shrieky & shoegazey goodness...

JARBOE & JUSTIN K BROADRICK - J2
J2 is the much-anticipated ambient musical exploration from singer/songwriter/performer JARBOE (ex-Swans) and JUSTIN K BROADRICK (Jesu, Godflesh). It sounds like you might expect – dark, ambient, shrieky, shoegazey, and chilling. Perfect for freaking out your parents, your neighbors, or your pets. Check out the track that scared my dog here:



Terrify your children or pets by purchasing your own copy here.

Bright Like Neon Love

While I wait with anticipation for Cut Copy’s new album, due out April 8, it is definitely worth checking out this older (2004) title in the meantime. Though I usually write about newer releases that people haven’t heard yet, I missed this one when it first came out (and perhaps you did, too). The trio, from Australia, seem to have a knack for creating perfect new wave inspired synth-pop gems, reminiscent of bands like Human League, Ladytron, The Postal Service, and Colder. This album should have been called Buy Me, Green Machine.

Check out the tracks “Saturdays” and “Saturdays (Reprise)”



Get your own copy of "Bright Like Neon Love" here.

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AUTECHRE - QUARISTICE
The IDM pioneering duo of Rob Brown and Sean Booth have released their ninth album, the follow-up 2005's “Untilted.” QUARISTICE mixes it up a bit with more and shorter tracks and has a warmer, more ambient feel that recalls some of their earlier work.

Check out a track here:


Get your own copy of "Quaristice" here.

Galadh Othui

GOLDFRAPP – SEVENTH TREE
The fourth album from duo Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory is refreshingly unlike the previous two albums. I think it is always admirable for a band to explore new territory, and even more so when it would be easier to follow the proven formula of success. Somewhat similar in feel to the debut “Felt Mountain,” SEVENTH TREE fully embraces a warmer, woodsy atmosphere, gentler and more folk-tinged than its predecessor. If Alison Goldfrapp were an elf, and “Felt Mountain” was recorded in a forest, it would have been Taur-nu-Fuin, while SEVENTH TREE would find its home in Eryn Lasgalen. In case you don’t speak Sindarin, those would be names for Tolkien’s Mirkwood Forest, before and after the reign of Sauron. That would also be possibly the nerdiest analogy ever penned.

Check out a track here:


Get a copy for yours-elf here.

It's pronounced, "M-G-M-T"

“MGMT is: Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, two psychic pilgrims whose paths first intersected in the green pastures of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, circa 2002. Andrew and Ben realized that -- despite their opposing views on methodology (one is spontaneously practical, the other is practically spontaneous) -- they shared a common love of mystic paganism (ironic indeed on a campus named for the founder of Methodism), psychotropic sounds, and the belief that a joke (or a joke song) could be sad, profound, and funny at the same time. 40 years after the Summer of Love (and 30 years after the Summer of Hate), MGMT is celebrating the grand re-opening of the third eye of the world with ORACULAR SPECTACULAR, the duo's much-anticipated first full-length album, an enigmatic and prophetic collection of hallucinatory sounds and hook-riddled pop tones for the new millennium.”

Check out the track "Kids" here:


Get your own copy of "Oracular Spectacular" here.

S.W. + R.F. = TLF (Return of the Crimson Porcupine)

PORCUPINE TREE – NIL RECURRING
A four track EP, “Nil Recurring” is a companion to Porcupine Tree’s full length “Fear Of A Blank Planet.” Again featuring the expert noodlings of diabolically dextrous wizard Robert Fripp!

Check out a track here:


Get your own copy of "Nil Recurring" here.

Hot Chip on a silver platter

One of my favorite bands of recent times, Hot Chip, is back with their third album, “Made In the Dark.” Expanding upon the ideas and styles presented on 2005’s “Coming On Strong” and perfected on 2006’s “The Warning,” “Made In the Dark” showcases the band’s ability to kick out the slow jams as well as fire up the oscillators for some blazing electro. Regular or Deluxe Edition with DVD!