Vowels is a side project on James Rutledge, better known as Pedro, with drummer Chris Walmsley of Voice of the Seven Woods and Psapp. If you like percussion, step into this one. Walmsley lets his presence be known, with drum fills all over, and Rutledge complements with complex beats and 0-60 tempos in record time. With Pedro, it's quite hard to pin down a style, but I'd say Krautrock, jazz, and psychedelia are the primary sound influences of this record. A highlight is the 11 minute epic Appendix, which goes through all of these styles over the course of the tune, and never loses its place. This release is definitely experimental, but it's not just for beardstrokers. It has an energy to it that is palpable.

Kranky is starting off 2008 with a vengeance. Atlas Sound and now Valet have set the bar very high for quality with two genre-defying albums of immense substance and beauty. Naked Acid may be even tougher to describe than the Atlas Sound record, as distorted vocals peer through noisy (but not loud) guitar and percussion, creating giant swirls of sound that envelope whatever room you happen to be in while listening to it. The phrase "psychedelic minimalism" has been used to describe the album, and for sure, it fits, but one needs to look no further than the last two tracks to see that there's more than psychedelia at work here, with "Fire"and its On!Air!Library! like vocals over sparse guitar, and "Streets" with its electronic-like pulsating rhythms and progression. An exceptional and unique sounding record.