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.

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!]

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)

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.

Hella: Tripper (Sargent House)

Hella: "Headless"

In 2002, a wild math-rock duo named Hella released a much-ballyhooed debut that sounded impossible to perform with just two members. From there, guitarist Spencer Seim and drummer Zach Hill expanded their sound (and level of complexity) with synthesizers and additional members, eventually recording as a five-piece for their 2007 release, There’s No 666 in Outer Space.

Now, following a few years off to pursue other projects, Seim and Hill are back as Hella’s core, releasing their first album based around guitar and drums since Hold Your Horse Is, that 2002 debut. It’s a welcome return to original form, one that is both “accessible” and melodic despite being highly technical.

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Race Riot Suite (Kinnara Records / Royal Potato Family)

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: "Black Wall Street"

Race Riot Suite is a new long-form work from Tulsa, Oklahoma-based jazz-fusion quartet Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. The record was written by lap-steel guitarist Chris Combs, who has taken a large songwriting role since founding member Reed Mathis departed in 2009. A wealth of guest contributors helped in the recording process, and the album's formidable horn presence comes courtesy of Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Dave Matthews Band), Steven Bernstein, Peter Apfelbaum, Mark Southerland, and Matt Leland.

The album addresses an oft-overlooked, racially charged incident that took place in 1921. The track above, "Black Wall Street," refers to the affluent, largely African American neighborhood in Tulsa where a day-long conflict saw 800 people hospitalized and 35 city blocks destroyed by bombs. As racial tensions escalated, and the prospect of a lynching loomed, violence broke out outside the town courthouse and rapidly spread across the city — culminating in an aerial assault that was reportedly launched to help neutralize the nonexistent "Negro uprising."

The suite was performed in its entirety at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center in May, and JFJO will tour the US in the fall, following the release of the album.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

Tinariwen: Tassili (Anti-)

Tinariwen: "Tenere Taqqim Tossam" f. Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio

Though the voyage of Tinariwen has been well chronicled, the back-story of the Malian desert-blues band remains fascinating for first-time listeners. That sense of fascination, even for longtime fans, extends to the group’s newest release, Tassili, which returns Tinariwen to its acoustic roots.

Recorded in the Algerian desert with only unamplified guitars and percussion, the album is a more organic version of Tinariwen’s sound, which again is led by group chants and vocal harmonies. This time, however, the band has high-profile guests in the form of TV on the Radio members Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone, Nels Cline of Wilco and the Nels Cline Singers, and members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Perhaps the big names will help others discover what many already have: a unique band with a compelling story.

Vieo Abiungo: And the World is Still Yawning (Lost Tribe Sound)

Vieo Abiungo: "Drowsy Salted Morning"

Chances are that you’ve heard work by Oakland-based composer/multi-instrumentalist William Ryan Fritch, a.k.a. Vieo Abiungo. Fritch is a member of Skyrider, a band that joined forces with hip-hop artist Sole in 2007. He also has worked with Kronos Quartet, and he released a solo album entitled Music for Honey and Bile for the Asthmatic Kitty Library Catalog in 2010.

His new album, And the World is Still Yawning, expands on his established experimental sound, which combines modern classical, meditative ambience, and rich electronics. Having scored roughly 30 films since 2008, Fritch has a well-honed ear for nuance; many compositions evolve from apparent chaos to a grand cinematic climax. Unintelligible vocals fade in and out, buried beneath layers of polyrhythmic percussion and unusual, resonant instrumentation.

With a refined sound-collage aesthetic — like The Books without samples — the album drifts calmly, occasionally catching a strong gust of wind in its open sails. Song titles reflect this lazy-river sensibility: "Flotsam and Jetsam," "A Sad Swell," and "Still and Tepid Waters." Though nothing is forced, a masterful hand is clearly at the helm, navigating and orchestrating with veteran confidence.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

YAWN: Open Season (FeelTrip/Englophile)

YAWN: "Acid"

Chicago quartet YAWN has demonstrated remarkable growth since it first emerged as a high-school rock trio. After a makeover influenced by Animal Collective and other modern psych-pop outfits, the band issued a promising debut EP with heavy use of vocal harmonies, poppy electronics, and quirky effects.

Yawn’s first full-length album, Open Season, reflects an additional dose of musical maturity. A few more hints of the 1960s and ’80s have seeped into the band’s sounds to go with dueling croons, polyrhythms, and a broader spectrum of moods. While maintaining the tom-heavy drumbeats and electronics of prior recordings, Open Spaces fuses unusual samples (croaking frogs, high-pitched vocals, rushing waves) with previously unexplored instrumentation, giving each track a distinctive vibe.

- Text by Lauren Zens. Read the band's story in Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music.

Others & Honorable Mentions

Alias: Fever Dream (Anticon)

Balaclava: Crimes of Faith (Southern Lord)

Beirut: The Rip Tide (Pompeii)

Blood Orange: Coast Grooves (Domino)

Butch Walker & The Black Widows: Spade (Dangerbird)

Century: Red Giant (Prosthetic)

End of Level Boss: Eklectric (Exile on Mainstream)

Michael Gordon: Timber (Cantaloupe)

Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman: World Wide Rebel Songs (New West)

The Nocturnes: Aokigahara

Jamie Saft: Borscht Belt Studies (Tzadik)

Thundercat: The Golden Age of Apocalypse (Brainfeeder)

Cave In: White Silence (Hydra Head)

Cave In: "Sing My Loves"

When Cave In returned from hiatus with its Planets of Old EP in 2009, it marked a true full-circle moment — from metalcore mastery to pop-rock faltering back to thrashing, effects-driven hardcore.  It was an exclamation that the quartet had plenty of heavy riffs left in the tank, but better than that, it seemed to be the band's best coalescence of its members' influences.

Now Cave In is back with White Silence, its first full-length since Perfect Pitch Black, the 2005 transition back to heaviness that featured trance-inducing grooves as well as acoustic balladry care of guitarist/singer Stephen Brodsky.

White Silence is nearly as much a melting pot as Planets of Old.  Though tracks such as "Serpeants" lean on bassist Caleb Scofield's searing screams and Old Man Gloom-esque riffs, and the final three tracks are built around Brodsky's singer/songwriter abilities, the members always complement each other in a way that keeps the band treading new ground.

The guitar effects of Brodsky and Adam McGrath are especially crucial, as a celestial or shrieking texture often pairs with the pure riffing.  They make as much of an impact on the tracks that Brodsky leads, making his first ("Heartbreaks, Earthquakes") sound like if John Lennon fronted a psych-sludge band.  This fusion may be best exemplified on the album's opus, the eight-minute "Sing My Loves," where all elements come together for a killer jam.

It's been a strange trip for Cave In, but White Silence finds the Boston band in a sort of "second prime."  Hopefully, it won't be another six years between long players.

Amon Tobin: ISAM (Ninja Tune)

Amon Tobin: "Lost and Found"

During his 15-year career, DJ and electronic artist Amon Tobin has transitioned from expert sampler and breakbeat artist to field-recording guru and sound designer.  ISAM, his first full-length album in four years, completes this move to synthesized and manipulated original samples, turning otherwise atonal sounds into instruments.

Tobin's last few albums have been as heavy on ambience and abstraction as on piecemeal beats, and ISAM is no different.  Melodies are interwoven into unsettling mixtures of timbre, which often come together to sound like one gigantic, mechanized alien insect wielding a lightsaber.  There are cuts of recognizable instruments, such as guitar or bells, but they're often just a layer in a greater sea of sound.

Interestingly, ISAM marks the first time that Tobin has recorded his own vocals for an album, and at times they're manipulated to sound like a woman or a young boy.  As one might imagine, they're rarely used in a traditional manner — except for the weird falsetto harmonies of "Kitty Cat," which might just foreshadow an Amon Tobin "pop" album.

Tobin's live plans for ISAM are just as unconventional as his style, as he's planning to tour with a "multidimensional / shape-shifting 3-D art installation" to complement his music.  The album also is being released as a limited-edition art book that includes images of the collaborative installation between Tobin and visual artist Tessa Farmer, whose miniature insect-versus-humanoid creations adorn the album.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Boris: Attention Please + Heavy Rocks (2011) (Sargent House)

Boris: "Hope" (Attention Please)

Boris: "Riot Sugar" (Heavy Rocks)

The prolific output and stylistic convergence of Boris has been difficult enough to track over the past 15 years, so fittingly, the Japanese post-metal trio has made things more confusing and released two brand-new albums at once — one of which shares the same name (and same art with a different color scheme) as a previous album but that has entirely new music.

Attention Please is the first of the two releases, and it highlights Boris' softer side, showcasing guitarist Wata's delicate vocals against an alt-rock, art-rock, and dance-infused backdrop.  Ambient, echoing soundscapes transition to moments of soft electronic/acoustic rumination ("You"), psychedelic solos ("Tokyo Wonder Land"), and classical guitar ("Aileron," which gets a long drone-sludge reprise on Heavy Rocks).  It's up and down but shows a potentially exciting new direction for the band.

The new Heavy Rocks, however, makes this worth the price of admission.  Sharing a name with the band's 2002 album, it highlights Boris' recent strength: mixing sludgy, down-tuned riffage with psych effects, punk beats, and soft vocal harmonies.  But it also combines plenty of the other elements that Boris has incorporated over the years, and these two albums are much more than a soft/heavy dichotomy.

(For the record, Boris actually has a third new album — titled, naturally, New Album.  It shares most of its songs with Attention Please and the 2011 version of Heavy Rocks but only has been released in Japan.)

Venetian Snares: Cubist Reggae EP (Planet Mu)

Venetian Snares: "The Identification Circles Levitate"

Tireless breakcore artist Venetian Snares (a.k.a. Aaron Funk) is a master at keeping listeners guessing, and his latest EP explores more new territory: reggae.

This, however, is reggae as only Funk could produce, as referenced by the album's title.  Guitar samples are chopped, warped, and mangled into oddly metered IDM.  Certain moments, unless you're listening closely for the samples, can sound devoid of Jamaican influence all together, resembling something more like the darker orchestral moments of My Downfall (Original Soundtrack).

Though the EP is brief — and contains a rather misleading first track with creepy spoken-word vocals — it's another notable release by one of electronic music's most adventurous explorers.

Honorable Mentions

Alpinist: Lichtlaern / Minus.Mensch (Southern Lord)

David Bazan: Strange Negotiations (Barsuk)

Dels: Gob (Big Dada)

Face Candy: Waste-Age Teenland (Rhymesayers)

Friendly Fires: Pala (XL)

Inevitable End: The Oculus (Relapse)

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins: Diamond Mine (Domino)

Efrim Manuel Menuck: High Gospel (Constellation)

Nicole Mitchell: Awakening (Delmark)

Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador)

Vieux Farka Touré: The Secret (Six Degrees)

Hella: "Track 1"

Fang Island: "Sideswiper"

Fang Island, with its three-guitar attack and lightning-fast riffs, knows a few things about shredding. Logic dictates that it also knows a fair amount about guitars. For guitarist Nicholas Sadler, there's one axe in particular that stands out: a weirdly human girl-guitar of mysterious origins. In this piece penned for ALARM, Sadler laments the fact that he didn't conceive of the musical mannequin first and goes on to explain what exactly makes Teenar so magical.

I Wish I Had Thought of This First: Teenar, Girl Guitar
By Nick Andrew Sadler

My name is Nick Sadler, and though I hate guitar players, I love guitars. This one is a work of mad genius. Here is Teenar, my dream guitar, at what could be a middle-school, father-daughter dance with her pervert-savant creator / daddy,  “Sunset” Lou Reimuller. I am absolutely enamored with Teenar, and I really wish that I had thought of this first.

Teenar is totally baller, outfitted from head to toe in vintage clothing, without arms, ahead of her time with a set of fiery Beavis-legs, and sporting a smart, belly-thru-body guitar that peeks out from behind her bodacious, above-the-knee, low-cut denim skirt. Cute! Teenar, Girl Guitar also has 21 frets on a beautiful blond neck that has been carefully integrated into her never-developing torso, two skin-colored, single-coil pickups that straddle her rock-hard bellybutton, and a fleshy six-string, yummy-tummy bridge, just like the one that my big sis got when she moved out of the house and began dating [Mikey] "Bug" [Cox] from Coal Chamber.

Lou is rocking a pair of sleek, get-in-the-van sunglasses, what looks like no eyebrows, a dick-hair wig, and he has totally been body-snatched.

I tried to find more than blogs that have just a few comments about the Teenar pics and attempted to establish some direct link to Lou, but my efforts resulted in mostly nothing beyond a set of photographs taken in 1986 and one from, I think, around now. These two remain ever mysterious, and all we have is mere speculation surrounding some really amazing shots. Outside of her insane haircut, there is no reason that we need to see Teenar from behind, so thanks, Dad.

Anything more that I have to say about Teenar is probably already surfacing in your mind and then some. The one thing that I want to add to all of this is that I hope you become inspired and decide to make something of your own, and that it be as free and brave a creation as this. Let Teenar be a muse for your creative mind, and please send examples of Teenar-inspired work to FangIsland@gmail.com.