There is an atmosphere of particularly chilly austerity on the debutalbum of Mi and L'au. It's not entirely unexpected from an albumproduced by Michael Gira, but it is somewhat unexpected afterlearning that Mi and L'au are friends of fellow Young God folkieDevendra Banhart, and that their album contains contributions fromAkron/Family and Julia Kent. Where Devendra's latest album Cripple Crowreveled in its own expensive, high-tech studio sheen, and containedsome of Banhart's most celebratory and rollicking group compositions, Mi and L'au sounds a lot closer to something that belongs on Young God records: quietly dramatic, somber chamber folk.

Eric Random is a crucial piece of history for fans of Cabaret Voltaire,23 Skidoo, and A Certain Ratio, and this 2xCD collection issued by LTMearlier this year provides an overview that is not only a greatintroduction but a generous selection of difficult to find material.

Atbest, Noriko’s fifth album mixes pop and more experimental electronicsin a way that is sometimes interesting, mixing standard pop beats andinstruments with more unusual sounds. Unfortunately this form ofsongcraft is far from new and much of the time Noriko misses the markcompletely.

Despite the current shift to strangely accessible indie-pop that hasbeen prevalent in recent years, Animal Collective’s records have neversuffered from the feeling that they’re trying to pull a cheap one ontheir fans. Rather, like the best pop music, their songs are organicand never forced.

Following a promising 12", The Drift return with a sextet of hazy suites on their phenomenal full-length Noumena. It's unclear whether the bandisconjuring Kantian philosophy with the title; but the songs here are not simply things in themselves, never to be realized or experienced. Rather,the songs are much larger and enveloping, asking to be engaged and experienced.

Khanate do doom like no one else. While there isn’t a huge progression from what they were doing on their last album, Capture & Release pushes their existing formula (for lack of a better term) further than before.

Two Brians, one drum kit, one busted contact mic, one bass, and a wholelot of amplified wattage—with these five components Lightning Bolthave managed to carve out a sizeable niche for themselves in theAmerican noise rock scene. And while it would seem that the result ofthat equation would grow tiresome after awhile, just the opposite istrue.

What’s most striking about Fires in Distant Buildingsis the interplay between the album’s themes and its sound on thesurface. The melodies are pretty and the vocals are light and airyand full of harmonies that would make a pop producer proud. The lyrics,on the other hand, cut any pleasant warm fuzzies with a sharp, serratedknife and then hide the body parts under the house. 

Ex-Jessamine member and Sunn 0))) contributor Dawn Smithson seems happily married to the autumnal nuance of desolation.  Despite the title, Smithson's writing is dangerous, capable of unfolding and making the most resolute optimist feel wholly crazed and alone.

Although this is the debut full-length release from The Juan MacLean,John MacLean is no newbie to recording, performing, or the musicbusiness and all the drugs, partying, and fun that go along with theterritory.  It's easy to see how the Juan MacLean has made anexcellent party record.

Although Phil Knight's intermittant solo albums are much less structured and moreorganic than the work he does with the Legendary Pink Dots, they might answersome questions about his work. 

After some disappointing live albums Earth returns with an album to quash all doubts as to who is king of the extended riff. However, instead of trying to out-drone the youngsters trying to recreate Earth2 Dylan Carlson has steered his guitar playing away from fuzzed out extended chords to a pared-down country picking.

The Campfire Headphase sees the Boards of Canada returning to the long, spacious melodies and funky but not too-heavy rhythm work of Music Has the Right to Children, but with enough of an update to make the album not only welcome, but essential.

LTM benevolently continues to dredge the ponds, lakes, and rivers ofthe British Isles for the lost or forgotten bands of the '80s and early'90s,this time coming up in Glasgow with a triad of compilations featuringthe recorded output of The Orchids.  I remember the first timehearing them and being a little intrigued by their music but a littledisgusted by the stiffness of the vocals. It took me a while toappreciate it and I am genuinely interested to see how others reactsince I reckon the vocals to be a polarizing part of the band's music.

On the latest two track release as Cathode, Steve Jefferis explores vocals and tries topack as big an electronic journey as possible into the four minutelistening experience as gently as he can. Whichever way thesongs seem to twist Cathode keeps melody at the heart of the music.

I have largely looked with unenthuseddisgust at the so-called "folktronica" sound that has played out inrecent years. Growing up with my parents' Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, andWoody Guthrie records provided me with an appreciation for real mastersof the craft, and, comparatively, some moody dipshit's grandiose laptopmeets guitar experiments hardly garners my respect. The only possiblething worse than the typical album in this half-assed subgenre wouldhave to be one that also incorporates that desperately pretty latenineties IDM sound. Sadly, that's just where Gonglot fits in.

The Plop label out of Japan has been my favorite discovery of 2005 so far.  From what I can tell, FilFla is composing tracks primarily out of fragmented guitar loops, and while this ground has been covered ad infinitum by now, Frame is still an intimate and beautiful record that brings out the promise of computer-aided guitar composition.

Best known for his No Fun festivals and collaborating with anyone hecan get his hands on Carlos Giffoni has finally finished his solo debutLP, Welcome Home.  Recorded over three years and across severalcontinents, it’s the sound of electrical things gone against theirdesign to make something more of themselves and given time could wellbe his most pleasant piece of deformed improvisational composing yet.

Maybe I’m just not in the mood for slow-burning, Neil Young and CrazyHorse-inspired rock and roll. Echo-laden guitar rock just isn’t doingit for me like it used to: a development that probably speaks to thestyle's limited possibilities. Into my newly discovered apathycomes Everything is Fine, a band that takes most of their cues from theGalaxie 500 playbook and runs with it.

As  Edgey, Knight has released hard-pounding and visceral drum n bass andbreak-oriented music, but as Stephen James Knight he strips away most of theaggression and furious beat smashing to focus on something altogether moredelicate.