textura

autechre rae davis
lethosomn osborne
james pants postmarks
prolyphic & reanimator
schlammpeitziger sally shapiro
stereolab units

Autechre: "Altibzz"
(Quaristice, Warp Records)
Electronic provocateurs Rob Brown and Sean Booth show off Autechre's tranquil side in “Altibzz,” the opening track from its recent twenty-track album Quaristice and a relatively blissful prelude to the thornier trip that follows.

Rae Davis: "Yesterday's History"
(Positive Thinking!, Exponential)
A new Exponential recruit, Rae Davis threads elements of jazz—trumpet and Rhodes specifically—into a head-nodding exercise perched midway betwixt broken beat, hip-hop, and soul.

Lethosomn: "Engulfed in Red Clouds"
(Part 1, Phantom Channel)
Lethosomn's epic track is but one of many equally powerful settings on Phantom Channel's “dark ambient” compilation, the first of an intended two part release. Dramatic sound sculpting of the first order, “Engulfed in Red Clouds” is indicative of the compositional poise Lethosomn and the album's other producers bring to the project.

Osborne: "Bout Ready to Jack (TNT Remix)"
(Bout Ready to Jack Remixes, Spectral)
Joining forces for this overhaul of an Osborne original, TNT operators Tadd Mullinix and Todd Osborn stoke acid-funk fire in a steamy, eight-minute throwdown.

James Pants: "We're Through"
(Welcome, Stones Throw)
A jubilant party banger offers one free-wheeling facet of Pants' eclectic debut collection Welcome. Say what you will, it's hard to resist the song's slamming groove or its potent percussive hook.

The Postmarks: "OX4"
(World's Fair)
May's installment of The Postmarks' “By The Numbers” series (a new song issued each month during 2008) is a cover of a Ride original. Certainly a shoegaze dimension is evdient but, as with anything the band tackles, the wistful tune's also got The Postmarks' fingerprints all over it, in particular the breathy whisper of lead singer Tim Yehezkely.

Prolyphic and Reanimator: "Born Alone"
(The Ugly Truth, Strange and Famous)
The Ugly Truth by Sage Francis's first ever duo signing, Prolyphic and Reanimator, drops in May, and “Born Alone” offers a good hint of the thunderous throwdowns listeners can expect to hear from rapper Prolyphic and his beatsmithing partner.

RF: "A Place For Saving"
(1 | Favourite Places, Audiobulb)
Excerpted from Audiobulb's splendid 1 | Favourite Places compilation, “ A Place for Saving,” an ode to the Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto, merges Ryan Francesconi's peaceful acoustic guitar playing with the entrancing whisper of Midori Hirano.

Schlammpeitziger: "Rastplatz Rastlos"
(Schwingstelle Für Rauschabzug, Sonig)
Jo Zimmerman returns with new Schlammpeitziger material on Sonig (all together now: Schwingstelle Für Rauschabzug) and, in this track at least, exchanges his formerly poppy playfulness for a psychedelic shuffle that chugs with a locomotive drive.

Sally Shapiro: "Time to Let Go (Lindstrøm Remix)"
(Remix Romance Vol. 1, Paper Bag Records)
An eleven-minute makeover by Norway's Lindstrøm which shapes Shapiro's original into a disco-trance wonderland teeming with handclaps, entangling guitar lines, and her own French murmur.

Stereolab: "Three Women"
(Chemical Chords, 4AD)
There's nothing lugubrious about Stereolab's “Three Women,” an appetizer for Chemical Chords, the group's first full-length in four years. Tim Gane and co. set their esoteric tendencies aside for a rollicking soul strut emblazened with bright horns, vibraphones, and Lætitia Sadier's breezy singing.

Units: "I-Night"
(History of the Units, Community Library)
Resurrected from the late-‘70s/early-‘80s San Francisco underground, “I-Night” serves up blazing synth-punk by the genre-defying Units.