This set of superficially disassembled songs has its roots solidly planted in structured rock genres, but the production lifts it into a gorgeous leftfield. The fake brown paper bag artwork and the abandoned camper van on the cover give the album a discarded look, which is partially true. This lost 2005 debut from San Francisco's Sic Alps (in their trio incarnation) has been thankfully pulled from limbo and abandoned in plain view for the world’s listening pleasure.

In 1986, Duane Warr retreated to his trailer home with an 8-track recorder to make an album which turns out to be a bit more than a doom-laden, cartoonish amalgam of the antics of everyone who has played air guitar in just their underwear during a dark night of the soul.

Gregory Scharpen’s latest EP under the pseudonym Thomas Carnacki (named after the main character in William Hope Hodgson’s series of ghost finder stories) sounds like one of those Victorian spirit photographs made music. Whether it is a trick of the mind or a psychic invasion, these four pieces unsettle and disorientate like malevolent specters.

The tenth full-length from Asteroid No. 4 finds this group of professed musicologists flowing between a myriad of musical styles, each tinged with the band’s brand of psychedelia, with a balance between jangly and anthemic melodies. Having relocated from Philadelphia to the Bay Area, their sound takes on a less grungy east coast feel, opting for a more open, "cool" west coast feel, extra bass added to offset the lighter notes with heavier undertones. While less drenched in lysergic reverb, their romance with the past still runs deep, nostalgia a key thread throughout the album.

On this beautifully presented little 7", Japanese artist Sawako Kato uses a variety of found sounds to create an audio representation of what are or will become fossils, either literally or conceptually. With one side sourced from handmade crystal radio recordings and the other being field recordings of a then-abandoned amusement park, the sense of emptiness and decay is clear among the subtle sounds presented.

Originally composed for five channel video installations by artist Byron Westbrook (who has worked with the likes of Rhys Chatham and Phill Niblock), the four pieces that make up this album stand strongly on their own as a traditional two channel listening experience. Based upon a variety of pre-recorded and live sources, some of which were weaved together to create singular works, the results often show little semblance of their original forms and become something else entirely.

Recorded just towards the end of the career, the Philadelphia noise rock trio ends up departing on a definite up note. This four track EP is an exemplary one, capturing both the surly, filth driven noise scuzz with the melodic, '80s death rock leanings that vocalist John Sharkey would carry over to his current Puerto Rico Flowers project.

While I have always associated Shiflet with his harsher noise output, his work goes much deeper than that, and this self-released album demonstrates his versatility. His synthesis of harsh noise, droning textures, and hidden melodies showcases a careful equilibrium that he retains throughout.

Campbell Kneale has been enjoying quite an impressive creative rebirth since retiring Birchville Cat Motel and re-emerging as Our Love Will Destroy the World, but he wound up with an extremely difficult predicament on his hands in the process: 2009's Fucking Dracula Clouds pretty much perfected the art of being as gnarled, ugly, and visceral as possible and took guitar-based noise about as far as it could logically go.  Unwilling to repeat himself, these two new albums document Kneale's struggle to emerge from that stylistic cul de sac and find innovative new ways to remain vital and nightmarish.

I have yet to encounter a disappointing major Dust-to-Digital release, and this three-disc collection of the choicest bits from John Heneghan's archive of early 78s continues that hot streak beautifully.  Focusing entirely on the many facets of romance (and not skimping on the negative ones), Heneghan wisely opts to skip most of the "serious" artists from the era and instead plunges headlong into the most satisfying examples of hillbilly kitsch, Hawaiiana, casual racism, yodeling, clumsy lewdness, and spectacular poor taste that the '20s and '30s had to offer.

This 1967 recording features an intriguing line-up of alto sax, cello, and two bass players. Since Tyler played on Albert Ayler's Bells and Spirits Rejoice it is no surprise that on his own album he challenges the other musicians to explore restless improvisation and avoid locking into too much of a groove.

Giuseppe presents an extraordinarily sucessful and ecumenical set of turntable jams on the third and final EP in his Stunt trilogy. With fragmented samples bent into dance cadences and abrupt vocalizations serving as melodic leads, (third) Stunt smacks of both Oval's glitch-worship and Autechre's cold symmetries circa Tri Repetae. More soulful than either, Ielasi stays ahead of his influences by injecting his signature ambient glow into the mix and by adding a touch of dubstep grit.

As a duo of drummer Marshall Trammell and guitarist/electronic specialist Zachary James Watkins, Black Spirituals work with unconventional arrangements. The immediate reference point I thought of, Lightening Bolt, is anything but appropriate as far as music goes. While that duo's sound was based upon rapid-fire freak-outs and spastic thrashing, Trammell and James are more deliberate, methodical, and disciplined, but no less thrilling or engaging.

Blood Bright Star's Reuben Sawyer might be primarily known as a visual artist, but his growing discography as a musician indicates that he is a man of many talents. The Silver Head, a four song 12" has him locking into a classically minimalist groove that pulls brilliantly from post punk, krautrock, and metal. The results retain just the right amount of experimentation, while still resulting in a memorable suite of songs.

Although Jeff Witscher is best known these days for his work as Rene Hell, he has actually been on the scene for quite a long time and has cycled through a number of both guises and styles.  One of his more beloved early projects was this one, which was reserved for his ambient drone work.  Unfortunately, most of Marble Sky's releases were only available as limited-run cassettes, so this collection of that rare material is quite a useful and timely one.  While there is probably nothing here that anyone will find stylistically revelatory in 2014, Witscher's execution is quite superb, striking the perfect balance between dreamy bliss and frayed, static-gnawed edges.