With outfits like Air having successfully dug into the vintage bins of our collective unconscious, it was only a matter of time before someone came along and tried to wean a more obvious statement out of influence. Indeed, the Avalanches' "Since I Left You" arrives like a fragmented paean to anyone who has ever recorded a hit R&B single. [CONTINUE]

An artist friend once remarked that Boards of Canada sounds like someone translated the primary color-scale into music. The kaleidoscopic soundscape of "Geodaddi" proves this theory correct on many levels, one being the sustained warmth and depth of composition carried over from 1998's "Music Has the Right to Children." [CONTINUE]

I'll never forget the time my friend introduced his girlfriend as his "future ex-wife." Thats the feeling I get when I look at all the CDs in my collection with the word future in the title. Future-funk, future-jazz, future soul, future-lounge, etc, etc.Sooner or later they all join the rag-heap of ex-wives and ex-girlfriends I once called upon for my listening pleasure. Not so with Compost's Future Sounds of Jazz: Volume 8. What more can you expect from the true innovators, the ones who exposed us to the likes of Fauna Flash, Beanfield, and Kyoto Jazz Massive? [CONTINUE]

For the second time in the past two years, a meteor from the universe of Chicks Who Rock has smashed into my decks. Praise be the lords of distortion. Have I finally found something to rotate with Rainer Maria? Formed in Vancouver in 1994, the Dirtmitts deliver tunes that flow between alt-rock and power-pop with a surprising intelligence. [CONTINUE]

I havent taken the majority of mainstream rap seriously since 1992, when things started to get too glossy. Dont get me wrong. Its not that I dont appreciate a smooth product. Its just that rap has found itself so deep in the throes of corporate-rockdome that, barring the few hopeful gems, there hasnt been much to hope for.Anti-Pop Consortiums Ends in the Middle challenges this barren landscape in serious and subtle ways. [CONTINUE]

With all of the great stuff put out by Astralwerks over the past few years, why is this compilation such a let-down? Is it because compilations, more often than not, are the result of a relentless binge-and-purge due to manic genre-feasting? Perhaps it's because most compilations lack the very dynamic range they purport to convey... [CONTINUE]

The prog-rock demon in me has not died. Indeed, at late hours, one might find me driving along to the intricate weavings of Emerson, Lake & Palmer or some other venerable dinosaur. The jazz-rock-fusion of Niacin's "Time Crunch" brings back memories of late 70s and early 80s virtuosity, where frenetic guitar solos and inexplicable arpeggio-climbing ruled. [CONTINUE]

DJ Krush has earned deep respect and admiration internationally as a hip hop maestro, easily forging tunes across a broad spectrum of sometimes cool, sometimes mercurial sounds, fusing jazz, hip hop, rap, soul diva R&B and new jazz beats. A master of the remix as well as an original sound creator, Krush's offerings have tended be either a new collection of his own tunes or a DJ compliation with his own mixmaster flourishes thrown in on a dozen or so club-set segues. "Zen" is in the former camp - these are all new Krush tracks. [CONTINUE]

When Nigerian Afro beat originator Fela Kuti died in 1997, there was already a couple of generations of  musical followers and appropriators  recording and performing around the world who owed their sound to Kuti. They were evidence of the power, energy, and beauty of his music and extended Kuti's legacy. Though Afro beat has yet to have the global impact and commercial success as reggae did with the arrival of Bob Marley in the '70s, Kuti is in many ways the Bob Marley of Afro beat, and like the Jamaican reggae master, Kuti's presence was uplifting and reflected the aspirations and feelings of cultures (West African) and a nation (Nigeria) marginalized on the world stage. And his message was arguably more overtly political than Marley's. Four years after Kuti's passing comes Antibalas Afro Beat Orchestra, one of the freshest and most energetic bands to hit the international music scene. [CONTINUE]