As the least prolific member of Cleveland kosmische collective Emeralds, Steve Hauschildt's first widely available (and officially pressed) solo release is long overdue. Recorded over three years, and released on Kranky in late 2011, the album is a twinkling gem—an hour's worth of vintage, Berlin-style electronics and ambience.

When the studio is used as an instrument, that magic cannot always be reproduced in a live setting, on the fly, with variable acoustics and limited equipment. That's the downside of reissues like 20 Jazz Funk Greats: the album is faithfully presented, gloriously remastered, and has never sounded better, but it has also been watered down with bonus material that, in this particular case, is inessential.

Always the serrated disco ball in the Digital Hardcore scene, Cobra Killer return with a bonkers album that walks the line between inspiration and the ridiculous. Gone are all the vocal effects and samplers and replacing them is Kapajkos, a mandolin orchestra.

Chicago’s Number None end up reworking two tracks from their own2004 3" CDR release Nervous Climates into two newpieces via the devolutions of Iowa’s Medroxy Progesterone Acetate’sside long remixes. The similarities to the original tracks are fleetingand buried as the barren landscapes of the originals are abused andbruised into extended storms on this cassette release.

This year, when playing with United Bible Studies or Che Chen and Robbie Lee, Jozef van Wissem's name has taken the spotlight, even though his collaborators have made essential contributions to his music. That's reasonable enough, especially in light of Jozef's aspirations for the lute and the excellent solo records he's released throughout 2011. It's worth noting, then, that the Smegma moniker comes before Jozef's name on Suite the Hen's Teeth. Irreverent at times, but absolutely in tune with van Wissem's theoretical desires, Ju Suk Reet Meate is perhaps the best partner Jozef has yet engaged. In fact, Meate is more a foil than a collaborator, challenging van Wissem's palette rather than bending to his baroque will.

Even though the concept and imagery of frigid weather has been done time and time again within drone and ambient music, Kevin Spence's take on it is able to transcended the expectations I had and present a haunting, glacial suite of songs that radiate a frozen stillness.

Before establishing himself as a pioneer of organic electronic music via solo work and running the 12k label, Taylor Deupree was one of the leaders of the glitch sub-sub-genre of dance music. Here, three 12" singles from 2000-2001 are compiled, with a few bonus tracks, and demonstrate that even in those early days of his career, he could weave sounds together into tapestries that sound like no one else.

The nights are getting longer and we will soon be at the shortest day of the year so it is just the right time to crack out Petr Vastl’s Winter Solstice. Lunar, jet black and beautiful, this is one best realized works of Vastl’s in his career. Beginning and ending in hushed reverence, he captures the strange vibes and ethereal magic of that one special night and turns it into some of the most beguiling music that bears the name Aranos.

In the wake of the short-lived mid-2000's noise explosion, many of the genre's leading lights either moved on or began experimenting with clever ways to make dissonant chaos sound fresh again.  Swanson, formerly one half of Yellow Swans, takes a stab at the latter here by incorporating thumping 4/4 beats into his aesthetic with  intermittently bludgeoning success.  However, the album's best pieces are still those where Swanson sticks closest to his familiar terrain of blackened, brooding heaviness.

Brian Pyle received a lot of attention with 2010's Psychical (a creepy homage to schlocky slasher films), but it was much too blunt and raw for me to want to hear more than once.  He got me this time though: Crossing The Pass, By Torchlight traffics in similarly eerie and disquieting ambiance (and continues to display Pyle's love of '80s sounds and textures), but it does so in a much deeper and more nuanced way.  That may not sound like a stunning evolution, but the difference is a dramatic one.  This is a great album.

The fantastic final piece in Haigh's trilogy for Daisuke Suzuki's Siren label is now available, and, like the the second in the series, the title is a more than appropriate indication of what Haigh has accomplished with nearly the piano alone. Robert Haigh has already proven his mastery of the melody through his solo albums and multiple aliases but on display for this album is his ability to play, and and I don't mean to merely play the piano, but play with us, the audience. Strange and Secret Things is like 17 very short films, all of which seem to make surprising plot twists early on and finish in unpredictable places.

Newly reissued in a much-expanded edition, Night Air was recorded in 1983, not long after Reininger left Tuxedomoon to try his hand at a solo career as an expat in Belgium. Described by Les Disques du Crepuscule as a classic (which it may very well be in some circles), Night Air is certainly a curiously moody and idiosyncratic bit of art-damaged pop music that is very much of its time: Reininger borrowed a bit of the gloom from post-punk and a bit of the larger-than-life pomp from big glossy pop to carve out his own strange niche of cosmopolitan, theatrical pop and noirish atmospheres. Night Air feels like Reininger attempted to forcibly distill late-night existential crises, hip European art scenes, and chain-smoking in coffee shops into something resembling a macabre, brooding, and vampiric Duran Duran. As such, a lot of Night Air’s appeal is of the nostalgic variety, but it is unquestionably a unique release and there are quite a few intriguing gems and rarities included in the extras. In fact, the bonus material is frequently better than the actual album.

Ben Chasny’s latest release takes a quietly melodic detour from the more challenging fare unleashed by his recent hexadic composing experiments, a gentle path that seems to have been willfully chosen as a modest counterbalance to the pervading darkness of the last year. I have some mixed feelings about that plan, as championing love and forgiveness sounds just fine to me, but Chasny occasionally errs a bit too much on the side of mellow, bucolic '60s/'70s folk rock for my taste. If that side had always been the Six Organs aesthetic, it is doubtful that I ever would have become a fan, as I am most drawn to Chasny's psych side, as well as his unconventional guitar heroics. As a one-off event, however, Burning The Threshold is quite a pleasant and disarming sincere album, offsetting occasional shades of classic Six Organs with a generous supply of surprisingly accessible hooks and melodies (as well as a bevy of talented guests).

After a major wind-down in their release rate as Emeralds (and a collection of busy solo careers), a new full-length album out of the blue was a bit of a shock but a very welcome one. Never ones to continue to re-tread old ground, Just to Feel Anything continues from where I last encountered them: an exciting live performance over a year ago where they had left most traces of their significant recording career behind.

I do not know what I find more surprising, the fact that there is a new Fontanelle album at all or that it has been released by Southern Lord (who have been largely at sea barring the occasional good release these last few years). What does not surprise me is how good Vitamin F is. Had this come out ten years ago, it would have made total sense but the large interval between this and Fontanelle’s previous releases has not diminished this album’s impact. This is superb, essential, and every other word that I need to use in order to get people to listen NOW.

The Montreal-based collective Molasses has released its second discthrough Alien8 Recordings' associated label, Fancy. Like the first one,the packaging is exquisite (a triple-gatefold sleeve with embossedwriting and stickers) and the music is limited to only a few songs(three if you don't count the untitled first track of church bells).Each song tears at the gut strings from a seemlingly tired heartbrokensoul from a cold, bleak and desolate area, north of the border.Molasses is led by singer/songwriter Scott Chernoff and featuresgodspeed members Thierry (bass) and Norsola (cello) as well as ShalabiEffect leader Sam Shalabi on guitar. This time around, the collectivesound has matured, with the production sounding far more professionalbut not losing that human feel. Included is a 14-minute version ofAmazing Grace, and while this old standard pops up almost seemingly toooften, the Molasses version contained herein fits in perfectly with therest of the disc.

samples:

• Saint Catherine (Idiot's Waltz)
• Lisa's Waltz (running away from home)
• Amazing Grace

My introduction to (theband known as) Donna Regina comes from a track which appeared on aHeavenly Voices compilation a number of years ago. Years later, I'm(somewhat) past my ethereal siren-mania days, so I may have beenslightly hesitant to listen to a disc like this. 'A Quiet Week In theHouse' came to me almost too highly recommended, so I decided to giveit the benefit of the doubt. Luckily I was not disappointed. Havingmuch more fully developed their style in the years since theirappearance on the compilation, the members of Donna Regina emerge withan album which is a giant step away from the monotony which permeatesthe music of many of the other Heavenly Voices bands. 'A Quiet Week'blends understated electronic beats with eerie, twangy guitar work(frankensushi, anyone?), and the sweet, dreamy melodies are lent anexoticism via Regina Janssen's accented vocals. Despite its pop-drivenovertones, the album is pervaded by a moodiness that comes across ascool and swanky as opposed to melancholic. In brief: delicately groovyand subtly catchy.

samples:

• Why
• Snow is Only Frozen Water
• Star Ferry

Voidstar's 2nd and 3rd CDreleases are live performances from these New Hampsters liveperformances in the cultural mecca known as Lowell, MA. "Folded Time 1:Ambiagramaphone" was recorded at a performance at RRRecords andfeatures 18 tracks of improvisational-sounding noise mishmosh. Theremay be a certain order to the chaos however, as the pulses and noiseeffects change and develop through each track. In addition to this,each track features one element carried over from the prevoius track.The noises are cool, the music isn't stale but the vocal work is quiteunsettling. I can't make up my mind if it's necessary or I justflat-out hate it. Thankfully it's low enough in the mix that it almostdoesn't matter. While the group definitely has some influences in thebeat department, some of the repetitious loops echo of StevenStapleton's production work on Legendary Pink Dots' "Malachai."
"Folded Time 2" is subtitled, 'Spiritual Music for ExistentialDeviants,' and is mainly pulled from a live performance at radiostation WJUL, a month after the RRRecords performance. The sounds arerelatively the same yet more samples, including silly turntablescratching are abused in cotributing to a more constructional sound.The creepy vocals once again are extremely irritating and repetitious.I'm finding it hard to resist all temptations to hit stop on the disc.The disc is rounded out by a second-half which contains songs eitherreworked by the group or remixed by friends like Ukuphambana and ZipperSpy. While the second half is much more attentive to organized chaosthan the first part of this disc, I'm not thinking this is somethingI'll be pulling from the shelves to listen to very often.

samples:

• Equestrian (from part 1)
• In the Clock Mines of Leviathan (from part 1)
• The Sum Of... (remixed by Zipperspy) (from part 2/3)

Combine immaturesemi-formulaec predictable electronica with girly teenage drama and youtoo can release an album it seems. Okay, I love Kid to death and I'veloved his judgement in the past but I've got some issues with thisrelease. While I've heard word that the other release by Belctum fromKit Clayton's label is great, this disc makes me somewhat sour. The CDremains playing however, while I've already written it off. Painfully Ilisten on as high school girls pull off poorly faked English accents,sandwiched between unexciting techno babble, waiting for somethinggreat to happen. I feel guilty listening on. It's almost like drivingby an accident scene, you stare, fascinated at ugliness and destructioneven though you know you really really really shouldn't be staring.Unfortunately the cable carrier in my town doesn't offer The AccidentChannel yet. "Oh honey, look an accident." "Don't worry dear, we'lljust drive on and not slow down traffic and catch the highlightstonight on The Accident Channel."

samples:

• Caravan Voyager
• Anti-duck-tion
• Hotrodderdam

Bubblecore might be mostknown for their release which tiptoe around the term "post-rock" buthave a strong heavy jazz, improvisational dub feel which find their wayinto indie rock fan markets most successfully. Some releases howeverstep into the realm of spacious, beat-less sonic super structures,whether that be by means of electronics or organics. Angus Maclaurin'sdebut full-lengther on Bubblecore shouldn't come as a surprise givenwhat I just said, but it has arrived as a very pleasant and welcomedsurprise for me. Maclaurin was a local boy to the Port Chester, NYscene (home to Bubblecore) who traded in his local rock stature andmoved north to a quiet place in Maine. There in his basement laboratoryhe came up with 'Glass Music' which was constructed from layers andloops of recordings of finely tuned glasses. It starts off dark andeerie but over the course of nine tracks, it blossoms into a beautifulaural display of shimmering glistening bliss. The sounds of glassimitate gongs, chimes and bells, all of which resonate with varyingdegrees of depth. According to sources, there were no delays involved,and that the sounds appear to delay and echo due to the usage of fivedifferent reel-to-reel tape machines. Look for Angus touring with DylanGroup sometime in the next year.

samples:

• Fugue
• What
• Sea Shanti (ranphoryncus remix)