Mastodon: The Hunter (Warner Bros. / Reprise)

Mastodon: "Curl of the Burl"

Since forming in 1999, Mastodon has grown from cult sensation to preeminent poster-child of metal’s next generation. Along the way, its crushing, complex brand of melodic sludge has absorbed elements of thrash, prog, and Southern rock, all complemented by earthen mythology, literary ambition, and serious chops.

On The Hunter, an album that breaks the band's concept-album streak, vocal melodies are at an all-time high, imbuing tracks such as "Curl of the Burl," "All the Heavy Lifting," and "Creature Lives" with genuine pop catchy-ness that, at times, approaches the intonations of Alice in Chains. But grizzly screams and up-tempo sludge riffs have not gone the way of the band's namesake; "Blasteroid" and "Black Tongue" have plenty of head-bashing fury.

A few spacey and horror-esque elements, musically and lyrically, give the album an interesting wrinkle here and there, such as on "Stargasm" and "Creature Lives," the latter of which uses pitch-shifting synths to set an alien mood. "The Sparrow" then closes the album with touches of lap-steel guitar, setting the tone for some of the airiest Mastodon vocals yet.

In all, The Hunter is a fun, riff-filled album, but it's destined to alienate more Mastodon "purists." The bottom line, however, is that the band continues to crank out killer riffs and turn on a new generation to metal — even if it has a softer edge.

Boom Bip: Zig Zaj (Lex)

Boom Bip: "All Hands"

Ever since his loop-based beginnings, Bryan Charles Hollan — known better as experimental hip-hop artist Boom Bip — has been on the search for his optimal live-band incarnation. With his latest, Zig Zaj, he seems to have found it.

In 2002, Seed to Sun demonstrated Hollan's ability to make compelling organic and instrumental hip hop. On his recordings since that time, nearly everything has been performed by hand, and the results have been admirable — but nothing has clicked quite like this.

Now Hollan is armed with a permanent live band, consisting of Josh Klinghoffer (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Eric Gardner (Gnarls Barkley, Charlotte Gainsbourg), and Josiah Steinbrick. Their chemistry is immediately evident on Zig Zaj, which also sports standout guest spots from Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand (for one very Depeche Mode track), Money Mark, Luke Steele (Empire of the Sun), Cate Le Bon, and Mikey Noyce (Bon Iver).

Partly because of the guests, the new material takes a poppier and more rock-driven direction. But there's still plenty of the old Bip underneath, as synths and electronics commingle with the bass grooves and delicate acoustic riffs. It's a catchy, beautiful, and well-balanced blend, perfect for first-time Bip listeners. Pick this up now.

Welder: Florescence (Ancestor)

Welder: "Run"

Brendan Angelides is a San Francisco-based electronic producer best known as Eskmo, an IDM/electronica project that has come to focus more on atmospherics and on writing songs than on its early roots of making dance tracks. He has found a like-minded collaborator in the incomparable Amon Tobin, with whom he operated as Eskamon for a 2010 single, but for his latest release, Angelides has retraced his roots as Welder for another self-released gem.

Welder began as one of Angelides' first and most introspective projects. Living alone in a lakeside house in Connecticut for two years, he created soft, internal music, a more “chilled” version of electronica, under the alias . But it wasn’t only the remote locale that inspired the quiet sounds, as Angelides pored over documents and papers about the dark underside of American society and government and conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11.

Florescence is almost a rebirth for Welder. The IDM elements remain, but the music is more organic than ever. Gone are the bass-heavy dubstep rumblings of his self-titled Eskmo release, and the worldly elements of the earlier Welder material have been replaced by interwoven grooves, stirring melodies, and diverse timbres.

The emphasis here is on Angelides' musicianship, including his talents on the piano and bass. From the start, Florescence is highly active, intertwining feisty and bubbly melodies of faux cello and glockenspiel. Piano, guitars, synths, and strings surround those other elements, and whether they're real or library samples, they create a sound that's simultaneously lifelike and dreamy.

- Text by Marla Seidell and Scott Morrow. Read the feature story on Eskmo here.

Zechs Marquise: Getting Paid (Sargent House / Rodriguez Lopez Productions)

Zechs Marquise: "Static Lovers"

El Paso-based psych-prog five-piece Zechs Marquise is three-fifths Rodriguez Lopez — brothers Marcel, Rikardo, and Marfred — a surname that gained music-industry notoriety from Omar, the prolific Mars Volta guitarist (and head of Zechs Marquise's label). Together, the siblings have followed in the progressive footsteps of their older brother, but Zechs Marquise has blazed its own trail over its eight years as a band.

Its official debut album, the 2009 effort Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, was a much more experimental and atmospheric work, patching together songs with eerie intros, funky keys, and jazz-tinged ambience. Getting Paid, however, fully focuses on the groove. Each of the album's nine tracks moves at its own pace, venturing into an alternate sonic universe at a moment's notice. Abrupt tempo shifts, an inexhaustible junk drawer of textures, and a healthy obsession with '70s prog fusion culminate in a truly shape-shifting record, albeit one that consistently rocks. Zechs Marquise knows when to give into its sweaty, twisted vision-quest dalliances and when to let a groove ride.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

Evidence: Cats & Dogs (Rhymesayers)

Evidence: "You"

Los Angeles MC Michael Perretta (better known as Evidence) is one third of the hip-hop trio Dilated Peoples. Over the past four years, with Dilated on hiatus, Evidence has focused on his solo career, and Cats & Dogs marks his move to Rhymesayers Entertainment.

Here Perretta delivers a crisp flow that is complemented by guest vocalists such as Slug (Atmosphere), Aesop Rock, Raekwon, and Aloe Blacc. With samples anchored in soul and pop, the album lays a pliable backdrop for topics that range from the recession to distorted concepts of love. Skits between tracks bear an early-’90s influence, and with shout-outs to KRS-One and De La Soul, it’s clear that the time period remains a strong influence on Cats & Dogs.

- Text by Portia Medina.

Plaid: Scintilli (Warp)

Plaid: "35 Summers"

Despite an eight-year layoff between "official" full-lengths, London electronic/film-scoring duo Plaid certainly has not lost its touch. Initially announcing the news of their sixth studio album back in 2008 and taking as long as an entire day to produce a single beat, Andrew Turner and Ed Handley have used their tedious perfectionism to make Scintilli worth the wait.

Plaid's first non-film-related release since 2003, Scintilli is a dreamy, hyper-melodic mélange from the get-go, as ethereal female vocals glide over the first track’s delicate chimes and synths. Each of the album’s 13 tracks, however, adds an entirely new rhythmical sequence and mood to the mix. With a vast array of layered sound effects, Scintilli has a captivating range. Its infectious loops and spliced styles – hazy pop, acid house, dubstep, glitch – fade in and out in a confused muddle. Yet the mingling of these divergent electronic sounds creates a pleasant disconnect, perfect for eclectic IDM fans.

- Text by Lauren Zens.

Honorable Mentions

Apparat: The Devil’s Walk (Mute)

Bonnie "Prince" Billy / Phantom Family Halo: Mindeater (Knitting Factory)

Brutal Truth: End Time (Relapse)

Extreme Noise Terror: Holocaust In My Head (Candlelight)

Bill Frisell: All We Are Saying (Savoy Jazz)

Itsnotyouitsme: Everybody’s Pain is Magnificent (New Amsterdam)

The Janks: Hands of Time (Sprouted Records)

Junius / Rosetta: Split (Translation Loss)

Rudresh Mahanthappa: Samdhi (ACT Music & Vision)

Jono McCleery: There Is (Counter)

Rwake: Rest (Relapse)

Matt Stevens: Relic

Tom Vek: Leisure Seizure (Downtown / CO-OP USA / Island)

Craig Wedren: Wand (Nerveland)

Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm Records)

yMusic: Beautiful Mechanical (New Amsterdam)

Zechs Marquise: "Static Lovers"

El Paso-based psych-prog five-piece Zechs Marquise is set to release its sophomore album, Getting Paid, on September 27. The band is three-fifths Rodriguez Lopez — brothers Marcel, Rikardo, and Marfred — a surname that gained music-industry clout from Omar, the prolific Mars Volta guitarist (and head of Zechs Marquise's label).

We have an exclusive track from Getting Paid available for your listening enjoyment. "Static Lovers" starts off with eerie ambience, all creaks and groans and echoing screeches, before a drumroll and ripping wah-wah riff kick in. Expanding on the sound established on its 2009 debut, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, Zechs' style is meandering throwback psychedelia with a prog-fusion bent.

In the teaser video below, the band opens up a package filled with its own vinyl. They're all, "Whoa," "sick," and "dope." Have a listen, have a look, and see what all the excitement's about.

Septicflesh: The Great Mass (Season of Mist)

Septicflesh: "The Vampire from Nazareth"

In 2008, Grecian death-metal quartet Septicflesh made a triumphant hiatus-ending return with Communion, an album that marked a new symphonic direction on the back of guitarist Christos Antoniou's classical studies.

The Great Mass is the group's second post-reunion effort, and it continues this direction with more of Antoniou's marvelous arrangements.  Orchestral and guitar-based hooks lead the way, but there's plenty of double-kick and blast beats, unearthly growls, and lightning-fast picking.

The album also is greatly strengthened by its secondary elements: mid-tempo riffs, Gothic singing, tom-heavy drum pounding, and brooding cinematic motifs.  Tracks such as "Five-Pointed Star," which display nuance and melodic mastery, would be believed as part of a dark Hollywood score (minus the metal elements).

The Great Mass might be the high-water mark of Septicflesh's celebrated 20-year career.  Either way, it's an exciting continuation of the band's reinvention.

Lanu: Her 12 Faces (Tru Thoughts)

Lanu: "Beautiful Trash"

Known for his work in funk/soul band The Bamboos, Melbourne-based producer Lance Ferguson now releases his second solo album of electronic pop as Lanu.

The album, titled Her 12 Faces, has gained steam abroad behind the strength of its first single, "Beautiful Trash," which features lighthearted vocals by Australian pop star Megan Washington (who appears four times on the album's first six songs).  The rest of Ferguson's sophomore effort is just as engaging, however, as it achieves sunny, fuzzy pop bliss without being cheesy or too sugary.

Lounge elements, hip-hop beats, and electronics help create a sultry vibe that is backed by strings, pedal steel, acoustic guitar, sitar, whistling, piano, and minimalist bass grooves.  Ferguson's skills as a producer come to the fore thanks to the diversity of sounds, but it's his penchant for simple yet effective melodies that makes Her 12 Faces one of the year's early pop gems.

Del the Funky Homosapien: Golden Era 3xCD (The Council)

Del the Funky Homosapien: "One Out of a Million"

Following his second dose of mainstream exposure with the 2001 Gorillaz debut, lauded indie MC Del the Funky Homosapien took another step back from major-label success.  A number of guest spots and a new Hieroglyphics album kept him busy, and intermittent work on the next Deltron 3030 release (with Dan the Automator and Kid Koala) kept fans awaiting another of his best collaborations (which, reportedly, is just about finally complete).

Over the past few years, however, Del has gone into hyper-proliferation, releasing four solo albums and a collaborative disc with Tame One since 2008 alone.

Golden Era, a triple-disc release, is the latest in what might come to be considered Del's golden age.  Featuring 10 more tracks of funky, sample-heavy hip hop and poetic cadences, the main disc is another solid installment in what is becoming a massive body of work.  Die-hard fans might find little new direction, but they should love it all the same.  And because Golden Era also includes the physical release of two previously digital-only albums — Automatik Statik and Funk Man — those who haven't kept up on Del's latest releases would do well to grab it.

Dengue Fever: Cannibal Courtship (Fantasy Records / Concord Music Group)

Dengue Fever:"Uku"

Righteously capturing the free spirit of Cambodia’s 1960s surf-rock and psychedelic-pop scene is Dengue Fever's fourth LP, Cannibal Courtship.  For nearly a decade, the Los Angeles-based ensemble, led by Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, has shone a light on the wealth of grooves that Khmer music has to offer, intricately reworking its musical foundations in an approach that is vintage in style with an ear towards global sounds.

Cannibal Courtship shows the band expanding its sound into new territories, playing a more fuzzed-out, rock-and-roll style while keeping true to the dreamy, reverberated guitar licks and driving bass riffs that make its music so hypnotic.  Guitarist Zac Holtzman takes a prominent vocal presence, and Nimol’s English has become increasingly better, resulting in a record that is sung half in Khmer and half in English.

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

Graveyard: Hisingen Blues (Nuclear Blast)

Graveyard: "Ain't Fit to Live Here"

It has been three years since Swedish psych-rock band Graveyard released an album. Rather than use that time to modify its sound or explore new territory, the band appears to have been perfecting its bread and butter: classic rock.

Produced, recorded, and mixed entirely in analog by Don Alsterberg (José Gonzales, Junip, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The International Noise Conspiracy), Hisingen Blues takes listeners back to the '70s with rock-solid shredding and vocalist Joakim Nilsson's impassioned wailing.

Yet for as retro as its sound is, Graveyard does show signs of modernity — to varying success. On tracks such as "Uncomfortably Numb," the band flexes its powers of power-balladry. And on "Longing," a downtempo song with subtle percussion and no vocals, an Ennio Morricone-esque whistle couples with tremolo to an understated crescendo.

Ultimately, the album is retreading covered ground, but with tight production and a commanding swagger, Hisingen Blues still hits all of the right notes.

Arkan: Salam (Season of Mist)

Arkan: "Origins"

Formed by drummer Foued Moukid and guitarist/vocalist Abder Abdellahoum, Parisian metal band Arkan began its existence to fuse Arabic and North African timbres and melodies to the brutality of death metal.

The group's 2008 full-length debut, Hilal, contained plenty of Middle Eastern sounds — oud, bouzouki, darbuka, and more — but Salam, its sophomore album, reflects better balance and better songwriting.  Though still plenty heavy, Salam is more melodic, with stronger hooks and smoother transitions between styles.

Abdellahoum's vocal brutality remains a key element, but it's evened out by a greater presence from standalone vocalist Sarah Layssac, who previously toured with the band.  The album crosses into vocal melodrama at times, particularly towards the end, but Salam is a welcome release for lovers of worldly metal.

Honorable Mentions

Bill Callahan: Apocalypse (Drag City)

Gorillaz: The Fall (Virgin)

Harriet Tubman Band: Ascension (Sunnyside)

Illmind: Behind the Curtain (Nature Sounds)

Mazal: Axerico En Selanik (Tzadik)

My Goodness: s/t (Sarathan)

O’Death: Outside (Ernest Jenning Record Co.)

Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Telesterion (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)

Tune-Yards: Whokill (4AD)

Seven That Spells: Future Retro Spasm (Beta-Lactam Ring, 5/20/10)

Seven That Spells: "Olympos"

Morrow: Based in Zagreb, Croatia, Seven That Spells plays a powerhouse fusion of psychedelic rock, math and jazz influences, and full-tilt drumming assaults.  The group, originally a power trio, is led by guitarist/keyboardist Niko Potočnjak but has undergone radical changes in its lineup over its relatively brief tenure, and its last album, Cosmoerotic Dialogue with Lucifer, was a noisy, progressive, multi-drummer attack on the senses.

Future Retro Spasm features the return of saxophonist Lovro Zlopaša (who appeared on Black Om Rising in 2008), but this time around, he steals the spotlight.  His sax lines, often interwoven with each other, are the album's driving melodic force, and their interplay with Potočnjak's acid-soaked riffs is spectacular.  With that deft relationship and the brawn of the rhythm section, 12-minute jams seem to pass in half the time.

Hajduch: One cool thing about this album is that it has a few sweet galloping parts with a one-note bass line.  As the bass keeps a sturdy anchor, the drums shuffle at double time but with a consistent snare on the 2 and 4.  The result is "jazzy" and "flashy" but feels heavy, because there is still a groove to hold onto.

When the bass gets "complicated" (three notes at one point during the song "G"), the guitar situates itself as a new rhythmic center — a single octave, repeated on every quarter note.  The octave eventually gives way to a six-note scale that is mutated and mirrored and eventually is buried in the interplay with the saxophone.  At the exact moment that the streams get crossed, the tempo and riff are abruptly transplanted to parts unknown.  The effect is not disorienting or wanky but seems declarative: this is the moment that we exhausted this idea, and now we are exploring a different one.

Elsewhere, as on the 14-minute "The Abandoned World of Automata," this type of math/tech logic takes a backseat to slow-burn psychedelia, to fantastic results.  The interplay between the sax and the guitar is really something, especially as the song hits its final crescendo around the 13-minute mark.  It is a totally captivating track, showcasing a band of members adept at jumping from lead to rhythm and back again, with a jazz-combo ear for when and how to do so.

Morrow: Absolutely, and Seven That Spells has that common thread with a few of my favorite bands — mixing heaviness and horns to perfection, like Zu and Jerseyband.  But compared to those groups, this is much more in the progressive camp, with swirling guitar leads and horn harmonies over thumping, tom-heavy beats.  It's much closer to Omar Rodriguez Lopez than Meshuggah, although the drumming often crosses into metal with occasional double-bass blasts.

Oh, and there's one other unifying element on Seven That Spells albums: lots of naked chicks.

Hajduch: I was previously unfamiliar with the band, and I just have a single-disc promo (no artwork), so I was unable to see these "lots of naked chicks."  If anybody out there on the Internet has any idea how to use the World Wide Web to fix that problem, please let me know in the comments.  I'm dying here.

Free Moral Agents: Control This (Chocolate Industries, 10/12/2010)

Free Moral Agents: "North Is Red"

Mars Volta fans know Isaiah “Ikey” Owens as a master keyboardist, also lending his talents to the related experimental dub/reggae side project De Facto. But Owens’ own one-time side project, Free Moral Agents, has transformed into a full-time band with a second studio release, Control This.  Though his musical associations are enough to give him reputable standing as a versatile and adaptable session player, Free Moral Agents is far from sounding like a complex math-rock outfit.

The band's music is, however, complex in its own way.  Control This is an omnivorous kind of record — as diverse as it is visionary — and is comfortable in taking on different musical personas at once.  Over a combination of ambient pop and trip hop, crunchy guitar riffs and avant-garde fusion motifs construct a critical foreground, and the esoteric vocals of Mendee Ichikawa make for a strong and fitting melodic element.

Under the Free Moral Agents moniker, Owens released his 2004 solo debut, Everybody’s Favorite Weapon, on fellow Mars Volta bandmate Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s label, Gold Standard Laboratories.  Soon after the solo affair saw the additions of Dennis Owens on bass, Ryan Reiff on drums, Reid Kinnet on the Fender Rhodes, Jesse Carzello on guitar, and Ichikawa on vocals.  Owens is responsible for the band’s overall sound, not only playing keyboard but taking lead on production.

Regarding that production, Owens is consistent in giving tracks enough ambient space for Ichikawa’s breathy vocals to effectively clash with the rest of the band’s dynamics.   The contrast is heard on pieces like “Sytole,” with its haunting delayed vocals, echoing into a funky break-beat and bass-driven set, finally breaking down into an epic fusion of visceral guitar riffs and swelling trumpet lines.

“Avarand,” another track that draws distinct differences together, takes a number of stylistic twists in a far-reaching arrangement that works in the overall scheme of the album.  The heavy pierce from the guitar is the closest on the album to resemble that of The Mars Volta. But like many of the other instruments, it drops in and out, giving the song a blistering nod that comes off meditative rather than spontaneous.

Later on the record, the band brings its experimental flourishes to Sonic Youth’s “Little Trouble Girl,” a cover that not only shows the true extent of its wide-ranging sound but the striking similarities between Ichikawa’s voice to both Kim Gordon and Kim Deal.

But as early as the album’s opening track “North Is Red,” Free Moral Agents establishes a musical energy that rides a fine line between inside and outside the box.  There’s a developed maturity within the exotic percussion and groovy horn lines that achieve an exciting urgency, even though the vocals stay cool and collected.  By mid-song, everything breaks down, and there begins an assaulting free-jazz alto-sax solo that lasts for the remainder.

In its dissonance, the track becomes definitive in setting the “anything goes” attitude that very much describes the rest of the album.  But to think that such an outlook makes for a record without any unifying elements would be a mistake.   Control This is not experimental for the sake of being experimental.  Owens and co. have found a dark niche where the music sounds inherently natural, not forced.   The music here is an eclectic collection of tastefully clashing sounds from an outfit that thrives on deconstructing genres to forge brand-new ones.

Sonny Kay: DMTMZM...X?

Their joint exhibition, Parallel Universes, opens November 20 at Hold Up art gallery in Los Angeles and runs there through December 5.
 

Jeff Jordan: Symbiotic Village

After a performance at the Metamorphose Festival in Japan on Sept 4, Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group will play a pair of shows in NY and Chicago with Le Butcherettes.

OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ GROUP / LE BUTCHERETTES
Sept 17 – New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Sept 18 – Chicago, IL @ Congress Theater

Percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Martin Dosh spent much of the past decade establishing himself as a skilled designer of electro-infused, loop-laden ambience and melody.

Over that time, his arrangements have become more complex, with instrumentation that has gotten progressively more diverse, often thanks to high-profile guests such as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Andrew Bird, Odd Nosdam, and Fog.

For a good portion of his latest effort, variegated sounds create thoroughly layered material atop jumping drum kits and looped beats alike. Harpsichord, slide guitar, piano, and saxophone complement the usual armaments of Fender Rhodes, marimba, and samples, as tracks such as "Subtractions," "Number 41," and "Call the Kettle" (as well as the album's distorted conclusion) present new sides of Dosh. Tommy eventually settles into the down-tempo electro-acoustic tunes of yore, but never is the album dull or repetitive.

Dosh: "Subtractions"
Dosh: \"Subtractions\"

The Nels Cline Singers: Initiate (Cryptogramophone)

Gifted guitarist Nels Cline may be best recognized as "that really tall guy in Wilco," but his accomplished career spans decades as well as ravines of style. Free jazz, avant-rock, country, experimental — there aren't many modern guitar-heavy styles that Cline hasn't touched.

For his "full-time" group, The Nels Cline Singers (a purposeful misnomer), Cline commonly has traversed improvised terrain, but recent albums have presented a beauteous (and often acoustic) compositional side.

Initiate, a two-disc release that includes a live album, further angles The Singers towards accessibility. But fans of Cline's off-the-cuff abilities and technical prowess won't be disappointed, as the album strikes a perfect balance for the group, alternating between progressive jams, effect-laden tranquility, and alien "out-ness."

A squiggly, ambient, looping intro leads into a track of circular grooves that keep it steady for Cline's noodling solos and riotous effects. Other atmospheric pieces utilize Cline's playing in a lounge or jazz style, or simply use him as a swelling accompaniment to the endowed bass lines of Devin Hoff and percussive dynamics of Scott Amendola. All told, Initiate might be the trio's best and most symmetrical release to date.

The Nels Cline Singers: "Floored"
The Nels Cline Singers: \"Floored\"

Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Solar Gambling (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)

Released digitally late last year, the 13th solo album by The Mars Volta's mastermind sees a physical release this Saturday for Record Store Day. Ostensibly, Solar Gambling is a supplement to last year's Xenophanes, a masterful and approachable vocal-intensive album that featured the deft piano work of sibling Marcel Rodriguez Lopez.

This collection contains a familiar brand of progressive psych jams, and fans of Omar's monstrous output aren't likely to be surprised. However, whereas Xenophanes was a striking vocal "debut" by Omar, Solar Gambling fully features vocalist Ximena Sariñara, who supplied backups on the predecessor.

It's hard to believe that one man can produce so much quality music like clockwork, and Solar Gambling attains a perfect counterbalance — alluring vocals and rock grooves vs. polyrhythmic overdubs and exotic effects. Be sure to stream the whole album while you can.

Omar Rodriguez Lopez: "Un Buitre Amable Me Pico"
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: \"Un Buitre Amable Me Pico\"

Child Abuse: Cut and Run (Lovepump United)

A band as consistent in its own sound shouldn't be as indescribable as Child Abuse, which might be considered something to the effect of "death math punk." But that description, like many, is insufficient.

On top of punishing, Meshuggah-style beats, the trio heaps beastly fuzz bass, wailing keyboard noise, growls, and vocal weirdness. The most apt contemporary comparison might be Italy's Zu (also a three-piece) or Lightning Bolt (only a duo!), but these counterparts are actually easier to digest and easier for grooving along.

Cut and Run will strike many as abrasive and difficult, but for fans of complexity and noise, it will be another great disc from 2010.

Child Abuse: "Bebe"
Child Abuse: \"Bebe\"

Honorable Mentions

An Autumn For Crippled Children: Lost (ATMF)

Clutchy Hopkins: The Story Teller (Ubiquity)

Chris Burton Jácome: Levanto

Kaki King: Junior (Velour)

Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers: Agridustrial (Colonel Knowledge)

Lowness: Undertow (Ant-Zen)

Stanton Moore: Groove Alchemy (Concord)

Rafter: Animal Feelings (Asthmatic Kitty)