Check out the video below for the reworked version of "Eyesdown." The song still features Andreya Triana but now includes raps by London's DELS, whose unique, laid-back flow and emotional lyricism provide a fitting complement to the track. Below that, you can watch the original video in all its costumed, forest-dancing weirdness.

Air: Le Voyage dans la Lune (Astralwerks)

Air: "Seven Stars" ft. Victoria Legrand of Beach House

More than a decade since composing the score for Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, French electro-pop duo Air returns with Le Voyage dans la Lune, a new album that expands on its original score for the recently restored film of the same name. A 16-minute silent film released in 1902 by French director Georges Méliès, Le Voyage has an antiquated look that belies how groundbreaking the director’s use of color and science-fiction imagery were for their time.

Naturally, given the range of aesthetic and social differences between Méliès’ and Coppola’s films, Air’s latest work diverges from the despondent suburban monotone that the group supplied for The Virgin Suicides. This time, core members Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin pack a lot of variety into a 31-minute span. (The album runs about twice as long as the film.) Surprisingly, though, the new music contains virtually no indications that its source material was created 110 years ago. In fact, Dunckel and Godin were intent on somehow honoring Méliès’ vision while staying grounded in modern sounds.

Whether or not the new music aligns with Méliès’ early 20th Century reveries about lunar travel, plenty of surprises await the well-traveled Air fan — such as the predominantly live, organic-recording approach and the duo’s new-found enthusiasm for timpani. Dunckel and Godin have spent much of their career gazing back at the dawn of synthesizer music, so it’s only fitting that they would set their sights further back to another future, on an artist who would in his own way anticipate what was to come. (A limited-edition run of the album includes the film.)

- Saby Reyes-Kulkarni

Trailer Trash Tracys: Ester (Double Six / Domino)

Trailer Trash Tracys: "Engelhardt's Arizona"

Written on a solfeggio scale — a seven-note diatonic scale such as “do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti” — this debut from London-based psych-pop quartet Trailer Trash Tracys comes off as ethereal and otherworldly, yet totally accessible.

Ester churns out track after track of slow-burning psychedelia mixed with hook-laden indie pop, though never anchored in either. Instead, the music is a movement, shifting speeds and directions to arrive at some new and unexplored topography. “Engelhardt’s Arizona” has a straightforward arrangement, guided by vocalist Suzanne Aztoria’s trailing, echoing voice, but it’s flanked the entire time by a swirling lead-guitar riff that might’ve arrived from an alien planet.

The album is entrenched in reverb and delay, echoes and effects, but the songs move fluidly, always accompanied by irregular bits. Aztoria’s voice is a guiding light through all the dark, foggy sounds, there to take your hand before you become immersed in the soundscapes.

- Michael Danaher

Psycroptic: The Inherited Repression (Nuclear Blast)

Psycroptic: "Carriers of the Plague"

Formed before the turn of the century by brothers Dave and Joe Haley, technical death-metal outfit Psycroptic has torn up Tasmania for more than a dozen years. The Inherited Repression, its fifth album, is another hearty dose of blasts, grooves, and winding guitar leads, but its differences are more pronounced.

In addition to greater disparity between fast and slow moments, a series of intros, outros, and interludes gives the listener more room to breathe. Throughout the album's duration, Psycroptic is careful not to suffocate you with technical mastery or unending riffs. Instead, Joe's harmonized guitar overdubs — which alternate between wailing, thrashing, and chugging — are broken up by acoustic melodies, industrial sounds, and marching snares. As a result, The Inherited Repression tends to avoid listening fatigue, offering an accessible dose of extreme metal.

- Scott Morrow

DJ Food: The Search Engine (Ninja Tune)

DJ Food: "Percussion Map (Pt. 1)"

Originally begun by Ninja Tune founders Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut), the DJ Food project helped to launch the influential London label with a collection of breakbeats, jazzy samples, and funky cuts. Though it was intended as source material for other DJs (hence "DJ food"), it evolved into a collaborative project with Patrick Carpenter, Strictly Kev, and others, before eventually being led, live and on record, by Kev.

Now, 11 years after the last DJ Food release, Kev is back with some notable friends, including JG Thirlwell (Foetus), Matt Johnson of The The, 2econd Class Citizen, Natural Self, and DK. The layoff, in part, is due to Kev's work as a designer — he works on many Ninja and non-Ninja covers — and the time has made a difference here. Plenty of the old calling cards are still around, but The Search Engine is trippier and heavier, with spacey effects and minor-key motifs.

Most tracks fall in the three- or four-minute wheelhouse, but there's a handful of long-form pieces, including a cover of The The's "Giant" (featuring Johnson, naturally). "A Trick of the Ear" helps to wind down the album with a jazzy, long-form jam that's chock full of vibraphone chords, bongo beats, and verbal samples, but it's preceded by one of the most interesting pieces, the eleven-minute, nine-suite "Magpie Music" collaboration with 2econd Class Citizen. The Search Engine showcases a healthy diversity — not too schizophrenic and not too staid.

- Scott Morrow

Honorable Mentions

Bahamas: Barchords (Universal Republic)

Big Sir: Before Gardens After Gardens (Sargent House)

Dr. Dog: Be the Void (Anti-)

Ben Kweller: Go Fly a Kite (The Noise Company)

Mark Lanegan Band: Blues Funeral (4AD)

Lindstrøm: Six Cups of Rebel (Smalltown Supersound)

Of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks (Polyvinyl)

Steve Moore / Majeure: Brainstorm (Temporary Residence)

A Place to Bury Strangers: Onwards to the Wall EP (Dead Oceans)

The Saint James Society: s/t EP (Tee Pee)

Shlohmo: Vacation EP (Friends of Friends)

The Twilight Sad: No One Can Ever Know (FatCat)

Sharon Van Etten: Tramp (Jagjaguwar)

Jim White: Where it Hits You (Yep Roc)

Rodrigo y Gabriela: Area 52 (ATO)

Rodrigo y Gabriela: "Juan Loco"

With their last album, 11:11, dueling guitarists Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero exploded into the spotlight, gaining a new swell of fans with their blend of acoustic rock and Latin sounds. Now the duo — whose original material already is infused with the energy and frenetic fretwork of classical guitar and metal — has re-imagined its own material with the aid of a 13-piece Cuban big band.

Area 52 is full of horn stabs, jazzy piano accents, and flute flourishes, but it goes well beyond being a traditional Cuban record. A healthy diversity is borne from psychedelic guitar effects and unexpected guest appearances, including sitarist Anoushka Shankar, bassist Carles Benavent (Chick Corea, Miles Davis), and drummer John Tempesta (Testament, White Zombie).

“Hunuman,” one of the duo’s biggest songs, is re-imagined — and nearly unrecognizable from its powerful acoustic-thrash beginning — as a dramatic string-tinged intro paves the way for the song’s main melody. It even bears shades of Carlos Santana. Though fans will have to keep waiting for brand-new songs, these selections nearly qualify.

- Scott Morrow

Gangrene: Vodka & Ayahuasca (Decon)

Gangrene: "Vodka & Ayahuasca"

In November of 2010, rappers/producers The Alchemist and Oh No released their first full-length collaboration as Gangrene. The album, Gutter Water, showcased the duo’s subtly sophisticated production techniques as well as Alc and Oh’s emcee skills, although the latter fell flat in moments of self-aggrandizement or gratuity.

Now Gangrene returns with its follow-up record, Vodka & Ayahuasca — a grimy, tripped-out nightmare. Like its predecessor, V&A tends to suffer a bit from outlandish lyrics and occasionally clunky deliveries, but its hip-hop beats fused with psychedelic effects, distorted-guitar and piano samples, and as clips of ayahuasca freak-outs provide a satisfyingly weird, unnerving atmosphere. (For those unaware, ayahuasca is a DMT-laden hallucinogenic.) Though the album may be unappealing to those outside of drug culture, the bizarreness of the whole experience will keep you listening track after track.

- Meaghann Korbel

Victor Villarreal: Invisible Cinema (Joyful Noise)

Victor Villarreal: "Enters"

Following his years as an unheralded but influential guitarist in Cap'n Jazz, Ghosts 'n' Vodka, and Joan of Arc, finger-picking virtuoso Victor Villarreal went through a musical disappearance. He finally resurfaced in 2009 with Alive, a tribute to his late brother that featured Villarreal's vocal debut over strummed singer-songwriter pieces.

Invisible Cinema is, in the words of Joyful Noise, his first "fully realized" effort. The complex guitar passages are restrained but more frequent, and with them are a handful of accompanying instruments as well as, seemingly, more self-confidence as a singer. Though Villarreal's vocals can be hit or miss, he has made ample progress since Alive, and the opening track, "Enters," is proof. After two minutes of amazingly melodic guitar work and backing strings, the piece is joined by drums before Villarreal launches into a 3/4-based vocal phrasing — something that he might not have tried on Alive.

With bits of trumpet, bass, guitar feedback, and drums and other percussion, Invisible Cinema has enough flavor to keep from getting old. If being a solo performer is the next chapter of Villarreal's career, he should do just fine.

- Scott Morrow

Plug: Back on Time (Ninja Tune)

Plug: "Feeling So Special"

Back on Time is the latest collection of tracks from oddball electronic musician Luke Vibert, whose aliases of Wagon Christ, Plug, and many others have tens of albums to their credit (in addition to officially "solo" releases). In gathering these 10 tunes, Vibert rummaged the depths of his apparently massive catalog of Plug material from 1995 to 1998, a time when he was putting his own stamp on the drum-and-bass genre.

Though these previously unreleased songs are roughly 15 years old, the record sounds, for the most part, strangely renewed. Tracks like the break-beat-driven, semi-glitchy, semi-jazzy “Yes Man” display Vibert’s creativity in fusing different electronic styles. But the album’s freshness is in part due to his playful humor: the industrial “Come on My Skeleton” throws a curve-ball with the sober warning “you might also become aware of your anus or genitalia”; “Mind Bending” jerks back and forth between Speak 'n’ Spell-style synthesized speech and a stoner’s awe at some “fucking excellent acid house.”

Melodies and beats are aplenty, in nearly whichever style you prefer. But when the album threatens to become a tad too serious, you can count on that humor to cut the tension at just the right moment.

- Meaghann Korbel

Gonjasufi: MU.ZZ.LE (Warp)

Gonjasufi: "Feedin' Birds"

Written as an emotional and spiritual outlet while on the road touring, MU.ZZ.LE is psychedelic rapper Gonjasufi’s latest “mini-album” since his 2010 debut, A Sufi and a Killer. The combination of down-tempo beats and haunting lyrics on this album make for a dark and introspective atmosphere, but his voice is his most powerful and versatile instrument. At times, it’s something of a hoarse croak, a barely audible mumble; at other times, it reaches a sorrowful croon and a creeping howl, often in a sudden, drastic shift. The effect is unsettling — and unforgettable.

- Meaghann Korbel

Honorable Mentions

Abigail Williams: Becoming (Candlelight)

Bleubird: Cannonball!!! (Fake Four)

Dodecahedron: s/t (Underground Activists / Season of Mist)

Imbogodom: And They Turned Not When They Went (Thrill Jockey)

Lamb of God: Resolution (Roadrunner)

Nada Surf: The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy (Barsuk)

Pyramids / Horseback: A Throne Without a King (Hydra Head)

Rhyton: s/t (Thrill Jockey)

Zomes: Improvisations (Thrill Jockey)

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.

The Black Keys: El Camino (Nonesuch / Warner Bros.)

The Black Keys: "Lonely Boy"

The Black Keys has come a long way from its modest start in Akron, Ohio. Ever since the early 2000s, the band has been one of the most consistent acts around, churning out album after album of gritty, blues-infused garage rock. But with recent appearances on The Colbert Report and Saturday Night Live, as well as a North American tour featuring numerous arena stops, the band has refined its sound to adapt to its new surroundings and mounting exposure. And El Camino, the band's latest effort, showcases that adaptation, as the band has cultivated a bigger, more varied sound.

Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney once again teamed up with Danger Mouse to oversee the production, and the result is one of the band’s most instrumentally diverse offerings. Though the songs are firmly fixed in the classic Black Keys style (tactile distortion, clamoring drums, bluesy vocals, and noodling guitar solos), El Camino builds on the band’s recent exploration of musical diversity and experimentation. The excellent “Dead and Gone” sounds like a ’60s jamboree, chocked full of xylophones and layered, harmonized vocals; “Gold on the Ceiling” features a variety of synths and new guitar sounds that integrate seamlessly into the duo’s signature rock-outs; “Little Black Submarines” starts out with a heartfelt, acoustic folk arrangement before colliding with a wall of grunged-out guitars and crashing cymbals.

The Black Keys may be getting bigger, but that hasn’t hindered the duo’s creative energy. If anything, it’s gotten stronger on El Camino.

- Text by Michael Danaher.

The Roots: Undun (Island / Def Jam)

It’s rare when an album asks deserving questions yet doesn’t let the message overshadow the music. But that’s what The Roots has done with its tenth studio album, Undun, which does for Philadelphia what The Wire did for Baltimore — portraying the dark and ruinous underworld of a drug trade that preys disproportionately on certain races and classes, especially their young.

The record traces the last hours in the life of Redford Stephens, a fictional Philly man whom Roots drummer ?uestlove says was inspired in part by The Wire’s Avon Barksdale. A low-level drug dealer, Stephens is a protagonist but not quite a hero. Over funk-fueled bass lines, ?uestlove’s signature beats, and a tasteful sprinkling of soul, the story is unraveled — backwards from the time of death — by MC Black Thought and a handful of guests, including Aaron Livingston, one half of Icebird.

It’s hardly a holiday record, though it does include a cameo by indie darling Sufjan Stevens, whose “Redford (for Yia-Yia and Pappou)” also helped inspire the Roots’ character and comprises the final four tracks of the album, interpreted in various styles. The third of these segments, “Will to Power,” is the most compelling, showing ?uestlove battling avant-garde pianist DD Jackson in a frenzied duel that owes more to free jazz than R&B.

It’s not untruthful to say the music on Undun stands alone — it doesn’t need its narrative any more than Fucked Up’s David Comes to Life needed its — but the words add a weight that transforms it from a solid hip-hop release into a powerful record. Musically, it ventures into some surprising territory, and lyrically, it communicates an urgent message.

- Text by Timothy A. Schuler.

Jacaszek: Glimmer (Ghostly International)

Jacaszek: "Dare-gale"

Polish composer Michał Jacaszek has made a specialty of moody, atmospheric ambience using a classical palette, with bowed strings, operatic voices, and chimes to construct a brooding build. His new album, Glimmer, is his first for Ghostly International, and though it might be misclassified as an electronic album — partly due to its affiliation with Ghostly — it's almost entirely an ambient classical release.

There's enough digital treatment and rearrangement to warrant a partial electronic tag, but it's otherwise a very organic album. Jacaszek wrote and recorded the acoustic-guitar and mellotron passages, and then he enlisted a number of other Polish musicians to play the harpsichord and clarinet parts. It's all a very stirring mix, with the harpsichord, bass clarinet, guitar, and vibraphone — not to mention the washes of fuzz — creating a richness of texture.

The album's inconspicuous complexity and professional performances make it a gem among ambient releases. Those factors also help explain why it's been a bit since Jacaszek's last release, and Glimmer was worth the wait.

- Text by Scott Morrow and Patrick Hajduch. Read the debate here.

Keep Shelly in Athens: Campus Martius EP (Planet Mu)

Keep Shelly in Athens: "Campus Martius"

Hailing from Athens, Greece, Keep Shelly in Athens (whose name is a play on the Grecian suburb Kypseli) is a down-tempo/chill-wave electronic two-piece that has garnered steady 'Net buzz since last year. The hype, to this point, might be a tad undeserved, but the duo's recent In Love With Dusk EP demonstrated potential across a spate of digitized genres, even if it was heavy on the Ibiza influence.

The major appeal here is the interplay between singer Sarah P and producer RPR, whose styles seem to be coming into their own. With Campus Martius, the duo's first release on Planet Mu, there's less of the beach-y nightlife and '80s cheese; instead, there's an urban, industrialized, and ambient vibe to better fit Sarah's elongated and reverberated vocals.

The EP also includes bits of spazzy Aphex Twin drum-and-melancholy, deep bass lines, vocals that would sound at home on a Sneaker Pimps record, and of-the-moment pitched vocal slicing. These elements hang together in a way that seems familiar and yet revelatory, and as a result, Campus Martius occupies a pleasant, bassy corner of the dubstep/post-dubstep/synthesizer continuum.

- Text by Scott Morrow and Patrick Hajduch. Read the debate here.

Loka: Passing Place (Ninja Tune)

Loka: "Sam Star"

In 1999, Liverpool residents Karl Webb and Mark Kyriacou began an exciting studio collaboration as Loka, merging psychedelic, classical, groove, down-tempo, and jazz elements in a daring but foolproof fusion. The project quickly signed to Ninja Tune, but the duo's first full album wasn't released until 2006, and Webb retired from the project in the following year. But now Loka is back, led by Kyriacou and the live Loka band, and the results were worth the wait.

Like that debut full-length (Fire Shepherds), Passing Place is a hybrid of the aforementioned elements. Here, however, a calmness meets the subdued tempos, and celestial vocals are part of a multilayered mélange. In fact, the oft-mentioned down-tempo feel of Fire Shepherds seems lively in comparison to Passing Place, which, despite its active moments, achieves a rare balance of beats and serenity.

“Entrance,” Passing Place’s opening track, almost tricks the listener into thinking that this album will be just like Loka’s first, with the heavy, haunting bass rumblings. But just as the song seems ready to launch into a break beat, a beautiful wordless vocal solo sets the mood of the album’s remainder. The vocal additions (by live-band members Lido Pimiento, Eleanor Mante, and Jaci Williams) weave through the keyboards, drums, and guitars and often determine the haunting, melancholy, or calming feel that each track transmits. It's a wonderful new direction, helping Loka to reestablish itself as a forerunner in classical psychedelia.

- Text by Lauren Zens.

Honorable Mentions

Anomie Belle: Machine EP

Czar: Vertical Mass Grave (Cracknation)

Eastern Blok: Underwater

Goldmund: All Will Prosper (Western Vinyl)

Sunn O))): øø Void reissue (Southern Lord)

Animals as Leaders: Weightless (Prosthetic)

Animals as Leaders: "Odessa"

Begun as a solo project that highlighted guitarist Tosin Abasi’s unmistakable shredding, Animals as Leaders released its debut album in 2009, emitting progressive-metal instrumentals with tasteful ambient, electronic, and jazz undertones. Now a trio, Animals as Leaders has returned with Weightless, its first recording as an official band.

The album features more hyper-prolific finger-tapping on eight-string guitars, the instrument of choice for Abasi’s meticulously crafted material. Electronica intros and bridges play a large role, but Weightless — ironically — often is very, very heavy, more so than its predecessor, trudging into sludge territory for spells. Despite the insane technicality, there’s always an emphasis on melody and head-banging rhythms, but the music — endorsed by shred virtuoso Steve Vai — is just as suitable for those with short attention spans.

- Text by Scott Morrow & Jenn Beening.

David Lynch: Crazy Clown Time (Sunday Best / PIAS)

David Lynch: "Crazy Clown Time"

Filmmaker David Lynch, best known for surrealist works such as Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet, may forever be considered an artist first and a musician second. And true to these labels, his new musical effort, Crazy Clown Time, is heavy on the art and light on the music. Maybe this draws the lines too sharply, but it’s fair to say that what Lynch has created here is nearly all atmosphere. It’s still a pop album, but it’s a pop album that a filmmaker like Lynch would make.

With echoing guitars lifted by highly defined cymbal splashes that enliven water-logged beats, Crazy Clown Time could score a washed-out Italian western, Nick Cave’s deviant Death of Bunny Munro, or, not surprisingly, a David Lynch film. The strangest thing about the album is that despite the great ’80s bass riff of “Stone’s Gone Up” or the elliptical synths of the somewhat banal “Good Day Today,”­ Lynch never completely loses the atmosphere.

More than writing songs, what Lynch is really doing is creating characters. These characters then are the subjects of dark narratives, all of which feature a similar texture: perpetual dampness, heavy light, and the disembodied chill of film noir.

Accessibility has always been Lynch’s worst enemy, but even though some listeners will abandon the record after the first track, “Pinky’s Dream” — a charged nightmare featuring an incredible performance by Karen O — there are several entry points for pop listeners. And longtime fans will love it all, the electro-pop confessionals and the more cinematic vignettes.

- Text by Timothy S. Aames.

Trentemøller: Reworked/Remixed (In My Room / HFN Music)

Efterklang: "Raincoats" (Trentemøller remix)

Danish production guru Anders Trentemøller built his name in the mid-2000s as a dance-floor DJ with extensive remixes and studio credits. In 2010, however, he went “live” and released a sophomore album of chilling organic orchestrations, complemented by electronics but driven by tremolo-swollen guitar riffs.

With Reworked/Remixed, a new double-album release, listeners can hear both of these sides of Trentemøller. These 22 tracks include his remixes of other established artists (UNKLE, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Mew, Efterklang), remixes of Trentemøller material by others, and self-remixes and instrumental outtakes. By its nature, it’s a little more oriented for the dance crowd, but Reworked/Remixed remains a compelling cross-section — and introduction to — Trentemøller’s catalog.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

And So I Watch You from Afar: Gangs (Sargent House / Richter Collective)

And So I Watch You from Afar: "Beautiful Universe Master Champion"

In March, the peerless Sargent House label gave American listeners a much-needed introduction to Adebisi Shank, an Irish instrumental trio that merges raging guitar harmonies with spasmodic electronics. Now Sargent House is at it again with Richter Collective, the DIY Irish label that counts Adebisi drummer Mick Roe as a co-founder, to provide American distribution for the sophomore release of And So I Watch You from Afar, a Belfast-based trio of mathy post-rockers from Northern Ireland.

Based on the other side of the Emerald Isle, And So I Watch You from Afar has a similar MO to Adebisi and sonic brethren such as Don Caballero, The Advantage, and Maps & Atlases. And like Don Cab, the band excels with a heavier rhythmic quality thanks to single-octave riffs, deep bass grooves, and mid-tempo breakdowns. At times, it seethes with a punk ferocity, but at others, it's content to charm listeners with clean-channel harmonies and wordless choruses (such as on the buoyant and glistening "7 Billion People All Alive at Once").

Over the course of its 44 minutes, Gangs delivers an unrelenting and celebratory riff fest. There's a dash of Fang Island here, a touch of Mogwai there, and a smidge of whatever math- or post-rock group fits any given passage. But when it's all said and done, ASIWYFA just sounds like itself — a band having a grand ol' time.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

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

Ralfe Band: "Bunny and the Bull Title Theme"

The world got its first taste of Ralfe Band's playful folk in 2004 thanks to BBC Radio1’s late and great DJ John Peel. Since that introduction, songwriter Oliver Ralfe, drummer Andrew Mitchell, and crew went on to release a pair of quirky singer-songwriter albums, but their soundtrack to the 2009 British comedy Bunny and the Bull portrayed a different side of the group. Ralfe, musically inspired by scores like Ennio Morricone's Once Upon a Time in the West, Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo, and Herbie Hancock's jazzy Blow-Up, embraced the opportunity to compose his own original soundtrack, and the result was an eclectic, flavorful set of mostly instrumental accompaniment.

Produced by Warp Films, Bunny and the Bull joins Stephen, a man disgruntled by his humdrum life, in his recollection of a humorously catastrophic odyssey through Europe with his lunatic friend Bunny. The instrumental diversity and tempo fluctuations on the score, occasionally appearing within a single track, perfectly suit the film's road-movie style. Whether or not you imagine the music in conjunction with the film, the score’s ditties vividly illustrate scenes of freewheeling, nomadic travel throughout Eastern Europe. Pianos, cowbells, accordions, triangles, flamenco guitars, ukuleles, and violas establish the whimsical nature of the music and bring the listener to atmospheres of French cabarets, Victorian England, Balkan folk dances, and bull-fighting Spain.

- Text by Lauren Zens.

Owen: Ghost Town (Polyvinyl)

Owen: "No Place Like Home"

Mike Kinsella has spent the better part of two decades playing in a bevy of Illinois-based indie-rock bands. Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Owls, American Football — each has shown a different side of Kinsella’s abilities. But Owen, his now decade-running solo project, has been the most multifaceted, and Ghost Town is more proof.

The album, as usual, is rooted in Kinsella’s delicate vocals and multi-instrumental prowess, but the timbres are as assorted as ever. Overdubbed acoustic and electric guitars, strings, piano, marimba, and glockenspiel complement the crux of each song, resulting in another heavily layered and highly melodic batch of tunes. Though Ghost Town won’t catch you off guard, its unassuming depth might surprise you.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

Slugabed: Sun Too Bright Turn it Off EP (Ninja Tune)

Slugabed: "Sun Too Bright Turn it Off"

Like many other UK cities, including Brighton and Bristol, London is on the forefront of current styles and approaches to beat-making. It’s also the residence of DJ and producer Slugabed, whose new EP, Sun Too Bright Turn it Off, sounds like the East London and Los Angeles beat scenes coming into one.

This new release marks back-to-back EPs for Slugabed, a.k.a. Greg Feldwick, as he makes a strong and steady buildup to his debut album for Ninja Tune. Parallel to the Moonbeam Rider EP, Sun Too Bright Turn it Off builds a spacey, multi-dimensional soundscape filled with chopped-and-screwed break beats, wobbly bass drops, and wild 8-bit synths.

But the two releases are unquestionably different in terms of spacing and pacing. Sun Too Bright is a substantially more down-tempo affair, which in fact better establishes Feldwick’s ability as a composer. Though his productions inherently lean toward dubstep and bass spatterings, Feldwick makes the transcontinental connection by unleashing Brainfeeder-textured melodies that thrust his music into a futuristic universe where genres are connected in unexpected ways.

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

Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason: Sólaris (Bedroom Community)

Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason: "Reyja"

Last year, Mat Schulz, who started Poland’s Unsound Festival, asked composers Ben Frost and Daníel Bjarnason — each residents of Reykjavík, Iceland — to rework Andre Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Sólaris. For both Frost and Bjarnason, Music for Sólaris is a complete departure. Though Frost’s music is often labeled everything from dark industrial to classical minimalism, Bjarnason’s compositions are wildly extravagant yet controlled; together, it’s an inspired collaboration. Under their guidance, Sólaris achieves a delicate balance of the two personalities.

The soundtrack begins with “We Don’t Need Other Worlds, We Need Mirrors,” a subtle, almost piercing string arrangement that eases into the album’s steadily mounting tension. That tension reaches its summit in the latter half of the third track, “Simulacra II,” when restraint is dismissed for something more vivid and emotional.

As the soundtrack’s intensity waxes and wanes throughout, there also develops a clearer distinction between the two composers. In “Saccades,” one of the album’s closing tracks, Frost’s disturbing guitar-thumping creates an eerie discord against Bjarnason’s controlled piano, played one note at a time.

What began as an improvisation played to Sólaris resulted is something far from the original score. Nevertheless, it skillfully captures the haunting and beautifully fragmented quality of the film.

- Text by Meaghann Korbel.

Archaios: The Distant (Dark Canvas)

Archaios: "The Distant"

Dominican melodic-death-metal band Archaios has been at it since the mid-’90s, cranking out crushing, wailing riffs and blast beats. But due to the nation's lack of wealth, support, and proper metal production — not to mention its weighty presence of right-wing media — Archaios has only now been able to release The Distant, its second full-length album.

The album's release, however, is an accomplishment in itself, made even more impressive by the fact that it's the first Dominican metal album to be internationally released by a North American label. But Archaios' selection here is more than as mere novelty; its music, though drawing parallels to plenty of extreme-metal outfits, weaves together trademarks of black, prog, death, and electro metal to make one head-crushing blend.

Somehow, the tiny island nation with an equally miniature metal scene has produced a metal band that can hang with the best of them. With proper distribution and promotion, Archaios just might bring the metal spotlight to the Dominican Republic.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson and Scott Morrow.

Honorable Mentions

200 Years: s/t (Drag City)

Brian Eno & (the words of) Rick Holland: Panic of Looking (Warp)

Chris Connelly: Artificial Madness (Relapse)

Matthew Friedberger: Death-in-Life LP (Thrill Jockey)

Hubble: Hubble Drums (Northern Spy)

Lateef the Truthspeaker: Firewire (Quannum)

Cass McCombs: Humor Risk (Domino)

Marissa Nadler: Covers Volume II (Box of Cedar)

Oneohtrix Point Never: Replica (Software / Mexican Summer)

Polinski: Labyrinths (Monotreme)

The Skull Defekts f. Daniel Higgs and Zomes: 2013-3012 (Thrill Jockey)

Zs: 33 2×7” (Northern Spy)

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

Slugabed: Sun Too Bright Turn it Off EP (Ninja Tune, 11/8/11)

Slugabed: "Sun Too Bright Turn it Off"

It’s appropriate to say that London is a breeding ground of zeitgeist-changing musical talent when it comes to the instrumental beat scene. In the city, you’ll find dubstep, grime, and drum-'n'-bass nights every day of the week. And like many other UK cities, including Brighton and Bristol, London is on the forefront of current styles and approaches to beat-making. It’s also the residence of DJ and producer Slugabed, whose new EP, Sun Too Bright Turn it Off, sounds like the East London and Los Angeles beat scenes coming into one.

The new release marks back-to-back EPs for Slugabed, a.k.a. Greg Feldwick, as he makes a strong and steady buildup to his debut album for Ninja Tune. Parallel to the Moonbeam Rider EP, Sun Too Bright Turn it Off builds a spacey, multi-dimensional soundscape filled with chopped-and-screwed break beats, wobbly bass drops, and wild 8-bit synths. But the two releases are unquestionably different in terms of spacing and pacing. Sun Too Bright is a substantially more down-tempo affair, which in fact better establishes Feldwick’s ability as a composer.

The London DJ’s compositions are strung carefully between chaotic and meditative, a tension reached by a beat methodology focused on song structure. Though his productions inherently lean toward dubstep and bass spatterings, Feldwick makes the transcontinental connection by unleashing Brainfeeder-textured melodies that thrust his music into a futuristic universe that connects genres in unexpected ways.

Like many electronic-beat geeks’ music, Feldwick’s is meant to be heard in two ways, with either a pair of headphones or a well-qualified speaker system – or whatever the case, at least played back at ample volume. Anything less may diminish the artist’s attention to detail. Feldwick’s dynamic ranges complement his song craft, demonstrated by the opening title track, where he mashes high and low compressions together to form a divergent melody in a gritty dubstep frequency. The staggering beat is easily the liveliest on the EP, unleashing a monstrous synthesis of crunchy hip-hop kicks and sub-bass rumbles as electro-sound-chip beeps unravel from the shape-shifting, arpeggiated piano to form an epic melody that ties everything together.

The EP is riddled with subtle twists of a knob or switches of an effect. “Depth Perception” is a deep-seated groove with reverb-drenched chimes and broken chords, each layer seemingly tuned to its own atmosphere. “Dragon Drums” owns the EP’s most relaxed rhythm track, though it's brought to life by the multi-layered synth lines orbiting around dub, hip hop, and glitch.

Perhaps it’s Feldwick’s aptitude for the unexpected melody that separates him from contemporaries, not to mention why he’s often compared to the late J Dilla, but one gets a sense that he can even turn his beats and bass riffs into melodic phrases. If Sun Too Bright Turn it Off indicates anything, it’s that Feldwick is more than a DJ who tinkers with 8-bit synthesizers – he’s a worthwhile reflection of the progressive broken beats coming out of the UK.

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)

Kid Koala: "Main Title Theme"

Kid Koala, born Eric San, is a Chinese-Canadian DJ who garnered recognition for distinctive styles of scratch turntablism and comical samples after his Ninja Tune debut Carpel Tunnel Syndrome in 2000. Since that time, the turntablist has toured extensively with huge names such as Björk, Beastie Boys, and Radiohead, composed several original film scores, and collaborated on numerous musical projects, including his own Deltron 3030 and The Slew.

San also has quite a knack for illustration, which he employed for his 2003 album, Nufonia Must Fall, a 352-page romantic tragedy about a love-struck robot paired with a short, jazzy soundtrack. His new release, Space Cadet (out tomorrow), is his second graphic-novel/soundtrack pairing, and it sets aside the eccentric scratching and samples to revisit San's classical piano training. Inspired by the birth of San's daughter, Space Cadet is a 132-page graphic narrative and dulcet soundtrack that chronicles a young girl’s adventures through outer space with her robot guardian.

Here, ALARM speaks with San about his newest multimedia journey.

When and how did you develop your turntable techniques?

I try to develop it everyday! I do it by practicing and listening to as many different styles of music as I can. Turntables are chameleon-like. The challenge for me is to see if I can learn to play them tastefully in whatever style is required.

In this technological age, with so many DJs transitioning from analog to digital mixing, why have you stuck primarily with vinyl turntables?

I like the sound of vinyl crackle and record burn.

Can you explain your thought process when choosing sounds to mix into tracks?

I usually have a melody or a story in my mind when I record. I try to bend sound into the melody that I hear in my head. I have a record cutter in my studio, so I will record a single guitar note or keyboard tone and cut it to a custom record. Once it's on the turntable, I can bend it into all the other notes of the scale.

What do you mean when you describe your search for inspiration as "audio-voyeurism"? How did your inspirations differ between past albums and Space Cadet?

I think whenever you listen to a recording, you are hearing a part of someone's life. I like to imagine the life story around the whole recording and what compelled people to make such recordings. Space Cadet was completely inspired by the birth of my daughter. Most of it was recorded before while she was an infant. Each piece on the Space Cadet score is a kind of turntable lullaby for her.

For a project like Space Cadet, do you start with the story line and illustrations, or do you compose the music first?

Space Cadet started with the illustrations.

What do you want listeners/viewers to take away from this project?

Hopefully, it will resonate with readers on some level with their own experiences with family, love, and distance.

Why haven't you used piano on previous albums to the extent that you use it on Space Cadet?

I used a piano as the primary instrument for the Nufonia Must Fall soundtrack. I also used it on some tunes I wrote for Sesame Street. Piano has always been my first instrument, and I usually go to it first when it's time to do a soundtrack. Perhaps it's because of all the Charlie Chaplin films I watched as child growing up. I loved how the sound of the piano would always add to the whole experience of those films.

How has the Space Cadet Headphone Tour gone? What are your expectations for the forthcoming Music to Draw To Tour?

The Space Cadet Headphone Tour has just started. I just wanted to provide a cozy environment to experience this music and the themes of the story. We bring inflatable space pods for the audience members to sit on, and everyone gets their own pair of headphones. This is not a dance-floor record. It is the quietest thing I've ever recorded, so I felt it would best be experienced on headphones.

The show is also a much larger production to set up than usual, so we are taking our time installing the show and gallery in different cities. So far we've done shows at The Contemporary Art Museum in Massachusetts and also the Biosphere in Montreal. This autumn, I will bring it to a few cities in Europe and the UK and next year to different cities in North America and other territories.

Even though the koala attire was imposed on you by a lost bet, has the costume become an enjoyable aspect of performing in any way?

It's boiling hot in that suit!

Brian Eno and the words of Rick Holland: Drums Between the Bells (Warp)

Brian Eno: "Glitch"

Ambient/electronic luminary Brian Eno has been on a collaborative kick in recent years, and that streak continues with his latest album, Drums Between the Bells. Using the words of poet Rick Holland, Eno offers an eclectic mix of timbres and moods as the foundations for metered metaphors and tales, as recited by a range of guests.

The album’s varying musical styles are striking, ranging from celestial to funky, down-tempo, cinematic, and even slightly aggressive. Eno’s trademarks tie it all together, giving the album a necessary cohesion, but between the assorted sounds and vocalists, Drums Between the Bells achieves a diversity and quality that few spoken-word albums do.

Manorexia: Dinoflagellate Blooms (Ectopic Ents)

Dinoflagellate Blooms is the latest instrumental opus from musical alchemist JG Thirlwell, better known for his varied compositions as Foetus. Reprising his Manorexia moniker for its first studio creation since 2002, Thirwell uses these 11 tracks to craft dark, cinematic drama while using a plethora of orchestral instrumentation.

Last year, Thirlwell released The Mesopelagic Waters, a re-imagination of his previous, sample-based work as Manorexia using a live string quartet and percussion ensemble. Dinoflagellate Blooms goes a step further, performing the faux film-score sounds with full sonic regale.

There remains, however, a number of strange, brooding samples in the mix, taking the lead for pieces such as the 10-minute "Krzystl," which should frustrate listeners with its cuts of an old telephone busy signal and buzzing flies. But whether sampled or performed, the album's moments of formless ambience, dissonance, and moodiness create an unease that permeates it.

Yet it's not entirely sinister; chimes and bells bring melodic touches to Dinoflagellate Blooms, and at other times, the album establishes a sense of frantic urgency with pounding percussion and deep horn swells. It's a delicately crafted release, as reflected by a bonus DVD of the album that's in 5.1 surround sound.

Slugabed: Moonbeam Rider EP (Ninja Tune)

Slugabed: "Moonbeam Rider"

UK musician Greg Feldwick is the man behind Slugabed, a multi-pronged electronic project that touches on dubstep, glitch, and grime with a generally spacey, bass-heavy MO.

Following a handful of releases for electronic labels Planet Mu, Stuffrecords, and Ramp, the Moonbeam Rider EP is Slugabed's jump to Ninja Tune, which will release his debut full-length later this year.

The music recalls many different electronic artists, albeit in a way that sounds familiar.  But Slugabed's strength is maintaining a distinct balance of beauty and beats, and that's most evident in a track such as "My Sense of Smell Comes and Goes," which achieves a quasi-Flying Lotus vibe thanks to active melodies and some 8-bit dubstep.

"Tomorrow Morning" is dancier than its predecessor but just as intricate with its scales, and "Nu Krak Swing" closes the EP with a one-minute throwback to new jack swing with cheesy synth bass and "orchestra hit" keyboard effects (like, for reference, the theme music of Entertainers with Byron Allen).  It's a gorgeous debut, hopefully laying the groundwork for greater things.

Honorable Mentions

Big Spider’s Back: Memory Man (Circle Into Square / Fake Four)

Com Truise: Galactic Melt (Ghostly International)

Exhumed: All Guts, No Glory (Relapse)

Gardens & Villa: s/t (Secretly Canadian)

My Silence (Jason Stein, Nick Butcher, Mike Reed, Sharon Van Etten): It Only Happens at Night (482)

Old 97s: The Grand Theatre Vol. 2 (New West)

Samiyam: Sam Baker’s Album (Brainfeeder)