Bullion, most known for his “Pet Sounds in the Key of Dee,” a tribute to the late James Yancey aka J Dilla sampling only the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” album. Here we are with the “Young Heartache” EP full of spacey soulful and psychedelic beats. The title track is fast paced full of chopped up vocals singing out “young heart!” and ending in a vocal sample boasting infatuation. “Are You The One?” is my favorite track off the release and one of my favorite tracks of 2009 so far. Bullion creates a marching beat with psychedelic echoes of a sampled voice singing/asking “are you the one?” The “Young Heartache” EP has been in constant rotation on my record player since release. No one does it better than Bullion when make soulful and psychedelic beats. Be sure to check his other releases. Recommended.

I never thought I'd see the day when the music of bands that I'm a huge fan of (No Age, Deerhunter, etc.) actually became somewhat of a "genre" of indie music, but I think Japandroids fall so neatly within this circle that it's kind of arguably the case. "Post-nothing" is a pretty straightforward hard rock interpretation (the lead singer mentioned in an interview that early G'nR were a big influence) of the "punk ambient" sound, and holds its own with the best records of their peers.

I remember hearing, a couple years back, that Warp has signed an experimental noise dude from NYC named Tyondai Braxton (who ran in the same circles as Animal Collective, back in the day), but then his promised debut never appeared and I didn't think much more of it.  Though I did check out his 2003 album, which was somewhat impressive. Anyway, a year later, Battles --- Braxton's obscure, little-known side project! --- released an album on Warp, and I figured that his original contract had somehow been wrapped up into that, but, apparently not! "Central Market" is the weirdest thing ever released on Warp (with the possible exception of "Satanstornade"); musique concrete, with ... samples? Certainly a much more abstract project than Battles; simultaneously challenging and playful.

I first listened to Ben Frost when he released his sophomore album Theory Of Machines back in 2007. I described his music as ambient hardcore - psychologically raw, punishing, and overdriven guitars, with reverberated pads and rhythms that mutate into white noise and back, sending chills that originate deep from within your ear canal and slide down to your toenails. That album left a lasting impression on me. Enough to select it as one of the best albums of the year. I didn't think that Theory Of Machines could be outdone... That is... until I put on By The Throat. While listening to Theory Of Machines, I compared Frost's sound to that of an angry furry armadillo, creeping up the inside of my legs with a cold long needle, leaving me drenched in sweat. And with this latest installment, the chills rise up my spine and hold me, in perpetual, electric shock. The cover art alone puts into my mind the images of my final moments, lying naked on the snow, steam rising from the breath of a hungry wolf, his teeth sunk into my throat. And the track titles do not let up. Through The Glass Of The Roof, Through The Roof Of Your Mouth, Through The Mouth Of Your Eye. And the music? Dark grinding metallic strings scratched through distorted pads, deep breaths, growls, and choking melodies. The intensity of the bass and guitar riffs create instant goose bumps, tickling the inside of my ears, and clawing at my chest. White knuckled at the seat, I think I accidentally scratched a healing scab off of my back and now I'm bleeding through this white collar shirt, the tie restricting my cries. Let me out! I've heard some dark and terrifying ambiance in my lifetime, but Frost's onslaught is incredible. I stand applauding. And the production? We've got top notch mastering going on here, with perfectly sampled strings played with dry bows over thumping kick, and rising voices. With contributions from Jeremy Gara of The Arcade Fire, Icelandic quartet Amiina, Swedish grindcore band Crowpath, and of course, the classical touch of Nico Muhly the roster of artists is exciting alone. Oh, and did I mention that it was co-produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson? It was created under the cloak of nocturnal snow in the far northern reaches of financial-fantasy island, a concept borne of Frost and weapons manufacturer, war monger and evil genius Sruli Recht, captured by the all-seeing-eye of Bjarni Gríms and forged in the fires of hell by Rebeca Mendéz… Frost's music is all about contrast - merging beautiful classical minimalism with the dirty grind of metal and drone core. This combination is unsettling to the mind, refusing to split in half and choose between the genres. In 2007, Frost released Theory Of Machines on Bedroom Community, and spent the next two years cooped up to dream up this nightmare. Let me restate my earlier conviction: By The Throat is even better than Theory Of Machines - a feat I thought impossible to bear. This is the music of suspense. The terror of the unknown. The ethereal melody at the end of the tunnel that gets cemented off a few inches away from your desperate crawl. The piano keys expand and shrink with pressure, and the white and black chip off and vanish. The tension ends with the last track, and although you can exhale, you want to feel the angst again. You want to feel. You want to feel...

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Wolfgang Voigt's "Gas" project is that Wolfgang Voigt created it. Voigt has released many, many hundreds of tracks under 77 different aliases (33 solo projects and 44 collaborations - I checked!), and while I won't pretend to have listened to all of it, my impression of the stuff I've heard is that it's all defiantly mediocre - boring second-wave techno, barely living up to the worst releases on Voigt's Kompakt label. "Alltag" is an exception; this EP holds its own with the best Gas material, and serves as a sort of coda to the Gas project ("Pop" was released in 2000).

Anything that Skam puts out gets at least a few listens from me, and it's a good thing, as "Video Club" isn't terribly impressive at first - what initially seems like a weak combination of Team Doyobi and Wevie Stonder (8-bit electro over chopped-up samples) slowly reveals hidden depths. There's tunefulness and melody, yet also that peculiar "dark electro" sound for which Skam seems to hold an international copyright. (There's also a rumor going around that VHS Head is a Boards of Canada alias ...)

The prolificness of the Deerhunter collective shows no signs of stopping in 2009, with new albums from its guitarist (as Lotus Plaza) and its singer (as Atlas Sound) and this EP as the full band. Rainwater Cassette Exchange is a collection of short, catchy indie rock songs. Cox's easy to follow vocals are at the forefront, but the tempo changes with each tune, as does the instrumentation, so there's a great ebb and flow feel to the EP. Synthwork creeps in on "Famous Last Words" to great effect, almost being used as a background vocal. Samples creep in after the vocals end and the band continues to jam on in "Circulation", closing the EP in strong fashion. If you're a fan of the last Deerhunter album, this EP isn't going to surprise you, but it probably will make you happy.

Kona Triangle is Matt aka Keaver & Brause and Tom aka Lone who make quiet and relaxed atmospheric and breezy beats basing themselves out of Cedar Hills, UK. The outcome is layered, blissful and warm song structures that might remind the listener of Boom Bip or Boards of Canada. Both Lone and Keaver & Brause seem to always get this comparison, which makes sense. The album opens with a short intro followed by my favorite track off the album, “Shine Alight.” “Shine Alight” is a dreamy, layered track full of explosive drums and synth that seems to billow in and out around the drums. “Mango Rubicon,” a later track, starts out with ambient noise and bird chirps as an introduction and slowly moves into a different sound with a side stepping beat and a floating melody. I’m quite impressed with this release, not to mention the solo work of Keaver & Brause and Lone. Recommended.

Out of all the releases in 2008, I was most excited about All City's 7x7 Beat series. In case you don't know, All City Records released a 7" record each month beginning in the first few months of 2008 with Dimlite releasing an 8th 7" in early 2009. The series is comprised of some of the most forward thinking producers in hip-hop beats and electronic music. Producers include: Snowman, Mike Slott, Fulgeance, Mweslee, Le N?ko, Hudson Mohawke, Onra and Dimlite. Each 7" is a heavy hitter and all stand out in their own right. Though in my opinion, the most interesting in the series came from Mike Slott with "Knock Knock" on the A side of the 7". "Knock Knock" is a wonderful track, as lame as it may sound, it is one of the most happiest sounding songs that I've ever heard. I'll leave it at that. Other standouts include Onra's "My Comet," Mweslee's "Jamas Jame Jamon," Le N?ko's "Akedam," Dimlite's "Quiz Tears," and Fulgeance's "Revenge of the Nerd." The music isn't the only thing special about this project, Dom from the LuckyMe crew designed each sleeve. The artwork is fantastic. Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Robin Rimbaud spent his life listening to others. In his early works, Rimbaud tuned into the airwaves to pluck out pieces of radio, mobile phone conversations and police broadcasts. These were intricately edited and folded back into his compositions, producing an experimental genre of his own, often gathering international admiration from the likes of Aphex Twin and even Stockhausen. This is yet another one of Rimbaud's albums as Scanner, adding to his e-n-d-l-e-s-s discography (seriously huge), spawning collaborations with DJ Spooky, Alva Noto, Kim Cascone, and Vitiello among many others. And Rockets, Unto The Edges Of Edges does not disappoint. The album starts off with vocal samples, strums of guitar and Rimbaud's own gentle singing. That is until the kick drops and bounces away. The distorted bits and pieces of voices continue to dominate the background of Scanner's recordings. We are, after all, eavesdropping. This mixture of acoustic instrumentation and electronic treatments evolves, introducing a full on string ensemble conducted in the rhythm of solid beat and bitcrushed percussion. And by the time I arrive at track three, titled Anna Livia Plurabelle, which is full of classical operetta vocals by the acclaimed soprano Patricia Rozario, crying in angst, I realize the grandiose accomplishment of Scanner's work, painting a cinematic masterpiece from lost and found fragments. The rest is just as beautiful. Speckles of found voices, radar transmissions, and environmental recordings are hardly intrusive in this purely musical piece. Although I can't say that I've heard every album by Rimbaud, I can definitely agree with the critics that this is his most mature and personal album to date. A soundtrack to a voyeur's life finally turned inwards. This is organic, this is digital, this is modern classical at its best.