I know nothing about Stephen R. Smith, except that the creatively-titled "III" is his third album under the Khol moniker, and that he is signed to a label I haven't heard of.  "III" is really a magical little album; instrumental lo-fi psychedelic-ish pieces which cover a broad musical spectrum.  I feel like it should have been released on Type Records, it has that "Type" sort of vibe; anyway, definitely check it out.

This is the final album from Yellow Swans, an American noise/rock outfit that has put out 30-40 releases in the past eight years; most of them tedious, to be honest (I gave these records many chances!). "Going Places," though, is their one unquestionably great album, and a fitting end to their career - if you're going out, go out on a high note. "Going Places" is an ecstatically mind-blowing noise/feedback/drone record, which sounds as if it was recorded both live and in the middle of a tornado (in a good way).

Just when I thought Flying Lotus couldn't possibly improve his output, he has to go and release "Cosmogramma."  If "Los Angeles" was black and white, this record is full color.  Ellison is no longer confined to any genre; this album skates effortlessly between hip-hop, jazz, IDM, lounge music, and electro.  His musical collaborators are the real key here; e.g., Thom Yorke provides his best guest vocal spot ever.  Also, note: this works way better as a complete album, versus being broken up into individual tracks; for you Ipod enthusiasts out there, don't toss "Cosmogramma" into shuffle along with everything else! 

The sound is born out of electric static, slowly penetrating through the thick veil of noise until it rolls over a thump. The tremolo affected voices grow into a ten part choir consisting of members of Tenebrae professional chamber choir. The strings provided by The Duke Quartet become rhythmical, accentuated by a pulsing metallic micro beat, until with a swoosh of white noise, resembling a raging storm, this progression evolves into something bigger, stronger, and primordial. Enter the sound of Genus - an electro-acoustic score for the ballet choreographed by award-winning Wayne McGregor. Commissioned by The Paris Opera Ballet, the work is based on Charles Darwin's discovery of evolution. Hence the growth, the organic development of the sound, and "the musical evolution of [its] own", as adopted throughout this eight-part composition by Joby Talbot and Benjamin Wynn. Since I started talking about the composers, let's get all the credits over with. Los Angeles based Wynn should be already known to the electronica and IDM community as Deru. He has released two solid albums, Pushing Air and Trying To Remember. Both of these, along with a 10" single, Pushing Soil, are among my top absolute favorites. Wynn's ability to create crispy, glitchy, hip-hop influenced rolling-bass rhythms got me bopping my head, and hunting down everything that he touches. Genus is no exception. It's no wonder that Ant-Zen picked up this amazing release. No wonder at all. Talbot is a British film and TV composer. With numerous commissions from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and the BBC Proms, Talbot is known for his musical arrangement for The League of Gentlemen and a soundtrack for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Talbot's previous ballet score experience includes an orchestral arrangement of music by The White Stripes for Chroma. His education in composition at both Royal Holloway and Bedford New College completes the qualifications required to produce this haunting piece, and I have no doubt that Genus will be added to his further list of outstanding accomplishments. Spread over eight tracks (and 44 minutes), the released score is actually made up of three movements: The Transmutation of Species, Genus and The Great Tree of Life. Each part is considerably different then the previous. On Genus, for example, Louisa Fuller picks up her violin and guides us towards the mathematical passage of neo-classical progression with a slight touch of time-based effects. Released by Ant Zen in collaboration with Dear Oh Dear Records, the CD edition is limited to 100 copies, including a hardcover sleeve and a 20 page booklet. The disc also contains two video clips and a digital document. This is a marvelous release. And when it rolls over you with its top notch production, expert composition, and overwhelming concept, you can't help but play it again. Be sure to also keep your eye on Deru's upcoming album, Say Goodbye To Useless, which is scheduled to hit the streets sometime in early 2010 on Mush Records.

Living in Chicago, I've had the pleasure of hearing Zelienople play live multiple times. All I can say is that it is a completely captivating experience. I've never felt like the band has really been able to capture the essence of their live experience on record though. Even though they have good records before (Pajama Avenue and His/Hers most notably), they pale in comparison to their live material. Give It Up might be their best attempt yet though. Give It Up is eight, ambient, ethereal rock experiences. And I stress that word. These aren't songs; they are experiences. These songs envelop you without being overbearing. Still not as good as they are live, but well worth the listen.

I hadn't really heard of Oneohtrix Point Never before Wire magazine named 'Rifts' the #1 album of 2009, so I gave him a shot - it turns out that I'm at least familiar with the subgenre (he's loosely a part of the whole Keith Fullerton Whitman / Room40 ambient/musique concrete crowd), but certainly hadn't ever encountered anything quite like this material. The best way to describe 'Rifts' (a massive compilation of choice tracks drawn from all previous OPN output) is "new age ambient," but without any cheesiness; equal parts drone, dissonance, and breathtaking beauty.

Ritornell is the duo comprised of Richard Eigner and Roman Gerold based out of Austria creating jazz music constructed around beats, electronics (old & new) and live instruments. “Golden Solitude” is the debut release of the duo full of quiet, contemplative and melodic tones on the verge of avante garde qualities. Much of the music is based around the trumpet over a boom-bap beat while other tunes are full of ambiance, noise and and warm keys. Over all, the album is a grower. It’s sat nicely in my collection getting a fair amount of play. The release includes a rework of Misel Quitno’s (Dimlite) “A Fancy Friendship” full of harmonizing vocals similar to that of the Deheza sisters (School of Seven Bells). Nice electric bass and trumpet is added over the rework to add the Ritornell touch. Dimlite and Eigner in the past year have collaborated on various unreleased work. A video can be seen on YouTube and Vimeo of the two performing an unreleased improvisation titled “Kalimba Lifeswamp” with Dimlite on keys, pads and electronics and Eigner on drums and percussion.

Close the doors and turn up the sound. This is ambiance that needs to be really heard. Quietly chirping submerged engines are silenced by waves of bowed cello. The sound of rippling water seeps through the drones of strings. This is the organic world of Solo Andata - an Australian duo comprised of Paul Fiocco and Kane Ikin. Having previously released their debut on Hefty, the duo got picked up by 12k, and contributed a recording to Live In Melbourne, appearing among tracks by Seaworthy, and label owner, Taylor Deupree. The album is mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and is accompanied by a mini booklet of 8-piece photography by Deupree himself. This is a warm album, covering you with a blanket of organic materials, natural field recordings, and swells of ambient soundscapes. The restraint and delicate touch within this production stops time, thought, and all of the pain. Solo Andata is the sensual reflexology for the mind. The concept behind the album, reveals "a theme of travel from cold to warm, water to earth, fluidity to stasis, conceptually representing a thread between water and land." The meditative nature of these pieces focuses the inner ear on within, while the outer contemplates without. At the epicenter lies the focus of the album, Look For Me Here. This is the place that you reach after descending through the laid out paths of an early morning forest, quiet nights, and misty caves. This beautiful track is also available from the label as a single, with remixes by the above mentioned Giuseppe Ielasi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Make sure to grab that one. And by the time Loom comes out with a crying cello by Louise McKay, you're truly in love. Fans of Hildur Guðnadóttir will melt within. The duo uses barely any electronic instruments. Most of the heard sounds are resonating from strings, voices, guitar and a piano. The sourced material has been painstakingly captured, post-processed, and folded back into the pieces, often reflecting the origin within the titles. For example, “Woods Flesh Bone” actually records wood, flesh (from a dead chicken) and bones. “Canal Rocks” contains a recording of wind through the rocks in a small alcove in southwestern Australia called Canal Rocks. “Hydraulic Fluctuations” is a recording of the fluid fluctuations inside a large pump, “Ablation” is ice and wind.

To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie return with their second album after their debut The Patron. Marlone sees the band growing quite a bit from their debut, with their arrangements growing more intriguing and varied, and overall just more impressive. Their sound is a mix of experimental and post rock, with ambience and shoegaze playing a role as well. Jehna's vocals still sound remarkably like Beth Gibbons, with a bit of Cortney Tidwell and Trish Keenan thrown in, but her work on guitar mixed with Mark McGee's electronics and percussion take this band to totally different places. There's a dichotomy at play between light and dark on the album, with morbid violin and ambience competing with a pull toward pop sensibility. Ocassionally, light wins, as on "In People's Homes", but if dark places are where you like to hang out, Marlone is a great album to bring with you.

Risil is a group headed by Guillermo Scott Herren (Prefuse 73, Savath & Savalas) consisting of Tyondai Braxton (Battles), Roberto Carlos Lange (Savath & Savalas), Ryan Rasheed (LebLaze), Alejandra and Claudia Deheza (School of Seven Bells), John McEntire (Tortoise), Eva Puyuelo Muns (Savath & Savalas), Zach Hill (Hella), Laurenz Pike (Triosk, Pivot) and members of Sunn O))). “Non Meters Vol. 1” is a densely layered excursion into a melodious, textured, fuzzy, droned out, powerful noise. The beauty found in this release is immaculate. The Deheza sister’s voices jump back and forth singing “There Has to Be” and “Air” in a southing, rhythmic manner on the track titled “There Has to Be.” Eva Puyuelo Muns’ vocals on “Son of Yucatan” gives me goose bumps as she sings a soft melody over quiet guitar and hints of percussion rattle in the background. What I find most interesting about the release is the combination of rhythm over this immense wall of whirling sound. The vocals at times are nothing more than a harmonization of the melody or vocoded and sung at the same volume as everything else. The sounds of free jazz, drone metal, electronic, choral music and everything in between are present on “Non Meters Vol. 1.” Highly recommended.