Silences Sumire sounds as if Arovane remixed the live improvisation of Miles Davis, laying on his glitchy swishing drum patterns over electro-acoustic treatments of jazzy instrumentation. Hailing from Chicago, the group consisting of Thomas Faulds (Mercury Effect) and Charles Gorczynski (Colorlist, Leaves) compose a blend of light, electronic, and digitally crunchy percussion over woodwinds (alto sax) and female vocals. The sound of Silences Sumire is a abstract and modal, featuring extemporaneous saxophone overtones, voicing and glissando, with a continuous playful DSP effects of sample chopping, filtering, and bit-crushing. Chicago has a complex music scene that spans across genres like contemporary classical, rock, hip-hop, blues, jazz, and electronic. The duo skillfully merges the latter two, belonging (perhaps) on John Hughes' (Slicker) famous Hefty Records (with acts like Savath & Savalas, Eliot Lipp, Beneath Autumn Sky and Telefon Tel Aviv). I could even see this track appearing on Compost Records Future Sounds Of Jazz compilation series. Instead (and probably for the better), Return Is Selective is released on Ropeadope Digital label following a couple of EPs from Silences Sumire on Chicago local ears&eyes collective. Recommended for the jazzy glitchy fiends.

Hidden Shoal delivers once again! There are instant gems in my collection from this Australian label, including albums by Sankt Otten, Wes Willenbring and now the latest from Slow Dancing Society. To listen to Priest Lake Circa '88, I retreat into my solitary bedroom, fall over the covers, and press play on the player. It's not that I am ready for a nap. But I do want to close my eyes and let the sound swirl around me, like little specs of dust rising towards the ceiling in the ray of sunlight. With my eyes closed I can truly hear. There are no distractions by the scrollies or the blinkies. With my eyes shut I can see the music. And it perfectly blends into an atmosphere of my surroundings. Somewhere a dog barks. A pigeon flutters. And my neighbor is working in his garden. The trees sway in the wind, softly brushing their leaves against my window. Or perhaps it is the sound of a washing waves on one of the tracks, accompanied by a subdued strumming of a guitar. Soon I see the water. Drifting away on my hastily made raft I am slowly approaching the center of the lake. Getting closer with every reverberated feedback, going farther into my saturated dream. Priest Lake Circa '88 is Drew Sullivan's third album on Hidden Shoal, serving as a conclusion to his double-album which began with The Slow and Steady Winter. The main theme of the album speaks of the nostalgic concept of "home", encompassing the things we leave behind and return to, within our short journey into this time slice wer call "life". With Brian Eno serving as the main influence for Sullivan's work, I could attempt to classify the music as abstract ambient meeting experimental shoegaze.

The legend and beatsmith is back with a collection of instrumental beats that couldn't be more appropriately titled. Beats That Collected Dust Vol. 1 is the first part of a three part series of some of Premier's best beats that went unused in his 20+ years of hip-hop production on some of hip-hop's best albums and as one half of Gang Starr. The sounds here are exactly what you'd expect out of Primo, urban, but steeped in jazz and instrumental samples, without ever going cheesy. I wouldn't blink an eye if Guru started rapping in the middle of this record. Why these beats never became parts of so many of the integral productions Premier has been a part of I'll never know, but these beats aren't throwaways; they're Premier at his best. As these are beats meant as backing tracks, they aren't as diverse as a lot of the instrumental hip-hop out right now, and are definitely repetitive. But if you're a fan of beats, I probably don't need to say anymore.

Planet Mu always seems to have its ear to the ground searching for new sounds. The label is almost eager to re-define itself with each new release, starting from an IDM label, but then embracing indielectronic, breakcore, grime, and dubstep. Now, Planet is, to my knowledge, the first label to release a Skweee album, and the first label outside of Skweee labels Harmonia and Flogsta Danshall to even acknowledge the sound. For those that aren't aware, Skweee is a Scandinavian phenomenon that involves funky basslines and chiptune-esque synth sounds. Until now, all of its releases have been 7"'s, but Eero's trying to take it out of the Nordic lands with the genre's first full-length. This album contains a lot of the hits that have defined the genre's parties, including probably the most known Skwee track "We Could Be Skweeeroes", which could end up being the genre's own "Midnight Request Line". The premise behind Skwee is kind of silly, and the sound is undeniably cheesy, but anyone listening to this album can definitely see potential here. Whether this sound gains traction in the way dubstep has over the last couple of years remains to be seen, but if you're looking for something new, this is the freshest thing you're going to hear.

The Boats have certainly been busy this year. After releasing an absolute gem of a debut (2004's Songs By the Sea), they in my opinion went down a notch over the next couple of years with two good, if inconsistent albums ("Jonathan And Rob" off We Made It For You is still a favorite of mine), and a nice split EP with Pendle Coven. But in 2008, they've gone prolific, this being one of three releases so far this year. Luckily, the quality of this album doesn't suffer from the work ethic. I've always sensed that The Boats witty naming conventions for their songs tried to disguise how emotional and serious the actual content of the songs is. But the emotion of the songs is something The Boats don't need to apologize for; the whole of Faulty Toned Radio is achingly beautiful, subtle but dramatic when it needs to be, reserved and chill when it makes sense. If The Boats aren't taking their music seriously, the content of this album doesn't speak to that. What's interesting about this album is a subtle dancefloor influence, which, while making the Pendle Coven partnership seem more reasonable, is something entirely new to The Boats sound. I don't quite understand how they're able to make a 4/4 fit in so well with what has always been a very organic, almost homemade sound, but it works, and it's quite cool. This is by no means a dance record or anything, but this influence certainly adds a bit of range to The Boats' sound, and has certainly helped them get back to making albums of the quality Songs By the Sea suggested.

I just love dark and dirty drum'n'bass. But... I also love its jazzy, organic, and carefree flip-side. That is the sound of Syncopix. You walk out the door, on a crisp summer morning; the sun casts off the sharp shadows of the trees; and with the headphones on you trot to the beat. The light and upbeat rhythms tickle your eardrums with the high frequencies of snares, hi-hats and cymbals. You get into the groove with the minor chords and melodic pads. And just when things get rolling, the deep bass kicks in. An uncontrollable smile creeps in. This is what I'm talking about. Hamburg (Germany) based Roland Bogdahn, has been producing drum'n'bass under his Syncopix alias since 2001. Along with Yaw O. Afram (MTC Yaw) he founded Form Recording, and then spun off Syncopix Records sublabel, on which he already put out about half a dozen of his own 12-inchers, and finally his debut full length album, Icarus. All the years past, Bogdahn has been mostly releasing two-track DJ friendly vinyl on London Elektricity's London based Hospital Records and its sub-label, M*A*S*H; as well as Integral, Dutch Fokuz Recordinngs (sub-label of Citrus from Triple Vision), and Berlin based Hard:Edged among the many. There are also numerous collaborations and remixes - too many to mention for this writeup. But this is Bogdahn's first album. Even though it is unmixed, it flows very well, and is worthy of being a standout release apart from being just a collection of tracks. In fact, it only has two out of thirteen pieces which previously appeared on vinyl. The rest are all new (as far as I know). Geared more towards the listener, rather then the nightclub, Icarus is an album to add to your d'n'b archives.

I'm in the mood to catch up on some EPs highlighting the upcoming releases. Here comes a single from a Portuguese musician, Bruno Miguel, going by the name :papercutz with a vocal help by the lovely Melissa (Mell) Veras, and multi-instrumentalist Francisco Bernardo. The clicky IDM elements of Ultravioleta and the breathy female voice, triggers a memory of Telefon Tel Aviv's remix of Bebel Gilberto's All Around. I think the Portuguese lyrics play a huge role in that as well. But before I give my mind a chance to travel to the past, it is snapped back with four more remixes from a great roster of artists. First up is a remix by The Sight Below, a Portland based ambient-techno artist who just landed a deal with Ghostly International. His melding loops accented by the riding beat will keep the Gas fans happy (see my separate review on his No Place For Us EP). On Violet of Ultra Neotropic Remix, Riz Maslen (appearing on Ntone and Ninja Tune), blends organic instrumentation with machine-like rhythms and needle skips vis-à-vis Radiohead's darker tracks, adding her own vocals (an English translation of the original) into the mix. Spandex's (Matt Southall) treatment of Ultravioleta, brings it closer to the dance floor, with a minimal techno beat and a touch of electro, packed in the Kompakt container (for some reason I'm picturing Eric, the yellow puppet, nodding his head to the Flat Beat of Mr. Oizo in Levi's commercial). Finally, Bevan Smith (aka Signer) wraps it all up with a convoluted twist of an ambient soundscape paired by a deep bass pulse. Signer is known for his releases on Carpark and his own label, Involve; he also records under Skallander with Matthew Mitchell for Type Records. All in all, this is an interesting collection of remixes where each one shines in its own domain. And as such, it is difficult to encompass all tracks within one writeup. But back to :papercutz. Ultravioleta Rmx's EP should wet your appetite for his upcoming debut album on Apegenine. And I'm looking forward to the day it hits the street.

Entering the domain of ambient techno producers is a newcomer by the name of The Sight Below. Ghostly didn't think twice (and better for it), and snatched TSB for his first three-track EP. The fact that I'm even taking the time to mention a digital single should tell you how excited I am about the upcoming work from this Seattle based musician. And before I forget to mention - this is a free release, so go download your copy directly from the label's site. During the first track, No Place For Us, the ambient washed out sweeps yawn and stretch in swells of shoegazer's agonizing obsessiveness over thick guitar and pad layers. The tonality of these resonant chords remind me of Lusine Icl's Language Barrier and Murcof's Cosmos. Soon enough the kick drum comes in over the lazy vapors of sound. Like the soothing whispers of a river flowing through the dry lands, pumped by a steady heartbeat of the earth. I quote when I can't say it better: "The music of TSB conjures half-remembered dreams and soft-focus sentiments with elegiac beauty; his video art works similarly, blurring snippets of film until they're recognizable only as organic objects: black-and-white amoebas milling about, or a sunset rendered in grayscale." The knowledge that the three pieces were performed live only excites my neurons further. Really looking forward to The Sight Below's first upcoming full length release on Ghostly, so that I can stop looping only these three tracks!

Emilliana Torrini likes to mix it up. After her trip-hoppy debut, she completely switched gears toward the organic for the folky Fisherman's Woman. But what was really remarkable was not the 180, but that she accomplished both sounds really well. With Me and Armini being her third album, I had no idea what type of music she'd be tackling this time. After listening, it's clear that Me and Armini is not as much a take on one genre, or as much of a transition in styles as her second album was. Me and Armini is a more diverse collection of songs from a talented singer-songwriter. If I had to pin the album down for categorization purposes, I'd say on the whole it's an indie pop album in the vein of Feist, but with the reggaepop of the title track, the electro-acoustic "Dead Duck", or the Decemberists-esque "Jungle Drum", that's definitely an oversimplication. I've always been struck by Emiliana's lyrics, and the new album is no exception with her opening the album on the altcountry song "Fireworks" with "It's not fair to say we wasted time. In my view we just used it all up," or on the ballad "Beggar's Prayer", "When I was lost you thought me a beautiful find". Emiliana with this album has certainly separated herself from the crowd of female singer-songwriters, in a way that's as eclectic as it is relaxed, and ambitious but accessible.

Andrea Mangia's second album as Populous, Queue for Love, was a hidden gem in the Morr Music catalog. A vast improvment over his debut, the delicate electronics of the album fit perfectly with the Morr music aesthetic, yet without an energy and emotion the label sometimes lacked. Largely ignored at first, Populous gained some notoriety from an appearance of the first track from the album in a JC Penney commercial last year. Three years removed from Queue, Populous returns with an electronic pop album with New York vocalist Short Stories. This could not be more in line with with Morr's movement toward indie and electronic pop over the last couple of years, but thankfully, Andrea's following of the trend does not affect the quality of this album. Drawn in Basic displays a harmony between vocals and electronics most electronic pop albums pretend to have but in fact don't. Populous's heart-wrenching melodies are still there, but their guided by the surprisingy effective vocals and lyrics. I haven't heard an electronic pop collaboration work this well since Apparat and Raz Ohara. Sadly, Andrea has said this may be his last album, but one can only hope a new inspiration provides a reason for another album of similar quality to this and Queue for Love.