Thom Yorke

Atoms for Peace

Review: Atoms for Peace’s Amok looks forward, not back

Atoms for Peace: AmokAtoms for Peace: Amok (XL, 2/26/13)

“Judge, Jury, and Executioner”

Atoms for Peace: “Judge, Jury, and Executioner”

You know the story by now: A few years ago, Radiohead front-man Thom Yorke started a band to help him perform songs from his 2006 solo effort, The Eraser, live. One thing led to another, and now he’s made the band into a full-fledged project that includes longtime producer/visionary Nigel Godrich and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, as well as Joey Waronker and percussionist Mauro Refosco. Needless to say, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding this one.

Muse

Review: Muse’s The 2nd Law

Muse: The 2nd LawMuse: The 2nd Law (Warner Bros., 10/2/12)

“Survival”

Muse: “Survival”

By working across a broad spectrum of styles, Britain’s Muse evokes a wide range of reactions. Indisputably, however, it’s one of the few remaining mainstream rock acts to pull off bombast with a real degree of success.

Flying Lotus

Review: Flying Lotus’s Until the Quiet Comes

Flying Lotus: Until the Quiet ComesFlying Lotus: Until the Quiet Comes (Warp, 10/2/12)

“Putty Boy Strut”

Originally sharpening his teeth with bumper music for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, electronic producer Flying Lotus garnered notoriety that bolstered the success of his 2006 debut, 1983. Now with four full-length albums, seven EPs, and countless singles and collaborations, it’s clear that, in retrospect, Steven Ellison has skills that only can be inherited, not taught.

Efterklang

Review: Efterklang’s Piramida

Efterklang: PiramidaEfterklang: Piramida (4AD, 9/25/12)

“Apples”

Efterklang: “Apples”

Efterklang can hear dead people, or so it seems. Perhaps that’s why the Danish post-rock ensemble visited Pyramiden — a ghost town on the Arctic Norwegian island of Spitsbergen — to create its new album of similar name.

At the abandoned Russian settlement, its members wandered a landscape of streams and mountains, recording the sounds of seabirds, footfall, and rushing wind. In the studio, they added the ethereal vocals of a choir and the chime-like peals of a glass-bottle collection. Whether or not these sounds are messages from another realm, they summon haunting melodies and shiver-inducing rhythms. It makes perfect sense, considering that “efterklang” means remembrance and reverberation.

DeVotchKa

DeVotchKa: New Direction from Rejection

Led by songwriter Nick Urata, DeVotchKa takes its wildly inventive Balkan pop in new directions on 100 Lovers — an album born of filmic discards and endless tinkering.