Adele

The Invisible

Review: The Invisible’s Rispah

The Invisible: RispahThe Invisible: Rispah (Ninja Tune, 6/12/12)

“Protection”

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The sophomore album from London-based pop-rock trio The Invisible opens with thick, mournful swirls of keyboards intended as a send-off for guitarist/singer Dave Okumu’s deceased mother. Evoking a painful separation at the shore between life and the afterlife, the keyboards give rise to the contrasting buoyance of traditional Kenyan folk singing. Within seconds, Rispah (named after Okumu’s mom) announces itself as a work of rich ambiguity.

Rusko

Concert Photos: Rusko @ Congress Theater (Chicago, IL)

UK-based dubstep producer Rusko (real name: Chris Mercer) released his latest album, OMG, on Mad Decent one year ago Wednesday. Since then, he’s been working with some of the biggest names in the music business, including Rihanna and T.I.

Collaboration is turning out to be one of his calling cards; he’s worked with Switch, Diplo, Yo Majesty, and Wiley, and has remixed artists like Adele and A-Trak. In addition, Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors is featured on “Hold On,” a single from OMG. Despite his myriad connections, Rusko needed only his equipment (and some snazzy stage decoration) to wow the crowd in a recent jam-packed show at the Congress Theater in Chicago. ALARM staff member Kyle Gilkeson snapped these shots of the thousands-strong dance party.

Rusko