Music

1. 

   1. Ratatat: Classics

   Ratatat has the unique ability to sound familiar and fresh all at once. So many bands strive for dubious originality that they lose focus of making music that’s simply good. Ratatat never fa...read more

2. 

   2. Explosions in the Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

   Cynics may wonder how many albums we need by an instrumental indie-rock band. If the band is Explosions in the Sky, the answer is “all of them and more,” since they just keep getting be...read more

3. 

   3. James Blackshaw: The Cloud of Unknowing

   There are so many levels on which to appreciate the music of James Blackshaw. For guitarists, there’s the sheer how-does-he-do-it of his dazzling technique, used to produce three simultaneous...read more

4. 

   4. Jim O'Rourke: The Visitor

   The greatest musicians are those that are not easily classified. As a solo artist, collaborator and producer, Jim O’Rourke has displayed an uncanny ability to create music that is at once fam...read more

5. 

   5. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: The Road

   This is the third soundtrack collaboration between Cave and the Dirty Three’s Warren Ellis, and while the movieread more

6. 

   6. RJD2: The Colossus

   Before scoring the Mad Men theme, RJD2 rose to fame in Columbus, Ohio, in the late-‘90s making beats for local hip-hop artists. Since then, through several albums on Definitive Jux and now, h...read more

7. 

   7. Autechre: Oversteps

   Album No. 10 from this slippery, idiosyncratic UK duo might be their best — and not coincidentally, least glitchy — since 1994’s classic Amber. Actually, let’s clarify that:...read more

8. 

   8. Holy Fuck: Latin

   If you're like me, then you took one look at this Canadian band's name a few years ago and dismissed them immediately as attention-hungry party-mooks. Well, as their third album, Latin, proves, the...read more

9. 

   9. The Alps: Le Voyage

   Style into substance -- that's the magical feat of San Francisco trio the Alps on their gently affecting (and at times subtly unnerving) fourth album, Le Voyage. This instrumental record provides o...read more

10. 

    10. Ratatat: LP4

    It can be hard to do this job when a band that has so thoroughly established a presence returns with an album on which little has changed. (Pity me, yes!) But on LP4 (which is a far better title th...read more

11. 

    11. Mogwai: Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

    Scotland’s finest post-rock outfit delivers – wait a minute, let’s look at that “post-rock” tag these guys always get. Is there more of a misnomer for Mogwai’s style? It’s nothing but rock: big boo...read more

12. 

    12. Moritz von Oswald Trio: Horizontal Structures

    Moritz von Oswald -- you haven't heard of him? Well, perhaps not; von Oswald is a megastar of '90s German minimal techno, when identity was clouded or just plain neglected as a routine course of ac...read more

13. 

    13. Explosions in the Sky: Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

    There are no small gestures in the world of Explosions in the Sky. Even the softest moments, such as the first seven minutes of "Human Qualities," the second track on Take Care, Take Care, Take Car...read more

14. 

    14. Battles: Gloss Drop

    Alongside Tune-Yards' Whokill, this new Battles album signals a new dedication in 2011 to the craft of forming music. That sounds horribly dry -- and anyone who's heard Battles before knows they're...read more

15. 

    15. The Necks: Mindset

    Here's one from the bottom of the deck, by which we mean Australia: The Necks are a more or less perpetually stunning trio of versatile inside/outside players, meaning they are as comfy with compos...read more

Tags: ambient , americana , art-rock , avant-garde , beats , cinematic , cool , dance , electronic , electronica , folk , funk , groove , guitar , heavy , hip-hop , idm , indie , instrumental , jazz , kosmische , minimal , pop , post-rock , psychedelic , rhythmic , rock , soundtrack , techno