full of guest spots and featured DJ/producer Ant piecing together samples of live instrumentation, The Family Sign was built by a four-piece incarnation of Atmosphere, with previous collaborators Erick Anderson (keyboards) and Nate Collis (guitar).

Collis, in fact, is the surprise MVP of the album, with shimmering slide guitar and murmuring melodies that guide many songs.  Anderson plays nearly as vital a role, with gentle piano lines and chords that fill out what often was occupied by funky bass lines and horn cuts.

There are more singing and spoken-word passages than rap aficionados might like, but The Family Album isn't nearly as sunny or soulful as When Life Gives You Lemons…, and it feels like a much more cohesive and organic record.

Hauschka: Salon des Amateurs (FatCat)

Hauschka: "Radar"

Hauscka is the alias of prolific German composer Volker Bertelmann, who has released eight albums of neoclassical material since 2004 — with the most recent coming just six months ago.

His instrument of choice is the prepared piano, a piano that has objects placed on or between its strings in order to create unique, textured sounds.  Though much of his earlier material was in the John Cage school of prepared minimalism, his last album, Foreign Landscapes, was a more orchestral affair, and his newest, Salon des Amateurs, presents his instrument's version of techno.

This "organic dance" music shares similarities with fellow German outfit Brandt Brauer Frick, a trio that released a promising debut in November.  Bertelmann's range of timbres is narrower, but he achieves a lot via overdubs and guest spots by John Convertino and Joey Burns of Calexico, drummer/sampler Samuli Kosminen of Múm, and violinist Hilary Hahn.  Ultimately, Salon des Amateurs is much closer to Cage than techno, but it's another interesting cross-section that proves the potential of loops and short repetitions.

Garage á Trois: Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil (Royal Potato Family)

Garage á Trois: "Shooting Breaks"

Originally a trio with 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, rock/funk/jazz hybrid Garage a Trois has morphed over the past decade to a quartet comprised of saxophonist Skerik and vibraphonist Mike Dillon (both of Critters Buggin, The Dead Kenny Gs, and many Les Claypool incarnations), drummer Stanton Moore (Galactic, Corrosion of Conformity), and keyboardist Marco Benevento (Benevento/Russo Duo).

The group's sounds have undergone just as much transformation, from entirely live improvisation to unified grooves. Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil is the group's second album since the addition of Benevento, and it again takes great advantage of his keyboard melodies.  However, unlike its predecessor, Power Patriot, this album pulls back a bit from the distorted rock grooves.

Nonetheless, the album's musical moods are what fans of Power Patriot might expect: slinky ("Resentment Incubator"), polyrhythmic ("Earl Harvin"), accessible ("Earl Harvin" again), raw ("The Drum Department"), cosmic ("Shooting Breaks"), and ever so eerie ("Swellage").  Recorded by engineer/producer Randall Dunn (Secret Chiefs 3, Sunn O))), Earth), it closes with an unexpected cover of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13," a rendition that sonically embodies the album's title.

Fredrik: Flora (The Kora)

Fredrik: "Rites of Spring"

Each track on Swedish electro-folk trio Fredrik’s newest album, Flora, is adorned with a menagerie of small details.

On the third song, “Chrome Cavities,” vocalist Fredrik Hultin’s hushed intonations and a delicately clattering xylophone tiptoe over a sinister, tribal drum beat and jingling sleigh bells.  Later, on "The North Greatern," tinkling wind chimes, hypnotizing cowbell, and thundering mallet strikes conjoin over oscillating ambience.

Throughout Flora, a brooding force takes shape, often building to climactic heights similar to those of Sigur Rós. Whether laying on the heavy bounce of new-wave synth or sticking to more classical string-based melodic work (as on “Naruto and the End of the Broken Ear”), Fredrik deftly navigates varied terrain.

Honorable Mentions

Autechre: EPs 1991 – 2002 (Warp)

Between the Buried and Me: The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues (Metal Blade)

Causa Sui: Pewt’r Sessions 1 (El Paraiso)

Classified: Handshakes and Middle Fingers (Halflife / Sony / Decon)

Figurines: s/t (The Control Group)

Howe Gelb & A Band of Gypsies: Alegrías (Fire)

Indian: Guiltless (Relapse)

Kreidler: Tank (Bureau B)

Femi Kuti: Africa for Africa (Knitting Factory)

Last Chance to Reason: Level 2 (Prosthetic)

Little Scream: The Golden Record (Secretly Canadian)

Low: C’mon (Sub Pop)

Agnes Obel: Philharmonics (PIAS)

The One AM Radio: Heaven is Attached by a Slender Thread (Dangerbird)

Panda Bear: Tomboy (Paw Tracks)

Red Fang: Murder the Mountains (Relapse)

Alexander Tucker: Dorwytch (Thrill Jockey)

TV on the Radio: Nine Types of Light (Interscope)

The Waitiki 7: Waitiki in Hi-Fi LP (Pass Out Records)

Zomes: Earth Grid (Thrill Jockey)

Adebisi Shank: This Is The Second Album From A Band Called Adebisi Shank (Sargent House)

Adebisi Shank: "Micro Machines"

Released to European acclaim in 2010, the aptly titled second album from Irish electro/math rockers Adebisi Shank has now achieved North American release thanks to the peerless Sargent House.

The record label / management company describes the trio as a blend of Fang Island’s shredding riffs with Battles’ electronic quirkiness and rhythmic playfulness. That description isn’t off the mark, but readers won’t get a sense of the band’s real abilities until they hear its hyper-melodic, polyrhythmic, and — most importantly — jubilant songs in full.

Over 40 minutes — a self-described "double album" given the band's riff-intensive style — Second Album delivers a maelstrom of zany electronics, unusual distortions, and triumphant, rapidly ascending scales mixed with vintage synths, marimba, horns, and other accoutrements.  This is all packaged between and around gloriously catchy and powerful rock riffs.

It's a manic and buoyant sophomore effort.  Simply put, Adebisi Shank is a revelation.

Trap Them: Darker Handcraft (Prosthetic)

Trap Them: "The Facts"

Originally conceived as a side project to Backstabbers Incorporated, riotous hardcore quintet Trap Them became a full-time endeavor half a decade ago and has been perfecting its sound ever since.

For Darker Handcraft, its third full-length album and first for Prosthetic, the band continues expanding, ever so slightly, its grindcore style to present more assailing D-beat rhythms and impossibly heavy sounds.  The production, again courtesy of Kurt Ballou, draws understandable parallels to the producer's main gig in Converge.  But Trap Them's low tunings, dark chord progressions, and noodling high-string riffs are more responsible for the comparison, even if Trap Them is less about diversity and more about straight-forward fury.

This time around, vocalist Ryan McKenney has a crisper but equally brutal delivery, often recalling former Refused front man Dennis Lyxzén.  It might be one of the album's best evolutions — outside of "Drag the Wounds Eternal," the melodic, mid-tempo penultimate jam.  In all, Darker Handcraft is top-notch modern hardcore, meshing punk and metal with equal aplomb.

The Dead Kenny Gs: Operation Long Leash (Royal Potato Family)

The Dead Kenny Gs: "Devil's Playground"

Fans are long used to seeing the names Skerik, Mike Dillon, and Brad Houser in the same sentence.  Together, the three multi-instrumentalists comprised three quarters of genre-hopping groove merchants Critters Buggin (along with percussionist/keyboardist Matt Chamberlain); Skerik and Dillon have worked in Garage a Trois and a few outfits with Les Claypool, and Houser has again joined forces to create The Dead Kenny Gs, a trio of musicians who "listen to Bad Brains and Art Ensemble of Chicago."

Operation Long Leash is the group's second album, and though it isn't freewheeling punk jazz, it shares that marriage of rock aggression, funky hooks, and left turns.  Call it heavy acid swing — or something completely different — but it shares just enough elements with the trio's previous projects while exploring new territory.

After a cohesive, rhythmic blend of dueling saxophones, Dillon's glistening vibraphone, and freak-out effects, the middle and tail end of the album get into more heavy rock grooves, including distorted bass on "Black 5" and pounding tom hits and sax bleeps on "Sweatbox" — which quickly transforms into a jazzy jungle groove.  The thuds soon return for more of the album's wildest and loudest sounds, almost resembling some of Zu's most recent "sludge jazz" album.  From there, the soothing outro of "Jazz Millionaire" proves that The Dead Kenny Gs' moods can swing as much as its music.

Mamiffer: Mare Decendrii (SIGE)

Mamiffer: "We Speak in the Dark"

Led by pianist and graphic artist Faith Coloccia, Mamiffer is a project born from the ashes of a similar if more loosely structured group, Everlovely Lightningheart.  With a rotating cast of guests and permanent members — now including ex-Isis front man, Hydra Head honcho, and SIGE partner Aaron Turner — the group surrounds down-tempo, minor-key piano melodies with eerie, ambient soundscapes of assorted instrumentation.

Though strings, guitars, drums, and slowly unfolding vocals are all regular elements of the group's music, Mare Decendrii — its sophomore full-length — amasses another collection of semi-decipherable sounds.  There are moments of minimalist classical beauty and others of echoing tangents to post-metal, as is the case with the sprawling 20-minute track "We Speak in the Dark," a microcosm of the whole.  It begins with minutes of building dissonance before a lead piano/string line turns into emotive vocal harmonies and a churning post-rock passage with a nearly Nine Inch Nails melody.

And though the album's breadth and reach are to be expected from what Mamiffer has previously delivered, it's fueled further this time thanks to guest spots by violist-and-vocalist duo Eyvind Kang and Jessika Kinney, bassist Don McGreevy (Earth), bassist Brian Cook (Russian Circles), violinist Timb(a) Harris (Estradasphere), drummer Aaron Harris (Isis), and many others.

Honorable Mentions

Antonionian: s/t (Anticon)

Disco Doom: Trux Reverb (The Static Cult Label)

Does It Offend You, Yeah?: Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You (The End / Cooking Vinyl)

KEN Mode: Venerable (Profound Lore)

J. Mascis: Several Shades of Why (Sub Pop)

Mi Ami: Dolphins 12” (Thrill Jockey)

Sin Fang: Summer Echoes (Morr Music)

V/A: Those Shocking, Shaking Days (Now-Again)