The Matana Roberts Quartet is led by saxophonist Matana Roberts, a Chicago-born New York resident that is accompanied by a list of Chicago luminaries: bassist Josh Abrams (Town and Country), guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise), drummer Frank Rosaly (The Dave Rempis Percussion Quartet), and 79-year-old saxophonist Fred Anderson.
Most of the ensemble lines in The Chicago Project are Parker and Roberts, but Parker’s tone, the album’s production, and Roberts’ strong playing make it sound like there’s a much larger lead section at work. With Abrams’ and Rosaly’s abilities to hold the rhythms down, these tracks click and bounce while illustrating the sum of the group’s parts. “Thrills” is grounded on some mean pseudo-ensemble playing, led by Parker’s nimble arpeggio. Rosaly’s drums dart between the main signature and a slower vamp, playing as out as possible without totally losing the downbeat.
Occupying the newly redesigned Feria de Madrid convention pavilion this week is Madrid’s annual International Contemporary Arts Fair, ARCO08. Expansions to this year’s program include all new allotments for performance art, media art, and works completed in the past three years. ARCO08 marks the ascent of Spain as an emerging artistic and culture center (akin to London and Paris). However, the belle of the ball this year is special guest country Brazil. From February 13th to the 18th, thirty two galleries comprise the collection of Brazil’s most prominent up and coming artists, immersing the once old world empire with new flavor. 
Comprised of seven members with a unique collective vision, Mahjongg makes Africaninspired left-wing dance music. The group speaks of a Matrix-inspired struggle between “The Grid” and “The Sphere,” and it gathers in performances dubbed “warning orbs.” Kontpab, a concept album on K Records, is the group’s second full-length.
Standing tall amongst slow-burn instrumental groups like Explosions in the Sky, Red Sparowes, and Do Make Say Think, the newest from Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band eschews the repetitive, amorphous soundscapes of their previous releases for more structure and thunder. Averaging fifteen minutes each, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons’ quartet of aural epics demands the same undivided attention as a great novel, lest you miss its braided ebbs and flows that reach exhilarating, apocalyptic heights. 
When they were young, Irish natives Shaun Robinson and Rocky O’Reilly were probably the type of kids whose curiosity got the best of them, pushing buttons that read “Do Not Push” whenever possible. Years later, joining under the name Oppenheimer (supposedly because it sounded cool, not in reference to the famed Manhattan Project director), the two are still pushing buttons and tweaking control knobs, but with the purpose of producing their own gadget–infused tunes.
Die! Die! Die!’s second album, Promises, Promises, has all the characteristics of a postpunk revival. The New Zealand-based trio attacks with the highbrow snottiness of Wire’s Pink Flag, while brooding with the moroseness of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures.
Five-piece Americana outfit Fire on Fire is borne from the ashes of psych-prog-punk collective Cerberus Shoal, whose former members have abandoned their electric instruments for banjos, mandolins, and acoustic guitars. This debut EP, released via Young God Records, is long on the folk and short on the freakish tendencies that have characterized some of the label’s other bands. Cerberus Shoal thrived on an unpredictable, everything-but-thekitchen-sink approach; Fire on Fire relies on a straightforward brand of front-porch Americana.
With its debut full-length Dead Mountain Mouth in 2006, electro-grind trio Genghis Tron flashed compositional maturity while blending metal riffs, blast beats, synthesizers, and melodies. Board Up the House, their sophomore album and first release on Relapse, furthers the band’s development.
Beginning in the late 1980s, the voices of Afghan Whigs front man Greg Dulli and the Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan taught many young girls (and boys) convincing lessons about the sensual powers of rock music. Since then, Lanegan’s prolific career has included a number of critically acclaimed solo records and collaborations with the likes of Kurt Cobain, Isobel Campbell, and Queens of the Stone Age. In turn, Dulli has created a successful career with one-time Whigs side project The Twilight Singers.
After the 2005 reunion of Louisville’s iconic rockers Slint, members David Pajo, Michael McMahan, and Todd Cook found themselves with the urge to play something faster and more aggressive. Joined by drummer Tony Bailey and vocalist Dahm, they named their new project Dead Child and developed a sound that pays homage to the ‘70s and ‘80s metal bands they loved as adolescents.