Jack Dangers is back! And on Planet Mu out of all the labels (for European distribution; Metropolis picked up the US release). What a perfect fit, seeming that Planet Mu is one of the established labels spearing the evolution of experimental and intelligent flavors of dubstep. Right off the bet, what's amazing is that unlike other classic electronic acts (ok, I'll say Orb and Orbital), Meat Beat Manifesto is _not_ locked into the past. Dangers is fresh with the times, embracing and re-inventing dubstep, as well as excelling in every aspect of the genre! He puts pretenders to shame! Dangers lays it on thick, heavy on the bass, exquisite on the intricate beats, bringing back familiar samples, with production skills of a seasoned master. Autoimmune is MBM's tenth studio album, whose discography spans over two decades of releases on a huge roster of labels, such as Wax Trax!, Elektra, Mute, Nothing, Run Recordings, and Play It Again Sam. For a full profile, history and discography you can reference the lengthy Wikipedia entry. The newcomers should be impressed by a true veteran of electronica. And the longtime fans will not be disappointed.

Exploring the rhythm beyond its regular structure is the main objective in this abstract and experimental album by Kamran Sadeghi, titled Through Thickness. Like little insects beating their wings against an aquarium where rabid fish circle the dying microphone, the sharp frequencies in the swirling noise of clicks is just one image floating to the surface in this harmonically deprived composition. Sadeghi "draws from [the sound's] potential palate of sonic mass, color, and points in space in order to create compositions of aural depth perception and sculptural form." Through Thickness is a first album in Sadeghi's Kha series. Sadeghi explains on his site: "'kha' is an ancient Hindu [Sanskrit] word meaning "emptiness" which was used in early numerical systems to imply space in tabular arrangements, 'zero'". In the digital twist and decomposition of rhythm, that emptiness breathes on its own. The electronic circuitry of sound pulses and twitches in a final dance of death. Sadeghi's curriculum vitae of audio and visual live performances and installations include OkOk Gallery, The Henry Art Gallery and the Decibel Festival. This is my first taste of material from Dragon's Eye Recordings, an independent label out of Seattle, focusing on experimental, textural, ambient, drone and minimalist recordings from an interesting roster of artists, releasing limited edition albums. In that sense, I place it somewhere around Touch, 12k, Sähkö and Raster-Noton. Definitely a label to keep your eye on. For a more musical side of Sadeghi, check out his side project, Son of Rose, with multiple releases on Dragon's Eye.

Slap! What an album... I'm really out of words. Let me attempt. Track one - Valse En Décomposition - baroque organ chords with a low-fi trip-hop beat followed by a bee buzzing turning into glitchy classical piece. Track two - Oesophage De Tourterelle - light piano arpeggios, tremolos and octave scaling progressions turning into insane breakcore. Track three - Putrefiunt - solo monk voice over a flamenco guitar exploding into hardcore death metal cookie-monster mayhem. Or how about 40's gramophone swing laced with gabber? And then there are eight more tracks! I haven't heard such a collection of molded styles before, and it's working... it's working really well! Gautier "Igorrr" Tighten, is a French (unsigned!) producer skillfully experimenting with samples, beats, breaks, and genres. Tighten is also the founder of a speedcore death electro metal/nica project WHOURKR with a single album Naät (self, 2007). Look, I absolutely love Venetian Snares and any crazy juxtaposition of hard styles, but when I happen to venture outside of the leading names, I encounter mostly noise and thoughtless production. Igorrr changes all that. He brings the fun back into breakcore and intelligence into design. Igorrr is a sonic painter who throws nails into aged strawberry jam, lets the slime dribble over your favorite toy, and serves it on a silver plated toilet seat. With a goat shake on the side. Eat it. Moisissure is so fun, you'll be back for more.

One Little Plane is the project of singer/songwriter Kathryn Bint. Her gentle voice covers subdued guitar and gentle percussion, giving you no hint that drum enthusiast Kieran Hebden AKA Four Tet is behind the production. While Kieran adds subtle touches that no doubt add value to this record, what causes this record to be successful is its charm. Kathryn has a vocal delivery that is careless, yet involving, and each songs sounds like a time-honored classic on first listen. I definitely get a 90s feel from the record because of the vocals, even though I can't tie it to a particular influence. Somehow, Until has flown mostly under the radar even with the notable producer and props from Radiohead. Perhaps that's part of the appeal. everything about this record screams hidden gem, yet I could see just about everyone falling in love with it.

Pórhallur Gunnarsson hosts a popular Icelandic talk show, Kastljós. The show is broadcast six nights a week on a national television network. Almost a hundred thousand viewers tune in each night. That's about one-third of the population of Iceland. My hands are cupped around a hot coffee mug; I'm halfway across the globe, sitting in my pajamas, waking up to the latest post on YouTube. In the clip that I'm watching, Gunnarsson opens up with an introduction in Icelandic, a language I don't understand. No matter. The music that follows requires no words. The show cuts to a boy sitting behind a grand piano. He is skinny and wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. Next to him is a string quartet. The camera zooms in on his hands. The boy plays a single melody composed of exactly six notes. In the background there is an echo of digital hiss. After an introduction of four repetitions, the quartet joins in. The accompanying harmony and chord progression is indisputably classical. But at about two minutes, the bass kicks in. The boy in a white T-shirt and jeans is a twenty-one year old Ólafur Arnalds. Born in a suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, he composes melancholic, emotionally fueled, and undeniably beautiful music. Ólafur studied piano when he was very young. After about a year of lessons, he decided to switch to drums instead. He kept his studies in drums up until two years ago, when he switched over again, this time adding classical theory and composition. Influenced by electronic, post-rock, and modern classical music alike, Arnalds incorporates various stylistic elements into his work. He seamlessly embraces contemporary symphonic composition and instruments but also makes use of electronic instrumentation. After I listened to Arnalds's 2007 debut, Eulogy for Evolution, I wanted to express my feelings and thoughts about it. Majestic, graceful, gorgeous and sublime are words that popped into my mind. But they are meager words when compared to the emotion in that music.

Pivot are the lastest Warp "indie" signing, an Australian three-piece that includes Triosk drummer Laurence Pike. While this is yet another nail in the coffin for the electronic purist Warp fans, the more open-minded may recognize that Pivot is yet another foray into forward-thinking rock category they've explored for years starting with the likes of Tortoise and Broadcast, and more recently with Battles and Grizzly Bear. Maximo Park notwithstanding, Warp have had success when they cloud the genre lines, and I'm glad to say Pivot is yet another success for them. While the style of Pivot's debut Make Me Love You was, let's face it, forgettable, the sound they explore on O Soundtrack My Heart is sure to stay in listener's minds. If I were to describe Pivot with one phrase, it would be synth-based math rock, but that's certainly missing something as some songs have no synths (Didn't I Furious, one of my favorite songs of the year), and some contain no rock (Fool In The Rain). By the time you get to the vocals of "Sing You Sinners" and laptop chill of "Love Like I", you'll be all out of potential comparisons for this album. But with all of the potential variance and din they can and sometimes do stir, it's amazing how chilled the entire listen is. It works as an album, and it's somehow a cohesive statement.

UK musician Matt Cutler came out of nowhere last year to release his incredible debut Everything Is Changing Colour. Lone, like many laptop artists, was heavily influenced by Boards of Canada, but his style was more than just a re-hash of the Boards style; it was almost re-invigorating the early Boards sound. On the second half of his debut, Lone's songs drifted more into the hip-hop realm, and he's continued that sound on follow-up Lemurian, a strong contender for album of the year in my mind. While Everything Is Changing Colour was a collection of songs, Lemurian is an album through and through. Cutler takes the influence of Boards of Canada and melds it with his love of instrumental hip-hop pioneers like J Dilla and Madlib. The result is instrumental hip-hop on steroids and probably a game-changer for scope of the instrumental hip-hop sound. About the only frame of reference I can come up with for hip-hop this fresh is Lukid's incredible debut last year, but where Onandon was cold and calculating, Lemurian is free and irreverent. Don't let the coked-out 80s cover fool you; this is a serious step forward.

I tend to avoid a lot of the electronic post rock that's released these days. A lot of bands seem to think that because they create long trackss with heavy guitar over electronic beats that they're somehow special when the music's actually completely forgettable. That's why I was surprised by this band Downliners Sekt, my latest listen in the crowded field of elecronified post rock. Sekt, who release all of their music for free on their website, create actual songs where the instruments and electronics are harmonized instead of just put on top of each other. I hesitate to even stain the music with the term post rock, because it's really just well produced instrumental music. Imagine World's End Girlfriend without all of the cheesy elements. What also makes the album special is how they switch between heavy and softer moments, switching from intense to chilled and back. Definitely experimental, but never headache inducing, The Saltire Wave is definitely a record more traditional post rockers can take some queues from.

Prints self-titled debut album was some of the most refreshing indie pop I've heard in a long while. There was an effortlessness missing from just about everything else that made Prints stand out. Released on the most unlikely of labels, post rock stalwarts Temporary Residence, the album struck me as just some talented musicians having fun, and making it look easy, even asking with the title track "is it magic, if it's easy?" Well, it was. This is their follow-up EP to that album, initially supposed to be a single for "Too Much Water", which is included as a video here 9in awful blue screen manipulated fashion). After the band finished the b-sides, they decided they were too strong to be considered such, and re-tooled this collection as an EP. The EP sees Prints going in a groovier direction than their debut, almost going dance-pop at times. But as usual, they do this with style and effortlessness. "Fire Days" brings them back to their initial sound, and it's one of their most beautiful songs yet. Also included is a mash-up remix of "Pretty Tick" and "Meditation" from the debut by Thee Loving Hand, and it's also a worthy addition.

I'll make a vast overstatement, why not; Detroit Underground is the last pure IDM label. Warp, Rephlex, Skam, and Planet Mu have largely veered into other genres (indie rock, classic electro, grime, etc.); Schematic, Sublight, Toytronic, and Merck have gone out of business; and I really feel like Detroit Underground is the last purely forward-thinking label, still interested in pushing the boundaries of sound. Their vinyl-heavy catalogue and horrendous U.S. distribution (all of their twelve-inches seem to only be available on an obscure German website) have inevitably plunged the label into semi-obscurity, but the two big names heading this release just might reverse the trend. Jimmy Edgar's latest album was rejected by Warp (presumably because it didn't contain vocals, guitars, or NME buzz), and Richard Devine seems to be sans label at the moment; they've paired up for this fantastic split EP, showcasing some of the very best off-kilter IDM I've ever heard.