One of the most revered musical pioneers of the 20th century, Erik Satie also had connections to the avant-garde of other artistic disciplines. This album contains primarily his collaborations with Picasso and Cocteau, as well as a couple of other seldom heard works. Performed by Bojan Gorisek, who has recorded Satie's entire piano oeuvre, this is a playful and entertaining collection that presents another fascinating side of this eccentric composer.

I doubt anyone would disagree that following up last year's stellar In the Maybe World would be a difficult feat, so Young God and Lisa Germano decided to reintroduce this scarcely available 2003 release (ironically frequently heralded as her best release to date) to a larger audience, adding a bonus disc of home demos and live recordings.

This 3-CD compilation of singles, non-album tracks, and unreleased material by Amp stays true to their mantra of honoring composition and accident equally. The resulting harmony is by turns uplifting, somnambulant, frustrating, lush, raw, glorious, and imprecise while a hollowness seems to lurk beneath the distorted beauty.

Porn Sword Tobacco's delicate new album reminds me of flexi-discs that once came stuck on the front of music papers, containing excerpts from a band's forthcoming album. Similarly, it succeeds in creating an intrigue disproportionate to its miserly length.

The material that makes up Her Name was recorded across the world over 2006 and features vocal contributions from local musicians that treats the voice not as much as a means of communication, but as a unique instrument unto itself.

While looking at the instrumentation one would expect a jazz album (saxophones, guitar, percussion, electronics), the result is more of a jazz damaged electro-acoustic improvisations that manages to be both extremely minimal, yet surprisingly complex. 

The electronic improviser's first solo release (after collaborations with the likes of Kevin Drumm and Zbigniew Karkowski) is a succinct yet powerful burst of harsh analog noise that is reminiscent of the old titans of Japanese noise, yet still allows for some rhythmic elements that are consistent with the current scene.

It's an odd proposition for a compilation:  have the participants, most who are well known luminaries in the modern electronic avant garde world, submit tracks for a compilation that are idiosyncratic by nature, or essentially a very specific piece unlike their 'normal' work.  The product of which is a surprisingly diverse mix with little in the way of 'low' spots, and also makes for a great genre introduction. 

On this sprawling double disc compilation (one all new material, the other reworkings of the aforementioned material), there is a combination of an artist trying out new things, but presenting them in the framework of a DJ mix album.  It's a difficult proposition, but one that works. 

Earth might well be pioneers, but Hibernaculam feels like its treading water and diluting what made Dylan Carlson's project so great. Cleaned up and thinned out, these three re-versions of Earth tracks and a b-side feel like empty filler. Celebrating repetition over creating atmospheres, this is Earth hollowed from the inside out, the shell of the tracks brittle and insubstantial. By attempting to recontextualize Earth's music within classic American music forms means that it has lost what made it great; the fact they didn't fit in.

Mick Harvey's third release in less than two years is one of the finest albums he has ever put his name to. Like his previous solo output, this album is largely composed of pristine covers with a couple of songs written by Harvey thrown in for good measure. Covering artists closer to his heart has resulted in a far stronger album than 2005's One Man's Treasure. As a Bad Seed too often overlooked, it is great to hear him produce such a gem.

Fully divested of their signature drones, Growing explores rythmic loops and unnatural electronics. An acquaintance of mine has expressed his dismay that Growing turned away from their established sound, but I applaud their efforts. The result is easily their most engaging and unique album yet.

Three years after the superb Ozeanische Gefühle a sequel arrives. I was so excited to have new music from Matt Waldron in my hand that I didn't bother to notice this fact printed on the back of the album's case; the relationship is evident nonetheless. The second in a proposed trilogy of recordings dedicated to the writing of Willhelm Reich, Cosmic Superimposition is another cinematic exploration of dynamic and organic relationships both sonic and metaphysical.

Had this been released before the interminably detained Throbbing Gristle album, Part Two - The Endless Not, it might have retained some of the potent momentum from that legendary quartet's unexpected and bizarrely protracted reunion. Yet after years of delay, the reconstituted Psychic TV's unremarkable return to disc seems barely worthy of a dismissive shrug.

Much of Rainbow is the next logical step after Boris' fantastic Pink album, there is the same mixture of heaviness and melody but with a greater emphasis on the latter. With Ghost's Michio Kurihara on board there is a greater exploration of what a guitar and an amp is musically capable of as opposed to physically capable of. This is easily one of the best albums Boris have put their name to, there is not one boring moment at any point during the album.

Always content to play by its own rules, M_nus takes a chance on a virtual unknown with this dizzying set of melodic yet dissonant beeps and beats. Although adherent to the prestigious imprint's ethos, the artist twists and deforms his unstable tracks in a manner that connotes a possible evolutionary direction for the label's sound, assuming listeners can even detect it.

This collection of compositions shows how much Laporte is in love with the subtleties of sound and atmosphere. Shifts in timbre and slight changes in texture are the order of the day, the end result being five wonderful pieces that each explores the physical nature of sound. He avoids needlessly complicated ideas and instead lets the sounds that would normally go unnoticed come to the fore.

One day earlier this year, No Age released five separate pieces of vinyl on five different labels. Thankfully, Weirdo Rippers collects some of the blissful and spiky highlights on one of my favorite records of 2007.

Durtro Jnana issues a remastered, repackaged edition of this hard-to-find album by Current 93, widely acknowledged as one of their finest. Released after the breakthrough apocalyptic folk masterpiece Thunder Perfect Mind, but before the maximalist phantasmagoria of The Inmost Light trilogy, Of Ruine strikes a perfect balance between melody and pscyhedelic experimentation, between lyrical clarity and impenetrable esoterica.

With 2003's Leave Luck To Heaven album and Backstroke, its subsequent companion EP, Matthew Dear unveiled unexpected pop nuggets discovered amidst the gurgling, glitchy rhythms.  Including his own effected vocals offered a welcoming doorway for curious novices to enter and pretentious purists, if they so chose, to leave.  His best release yet, Asa Breed rewards those who opted to stay.