Solex vs. Cristina Martinez + Jon Spencer: Amsterdam Throwdown, King Street Showdown! (BronzeRat)

Dutch electro artist Elisabeth Esselink keeps a relatively low profile for holding some serious sampling skills (which have been documented on a few Matador releases).

Known as Solex, Esselink now releases her first album in five years, and it's a doozy. Featuring the husband/wife team of Jon Spencer and Christina Martinez (ex-Boss Hog), Amsterdam Throwdown… is a spacey, funky, groovy disc of fun jams.

The grooves are supported by bangin' beats and assorted instrumental accents — strings, horns, acoustic and dirty guitars, and much more. Lighthearted vocal interplay trades off with spoken-word passages and Spencer's trademark "dirtbag" sound.

Amsterdam Throwdown… seems destined to fly under the radar, which would be criminal. Check this out.

Solex vs. Christina Martinez + Jon Spencer: "Galaxy Man"
Solex vs. Christina Martinez + Jon Spencer: \"Galaxy Man\"

Tim Fite: Under the Table Tennis

Multi-instrumentalist rapper/singer Tim Fite, who has been making unclassifiable collage-rock records for the past six years, uses his latest free digital album to deal directly with the recession, defaulted mortgage loans, inadequate healthcare, and bailouts.

Anyone familiar with Fite's style will instantly recognize and appreciate Under the Table Tennis (another great title à la Over the Counter Culture), but new styles flash in and out of the melting pot — despondent Western motifs, French pop, reggae, and "crunk metal" akin to Otto Von Schirach.

Under the Table Tennis succeeds in its ability to make the listener understand the emotional landscape of an American recession far better than any news report or Time article can. And if that weren't enough, it's another fantastic patchwork of styles.

Tim Fite: "Someone Threw the Baby Out"
Tim Fite: \"Someone Threw the Baby Out\"

The Claudia Quintet: Royal Toast (Cuneiform)

Jazz holds a strong lineage of drummers who double as bandleaders. Still, the practice isn't as commonplace as one would imagine, and New York's John Hollenbeck is at the top of a short list of great drummer-composers.

Hollenbeck has won Grammys, but his music is far from the type of smooth-jazz sounds that are conjured by that factoid. Rather, he leads a number of ensembles — including his magnificent Large Ensemble — through challenging polyrhythmic works.

The Claudia Quintet is Hollenbeck's "band," a five-piece regular cast that, for this release, features the intricate piano work of Gary Versace. The result is another album of circuitous jazz pieces that entice listeners with wandering accordion and tinges of minimalist classical via vibraphone.

The Claudia Quintet with Gary Versace: "Sphinx"
The Claudia Quintet: \"Sphinx\"

Under Byen: Alt Er Tabt (Paper Bag)

Turning 15 this year, Danish post-rock ensemble Under Byen celebrates its crystal anniversary with a few new members and its first studio album since 2006.

Of course, as so often is the case, the "post-rock" descriptor doesn't necessarily fit here, although that's primary because it has been used to describe such a wide variety of styles. Alt Er Tabt is closer to chamber pop than rock, although it does have a few elements in common with bands like Mono that incorporate strings to great effect.

Behind Henriette Sennenvaldt's breathy vocals, ascending scales on pizzicato strings work over 4/4 beats to create simple, catchy polyrhythms. Chants, synthesizers, and Eastern influences weave around basic bass lines, allowing listeners to be rapt by the band's clever beauty.

Under Byen: "Alt Er Tabt"
Under Byen: \"Alt Er Tabt\"

Honorable Mentions

Fight the Big Bull: All is Gladness in the Kingdom (Clean Feed)

Harvey Milk: A Small Turn of Human Kindness (Hydra Head)

Jamie Lidell: Compass (Warp)

Pontiak: Living (Thrill Jockey)

Having come to prominence while playing with John Zorn in the 1990s, trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas has since established a respected oeuvre of his own as a bandleader.  His work spans swaths of the jazz spectrum and often falls outside of it, and he partakes in handfuls of projects at any given time.

Brass Ecstasy, one of Douglas' newer groups, now makes its debut with Spirit Moves, a fun, horn-filled homage to New Orleans as well as other inspirations, including Art Ensemble of Chicago cofounder Lester Bowie, who passed away in 1999.

Rock Plaza Central: …at the Moment of our Most Needing or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone (Paper Bag)

Following a critically acclaimed album with a theme about robot horses that believe they're the real deal, Rock Plaza Central returns with a debut for Paper Bag Records.

A near-death accident has made this doubly named album extra special to the group, which again employs a semi-orchestral neofolk mixture with melodious acoustic guitars and Southwestern horns.

Masada Quintet (featuring Joe Lovano): Stolas, The Book of Angels Vol. 12 (Tzadik)

Comprised of 300 tunes — written in just three months — John Zorn's second Masada book, The Book of Angels, is a sprawling collection of musical diversity.  Each installment of the series, which began in 2005, has been performed by a different group of collaborators, and this one features Zorn's new Masada Quintet plus saxophonist Joe Lovano.

Stolas is decidedly jazzy, reuniting a number of classic Zorn contributors, including the aforementioned Dave Douglas, bassist Greg Cohen, pianist Uri Caine, and drummer Joey Baron.  The result is an accessible jazz disc that varies in theme and briefly touches upon Zorn's Jewish melodies.

The newest solo album of Nile linchpin Karl Sanders is another beautiful acoustic release of Arabic flavors mixed with Western structures.

Following Saurian Meditation from 2004, Saurian Exorcisms is full of gorgeous, dark motifs that run a wider gamut of styles than Sanders' last solo effort.  On Exorcisms, Sanders handles all instrumentation — baglama saz, glissentar, acoustic guitars, guitar synth, keyboards, drums, and percussion.  He even contributes vocals, which complement the haunting vocals and chants of Mike Breazeale.

The music contains some of Sanders' blistering fretwork, but it never strays from its overlying melody and accessibility.  Covering Turkish, Egyptian, Indian, and Arabic styles, Saurian Exorcisms is a must-own album.

Karl Sanders: "Rapture of the Empty Spaces"
Karl Sanders: \"Rapture of the Empty Spaces\"

Crippled Black Phoenix: 200 Tons of Bad Luck (Invada)

Penning epic "endtime ballads," the United Kingdom's Crippled Black Phoenix plays dark folk with dirty guitars, ominous effects, diversified vocals, and countless guest electro/acoustic contributions.

The group's style is predicated on the multi-instrumental prowess of Justin Greaves (former drummer of Electric Wizard), whose lengthy tunes are augmented with a massive cast.  Nine of the songs on this disc clock in at or over five minutes, including the 18-minute musical triptych "Time of Ye Life / Born for Nothing / Paranoid Arm of Narcoleptic Empire."

Crippled Black Phoenix: "Rise Up and Fight"
Crippled Black Phoenix: \"Rise Up and Fight\"

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: Inspiration Information 3 (Strut)

Known as the father of Ethio-jazz, Ethiopian bandleader Mulatu Astatke is an internationally lauded musician whose works may be best known in America through the soundtrack to Broken Flowers or the Ethiopiques series.

Now, for Strut's Inspiration Information studio pair-up series, Astatke creates an outstanding disc of worldly jazz-hop fusion with the help of UK hip-hop/funk/psychedelic all-stars The Heliocentrics.

The collaboration has already received vast amounts of praise, and it comes strongly recommended for anyone into the aforementioned genres.

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: "Masenqo" (radio edit)
Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: \"Masenqo\" (radio edit)

Prefuse 73: Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp)

Guillermo Scott Herren's newest album as his glitchy alter-ego is meant to be a linear work — one that Herren describes as both straight ahead and obscure.

That description is on point, but it could also apply to most other Prefuse releases.  Still, this effort finds Herren's chopped sound collages about as accessible as they come, layered over hip-hop beats that don't stutter like on previous efforts.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: Agorapocalypse (Relapse)

Specializing in über-fast thrash/grind, ANB presents just its second full-length album in 10 years with Agorapocalypse.

The brutal quartet features three vocalists — two of the stand-alone variety — aiding the semi-diversity of sound on the new disc.  Everything is extra heavy, but breakdowns, breakneck solos, and sludge bass combine to make this the band's most realized release to date.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: "Agorapocalypse Now"
Agoraphobic Nosebleed: \"Agorapocalypse Now\"

Two Fingers: s/t (Paper Bag)

DJs/producers Amon Tobin and Doubleclick comprise Two Fingers, an experimental mix of hip hop and drum & bass that features Ghanaian UK rapper Sway and a pair of additional guest rappers.

Nothing lacks in the production, which is a mix of factory-sound dance numbers that boast Tobin's trademark pastiche/found-sound style.  Sway's rapid-fire delivery fits, but it also gets a bit tiresome, particularly with the frequency of certain passages.

Dengue Fever: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (M80)

Following Los Angeles Cambodian/American pop-rock group Dengue Fever through Cambodia, the film for which this soundtrack was created explores the homecoming of singer Chhom Nimol and the journey of the band that she fronts.

Full of the band's psych-tinged tunes as well as great Cambodian rock tunes of the 1960s and '70s, the soundtrack honors a musical culture that was put in peril during the Khmer Rouge's atrocious reign.

Progressive metal band Yakuza will release its next album, the follow-up to Transmutations, on Profound Lore Records in October.

Genre-splicing specialists Orange Tulip Conspiracy have finalized the details of their nationwide May tour.  Find the dates here.

Alt-country band Rock Plaza Central has joined the roster of Paper Bag Records.  On June 16 in the US, Paper Bag will release the band's new album, …at the Moment of Our Most Needing or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone.

Madlib and J. Rocc have announced a handful of European tour dates for May that can be seen here.

In support of upcoming album Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free, experimental folk-rock group Akron/Family has announced May and June tour dates that will span the US East Coast, Europe, Japan, and Canada.  The band's new album will be out May 5.

Indie math rockers Tera Melos will begin a headlining tour around the US in late April.  You can still download the band's eight-minute cover EP here for free.

Mike Patton will play the vocal role of a Decepticon in this summer's Transformers sequel.  The singer extraordinaire has movie voiceover experience from I Am Legend and has worked on a number of videogames.

Man Man has posted a video for "Rabbit Habbits" that features some bona fide actors.

Woodhands: Heart Attack (Paper Bag)

Woodhands is a synthesized electro-rock duo, but unlike many of its contemporaries, the members actually play instruments onstage instead of hiding behind laptops. Dan Werb sings and plays synths and a keytar, and Paul Banwatt supplies the beats the old-fashioned way — you know, on a real-life drum kit.

Woodhands' debut, Heart Attack, sets it further above the fray by being well paced and enjoyable as a whole. It's a thoughtful, smartly blended album, not just a bunch of singles stacked on top of each other.

These are raw, nasty, addictive tracks — the soundtrack for a dance party in someone's dingy, unfinished basement. Opener "Dancer" is a party starter, to be sure, with airy female vocals and a rousing beat; a minute in, however, a jarring punk shout emerges and the two voices alternate. In lesser hands, the juxtaposition might sound abrasive or unnecessary; on "Dancer," it sounds both necessary and downright brilliant.

Banwatt's drumming is the star of the show here. He's incredibly fast behind the kit ("Breaking Up"), and the syncopation he employs is unusual without distracting from the danceability of the songs ("Be Back Soon").

And somehow, the band manages to make tactful use of a keytar and vocoder effects throughout, which is no small feat. Heart Attack is cold and inviting, sexy and nerdy, and the assured arrival of a new player on the electro-pop scene.

- David Hudnall

Woodhands: www.woodhands.com
Paper Bag: www.paperbagrecords.com

On March 18, Malian guitar fusionists Tinariwen begin a 10-show tour of the UK with British electro-folk artist Tunng.

Prefuse 73 has a new album, Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian, that will be out April 14 on Warp.  Prefuse also has a new project with Zach Hill called Diamond Watch Wrists.  The duo's album will be out on May 4, also on Warp.

Melodic punk outfit Lifetime will have Hello Bastards and Jersey's Best Dancers reissued by No Idea Records. The albums were originally released on Jade Tree.

The third album from African/rock standouts Extra Golden, titled Thank You Very Quickly, will be out on March 10 via Thrill Jockey. After a European tour in early March, the band spends much of April touring the East Coast and Midwest.

Black Moth Super Rainbow has uploaded a video for "Happy Melted City" from its Drippers EP. Watch the video here.

Instrumental doom rockers Pelican have signed to Southern Lord Recordings. The band currently is recording an EP that will be its first release on its new label.

Party-time dance duo Woodhands has released a new digital EP of remixes of "Dancer" from its Heart Attack album. Paper Bag Records has also posted a Woodhands cover of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue."

NPR has posted its interview with experimental jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson (Mary Halvorson Trio, Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant). The New York musician speaks about her debut solo album, Dragon's Head, released last year on Firehouse 12 Records.

The US Department of Justice is reviewing the just-completed merger of Ticket Master and Live Nation.

Stoner-metal outfit Witch has announced tour dates starting in late February with Tee Pee Records labelmates Earthless. Head to Tee Pee for the list.

Due to illness, Afrobeat star Femi Kuti has canceled his North American tour that was set to begin on Wednesday, January 7.

In anticipation of Bromst, his new full-length album due on March 24, Dan Deacon has posted "Get Older," one of the album's tracks, on imeem. Deacon also has a split 12" with electronic brethren Adventure coming out on January 27.

Converge and Supermachiner (side project with vocalist Jacob Bannon and guitarist Kurt Ballou) each have a new album in store for 2009.

Bannon's new experimental project, Irons, has a split 12" with Pulling Teeth also due in 2009. Bannon's label, Deathwish Inc., has a glut of releases planned for this year.

Chinese-American composer Wu Fei will perform on January 16, 17, and 18 in China to celebrate the recent release of her new album, Yuan, on Tzadik. Details can be found at her website.

Watch the brief trailer for Mastodon's new album, Crack the Skye, at the band's website.

Fifty free pairs of tickets are being given away to Kronos Quartet's performance of Terry Riley's Sun Rings in France on January 16. To request a pair of tickets (by Monday, January 12), e-mail announcements@kronosquartet.org, with the subject line "Paris Sun Rings – MySpace", including your name and e-mail address in the body of your message.

Bassist/guitarist Reed Mathis, a founding member of 15 years, has left Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey to pursue other endeavors. The group has a lineup with two new members that will perform for scheduled shows in January and February.

Founding drummer Pat Pengelly has quit Bedouin Soundclash, making the group, for now, a duo with Jay Malinowski and Eon Sinclair. The group's February tour dates will remain intact.

These Arms are Snakes has announced a month-long US tour, primarily hitting the Midwest and East Coast, that begins in late February.

Madlib has a new disc for his Beat Konducta series — Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6 — that will be released February 10 on Stones Throw.

Danish weirdo rockers Powersolo will release their new album, Bloodskinbones, on February 23.

Via an interview with band manager Peter Mensch, the BBC reports that the instrumental members of Led Zeppelin — Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham (son of John Bonham) — are looking to tour and record a new album without Robert Plant. The article says that it is unknown whether the group will continue under the famous name, but in a separate interview with Mensch on musicradar.com, the manager emphatically states that "Led Zeppelin are over."

Apple is finally doing away with DRM protection (short for digital rights management) on its iTunes music files.

Tonight, punk ensemble World/Inferno Friendship Society will perform a special one-off gig at New York's Webster Hall. The show, a multi-media operetta based on the life of Peter Lorre, is part of the Under The Radar Festival.