Paul Dickow has reinvented himself. His newest release as Strategy is a huge surprise and an even bigger statement. It comes out left field on the fledgling Peak Oil label four years after the last Strategy full-length. A series of 12" records released in the last year by Under the Spire, Endless Flight, and 100% Silk are its closest brethren, but none of them sound anything like this. Paul’s rhythms are bolder and his melodies sharper this time around. Lyrics are featured prominently throughout and the atmospherics that once defined his sound have been toned down in favor of tighter instrumental performances and punchier songs. Coming along with the new sound is a gaggle of new collaborators, including Thomas Meluch (Benoît Pioulard), members of the Evolutionary Jass Band, and Scott Ryser of Units.

Her first solo full length in over six years, this album leans more into Bailiff's electric guitar and lush atmospherics rather than the more stripped down folk sound. It has a distinctly current sound, but in a way that triggers memories of the best of early 1990s alternative rock, which was a formative time in my musical development. That’s not to say that Bailiff's more folk inclinations are gone, however: the hushed, spectral voice and the slow, acoustic lead "Your Ghost is Not Enough" calls to mind the earlier, more folk heavy work, even with its transition into a more electrified conclusion.

If the term spastic ever needed an audio equivalent, Survival Tricks would easily fit the bill. While it is rooted in an improvised rock context, bits of jazz, noise, and techno fly around like shards of broken glass in an album that is as equally abrasive as it is spectacular.

Despite having officially "broken up" over a year ago, this duo continues to put out a lot of posthumous work, and this one closes the "War Crimes" trilogy of recordings with their final performances in the United States, showing an ever-increasing sense of melody and Zen-like calm amongst the speaker shredding roar the duo surrounded themselves with.

Using unrecognizably tweaked field recordings of cats, crows, bees, wasps, boat ramps, and dead trees, the ever-reliable BJ Nilsen has crafted yet another complex and desolately beautiful suite of droning ambiance that subtly crackles and buzzes with life.  The Invisible City might be the first great headphone album of 2010.

The Grey Emperor takes full advantage of the Jurassic Park style of terror. Just like the foreboding and gently vibrating cup of water that announced the arrival of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, this piece begins slowly with an ominous pulse which sets the mood for the hour it lasts. Unlike Steven Spielberg, Wraiths do not immediately give out into an adrenaline-releasing rollercoaster ride. Instead they keep the listener on edge for a long time, picking slowly at their sanity.

Released back in 2008, Bad Light represents a lull in both Coleclough and Potter's discography. The duo showcases a number of musical conventions new to their repertoire, but the result is a suprisingly dull and somewhat derivative record.

Unearthing brilliant music from Ghana seems to be a consuming obsession with Soundway label boss Miles Claret, as he has already compiled two previous albums (Ghana Soundz) prior to this massive collection.  It is easy to see why he is so fascinated, as there was clearly something very unique and eccentric happening during Ghana's musical prime.  A lot of great songs are included on Ghana Special but it stands out from other African music compilations much more for sheer anarchic exuberance and unpredictability.

This is one of the most uninspiring albums I’ve ever heard. Heidi Mortenson’s debut is self indulgent, boring and forced. It makes me feel envious of the congenitally deaf. Although it does make the rest of my records sound better now.

The second album from South London’s Archie Bronson Outfit finds the trio firing on all cylinders, incorporating the influence of American blues and roots alongside their angular guitars and propulsive rhythms for a collection of rousing stomps.

Akron/Family’s second album for Young God is a more rounded affair compared to their first. A wider range of songwriting is on offer along with a better production. It isn’t as instantly loveable as their debut but even with its short running time there is a lot to work with as a listener. There is a little more energy here than before which spices up the mix nicely.

If the opening lyrics to this Fridge member's latest solo album aren't provocative enough, then the music will seduce anyone that listens to it immediately. Adem has crafted an elegant, feathery-soft record full of soaring melodies and intricate arrangements. It all sounds so natural that it's hard to believe he didn't just breathe this record into existence.

It’s been about 22 years since I grooved to my first AfrikaBambaataa record, and it makes me almost giddy that I can pick up a newrecord today and bounce to it in the same way. Ellen Allien may come tothe party by way of minimalist German techno and dub, but I can’t helpbut think she’d be welcome in the Zulu Nation any time.

For the 12th year Brainwashed Readers have voiced their opinion on the best and worst music of the year. While some of the results shouldn't come as a surprise, there are, as always, plenty of anomalies. Brainwashed Readers have once again, and probably moreso than any other previous year, distanced themselves from the mainstream. Thanks to all who took part.  As always, the Brainwashed Staff have added their comments.

This ambitiously sprawling triple album marks the beginning of a third phase in James Kirby's career.  The haunted murkiness of his previous work as The Caretaker remains intact, but Kirby has recently made the bold (and possibly ill-conceived) move of playing everything himself and entirely avoiding samples. The result is certainly quite strange and difficult, but it is also a gutsy rejection of all prevailing trends in contemporary music.

Long-time Chicago based sound artist Blake Edwards has developed an impressive resume in the experimental and noise scenes over the years, and this newest full length album is no different.  Here he focuses on the manipulation and treatment of sounds recorded some 31 years ago, and the result is, for better or worse, a static gray wall of dour sounds that has its high points, but not as many as one would hope.

Having kept both Githead and Wire active in the past couple of years, it is unsurprising that there has been some cross-pollination of style due to Colin Newman’s presence in both bands.  Last year’s Object 47 pushed out some of the more aggressive elements from Wire Mk. 3’s sound and instead embraced a more ethereal pop sound parallel to that project’s classic A Bell is a Cup album.  Similarly, this new full length from Githead retains Wire’s sharp and dynamic rhythm section, but brings in a greater pop sensibility along with Newman’s unabashedly wonderful angularity.

After six years of being just a title on the Beta-lactam Ring Records website, I was losing hope of this album ever materialising. There was the danger that if it did ever arrive on earth that it would be an anticlimax but thankfully I can report that it is one of the best realised Nurse With Wound albums yet. Steven Stapleton and his crew, including first mate Andrew Liles and chief of engineering Colin Potter, voyage through the outer limits of The Outer Limits and Sun Ra's most cosmic offerings. Influenced by those haunting electronic soundtracks of vintage Sci-Fi, Stapleton guides the U.S.S. Nurse With Wound through the furthest regions of the universe, documenting spatial anomalies and creating some of the best sounds audible in the Milky Way.

Celebrating 30 years of Nurse With Wound and inspired by Faust's 49p album, The Faust Tapes, categories strain, crack and sometimes break under their burden as Steven Stapleton and company step out of the space provided to create a best of compilation like no other. Featuring loads of familiar music but all in a totally new context this “party mix” is great fun; surprise juxtapositions of material and trying to identify the sources of the various sounds make for a nerdy but highly enjoyable hour of listening.

The latest from Leyland James Kirby is not only his best album to date, it's one of the best ambient albums I've heard in the past decade. It is both the culmination of Kirby's past efforts as The Stranger and The Caretaker and also his point of departure from those projects. Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was takes everything I love about Kirby's previous work and infuses it with a greater diversity of ideas, moods, and colors.