This mostly exhaustive triple-disc set spans four decades of Loren MazzaCane Connors' work, collecting 7" and 12" singles, compilation tracks, private CD-Rs, collaborations and unreleased pieces.  For an artist with such a large and intimidating back catalog as Connors', Night Through serves as a perfect introduction, cutting straight through the uniqe avant-primitive guitarist's baffling discography, showcasing a variety of approaches, and by its very nature focusing on shorter, more approachable pieces.

Another solid release from Mono, this time a collaboration with another Tokyo artist by the name of World's End Girlfriend. The music is as good as I expect from Mono, as there’s no departure from the sound they’ve cultivated on previous releases. I would like to see some exploration of their sound but the familiarity is comforting.

Tortoise is the latest '90s independent supergroup to issue a generous collection of three CDs (of hard to find music) and one DVD (a complete assembly of music videos with other things).  Where Stereolab has issued collections before, it was understood there were things to be saved for the next compilation; Low left nothing out, but Tortoise forgot some critically important pieces of their history, hence this imaginary compilation to fill the gaps.

Whether or not Hella’s freakouts would transfer from their overamplified electric environment to an acoustic one has never been a question that’s plagued me. However Hella have chosen to answer the question anyway. This EP shows that a good Hella song doesn’t need a large amount of electricity powering it to make it work. I’d go so far to say that the pared down approach is the best approach for them. 

While Japan may have birthed some of the most elegant and elegiac experimental rock of this decade so far, it has also seen a rise in acts that tear massive holes in speakers and fry amp cables. Taking this disc as evidence, this trio of Yamamoto Seiichi (Boredoms), Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), and Tsuyama Atsushi (Acid Mothers Temple) appear in the latter category. Few bands can safely combine the excitement of rock while negotiating the worlds of traditional music and out-there wig outs.

Singer/songwriter Alex Lukashevsky has a decent gravelly voice and his tongue-in-cheek lyrics are frequently entertaining, which makes it all the more disappointing that these hints of potential go unfulfilled on this album.

The new album from Norway's Kaada is the perfect soundtrack for break-ups, homesickness, or rainy day navel-gazing. Since there isn't that much going on that commands attention, it's an album that's not distracting during moments of introspection.

I would be telling a big fat lie if I said that I predicted this would be Mouse On Mars' next move, despite the live show they put on during their most recent, but extremely brief North American tour giving every indication.

There are only so many manipulated found sound albums that I can give my time to in life. Many artists in this realm are poor at best and their music isn’t worth the discs that it’s pressed on. This album from Chris Herbert stands head and shoulders over all these pretenders. Landscapes more than soundscapes, the music on Mezzotint is dreamy and rolls around the room like a ghost.

Intended for release on a tour that was ultimately cancelled, this unique collaboration between the Hafler Trio, Colin Potter, and Andrew Liles is a strange expedition into frost-bitten realms. Siren-like, the intoxicating lure of unraveling mysteries impels further descent into its cavernous depths, with little hope of return.

Recorded at four separate studios, mastered by two different individuals, and performed by nine musicians, Fading Trails is looser, perhaps a little grittier, and heavily stripped down compared to What Comes After the Blues. Where that album sometimes seemed a bit too full, packed to the brim with sound, this is the Company's return to a looser, more open sound.

While I never feverishly anticipate everything this Hoboken trio releases I do enjoy their music for the most part.  When Matador gave the opening track away, the killer 10+ minute "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," I was excited for an album that could live up such a promising track.  Unfortunately, what follows is a deluge of mediocrity.

"Dogwood Rust" activates the fuzzed-out, manipulated, rock-crushing side of this five piece from the get-go and lambasts the speakers with the same kind of punishment they've made a name for themselves on. Comet on Fire have undoubtedly changed, though, adding a melodic, tuneful side to their chaotic free-form rock.

The second album from Brooklyn’s instrumental electrodisco darlings Ratatat is a remarkably flat-footed affair. Operating under the guise of familiarity, the group manages to leave almost no distinctive imprint on this somewhat boring album.

Recently I was lying on a very comfortable couch in a quiet house. For a couple of hours I was mostly asleep or in a semi-conscious dreamstate. Later I discovered that in a room nearby was a cat who had infrequently remembered that it wanted to get out and engaged in brief episodes of door-rattling. Listening to this record is very like that experience: peaceful, hypnotic, slightly disturbing, repetitive, flawed, transporting.

Two of the more difficult to find albums from the Coil back catalogue have been reissued with new mixes and material bundled on. While most reissues don’t need a new review, considering these albums have been expanded and remixed, a reappraisal is in order. This is especially true of Black Antlers which was essentially only a demo disc in its original incarnation.

The double album solo debut from Matthew Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces is a mixed bag that’s often exasperating. While there are great songs buried within both albums, it takes a bit of digging to find them.

Nobody will ever convince me that the best musicians make the best music. Case in point is the newest from Daughters, a quintet of unhinged talent practically bursting at the seams with ideas, but incapable of stringing them all together in a satisfying way. There are some truly exquisite moments of furious cacophony on Hell Songs, but they're all fleeting and call the album's already brief running time into question.

This is the debut from a trio who could easily be considered the supergroup of strings for Montreal. Sophie Troudeau's name should be familiar to anybody who follows Godspeed You Black Emperor, Silver Mt. Zion, or Kiss Me Deadly; Genevieve Heistek's name is on Molasses, Hangedup, and Set Fire to Flames releases; and Beckie Foon has also worked in Silver Mt. Zion and Set Fire to Flames, as well as being one half of both Fifths of Seven and Esmerine.

Over the course of only four songs, this former Cocteau Twin has managed to rope me back into being a fan after Continental—the disappointing LP released earlier this year, also on Darla.