Rusted Breath Quiet Hands is a collaborative effort featuring Brooklyn-based alto saxophonist/composer Matthew Welch (rusted breath) and New England’s Craig Colorusso, a performance artist, dancer, sculptor, and guitarist (quiet hands). This self-titled CD – the second release on Colorusso’s MUUD label – includes two lengthy, untitled tracks. The first track begins with the sinister sound of Colorusso’s guitar coming to life as low moans are wrenches from its strings with a bow. This is soon accompanied by Welch, who improvises a series of long, sustained notes punctuated by the occasional melodic turn. The overall effect is somewhat reminiscent of bagpipes, with the powerful undertone of Colorusso’s bowed guitar providing a steady, low-end hum to support Welch’s higher, extended tones and chanter-like interludes. It’s a very novel and innovative interplay between the two instruments. The second song reverts to a more traditional sound for each instrument. Welch’s range on the alto really comes to the fore here, as he paints portraits of sound onto the wide open canvas of Colorusso’s slowly repeated, gently articulated guitar arpeggios and harp-like strums. The sax calls gently at times and cries out loud at others, alternately hiding behind and leaping out in front of its companion guitar. This piece is lovely, and evokes the feeling of swinging slowly in a hammock on a warm summer morning. This is an impressive debut with a cleverly onomatopoetic, descriptive name that humbly sums up its components. This disc should appeal very much to fans of organic experimental music.

Electric Colony is Kris Summers, a guitarist and composer based in Toronto, Canada. His self-titled debut CD is a very strong effort, and showcases his talents as a studio engineer alongside his inspired playing. The references listed in his press kit include Wire, New Order, and My Bloody Valentine, and I hear shades of all of these. There are also inklings of Curve, New Model Army and the Jesus and Mary Chain present here. The songs are mostly very heavy on rhythms, driven by deftly sequenced rapid-fire beats and beastly guitar riffs, though some tracks feature a more subdued approach. The only problem is that the vocals are sometimes overly processed or buried just a little too deeply in the mix. This is unfortunate, as Summers’ voice sounds great on "Descent"/"Descent II," which are somewhat reminiscent of Joy Division, and later on "No Mercy Shown." Some tracks ride the line between industrial rock and heavy metal. "Hazmat" and "Ellipse" are both in this category, featuring high-powered, raging guitar riffs. The dirge-like vocals give them a somewhat more industrial feel, but the guitars would likely make Riki Rachtman smile. "Nearly There" is a very nicely constructed track that sounds very much like a New Order instrumental. This is a very fine start for Electric Colony – Mr. Summers has created a diverse array of sounds and styles that do justice to the artists that inspired him.

This four-track teaser presents alternate versions of songs from the upcoming 4-CD box set entitled "The Seasons Unfold." The selections on this sample are rich, contemplative pieces that offer a glimpse into Lundvall’s benevolently haunted world. His "ghost ambient" style is only slightly somber and not the least bit frightening. On the contrary, these songs are very mellow and comforting. ?Whir (Mix #2)’ is a short, lovely instrumental featuring gentle piano riffs dancing within a slowly swirling thicket of fuzzy, cascading tones. The second track is an alternate version of "29," with softly intoned vocals and tolling bells that beautifully augment the slowly unfolding melody. "The Backyard" is slightly more upbeat than the others, with a dirge-like verses sharing time with a repeated musical refrain. Another instrumental, "November’s Fields," closes out this track with a delicately isolationist touch. This sampler is remarkably gripping, considering its brevity (just over 15 minutes), and yet Strange Fortune is literally giving it away – while supplies last, you can request a free copy with any order you place on their website! I’ll be anxiously awaiting the release of the box set.

You’ve just awoken from one strange dream to find yourself lost within another. Is this a stark nightmare or a wondrous fantasy? They’re one and the same when you find yourself wading through the murky territories of "Space Throne," the latest sonic excursion from Zentropia. The journey begins with the title track, and the listener is lifted off slowly into space, moving upward through clouds of blissful dub, slowly drifting into the star-lit heavens, the vibrations of 'Space Throne' echoing off of lonely planets. 'Azoth' refers to Mercury, but this stark ode seems to be tracing arcs in some colder and more distant part of the galaxy. Switching to a more upbeat groove, 'White Rhino Titan' brings the listener back to a somewhat warmer place, with fragmented sounds eventually blending into a melody that skips slowly and playfully atop the soft beat. A headlong dive into a black hole awaits in 'Terminal Brain Cloud,' as deep pools of reverberation envelope the senses in disoriented euphoria. This is a perfect lead-in to the last and most desolate track on the album, 'Khem.' Khem is the native name for Egypt and also the name of the Egyptian god of reproduction and fertility. This composition seems to allude to a journey into space-time during which a communion with this ancient deity occurs, and secret knowledge is shared in a language that is yet to be known to man. Equal parts relaxing and disturbing, this disc is sure to delight lovers of deep, dark, ambient drones and dub.

Holy shitzky and whee doggies!!! I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting to hear when I slid this disc into my player, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the spellbinding miscellany of aural ingredients packed into this approximately 69-minute tour de force! This band of self-described "Mekanik Metal Disco" musicians appears to consist of 20+ members, living (vivants) and dead (morts), though I’m having some difficulty trying to pin down an exact number and the roles each one plays, as much of the information (particularly the sections pertaining to band members) on their website is in French, which is Greek to me. :-)

The 48 tracks are divided into eight "rouleaux" which are book-ended by a prologue and epilogue. The songs blend seamlessly into one another as countless genres are explored and several new ones invented along the way. Most of the vocals are in French, though there are a few snippets in English. Speed/death metal themes recur frequently, but are cut with cabaret, reggae and ska themes, straight ahead rock riffs, jazzy interludes, meringue movements, trippy psychedelic sounds, bass-driven funk, splashes of break-danceable techno, circus sounds, horn and piano solos, runaway organ passages, shots ?o salsa, saxophone jams, spoken word spasms, keyboard and synth wizardry, drunken operatic folk, vocal silliness, and all manner of avant-garde oddity. Just when you think the surprises have all been sprung, another one comes along and bites ya: mind-bending computer effects, Darth-Vader exhalations, freakish pornographic-sounding telephone conversations, and (best of all) MORE COWBELL!

Listening to this, I can only imagine the tongue-in cheek musings on their website about the band’s genesis occurring 10,000 years ago to be true. These folk may be young, but they most assuredly come across as an inveterate and highly talented ensemble. While researching this band, I came across numerous comparisons to Frank Zappa-meets-Magma and other early prog-and-psych rockers, but beyond the elemental similarities to those acts, their overall sound is considerably less "song"-like and more hodgepodge – in my mind, very much reminiscent of Mr. Bungle. From the sensationally swift, schizophrenic shifts in style and the razor-sharp technical precision with which they are rendered, right down to the male vocalist’s phrasing and sounds (which are very congruent with chief Bungler Mike Patton’s), the sounds on this disc are uncannily similar to those of Bungle’s seemingly inimitable sonic salmagundi.

This is the kind of album that makes writing reviews a ton of fun. Fans of frenetic everything-rock -- pass Go, collect $200, and grab as many copies of this album as that will buy you RIGHT FUCKING NOW... TODAY! Give ?em to perfect strangers and make friends for life! Socks be darned! The sound of Mekanik Metal Disco is gonna knock your friggin’ pants off!!!