On your mark, get set, go . . . James Murphy’s latest release is an exercise soundtrack! After being commissioned by Nike and only being available on iTunes, 45:33 is finally available to the general public on CD and vinyl. Jogging aside, Murphy admitted that he just wanted to create a long piece of music similar to Manuel Göttsching’s E2-E4 (cue accusations of plagiarism in British magazine The Wire). Divided in six sections, the track mimics the way the body warms up and cools down during a running session, and ranges from mid-tempo house to Kraftwerk-influenced Teutonic techno before bursting out with some intense electro-punk and finally slowing down with an ethereal beatless soundscape. Sure, Murphy has ripped off Göttsching’s original cover and concept, but no one is making electronica this alive and vital these days – and I dare anyone to run for that long by the way! (Morgane)

Bands need to take time off, and if they’re going to give us stopgaps, let them be more like Hvarf/Heim. The album is essentially two EPs, the first disc consisting of new recordings of “lost” songs, three unreleased and two radical reworkings of tracks from the band’s debut, Von. It includes the shimmering, powerful “Harsol,” a legendary live favorite, here revamped with a dizzying, magisterial splendor. The second half of the disc is a marvel: six live acoustic tracks from Sigur Ros’s four studio albums, some reportedly recorded in locations with no electricity (!). Spare, haunting, intimate and lovely, these tracks absolutely sparkle, especially “Agaetis Byrjun” (the only live performance of the song). Anybody who thinks of Sigur Ros as a studio concoction need only check out these tracks to be proven wrong. (James)

Dubstep whiz Burial has just released the perfect soundtrack to the duality of inner-city life, a mixture of euphoric two-step syncopations and melancholic vocal samples. Untrue conjures up images of a late-night, drizzly British city and the slow release of energy after going clubbing, as exemplified by the morose comedown of “In McDonalds” with its floating keyboards soundscapes. The opening track, “Archangel”, and its crackly drum machine beats establishes the feel of the entire album, which is coated in fuzzy static, lending a lo-fi feel to the crisp production. The album’s trademark heavily processed vocal lines and creepy whispering voices also capture the emergency of real life, as Burial favors sampling his friends singing acapella or in their cell phones over using professional studio singers. With its sublime mixture of UK garage, dubstep and R&B, accentuated by an adventurous production, Untrue is a beautifully bittersweet and poetic ode to urban life. (Morgane)

This four-CD set carries the subtitle “Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum”; the period covered is 1956-2007. Artists range from the familiar (Scrapper Blackwell, Yank Rachel, Rev. Howard Finster, Buell Kazee, Neal Patman) to names known only to the best-informed aficionados. There are 110 performances here, split up among four programs: “Survey,” “Religious,” “Blues,” and “Instrumental and Dance.” Even the most recent recordings are dedicated to revealing vanishing worlds of local and communal music-making, and there’s great individuality to the performances. Detailed context is provided in the magnificent 96-page oversized booklet. (Steve)

I love this record to pieces. To pieces! And what makes Citay’s Little Kingdom all the more pleasurable is the fact that my expectations were sky high. Citay’s debut on the Important label was one of my favorite records of 2006, and here’s their follow-up, released only a year later, and it doesn’t disappoint at all. Led by Bay Area guitar whiz Ezra Feinberg, Citay creates music that’s both forward-thinking and nostalgic at once, with delightful nods to cheery psych-folk and a twin-guitar attack that’s pure 70s arena rock. Sounds cheesy? It isn’t. That’s the beauty of the music. For one thing, the playing on this mostly instrumental album is flawless, a seamless flow of good grooves and guitars. Feinberg has assembled a fine cast of musicians, including Tim Green of the Fucking Champs and Warren Heugel of Tussle, who allow these long tracks to breathe and develop beautifully, reaching stirring climaxes time and time again. Little Kingdom is a sheer delight, and Citay is now one of my favorite new bands on the planet – won’t you please check them out? (James)

Grizzly Bear made a hazy, compelling album with last year’s Yellow House. What makes the band even more appealing than simply their work in the studio, though, is their ability to translate it to the live setting—“translate” being the key word. With the exception of three Grizzly Bear covers from a diverse array of their contemporaries (CSS, Atlas Sound, and Band of Horses), this EP burgeons with the band remaking and rethinking their own work. It again sounds like something not quite alien, like a band hundreds of years from now compiling its take on the 20th-century songbook. “Little Brother (Electric)” hits on a visceral level, while “Alligator (Choir Version)” brings in members of Beirut and Dirty Projectors to further expand the group’s already expansive sound. In the end, it works both as a companion piece to Yellow House (and even their earlier Horn of Plenty) and a solid indication of the band’s range at the end of 2007. And with 11 songs totalling more than 40 minutes of music, this is one hell of a bargain. (Tobias)

For their second full-length album, the Danish electronic group Efterklang enlisted the help of more than 30 guest musicians, including a string quartet, a brass quintet and three choirs. As the album title suggests, the result is a parade of exquisitely crafted moments that pass by in turn, each leaving a distinct mark on the listener. There are moments of both intimacy and orchestral splendor, as waves of horns, strings, choral and lead vocals and electronic and acoustic percussion advance and recede. From the shimmering electronic pop of “Mirador” to the triumphant climax of “Horseback Tenors” and the powerful vocal harmonies of “Caravan,” Parades is a stunning musical accomplishment full of pleasant surprises at every turn. (Kiri)

In the wake of so many disappointing reunions, I skipped this one when I heard that Rita Lee wasn’t involved. Now I’m kicking myself, because this document of the reunion sounds great. All the madcap juxtapositions, all the psychedelic whimsy and sonic adventure, all the prog-rock complexity, all the lush vocal harmonies return as if the 30 years since they last played together had been a mere month off. Well, not quite – they sound less like the heavy prog of their 70s end and more like the Tropicalia psych of their beginning, as they passionately revive hits and favorites over the course of two CDs. And the stand-in for Lee does a fine job, even on the archetypal “Baby.” (Steve) 

Instrumental hip-hop maestro Scott Herren’s latest album under the moniker of Prefuse 73 is another delightful slice of intricately textured electronica, with punchy, synthetic beats coated with fuzzy analogue warmth. The album opener, “From the East Intro,” brings us back to the earlier days of Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives with its combination of tough hip-hop rhymes buried in a neo-electro backing track. John Stanier of Battles brings his loose yet precise drumming to “Smoking Red”, a noisy, buzzy affair that sounds like Broadcast being remixed by Art of Noise, while the (short) highlight of the album “Aborted Hugs,” borrows the prodding keyboard beat trademark of Herren’s another project Piano Overlord and mixes it with an almost tribal horn loop. I would put my money that Prefuse 73 fans will be more than pleased with Scott Herren’s latest offering of choppy, surreal aural collages. (Morgane)

Offering catchy, edgy, folksy, and a wee melancholic pop, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir debuts on the Bloodshot label with nine numbers befitting the recent colder temperatures. Like Belle & Sebastian, theirs is music for a brisk overcast autumn day. But The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir is much darker, prefering to write about the unpleasant and more realistic experiences of life. These are Stuart Murdoch’s grittier stateside cousins. (Actually hailing from the Windy City, they have neither affiliations to law-enforcing units overseas nor ties to religious organizations.) Lyrics recalling the putrid smells of hospitals, the discovery of one’s proclivity for members of the same sex, and of course, death, are sung with nonchalance. But however cynical their songwriting comes across, all the tracks on these Chicagoan’s self-titled release are largely and undeniably upbeat. This is pop as it should be: a dark but feel-good experience ideal for fall. (Carrie)

(The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir will be performing live at Sound Fix tonight at 8pm.)

Wire’s latest, the third in a series of EPs initially released in 2002, boasts the first all new material the London punk pioneers have recorded since 2003’s critically acclaimed Send. Send found the band at their most terse and ferocious, presumably from the energy of their 1999 reunion, and the band is no less dynamic on their latest. Read and Burn 03 buzzes with a steady, manic urgency. All tracks, especially the opener “23 Years Too Late,” are tight, provocative, and progressive, showcasing the band’s signature experimental edge and punk roots, as well as their legendary taut and textured melodies. Even after 30 years, Wire continues to be innovative and absolutely fearless in exploring new sonic landscapes. Clocking in at just over 25 minutes, the album is too short. But all can be forgiven and forgotten if this proves to be a precursor of more goodness to come. (Carrie)