RIYL: Disco Biscuits, Pretty Lights, EOTO

Ad Explorata is Sound Tribe Sector 9’s follow-up to 2008’s Peaceblaster, an album that delivered more of the live immediacy the band is known for. But the jamtronica stalwarts are also known for constantly pushing the boundaries with their sonic explorations, so it’s not shocking to hear the band shifting direction again. STS9’s continued experimentation with electronic technology has driven a few old-school fans away, for it was the band’s instrumental skills that set them apart as a pioneer in blending rock with electronica. But the band’s continually growing fan base knows that STS9 uses modern technology as just one more tool in their musical arsenal, without becoming slaves to it.

“Phoneme” opens the album with almost eight minutes of atmospheric vibe, serving as sort of an appetizer that sets a spacey tone before the giving way to “Heavy,” where trippy synths and hard-rocking percussion conjure some of the classic STS9 sound. “Looking Back on Earth” brings a cosmic vibe indeed, but with drummer Zach Velmer powering the tune’s deep groove with a heavy attack. The psychedelic synth work is definitely the star of this album, with bassist David Murphy and guitarist Hunter Brown often joining keyboardist David Phipps in the synth and sampling mayhem, as they increasingly have been onstage. But while Brown’s tasty fretwork is perhaps at too much of a shortage here, most of the songs are well-served and probably inspired by the synth-heavy formula. Longtime fan favorite “EHM” receives overdue studio treatment and the tune is a keeper. Inspired by author John Perkins’ best-selling “Confessions of an Economic Hitman,” the epic song about the folly of predatory capitalism opens with a spooky vibe that builds slowly but surely into a monster groove that epitomizes just how dynamic the band can be with multiple synths. Percussionist Jeffree Lerner adds some heady cowbell work (even though it too is from a synth) as the song explodes into an up-tempo jam.

“Atlas” is another major highlight, featuring Velmer at his dynamic best over a majestic sonic tapestry that feels like it could be the soundtrack for a Rebel Alliance assault against the Empire. “Re:Stereo” takes listeners on more of a down-tempo journey, while “Central” brings things back up into another spacey groove before “Lion” drops an intense rocker similar in vibe to “Atlas.” The new album isn’t going to win back that smaller demographic of old-school fans that drifted away when the band started using more synths and samples in the middle part of the past decade. But it’s another strong collection of sonic explorations demonstrating that STS9 is a band that will never be content to hit auto-pilot. (1320 Records 2009)

Sound Tribe Sector 9 MySpace page

RIYL: Fusion jazz, jambands, Bernie Worrell, Galactic

If you are sick of the state of the music business, if you need some new music that sounds truly new, if FM radio bores you to tears and even the blog-rock CDs showing up on every music site’s “best of” list lets you down because it all sounds like half-practiced, overproduced slacker junk played by snotty people you wouldn’t invite to parties at your place…please go and buy this box set. The culmination of the two-year Radiolarians project, The Evolutionary Set is the career pinnacle of MMW, jazz-rocking experimentalists who are neither jazz nor rock, but “avant-groove.” Kind of an thinking-fan’s instrumental Phish, this trio started with an idea in 2007: Write some proto-jams, briefly rehearse them, take them on tour, develop them live, and then record the finished project. It spawned three ridiculously tight, sometimes funky, sometimes rockin’, sometimes ambient-noodling numbers that sound like nothing you’ve heard. It doesn’t hurt that these guys not only have played together almost two decades, but that they’re exceptional players. The box set includes the three Radiolarians albums, a double-vinyl set, a DVD documentary, a remixes disc, and a live album. It’s intelligent jazz, it’s primitive rock. It’s funky stuff. It’s an updated 2009 version of the strangely beautiful Miles Davis period that included the records On The Corner and A Tribute to Jack Johnson. It’s everything indie music’s all about, and while the major labels and commercial radio won’t touch this stuff, you should. (Indirecto Records, 2009)

Medeski Martin and Wood MySpace page

RIYL: Isis, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Sun O)))

Pelican, by far the most notable instrumental post-metal art rock band named after a waterfowl, left indie-metal label Hydra Head Records last year and joined up with Southern Lord Records, home to such experimental icons as Sun O))) and Earth. So perhaps it’s not coincidental that their first release on the label, What We All Come to Need, is a slight return to more experimental ground. Their 2007 release City of Echoes got some flak for being too “mainstream” due to some slightly more traditional sonic arrangements that were far shorter and more restrained than the epic-length opuses that the band was known for in the past. On What We All Come to Need, the band has seemingly split the difference between the “pop” sound of their last album and the unabridged soundscapes that was their earlier work. While there are no droning 10-to 20-minute epics on What We All Come to Need, most of the tracks hover around the seven-minute mark, giving the listener enough time to get lost in the songs’ dark, melodic world without descending into tedium. That being said, perhaps they cut a bit too much of the fat away. The menacing “The Creeper” and riff-heavy “Glimmer” could benefit from being a little longer, and shorter cuts like “An Inch Above Sand” and “Strung Up From The Sky” never really get a chance to develop. However, tracks like “Ephemeral” show that bigger isn’t always better by pounding its way through your cortex with its thunderous riffs in a scant five-minute running time.

Will the hardcore among the art-metal fans enjoy it? Probably not – it’s still a bit too “traditional” sounding for them. But metal heads who are curious to see what all this “post-metal” talk is about would do good to start with What We All Come to Need, as it’s a perfect bridge between the hardcore droning sludge of groups like Isis and progressive metal such as Mastodon. (Southern Lord Records 2009)

Pelican MySpace Page

RIYL: Incredible String Band, Amazing Blondel, Pentangle

It ought to come as no surprise that a combo which has taken its cue from iconic Anglo folk music should carry those interests further – in this case, creating an album rich in Celtic and Baroque tradition. But in accepting a commission to pattern a soundtrack for the Public Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” Hem’s allowed their Elizabethan extremes to run rampant, augmenting their usual mellow musings with a contingent of pipes, flutes, whistles and orchestral flourishes all in keeping with the trappings of the period. Mostly instrumental, it gives vocal nods to a theatrically superior cast that includes Anne Hathaway and Raul Esparza, but it’s a relatively unknown David Pittu who proves best suited to singing the sonnets, especially on such traditionally-tied verses as “The Wind and the Rain,” “Hey Robin, Jolly Robin” and “I Am Gone, Sir.” As the titles suggest, this is neither rock, nu-folk nor any combination thereof, but rather a sound that owes its origins and inspiration to the Bard. Hem enthusiasts will likely note this as a momentary detour in anticipation of a band project due early next year. For their part, theater purists will probably appreciate the effort and admire its authenticity. (Nettwerk 2009)

Hem MySpace page

RIYL: Yonder Mountain String Band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Nickel Creek

Sam Bush conveys the impression of an agreeable guy, a musician immersed in what he does. He boasts that same affinity for his fans that Jimmy Buffett displays in acting the role of cheerleader while readily encouraging unabashed celebration simply for celebration’s sake. But where Buffett’s built a reputation for being a party practitioner who induces his fans to wear silly hats and label themselves Parrot Heads, Bush invokes a merry mood simply by showing up, creating a communal Zen-like experience that takes its root in his music alone. Fans who flock to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival each year can attest to the joyful Bush bash that occurs every time he takes the stage, but for the uninitiated, his new LP, Circles Around Me, ought to suffice.

Bush helped invent the genre now known as “Nu-grass” while heading the New Grass Revival, and while he’s broadened his palette over the years, he’s also managed to maintain his populist appeal along the way. The title track opens the new disc with him marveling at the blessings generated by the kinship of his fan following, with Telluride accruing special mention. But then Bush gets down to business, tossing his limber fiddle and mandolin into the exhilarating frenzy of the album’s bluegrass banter. A trio of sure-footed instrumentals – “The Old North Woods,” “Blue Mountain” and “Junior Heywood” – provide the keynote offerings, but covers of Guy Clark’s mournful “The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle” and a harmony-fueled “Roll on Buddy, Roll On” vary the template ever so slightly while adding a supple touch to the proceedings.

Truth be told, Bush’s main strength lies as an ensemble player and, in fact, aside from the fiddle workout “Apple Blossom,” Circles Around Me benefits tremendously from the collective input of Bush’s collaborators – Del McCoury, Edgar Meyer and Jerry Douglas included. Happily then, these circles remain unbroken. (Sugarhill 2009)

Sam Bush MySpace page

Patton Oswalt joked that Austin was one of those cities that lives in a magical bubble that protects its residents from the chaos and the muck that surrounds them (”You mean I can’t pay for a sandwich with a song?”), and this five-track EP by playful electronic enthusiasts Octopus Project, their first effort since 2007’s Hello, Avalanche, bears that out. Leadoff song “Wet Gold” rocks a Theremin and boy-girl vocals to a beat that Stereolab would have killed for, but the band launches a full-on guitar assault on follow-up track “Moon Boil.” They finish the EP with three instrumentals (!), ranging from trippy (”Rorol”) to pogo-tastic (the Death Cab-esque “Wood Trumpet”). It’s the work of a band with a love for all things pop but a healthy disregard for all things popular. Lord knows we could use a few more bands like that these days. Peek-a-Boo 2009

Octopus Project MySpace page

Breaks records are usually intended for DJs, when they can be mixed and sampled with other tracks for DJ sets or remixes. Once in a while, though, one can break through to more mainstream audiences. DJ Food did it with their Jazz Brakes series, and now it looks like INF might with The Go Round, an infectious collection of ’60s-influenced loops, grooves and beats. The Go Round sounds like some magical out-of-place artifact from 1960s London, combining groovy instrumentals with modern beats to create a soundtrack to the best crime movie Michael Caine never made. One can imagine Mini Coopers tearing through the streets to the pulse-pounding beats of the title track, a romantic interlude to the gentle guitar strums and eastern drum beats of “The Boogie Man” and the final fight scene to the awesomely named “Power Move, Baby.” The Go Round is brief, clocking it at just over half an hour, so it’s not a lot of bang for your buck. But it’s still a fun listen that would serve as great background music for a party, dinner, or car chase. (Beats Broke 2009)

INF’s MySpace Page

Of all the reunions pianist Chick Corea has participated in over the past few years, last year’s resurrection of the classic Return to Forever lineup – Corea, guitarist Al DiMeola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White – turned out to be the most musically rewarding. The guys play as if it were still 1976, and Corea even took a vintage Rhodes to the stage to keep it authentic. If anything, the group is even better now with age and wisdom – DiMeola’s guitar runs sparkle with soul, Clarke’s and White’s rhythms are even earthier now, and in spite of these musicians having so distinctly honed their identities over time, Chick is still the masterful glue that keeps it all together. Though known mostly for their electric work, RTF’s acoustic side is on display for almost half of Live at Montreux, with Chick’s solo improvisation before “The Romantic Warrior” (with Clarke and White as a straight-ahead trio) proving that RTF, for all their fusion tendencies, were always, deep down, a jazz band. (Eagle Rock Entertainment 2009)

Return to Forever MySpace page

Aussie alternative rock band the Church began making music almost a quarter century ago, and while that band perfected the art of lo-fi before lo-fi was even a term anyone used, it was singer, songwriter and front man Steve Kilbey who mostly dominated the creative aspect of the Church. Kilbey’s first solo effort in eight years, Painkiller, was released in Australia in 2008 and just recently in the U.S. on Second Motion Records. But Church fans should be hesitant at best to grab this or any of Kilbey’s solo work – not because he isn’t talented or that his hypnotic vocals aren’t as spot on as they were in the ‘80s, but because it sounds like Kilbey puts his these songs together in a musical lab. There’s just a lot of weird experimentation going on, with melody and cohesion being after-thoughts. Kilbey’s poetry background is evident in some of these tracks, in particular the opener “Outbound,” which sounds like a spoken-word piece with musical backing. “Celestial” and “Crystalline Rush” are dark and somewhat palatable, as is the catchiest track, “Oenone.” But when Kilbey breaks out the test tubes and beakers, as he does on the 12-minute instrumental track, “File Under Travel,” or on the (gasp) 31-minute long “Not What You Say,” you just might fall asleep before you realize what’s happening. (Second Motion)

Steve Kilbey MySpace Page

Recorded live at Tokyo’s Blue Note Jazz Club, Duet continues Chick Corea’s streak of exceptional albums with unimaginative titles. Chick hasn’t released a piano duet album since his 1978 live double album with fellow Miles Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock, and while that record was a meeting of two peers, Chick’s partner on Duet, Japanese pianist Hiromi, was a year away from birth when Chick dueled with Herbie in ’78. As one might expect, Hiromi’s youthful exuberance matches – and sometimes surpasses – what was going down 30 years ago. Just one listen to the pair’s wildly playful take on Chick’s “Humpty Dumpty” and Monk’s “Bolivar Blues” may be enough to make it feel like this is the first and best time the dual piano format has been explored, not to mention the tension that Chick cleverly builds with his trademark percussive smacking of the keys during a neat take on the Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill.” (Concord 2009)

Chick Corea MySpace page