The latest instrumental offering from Robin Guthrie is a beautiful example of his evocative songwriting and production skills, and a testament to why his work has been the creamy center of the dream pop world for years. It's also a reminder of how much better his work is with the right vocalist.

Using motors and various pieces of metal, the sculptures of New Zealand artist Len Lye not only move but also emit strange sounds. Lye choreographs twisted sheets of metal and whirring surgical steel into compositional forms that belie their apparent randomness. No mere dusty museum pieces, the sounds his kinetic works produce are every bit as unearthly and unsettling as anything created electronically.

When I saw the latest incarnation of Current 93 in performance last June, I made it a point to personally tell David that it was by far my favorite lineup and show that I had ever seen of the group, and I meant it.  This album is perhaps the most anticipated Current 93 release ever, and it is easily one of, if not, the best.

The irony of Vol. 2 of the Exchange Session is that, even though the three songs are longer, the music is far more controlled, composed, and tighter, as opposed to the improvisational and somewhat looser sound typically associated with long pieces.

As one half of Birds of Delay Steve Warwick makes dirt sediment peppered petroleum noise. With his solo Heatsick project it’s all about exploratory drone, hitting every frequency on his way through. From a growling rusty Harley opening that builds and quickly plummets, scrambling for a handhold, this continues its hi-energy search for the full twenty minutes.

On this four song EP, Tartufi finds a safe formula and sticks to it. Unfortunately, the formula only succeeds on the first song and makes clutter of the others. "Midnight Tracks" has it all—the back and forth fuzzed guitar interplay, the dual vocals, and the multiple changes in direction. The song is performed well, though it’s somewhat standard fare. Those that follow are essentially more of the same.

An original Hook & Hastings tracker-action (non-electric) pipe organ originally constructed in 1881 owns the entirety of this record. The chanting, reminiscent of what Native American and Indian chants I've heard bend space-time, revealing an ether of energy and ideas coursing beneath the visible spectrum. Performed live, this album sounds more like a ritual than a product; it is a distinct and meditative experience that pounds down the doors of the visceral and floods the extended world with a pure, white light.

This is another outstanding emission, the best to date, from the increasingly obviously talented Black Sun Productions collective. With the help of draZen there’s a process of musical distillation going on that sees Massimo and Pierce channelling a sound that’s definitively theirs.

Yay, more prog-punk from Ft. Thunder; this stuff never gets old!Wizardzz features the bassist from Lightning Bolt playing drums and Rich Porteron some retro-futurist keyboard strata, playing into a miniaturized, cartoonversion of L’Bolt doing abbreviated Yes-ian sci-fi vista burners.

Looking back on her fascinating but uneven back catalog, it struck methat the pixie-ish, world-weary chanteuse known as Little Annie "Anxiety" Bandez has pretty much always been at themercy of her producers. Throughout her career, the one constant hasbeen Annie's voice—that smoky, Marianne Faithful drawl andsardonic, campy delivery—but the sound settings in which her vocalshave been placed have been wildly variable, depending upon the producer.

Om isn’t looking to approximate thebombast of their father band Sleep.  Although Sleep made at least one epic-length stoner metal anthem, Om triesto jump right for primordial spiritual minimalism, composing albums from 20minute undulant bass and drum dirges, ridden by bassist Al Cisneros’ chant-singingof nonsense adjectives and Tolkienian compounds that are luckily not loudenough in the mix to rise into meaning.

SubRosa continues to delve into the hidden history of electronic musicwith the fourth instalment in this series. This is the most accessiblevolume so far with less emphasis on pure noise, the compilers stickingmainly to less abrasive pieces and brooding electronic pieces from thelast seven decades.

Fat Worm play quality organic post-Caroliner  costume noise coming out of a state whereCaroliner won’t even play these days, Massachusetts(something about Puritan blood-rites on the land).

Ben Vida takes no time in showcasing just how his music has evolved since the release of Green Inferno. When "Field on Water" begins, the skipping rhythms and tightly structured melodies come as a pleasant shock and as evidence that even the most obscure musical techniques can facilitate a beauty anyone can appreciate.

This is the debut album from the Slovakian duo Poo. With a name like Poo I thought that the album was going to be toilet humour in the style of Anal Cunt, something that might be worth listening to once but ultimately shallow. My preconceptions were nothing but preconceptions, Poo make serious and highly rewarding music.

Attention all fans of weak and painfully insipid music everywhere: Calexico has exactly what you are looking for. Where this band has previously excited and enticed with magical blends of southwestern spice and powerful American rock, they now wallow in some dismal land of monotonous acoustic balladry. It's sort of like listening to late Bruce Springsteen after falling in love with Nebraska, only more disappointing because Calexico has written way better songs than that guy.

Hot on the heels of their excellent album Play, Larsen have released another superb release. Expanding their line up with some fitting guests, they now sound even surer of themselves. I can’t stop listening to this album; it is the best release from them yet. Larsen seem to have gained a confidence that was lacking before that has led to them composing some of the best music of recent years.

New York's reclusive No Neck Blues Band joins Munich's veterans Embryofor their first recorded collaboration. The combined group functions asa well-integrated whole, stringing together an album that couldotherwise have been a mere collection of disparate elements, despite the improvisational approach, arrayof instruments, and both Western and non-Western rhythms andtextures.

Betrayor sees Wolf Eyes members continuing to infect the CD-R marketvia another pseudonymous release, created by Nate Young. This, thefirst ever CD-R release on the infamous Fag Tapes cassette label, isapparently based on real instrumentation abuse rather thandeconstructing pure tones into scum sounds.

Helping Hand is a tasteful album, Biyikli and Charrier have put enough into each track to make them exciting but don’t ever become overwhelming or overworked. They pace themselves and the album feels perfectly planned out to keep leading me on, letting me rest when I need to before grabbing me by the hand again. Despite this feeling of the album being laid out to keep the listener listening, the music still sounds entirely spontaneous and full of life.