Lusine, A Certain Distance [Ghostly, 2009] Jeff McIlwain drops the "Icl" again for his latest album on Ghostly. For those of you who've followed the Lusine projects over the years, "Lusine Icl" is typically reserved for Jeff's more ambient work, and "Lusine" for his more beta-oriented work. That formula doesn't change here, as A Certain Distance certainly has more in common with 2004's classic Serial Hodgepodge than 2007's Language Barrier (soon to b...

Bibio, The Apple And The Tooth [Warp, 2009] Bibio just continues to churn out quality in what has become his breakout year. Two albums and now two EP's, this one with new tracks and so many remixes it's basically another full length. The new tracks start the show, and are fantastic. The title track perfects the folk-hop template while maintaining an energy most tracks in this style can't compete with. It bleeds directly into "Rotten Rudd", which slows things down before b...

DJ Signify, Of Cities [Bully, 2009] Justin Levy finally follows up his breakout album as DJ Signify Sleep No More with Of Cities, a hard nosed urban instrumental hip-hop album that completely eschews current trends in the hip-hop scene coming out of LA. Don't expect the wonk or style hopping of Flying Lotus at play here. Of Cities is much grittier and more focused. Coming from Brooklyn, this album almost plays like a defense of territory or a statement against the West Coa...

Nadsroic, Room Mist [LuckyMe, 2009] Ciorsdan Brown goes by the name Nadsroic which happens to be her first name spelled backwards. She’s an emcee from Glasgow, Scotland repping the LuckyMe crew (Mike Slott, Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, etc.). Her debut “Room Mist” is a 6 track outing produced entirely by Hudson Mohawke. Nadsroic is most known by now for the glitchy, wonky banger “All Hot” featured on the new Hudson Mohawke LP, “Butter,”...