There may not be a more satisfying album than this released all year. Wound tight around the spine of a clear idea is a simple and elegant network of art, music, and performance cemented in wonder. Torch Songs is firm and tangible: a mass of skin, muscle, and bone that strikes and, in striking, cuts a path from earth to the stars.

Someone better give Mrs John Carpenter a phone call and tell her someone dug up her husband and taped his rotted ass to stack of synthesizers. Of course, John Carpenter isn't actually dead yet, but this duo of Nate Young (Wolf Eyes) and Steve Kenney (Werewolves) fill this vinyl with the kind of sounds that his wired-up and bloated corpse would expel from its disc drive.

Motor Ghost consists of Alex Neilson and Ben Reynolds and this limited edition LP is their first recording. It is an impressive document; their playing is challenging and full of life. A Gold Chain Round Her Breast is not always my cup of tea but it is captivating and surprising in equal measure. Most of the pieces sound much larger than a two piece, both musicians being highly adept at what they do means that they avoid the usual thinness of a guitar and drums duo.

Like labelmates Noiseshaper, the aptly named Dubblestandart operates in a space metaphorically and geographically outside of dub reggae.  Whereas the trailblazing, crossreferencing On-U Sound roster managed to strike a balance between the integrity of its Jamaican forefathers and the promises of forward-thinking pop, this Austrian band has yet to earn the right to do little more than skulk under Adrian Sherwood's mighty shadow.

Those seeking Burial style experimentation wont find it on this dubstep producer's full-length debut.  Far more comfortable representing the dancefloor, the up-and-coming artist uses his time on plastic to submerge listeners in a black sea of uneasy darkness and bass.

Only four full albums into her solo career, Jessica Bailiff has already racked up enough rare and unreleased tracks to put out a compilation that succeed where most fail. It manages to stand on its own as a coherent work of a developing artist rather than a mismatch collection of oddities. 

This CD/DVD is the first proper release by Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson's post-Coil audiovisual project. The music on Form Grows Rampant is a logical continuation of Sleazy's contributions to late-period Coil and the reformed Throbbing Gristle, a suite of dense digital environments that combine shuddering electronics with sampled vocals. In the process, The Threshold HouseBoys Choir create a brand new genre that might be described as Post-Industrial Exotica.

I would be a criminal if I called Robert Lowe anything but a master of his craft. Allusions to divine sources of inspiration and eastern meditative practices might help convey some intimation of what Omns feels like, but such a description would completely overlook how lyrical and detailed the entire record is. Included on this CD and DVD combo is the work of an artist with all of his facilities functioning on the highest level possible.

Imagine there is a machine moving through space without any discernible origin, its shape and size are thoroughly alien to the human mind, and it is transmitting a series of communications as it ploughs through our solar system and back into deep space. Orange would be the recording of those communications.

Fridge are one of those bands that defy any categorization.  Largely instrumental, they take elements of conventional alternative rock, krautrock, and electronica and work out something that can only be described as Fridge.  The Sun is their first new material since 2001's Happiness, a six year break that allowed the trio to integrate new sounds and elements into their already diverse repertoire. 

The first full length collaboration between these two internationally known electronic composers lives up to the hype, showing both artists demonstrating their considerable strengths, and the sum is even greater than its parts. 

Deupree has been at the forefront of an electronic subgenre of music that revels in its own esotericness, challenging listeners with often unmusical sequences of tones and textures generated by computer programs that are just as difficult and unintuitive.  For this release, there is none of that ivory tower sort of composition or oblique Max/MSP patch-generated sounds, but instead a very warm, albeit minimal, set of three tracks that of course feature the digital bleeps and microsounds, but also much more conventional textures which add greatly to the lushness and warmth of the EP.

Like its predecessor, 2 is based on elements that Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O)))) and Peter Rehberg (Pita) created as a score to the Kindertotenlieder theater piece by Gisele Vienne and Dennis Cooper, but stands on its own as a coherent work.  The disc does not represent a new piece as much as a companion piece to the first, based on the same recording sessions from 2006-2007. 

Dan Deacon is classically-trained in electro-acoustic composition, but chooses to make clunky, junky electronica using bargain basement gear and canned Casio keyboard beats. He wears goofy oversized sunglasses and performs illuminated by a glowing green Halloween skull. The music is deceptively simple: low-fi, wonky outsider pop that reveals layers of fascinating texture and occasional side-trips into joyful postmodern pastiche.

Over the Atlantic blend influences from some of my favorite bands: there's a touch of Jesus and Mary Chain here and there and the Magnetic Fields are all over this album. However, it would be unfair (and downright wrong) to suggest that Over the Atlantic are just a nostalgia band for the late '80s and early '90s indie pop scene. While they are obviously informed by some great bands, they put their own stamp on the music.

To be quite honest, despite being a big Sleep fan, I had never heard of Asbestosdeath until this reissue became available. Asbestosdeath is an early incarnation of the sonic titans and this reissue collects their two extremely rare 7" singles onto one CD. The songs will be familiar to those who own Sleep's Volume One as the songs here ended up being recycled when Al Cisneros, Chris Haikus and Matt Pike changed the name of the band and got Justin Marler on board. To hear these early versions of the songs gives me the same feeling as hearing that Velvet Underground acetate for the first time.

Despite some of the high energy alto sax improvisation here, this release by Japanese multi-instrumentalist Mochizuki Harutaka feels like the work of a sensitive soul. The gentle cover shot of Harutaka, with what looks suspiciously like a Tequila sunrise in the foreground, and some touching liner notes by post-folker Dredd Foole give the physical product an intimate, homespun feel.

Members of Piano Magic, Klima, Trembling Blue Stars, and friends gaze fondly back to the Kraftwerk and Factory Records blueprint of detachment, economy, and alienation. These carefully-weighed compositions will strike a chord for anyone with a penchant for some of the most popular independent music of the early-80s, though such familiarity needn't be a prerequisite.

This three way live collaboration (recorded in 2006 in Tokyo) by these titans of electronic abuse focuses on the analog elements of their respective careers. Even Masami Akita dusts off his EMS Synthi for an old school excursion.

I'm never opposed to making time for a new record from The Sea and Cake. While they don't explore new territory, I'm never let down. Everybody is a once again welcome record to mark the end of the cold season, optimistically looking forward to more pleasant, brighter days.