For its first full album in 3.5 years, atmospheric post-metal quintet Red Sparowes moves from Neurot to Sargent House and welcomes aboard guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle (of The Nocturnes) to replace Neurosis guitarist Josh Graham.

Like usual, resplendent melodies — courtesy of pedal-steel guitar as well as echoes and reverberations — top snare rolls and layers of harmony. On past albums, these movements have built to crescendos, but The Fear… more commonly alternates this with mountainous low end and steady, pounding rhythms.

The thickness and grooves are key elements, but Greg Burns' pedal-steel guitar again steals the spotlight. The mix has resulted in the band's finest album, one in which Red Sparowes best establishes its own voice — further distancing itself from the comparisons to Isis and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Red Sparowes: "A Swarm"
Red Sparowes: \"A Swarm\"

Nice Nice: Extra Wow (Warp)

Seeming to assimilate any modern sound that it desires, Nice Nice spans an expansive range of sounds simply as a duo.

Squiggly electronic flourishes, psychedelic scales wound around rudimentary rhythms, harmonized indie vocals, and near cacophony all are staples of the Nice Nice synthesis. Spastic moments are vital as well, and certain segments elicit comparisons to Hella and Lightning Bolt — vocally, rhythmically, and tonally.

It's cliché, but the duo has something for everything — whether it's tranced-out bliss (a lá The Flaming Lips), polyrhythmic complexity, or big, fuzzy beats.

Nice Nice is — forgive the pun — a band so nice they named it twice.

Nice Nice: "One Hit"
Nice Nice: \"One Hit\"

Alex B: Moments (Elm & Oak)

Having built a reputation solely from production and remixes, Alex B now makes his full-length debut with a relatively unusual level of anticipation.

Throbbing electronics, hallucinatory synths, bouncing bass, and echoing piano are just the tip of the iceberg. Like Freud's theory of the preconscious and unconscious, most of Alex B's work is buried beneath the surface.

Moments is dense yet never noisy. A few guest MCs make their marks amid the sonic timberland, but the disc belongs to Alex B — a producer sure to team up with a few more high-profile cats after this makes the rounds.

Alex B: "You and I Both Know"
Alex B: \"You and I Both Know\"

Eskamon: Fine Objects single (Ancestor Media)

Brazilian DJ Amon Tobin — one of the preeminent avant-electro musicians in the world — is no stranger to field recordings, and he used them beautifully on his 2007 album, Foley Room.

Now, in collaboration with Eskmo (together as Eskamon), he continues his love of capturing, dismantling, and morphing any peculiar sound that he finds.

"Fine Objects" is the (potentially one-off) single from the two, and we can only hope that more is in store. Crunchy, punchy, metallic, warbling, alien — "Fine Objects" is all of these things with enough dance-floor foundation to get heads nodding. Here's to a future full-length.

Eskamon: "Fine Objects"
Eskamon: \"Fine Objects\"

Carlos Bica + Matéria Prima: s/t (Clean Feed)

Portuguese bassist and composer Carlos Bica, like many in jazz circles, is a fruitful artist. Splitting time between Portugal and Germany, Bica has worked with scores of established musicians in a pair of great jazz scenes.

However, in contrast to many of his contemporaries, Bica's material is forceful, dramatic, and unafraid to take chances. This disc, recorded live with his Matéria Prima group in 2008, exemplifies this approach.

The album's opener is driven by a looping Western guitar riff, which is topped by a reverb-soaked lead that weaves in and out. A striking cello, trumpet, organ, and drum kit accent the lead with power and precision, and a full beat begins a lively groove.

Much of the rest of the album could be filed under jazz, but Bica's unique arrangements add bits of blues, lounge, psych rock, and more while maintaining a coherent style. It's an accessible and engaging effort.

Carlos Bica + Matéria Prima: "DC"
Carlos Bica + Matéria Prima: \"DC\"

Honorable Mentions

All Leather: When I Grow Up, I Wanna Fuck Like a Girl (Downtown)

Ikonika: Contact, Love, Want, Have (Hyberdub)

In Tall Buildings: s/t (Whistler)

Javelin: No Más (Luaka Bop)

Jónsi: Go (XL)

Mi Ami: Steal Your Face (Thrill Jockey)

Monster Movie: Everyone is a Ghost (Graveface)

Murder by Death: Good Morning, Magpie (Vagrant)

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings: I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone)

Before recording a new album this spring, Converge will play a handful of shows, mostly during a week in March. Head to Deathwish Inc. for the full list.

Norwegian jazz/Balkan/surf group Farmers Market will perform with the Stravanger Symphony Orchestra for the country's MaiJazz festival in May.

A seventh album from Sunn O))), titled Monoliths & Dimensions, will be released May 18 on Southern Lord. The album includes guest appearances from Eyvind Kang, Julian Priester, Oren Ambarchi, Jessika Kenney, and Dylan Carlson.

Ethnically inspired electro-acoustic arists Balkan Beat Box are issuing a remix album, Nu Made, through JDub Records on April 7.

Tombs has posted its entire Relapse debut, Winter Hours, online to be streamed at www.winterhours.info.

Jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas will release a new album with his Brass Ecstasy group, titled Spirit Moves, later this spring.

The Brooklyn studio of Daptone Records, home of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and The Budos Band, was robbed on Monday. A list of stolen or damaged items can be seen here, and if you see this stuff online somewhere, holler at Daptone.

Brutal hardcore group Ed Gein is practicing again after a year and a half of inactivity. The group plans to start writing new material and play some scattered shows.

Long-form UK rock experimentalists Crippled Black Phoenix will tour the US for two weeks at the beginning of April.

Jaguar Love is no longer playing with drummer Jay Clark (former guitarist of Pretty Girls Make Graves). The band currently is a two-piece with a drum machine and will debut this new lineup for an Australian tour.

An Albatross still needs a guitarist to tour this summer! Get in touch if you're talented, friendly, and can travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Tee Pee Records labelmates Earthless and Witch begin a nine-day tour of the Northeastern US and Canada today.

Shining (Norway)

Thursday, October 23

Pillars and Tongues, Remindring @ The Hideout

Somber vocal harmonies emanate from aptly named Pillars and Tongues, an experimental trio whose creations exhibit mystical influences. As Remindring, multi-talented bassist Josh Abrams (Town & Country, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble) lays out looped soundscapes with Emmett Kelly and Frank Rosaly.

Fucked Up @ Reggie's Rock Club

Punk-rock misdirection artists Fucked Up hit Chicago two weeks after the release of The Chemistry of Common Life, the group's follow-up full-length to Hidden World. This time around, Fucked Up's material moves through more variety of atmosphere than your standard punk/hardcore, with peaceful, otherworldly intros and layers and layers of guitar. There's less stop-start fury than Hidden World-more sheets of sound-so it will be interesting to see how this vigorous live act performs.

Coliseum starts North American and Japanese tour dates

Louisville hardcore staples Coliseum begin five weeks of performances today, hitting many cities in the USA as well as a few in Canada and Japan. The group doesn't hit Chicago until Nov. 15, but there's a good chance that it will be your city in the near future.

Friday, October 24

Ears & Eyes Festival @ The Hideout

With three outstanding weekend shows at The Hideout, independent jazz/avant-garde label Ears & Eyes Records celebrates its third annual Ears & Eyes Festival. The performances feature groups on the Ears & Eyes roster as well as other local standouts and friends of the label, and one such outside artist, Brooklyn's Parts & Labor, headlines this first night with a catchy mix of indie rock and electronics.

The six-artist, six-hour show also includes bass-and-drums rock duo Black Ladies and free-rock guitarist Tobin Summerfield, but the biggest highlight might be the collaboration between Sunfish Ensemble guitarist David Daniell and Tortoise cofounder/bassist Doug McCombs.

Voodoo Experience begins @ New Orleans' City Park

With a massive three-day lineup that can only really be explored at thetenthritual.com, New Orleans' Voodoo Experience celebrates its 10^th anniversary. If you're in the Big Easy on Friday, the fest's first day, be sure to catch DeVotchKa, Reverend Horton Heat, The Gutter Twins, Man Man, Extra Action Marching Band, and Andre Williams.

Shining (and other picks) at CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival

There are hundreds of bands playing at the dozens of CMJ venues on Friday, the festival's second-to-last day, but we had to single out Norway's Shining at Cake Shop (and again at Knitting Factor on Saturday). The post-prog jazz-rock experimentalists return to New York, one of three cities on their first US tour earlier this year, and it might be a while before they return. If you're in NYC, do yourself a favor and check them out (and pick up Grindstone on Rune Grammofon).

The night's other highlights include sBACH, An Albatross, Akimbo, Phosphorescent, Sole and the Skyrider Band, and Broken Social Scene.

Keep reading…

Austin City Limits Music Festival
September 26-28
Location: Zilker Park, Austin, TX

Friday, Sept. 26

A few over-hyped groups perform early on Friday, but the party starts when Del the Funky Homosapien takes the AT&T Blue Stage at 3:30pm.  The steady, unique cadence of the Hieroglyphics founder should get your blood flowing before Gypsy punks Gogol Bordello begin on the regular AT&T stage.  You may have to hoof it to catch both, because Gogol Bordello starts just as Del wraps up at 4:30.

Once Gogol Bordello's raucous live show comes to a close, consider grabbing a bite to eat before funky Brooklyn Afrobeat collective Antibalas plays at 7:15 and shows up everyone that previously played the WaMu stage.  From there, enjoy the Mars Volta's progressive fusion from 8:15-9:30 to close out the night.

Saturday, Sept. 27

Day 2 presents more great back-to-back sets in the mid-afternoon.  First, Sharon Jones' soulful intonations cover the carefully constructed grooves of her Dap Kings from 2:30-3:30.  Then, with a sound that is quite divergent from that of Jones, Philadelphia five-piece Man Man plays from 3:30-4:30 with a mad mix of Tom Waits-inspired circus-rock tunes.

The Nachito Herrera All Stars make the early evening a fine time to get your Latin jazz fix, but if you prefer softer, emotive, self-reflective music, you'll likely be catching Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band at 6:30 and Iron & Wine at 7:30.  Identity-shifting radio favorite Beck ends the night's festivities, but psych-rock forebear Roky Erickson my turn in its most memorable performance.

Sunday, Sept. 28

With the best anti-war song to ever use the Secretary of State's name as a refrain, protest punks Against Me! provide one of the festival's most politically charged sets at 3:30.  Concertgoers will later have a tough choice at 6:30, as the soul hop of Gnarls Barkley competes with the twangy garage rock of The Raconteurs.

If you can't decide on one, head over to see the jazzy grooves of Galactic at 7.  At that point, you'll likely be ready for more rock, so get a good spot to see The Foo Fighters at 8:30 and lobby Dave Grohl to play "Monkey Wrench," "Everlong," "In Your Honor," and "Watershed."