Colin Stetson: "Those Who Didn't Run" (excerpt)

Saxophonist Colin Stetson's distinctive reed work can be found in the music of Tom Waits, TV on the Radio, and Arcade Fire, among many others. His latest full-length solo album, New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges, was released in February of this year, and now he's back with a 10-inch EP, Those Who Didn't Run. Armed with bass and alto saxes and some advanced breathing techniques, Stetson creates heavy, droning horn sounds that are as post-rock as they are avant-garde jazz.

The two tracks on Those Who Didn't Run were recorded in a single take and run just over 10 minutes apiece. Whereas the title track (excerpted above) is drawn in pulsating minimalist strokes, "The End of Your Suffering" rides an off-kilter, high-pitched riff throughout, with occasional aberrant flourishes. With such breadth of texture and pitch, it's hard to believe that you're hearing horns.

Following this release, Stetson will embark on a year-long tour as part of Bon Iver's live band.

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)

Though the band's numbers can swell to upwards of 10 musicians, a more-than-capable quintet took to the stage in Chicago. Clad in traditional Malian tunics and turbans, the band worked the crowd into a fervor with equal parts uptempo, guitar-driven rock and plaintive African blues.

Antibalas: "Rat Race"

Brooklyn-based Afro-funk collective Antibalas is back with its first new material since Security in 2007. The band took a recording hiatus over the last few years to work on other projects such as the off-Broadway musical Fela! and TV on the Radio's 2008 album, Dear Science.

Its new 12-inch record, out today, features two fresh tracks, one of which is a rearranged cover of the Bob Marley classic, "Rat Race." The other featured track is the swinging "Se Chifló," an Afrocuban-Afrobeat mash-up with Spanish vocals by guitarist Marcos García. Flip the record over, and you'll find dub mixes of each song, plus bonus breakbeats.

So where would an innovative musician such as Daughters guitarist Nicholas Andrew Sadler go to find a noise generator, and where would TV On The Radio guitarist David Andrew Sitek turn when he needs an overdrive pedal?
 

FX Doctor and Death By Audio are two of hundreds of boutique guitar-pedal companies that do custom modifications on existing pedals as well as build their own unique pedals for customers searching for their trademark tone. With no paid advertising, musicians hear about these companies solely by word of mouth. Besides a small amount of distribution done in a few independent music stores around the country, it’s primarily a website-based business.

“I wanted to see what other tones are available and what options are out there that people don’t offer,” says Massachusetts-based FX Doctor founder Joshua Zalegowski. “A lot of the mainstream companies just make what they want to, and you’re kind of stuck buying what they offer.”
 

“A lot of the mainstream companies just make what they want to, and you’re kind of stuck buying what they offer.”

One of FX Doctor’s most popular devices isn’t even a guitar pedal. Zalegowski had always been interested in units that can create noise and be mixed in with guitar rather than only affecting guitar tone, and he came across what is now known as the Cease.Transmission while playing around with some designs. The Cease.Transmission is a noise-generating device with a touch pad that generates a higher-pitched noise as more pressure is applied. “It kind of sounds like the cliché war-time radio tuning into a frequency,” Zalegowski says.

If you’re not quite into noise-core territory yet, then maybe New York-based Death By Audio’s Fuzz War, with its balls-to-the-wall distortion, is more your style. It features only two knobs, one for level and one for shape, and an internal drive control. But don’t be fooled by its simplicity; the Fuzz War can carve out a wide variety of tones from thick to devastating.

“We liked the [Electro-Harmonix] Big Muff and the Colorsound Tone Bender, which have this really awesome distortion sound,” says Death By Audio vice president Matt Conboy. “I don’t think that our pedal sounds like theirs specifically, but [it's] maybe just inspired by those.”

As for pedal ideas, the sky is the limit for these small boutique companies. FX Doctor is currently designing a pedal that will make a guitar sound like a vintage organ, and Death By Audio is developing a new delay pedal with a working title of The Echo System that should see the light of day within the next six months.

The market for boutique guitar pedals and companies like FX Doctor and Death By Audio (founded by A Place to Bury Strangers guitarist Oliver Ackermann) only gained momentum about three or four years ago. Analogman Guitar Effects and Fulltone Musical Products used to be some of the only companies that offered customizations and new products, but with the rise of Internet-based musician forums such as www.Harmony-Central.com, smaller companies received substantial exposure.

“If you can make a website and pedals that look good, people are willing to check it out and see if it works for them,” Zalegowski says. “The market is definitely getting saturated, but it’s not always a bad thing. There are so many people out there with so many options now. It’s starting to work out.”

Man Man: Life Fantastic (Anti-)

Man Man: "Knuckle Down"

When we last left Man Man, the quirky and peerless pop five-piece was drawing high marks for Rabbit Habits, an album that better refined its oddball melodies and gruff balladry while retaining the range of sounds and styles that listeners love.

With stronger musical chops and a greater feel for melody and structure, the album helped to expand the band's critical reach.  Now Man Man has hit new heights with Life Fantastic, its fourth album and second for Anti-.

This new batch is the band's first recording to feature a professional producer, and it shows.  Though the compositions themselves are Man Man's best to date — punctuated by twisting melodies and off-the-wall lyrics — Life Fantastic gets a boost from string arrangements by Bright Eyes multi-instrumentalist Nate Walcott.  His resonant accompaniments and pizzicato plucks give the album a new element and infuse it with even more life.

On top of the accordion and tropical-horn additions to the lounge-tinted "Haute Tropique," there's also a heavy dose of squiggly synthesizers this time around to pair with the band's zany mixture of marimba, whammy guitar, piano, horns, and woodwinds.

Rabbit Habits was a huge step forward from its predecessor.  But Life Fantastic achieves equal progress, and it easily takes the mantle as Man Man's best album.

Spindrift: Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1 (Xemu)

Spindrift: "When I Was Free"

Mixing influences from Italian-western composers like Ennio Morricone with elements of psychedelic rock, Spindrift has pioneered its own brand of western music. Its style is manifested through a diversity of sounds, including guitar, organ, pedal steel, flute, autoharp, sitar, tabla, and bass, but its musical résumé is more than merely instruments.

The band's latest, Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1, is an album of unreleased movie themes and new material that captures its eclectic nature and cinematic tendencies.  From the trippy tones of "Theme from Confusion Range" to the otherworldly aura of "Space Vixens Theme," each track visits a new land or tells a new tale.  The twangy, reverberated, psych-effected guitars are a staple in nearly every sonic journey, but with the assorted accents — glockenspiel, Theremin, quasi-Cambodian backing vocals, and even howling wolves — you never feel like you've quite been there before.

- Text by Jenn Beening. Read the Spindrift Q&A here.

Liturgy: Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey)

Liturgy: "Returner"

Since its debut full-length in 2009, Brooklyn-based quartet Liturgy has helped to steer black metal into a bold new direction.

On Aesthethica, the group's sophomore effort, Liturgy comes armed once more with Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s mostly indecipherable howl and quasi-anthemic guitar lines blasted with co-pilot Bernard Gann, both positioned over Greg Fox’s machine-gun drumming and Tyler Dusenbury’s frenetic bass lines.

Odd-pattern tremolo picking gives “Tragic Laurel” a progressive feel that leaves the door open for the sucker punch of its main section, and “True Will” stacks layers of screams over a seesaw chord progression, interrupted only by a skipping-CD breakdown.  Between brief moments of ambience and hypnotic chanting, the music hits with full force, as with the out-of-left-field sludge of “Veins Of God” or the persistent “Returner.”

Aesthethica, however, also can be taxing due to its unconventionality, notably on tracks such as on the seven-minute, one-riff “Generation,” a song that plays with rhythmic dynamics.  But with its special emphasis on unorthodox instrument application (the static opening on “High Gold” or the waterfall effect of so many guitars on “Glory Bronze”), it gradually becomes apparent that Liturgy, despite its upside-down-cross artwork and full-metal sound, really stands closer to Sonic Youth or The Boredoms than to Black Breath.

- Text by Andrew Reilly. Read the full review here.

Other Lives: Tamer Animals (TBD)

Other Lives: "For 12"

After releasing one album under the name Kunek in 2006, Oklahoma quintet Other Lives changed names and presented a striking "debut" that landed somewhere between indie folk and chamber pop.  It was both melancholy and melodic, sparse and dense — and it was a portent of greatness to come.

Tamer Animals, the group's sequel on TBD Records, is a profound advancement.  Whereas the group's previous album placed a greater emphasis on singer-songwriter song structures, this collection intersperses more moments of instrumental prowess between the verses and choruses, giving the vocals more room to breathe and resulting in elongated intros, outros, and bridges.

The album is replete with vocal harmonies (some evoking classics like The Beatles' "Because"), and it's just as packed with instrumental timbres — quickly twitching and slowly sliding string clusters, tinkling piano flourishes, acoustic guitar strums, western guitar licks, vibraphone accents, neoclassical woodwind repetitions, and many others.  Though the band is roughly placed in the "indie rock" category, Other Lives proves to be much more, and Tamer Animals demonstrates a mastery of melody, harmony, and balance.

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres (Constellation)

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter One excerpt

Chicago native and New York / Montreal resident Matana Roberts has spent much of her career exploring the outer limits of free jazz, offering her alto-sax talents in collaboration with legends such as Fred Anderson and contemporary greats such as Jeff Parker, Vijay Iyer, and Nicole Mitchell.  She also has worked with experimental rock darlings such as Godspeed! You Black Emperor and TV on the Radio, providing an extra layer of musical dexterity.

As for her own projects, Roberts carries a belief that her music should comment on the world's many inequalities, and her latest is no exception.  Coin Coin, her newest effort as a bandleader, is an ongoing narrative that's based on the history of a dynamic black woman who went from being a slave to an established businesswoman, giving refuge to people of color such as Roberts' great grandfather.  For the project, Roberts uses the trajectory of its namesake — Marie Thérèse Coincoin — as a starting point for a live music piece that's fused with performance art.

The first chapter, which has been performed around the USA for a few years, now sees release as a live disc.  With the help of an expanded ensemble, the music is all over the map, from somber to noisy to radiant and from ragtime to bebop to modern.  But no matter where it goes, it's tied together by the narrative, a moving fictionalization that reminds us how despicable humankind can be — and that great strength can manifest in the face of oppression.

Zombi: Escape Velocity (Relapse)

Zombi: "Shrunken Heads"

Channeling the horror-infused synth vibes of Goblin and John Carpenter, space-rock duo Zombi has made a commendable career of 1970s nostalgia — but with a bit more punch and dance-ability.

Escape Velocity, the band's fourth full-length album, pulls back a bit from the epic melodies and distorted low end of Spirit Animal, its 2009 release that preceded a split LP with Maserati.  With fewer dramatics and atmospherics, this album gets straight to work building grooves.

Just like its predecessors, Escape Velocity is five tracks of long-form synth-rock jams, but it's significantly shorter overall.  At 33 minutes, it's roughly 2/3 the length of an average Zombi full-length, but ironically, this may be a benefit; the songs feel more concise and don't ramble quite as long.

Honorable Mentions

Africa Hitech: 93 Million Miles (Warp)

Bill Gould & Jared Blum: The Talking Book (Koolarrow)

Le Butcherettes: Sin Sin Sin (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)

Chrissy Murderbot: Women’s Studies (Planet Mu)

Empty Space Orchestra: s/t (self-released)

Helado Negro: Canta Lechuza (Asthmatic Kitty)

Horseback: The Gorgon Tongue: Impale Golden Horn + Forbidden Planet (Relapse)

Jesu: Ascension (Caldo Verde)

Mexicans with Guns: Ceremony (Innovative Leisure / Friends of Friends)

Rene Hell: The Terminal Symphony (Type)

Mountains: Air Museum (Thrill Jockey)

Okkervil River: I Am Very Far (Jagjaguwar)

Oxbow: King of the Jews (Hydra Head)

The Sea and Cake: The Moonlight Butterfly (Thrill Jockey)

Ben Sollee: Inclusions (Thirty Tigers)

TV on the Radio: Nine Types of Light (Interscope, 4/11/11)

TV on the Radio: "Caffeinated Consciousness"

In 2009, TV on the Radio announced that it was taking a break. After years of crafting futuristic, genre-bending soundscapes, the band had decided to take a step back, take a breather, and entertain other endeavors. However, after several critically acclaimed albums, the decision to split seemed sudden and a bit disappointing. After all, the hiatus was announced not too long after the release of the band's arguably best achievement, Dear Science, a showcase of everything from relentless outer-space indie to beat-infused dance pop, computerized schizophrenia, and soft atmospherics. But it actually looks as though the break did some good: the band has returned rejuvenated and self-assured with its latest effort, Nine Types of Light.

From the onset of the new album, TV on the Radio comes off as revitalized and refreshed. Downplayed is the frantic, fast-paced rock gems that usually sit atop the track lists of albums past. Instead, the band ushers in softer, sophisticated melodies — more mindful of arrangements than how many different noises can be jammed into a track. The first three songs are lighter and more delicate (but still showcase the band’s signature multi-instrumental tendencies), as if the band was in a very good place when the songs were written. But TV on the Radio’s strongest suit has always been molding all of its musical differences together and shaping them into one cohesive sound. Nine Types of Light continues that trend seamlessly.

It isn’t until the fourth song, “Future Shock,” that the band’s multifaceted, signature sound starts to emerge on a more prominent platform. But even then, the roughness is more subdued, reflective. Its edges seem smoother — polished, even — and it quickly becomes clear that there is a calm, rest-assured confidence emerging from the album. The members of TV on the Radio know exactly what they’re doing — and that they’re doing it well.

For the entirety of album, the band successfully straddles the line of soft-tempered lovesick-ness (“Keep Your Heart” and “Killer Crane”) and panicked, rocked-out bliss (“Caffeinated Consciousness” and “New Cannonball Run”). The songs roll and swell, from melodious and intimate to heaving and frenetic. The exceptional “Will Do” finds the best of both worlds, mixing in distorted lead guitars with symphonic string arrangements. And though it's mellower, the song's relentless drums propel it forward, and it successfully balances on the line between softness and loudness.

The softer, more reflective side has always been one of TV on the Radio’s greatest tools in its music. However, unlike its past albums, this tempered approach takes on a more prominent role throughout Nine Types of Light, becoming the main artery of the album, rather than a few random capillaries. The shift is a favorable one for the band, and it works well with its vision going forward. It’s possible that recent events have helped the band to put some things in perspective. (Bass player Gerard Smith recently lost a battle to lung cancer.) Indeed, the calmer, more subdued side of Nine Types of Light reflects a band that has grown, that has aged well, and that has been hurt and healed, lost and found. If the band’s brief sabbatical was indeed the cause of harnessing such sensibilities in its music, another hiatus might be just what it needs before its next record.

Download the podcast for This Week’s Best Albums: January 11, 2011 and subscribe to This Week’s Best Albums for free with iTunes.

Stream the podcast for This Week's Best Albums: January 11, 2011.

The Glitch Mob: Drink the Sea – The Remixes, Vol. 1 & 2 (Download to Donate)

The Glitch Mob: "Fistful of Silence" (Eskmo remix)

Formerly a four-piece of electronic musicians, The Glitch Mob is now a trio of artists who each have released music individually.  Despite only self-releasing one full-length album together, which came in 2010, the group has achieved remarkable success and visibility thanks to digital mixtapes and high-profile remixes, including some for TV on the Radio, Coheed and Cambria, and Linkin Park.

Now, to remember and help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti one year ago, The Glitch Mob is releasing two volumes of remixes of Drink the Sea, the group’s full-length debut.  The first volume will be available on January 12, exactly one year after the earthquake, and the second will be released one month later, on February 12.

The group’s own material isn’t as “glitched” as you might expect from the band’s name, but it covers a few different electronic bases, from heavy drum-and-bass to dubstep grooves to sultry electronica.  There’s a focus on gritty synthesizers, squiggly effects, and big, thunderous beats, and a lot of it flirts with electro-rock, sort of akin to The Qemists but without the straight-up dance elements.

The remixes are a unique batch of variations from King Britt, DJ Vadim, Eskmo, Deru, and nearly 20 more established electronic artists.   Some of the best moments are the extra instrumental inclusions, from Jogger’s distorted and possibly African-inspired guitar on “Between Two Points” to Salva’s faux tablas on “How to Be Eaten by a Woman.”

If you love remixes or just great electronic music with hooks, buy both of these volumes to benefit a great cause, and then go back and buy the original version of Drink the Sea.  Both volumes are available from the Download to Donate campaign of non-profit organization Music for Relief.

X-Ray Press: UVB-76

X-Ray Press: "Holy Ghost"

A ’90s-style alt/math-rock band from the Pacific Northwest, X-Ray Press uses its sophomore release to combines melody and harmony with powerful rock beats, noisy effects, and challenging, circling rhythms.  The music is built around the dual vocals and instrumental interplay of guitarist Paurl Walsh and bassist Michael Pasuit, but explosive drumming as well as distorted keyboards and Rhodes piano are just as vital to the album’s success.

That Rhodes, which was “prepared” using felt stoppers and felt scraps, provides great breaks in style throughout the album in the form of neoclassical interludes.  The rest of the music has a lot of harmonizing, progressive, post-hardcore riffs akin to Volta Do Mar or Don Caballero, but it also has a definite Shudder to Think vibe, particularly with vocal elements that are reminiscent of Craig Wedren's quirkiness.  At other times, the vocals even recall a raspy Dave Grohl, but they always achieve an original balance.

Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Ségal: Chamber Music (Six Degrees)

Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Ségal: "Histoire de Molly"

Combining traditional West African music with Western classical, Malian kora virtuoso Ballaké Sissoko and French cellist Vincent Ségal have just released their first collaboration, a beautiful and striking collection mostly of instrumental duets.  Sikssoko has released more collaborative albums than solo works, proving his instrument’s modern adaptability, and though this release doesn’t push too many boundaries, it’s an excellent fusion of sounds.

The harp-like sounds of the kora are a warm complement to the deep, vibrating strikes of the cello, which frequently shifts from bowed to plucked passages.  Chamber Music also features a handful of guest vocal and string parts as well as some light percussion, but at its heart is the interplay between these two dynamic musicians.

Kayo Dot: Stained Glass EP (Hydra Head)

Kayo Dot: "Stained Glass" excerpt

Since its formation in 2003, avant-rock outfit Kayo Dot has undergone frequent lineup changes and stylistic shifts, but uniting it all has been the adventurous, long-form compositions of multi-instrumentalist Toby Driver.  The band’s wandering creations vary from savage to beautiful to noisy and ambient, and its newest release, the 20-minute Stained Glass EP, is one long piece that embraces all of those characteristics, albeit without much of its previously established heaviness.

Sadly, Stained Glass comes after the passing of Yuko Sueta, a close friend of the band who also wrote the story and text that accompanied the band’s last album, Coyote.

Musically, Stained Glass uses the vibraphone of Russell Greenberg to provide a calming, unifying element to a long track that presents distorted bass, horns, woodblocks, soft vocals, and assorted keyboards.  There’s an unassuming, atmosphere-building guitar cameo by Trey Spruance, the mastermind behind Secret Chiefs 3, but Stained Glass doesn’t have firm segments to latch onto.  Fans of Kayo Dot, however, have generally come to expect that, and they should love Stained Glass all the same.

Matt Ulery’s Loom: Flora. Fauna. Fervor. (482 Music)

Matt Ulery's Loom: "Great Full"

With diverse influences and an ear for melody, bassist Matt Ulery has been a standout in Chicago's jazz and improv scenes, performing in the classically inspired Eastern Blok and penning his own compositions for solo material and for the multifaceted jazz band Loom.  Now Loom is releasing its second album, Flora. Fauna. Fervor., with the goal of balancing its composer’s creations with the performances of its players.

The material does a great job of balancing those strengths, never allowing wild performances to take over and yet never getting too staid.  It flows from folksy chamber-jazz elegance to playful three-note grooves and to more traditional jazz structures.  Ulery never forces his bass lines to the fore, instead using them as melodic foundations for the additions of trumpet and sax, Wurlitzer electric piano, violin, and vibraphone.

Honorable Mentions

Abigail Washburn: City of Refuge (Rounder)

British Sea Power: Valhalla Dancehall (Rough Trade)

Basil Kirchin: Primitive London soundtrack (Trunk)

Lemuria: Pebble (Bridge Nine)

Tapes ‘N Tapes: Outside (Ibid)

Verbal Kent: Save Yourself

Wire: Red Barked Tree (Pink Flag)

From 1982 to 1997, New York's Swans built a cult legacy for a solitary blend of industrial, folk, noise, and avant-garde music.  It was less music than an experience, helmed by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocal oddity Michael Gira.

Along the way, the group's sound evolved from raw to delicate and anywhere between, channeling ambient sounds, acoustic tenderness, post-rock, field recordings, cinematic drama, and much more. But Gira wanted to turn his attention elsewhere, and Jarboe, Gira's partner and one of the group's only other constants, went her own way.

Gira focused on acoustic works in a solo career and with a group called The Angels of Light, and he released other people's material on his label, Young God Records.  Though a new Swans album never seemed likely or possible, Gira now has delivered one that far exceeds expectations thanks to an all-star cast.

In a new, balanced mix of noise rock, strange ballads, and stratified power, My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky calls on Thor Harris, Bill Rieflin, Devendra Banhart, and a number of other multi-talented collaborators.  Whether droning, marching, building to a crescendo, setting a creepy tone, or simply delivering melodies, this marks a new and important chapter in the Swans story.

Swans: "Eden Prison"

Torche: Songs for Singles EP (Hydra Head)

Over the course of two albums and a few EPs, Florida’s Torche has developed an appeal across genre lines, attracting stoner-metal fans as well as the sing-along crowd.

The band (now a trio) earned some serious buzz from its 2008 full-length album, Meanderthal, which coupled a strong melodic emphasis with thick distortion, catchy riffs, and wailing vocals.   Songs for Singles, essentially, is more of the same two-minute tracks, each powerful yet approachable enough to be played on the radio.

The EP, however, also holds a pair of the band’s longest jams, including penultimate track “Face the Wall,” which slows the tempo to establish an epic, My Bloody Valentine-esque vibe over five-and-a-half minutes.  The closer, “Out Again,” is a six-minute mid-tempo rocker that rides a trance-like outro for four minutes.

These slow jams close Songs for Singles in a similar fashion to Meanderthal, which back-loaded the longer tracks.  They create a nice contrast to the first six tracks, even though they do little to change Torche’s direction.

Listeners who loved all of Meanderthal, however, should have no problem with more of the same.  Regardless, if you’re not familiar with the band’s signature combination of punk melodies and beats, guitar harmonics, and overdubbed vocals, you should get acquainted.

Torche: "Arrowhead"

Exploding Star Orchestra: Stars Have Shapes (Delmark)

Composer/cornetist and multimedia artist Rob Mazurek has been at the leading edge of experimental jazz for more than 15 years, searching out new expressions of a classic genre in outfits such as Chicago Underground Duo (Trio, Quartet, etc.), Isotope 217, Mandarin Movie, Sao Paulo Underground, and more.

In 2007, Thrill Jockey released the full-length debut of Exploding Star Orchestra, one of Mazurek’s newest creations that fused hard bop with untamed improvisation, electronics, and far-out samples (including an electric eel).  The large, member-shifting ensemble followed in 2008 to present a collaboration with the since-departed Bill Dixon — a three-suite album that directed the players to musically interpret one of Mazurek’s video works.

Stars Have Shapes finds Mazurek further exploring the interplay between aural and visual stimuli, most notably on “Three Blocks of Light,” an interpretation of his similarly titled three-part photo piece, “Three Projections of Light.”  Each track (with the exception of the five-minute “ChromoRocker”) is a slowly building sphere of sound, a layered cacophony that swirls with fervor.

There isn’t the same type of powerful, circular jazz grooves as on the debut, We Are All From Somewhere Else, but there are moments of refinement between the chaos.  As a whole, it’s a much less accessible album than the debut, but it operates on a much more subconscious level.

Exploding Star Orchestra: "ChromoRocker"

Flying Lotus: Pattern+Grid World EP (Warp)

In May, laptop guru Flying Lotus released Cosmogramma, the electronic producer’s grand opus and third full-length album.  Showcasing an expanded palette and a stronger compositional skill set, the album received glowing reviews and catapulted Flying Lotus (named Steven Ellison) to the forefront of an evolving sound.

Pattern+Grid World, the latest in Ellison’s line of EPs, goes back to basics.  The seven songs focus on pure electronics and synthesizers, as opposed to the diverse timbres and elaborate samples heard on Cosmogramma.  It’s still a complex, beat-driven tangle, but the material isn’t nearly as layered or expansive, and the melodies aren’t as wild.

The EP excels as a synth-driven IDM release, and its style makes it more likely than its full-length predecessor to be heard in a club.  If you like Flying Lotus but Cosmogramma was too intense for you, check this out.

Flying Lotus: "Camera Day"

Maximum Balloon: s/t (Interscope)

Producer/multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek is best known as a co-founder and driving force behind TV on the Radio.  His dense style has led to production credits for Liars, Foals, Scarlett Johansson, Thee Oh Sees, and others.

Maximum Balloon is Sitek's solo debut — 10 synth-pop tracks featuring 10 different guest vocalists.  Sitek has always worked in the realm of pop, but Maximum Balloon is substantially sunnier and more upbeat than TV on the Radio or his other efforts.

Over the duration of the debut, the music's feel seldom wavers.  Digital beats, light-rock instruments, synthesizers, and even some funk guitar and fake horns create a layered, danceable album.  The biggest difference from track to track, as might be expected, is the guest spots by vocalists such as David Byrne, Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Holly Miranda.

"The Lesson" finally shifts gears to a down-tempo, minor-key ballad — one of the album's better tracks — and the closer takes a similar route.  At that point, however, Maximum Balloon has already established its foundation, and pop fans will appreciate it.

Maximum Balloon: "Absence of Light" (feat. Tunde Adebimpe)

Honorable Mentions

Chloe Charles: Little Green Bud

The Hundred in the Hands: s/t (Warp)

John Legend & The Roots: Wake Up! (Columbia)

Margot & The Nuclear So-and-Sos: Buzzard (+1)

La Otracina: Reality Has Got to Die (Holy Mountain)

Qemists: Spirit in the System (Ninja Tune)

Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet: Natural Selection (Sunnyside)

Thievery Corporation: It Takes a Thief (ESL)

US Christmas: Run Thick in the Night (Neurot)