“Butter” has been among one of the most anticipated releases of 2009 so far. On “Butter,” Hudson Mohawke takes us on a trip through spacey electronic soul and the likes of fusion jazz and prog rock all based around the future beats wonky movement. The album is comprised of 18 tracks, each unique from one another and collaborations with notables such as Stones Throw’s Dam-Funk or previous collaborator Oliver DaySoul. Known tracks like 8-bit beat boxed “ZOo00OOm” or “Star Crackout” are among the standouts on the album mixed between the funked-up-on-steroids instrumentals and vocal tracks. The Stevie Wonder-like “Rising 5” is a testament to Hudson’s unique crystal clear production style. The drums on “Rising 5” are so damn crisp and clear. “FUSE,” a standout track, reminds me of a mix between UK jazz rock group Nucleus and fusion jazz artist George Duke with its beat-driven, soulful synthesized melody. Highly recommended.

Blue Daisy is a law student/bedroom producer from London who sent in some tracks to Mary Anne Hobbs, and a week later he was doing a mix for her show. The 10” followed. His debut came out of nowhere this year limited to a 500-only press on blue 10” vinyl. This stunningly gorgeous 10” is a mix of broken soul, dubstep and grime. “Space Ex” feature’s France’s LaNote singing over crackly, compressed, melodious synths and a stuttering beat. A truly beautiful track in the same vein as Flying Lotus' "Tea Leaf Dancers ft. Andreya Triana." “The Fall” is an instrumental encompassing dubstep, grime and house. It is a warm track full of crackly feedback, background melody and broken danceable groove. Highly recommended.

Bradfox Cox's second solo album as Atlas Sound finally appears officially, after a bunch of internet hoopla about leaks and his blog. I'm always amazed at how Cox finds the time to pump out constant music on his blog and record solo albums when he's always touring as Atlas Sound or with Deerhunter, and when Deerhunter is releasing new records all of the time as well. But what's even more amazing is how good these records are. Logos might be the best record out of the Deerhunter camp so far, with two amazing collaborations (one with Panda Bear, one with Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab), and one of my favorite songs of the year, "Shelia." This album is much different from the bedroom ambience of his debut, and leans more toward indie rock. Cox's songwriting plays a much stronger role, with stories emerging from the lyrics, and those stories are colored perfectly by the music. This is one of the best albums of the year, from one of the most prolific songwriters in indie rock.

On Keaver & Brause’s debut album “The Middle Way” we hear screechy bassline grooves under the same roof as 1000names, Dabrye, or Paul White. The production has the soulful qualities of Ge-ology, DJ Spinna and DJ Mitsu due to the heavy hitting boom-bap handclaps over warm, jazzy melodies. So with all these namedrops and comparisons, what does it exactly sound like? Tracks like “Laaastic” have that handclap crunch and strumming of harp much like Ge-ology, Spinna and Mitsu productions. It is a bit odd to compare the Keaver & Brause production style to hip-hop producers, however, the evidence is there. Stuttering electronic beats can sound soulful. This release is all over the place in my mind, in a very good way. Some tracks remind me of 1000names, and others remind me of DJ Spinna. Recommended.

All I know is that I’ve been sleeping, sleeping real heavily. I can’t believe it took me this long to check out Silkie’s full length “City Limits Volume 1” released on the Deep Medi Musik label (Skream, Clouds, Coki). After last year’s “Jazz Dubstep” 12” put out by Silkie, I’ve become a fan. Dubstep has gone in so many directions. It’s been run through so many different genres creating new genres. Acts like Joker and Rustie have taken it through the wonky style. Others like Coki and and 16-Bit have taken dubstep into more hardcore techno driven arenas. An act like 2562 has moved dubstep in a deep and atmospheric realm. Silkie’s work on “City Limits Volume 1” seems to fall somewhere in between everything. There seems to always be a catchy, wispy and airy synth melody subtly sitting in the background moving each track a long. The wobbly bass is everywhere on this release. Highly recommended.

Dirty Projectors are, frankly, a pretty annoying band - they seem to encapsulate everything that is tedious about Williamsburg hipsterdom, and most of their early material is, like them, very annoying - i.e., awkwardly and pretentiously unmelodic and "experimental," where experimental means "experimental for indie rock" (read: "they sound kind of like Animal Collective!").  I often wonder if there are any bands in Brooklyn that aren't "experimental"?  Anyway, my point is that one can imagine how good a Dirty Projectors album would need to be for me to recommend it. And lo, "Bitte Orca" is very good; far more coherent than their earlier work, complexly beautiful, and it holds up very well to repeated listens.

This (impressive!) album is way, way, way out of leftfield - I often have trouble describing records that I'm recommending, but with this one, seriously, I don't even know. This is the official band photograph. "We Gave It All Away" sounds like ... a Brazilian shaman recording a dance album using only female Norwegian vocalists? DFA's Tim Goldsworthy and James Murphy taking heroic amounts of ayahuasca and holding a marathon recording session with everyone they know? Anyway, listen at your own peril.

This is quite an album.  I was looking forward to hearing it due to the Modern Love connection (Miles Whittaker, of Pendle Coven and MLZ), but it sounds like nothing else on that label; even the cover art looks like it doesn't belong anywhere near Modern Love. The only way I can think to describe it is as a "dub dubstep" album, or maybe "ambient dub dubstep." The combination of sound is truly unique; there's plenty of bass on the very low end, and an extremely interesting use of samples and field recordings.

One of the best albums of the year, for sure; a giant shambolic joyous collection of songs about love, suffering, and things related to love and suffering. The general vibe is that of California, sunshine, 60s oldies, but then combined with something darker and filtered through shoegaze and blues-rock. (The lead singer-songwriter has quite a biographical backstory, as well.) This one has been on repeat for a while!

King Midas Sound is back with a new 12” right before the November release of “Waiting For You,” their full length album on Hyperdub. Ever since 2008’s “Cool Out” single I’ve been eagerly waiting for more work from the duo comprised of Kevin Martin aka The Bug and Roger Robinson. All three tracks on the 12” reach into the deep, dark depths of dub through filtered bass and percussion. The echo of the hi-hats, snare drums and Roger Robinson’s vocals is enough to give me chills down my spine. This music is truly deep and dark, yet somehow soulful. It might be a stretch, but I’d even go as far to say that I see similarities in the feel of the music between King Midas Sound and Thom Yorke’s gorgeous solo efforts. I’ve got a lot of excitement built up inside me for the full length.