Annie-maniacs already know the bumpy road the Norwegian pop star’s second album has followed to get to its “proper” release—label issues, tracks released on 12-inch and the Internet that have been dropped off and reinserted onto the album’s tracklist. And what we have now is simply another fun mishmash of dance-pop styles—a natural result of Annie working with different production-writing teams on one release. Xenomania’s maximal pure-pop productions seem to mirror Annie’s girlish personality best, but Don’t Stop’s lead-off track, the synth-rhythmic, Paul Epworth-produced “Hey Annie,” does the most to work with Annie’s voice and personality. Ultimately, it’s hard to imagine any Anniemal fan not liking the album as a whole—but we’re sure they’ll all also be ranking its 12 songs and picking out what they like and dislike. And then fighting it out on the Web from here till Annie’s next pop party. (Dennis M. Clain)

There are two artists on that new New York magazine “Brooklyn Top 40” list with “bear” in their name . . . and yet, Bear in Heaven is not one of them. This is a mistake (as is the animals-for-names thing, yes). This patient Brooklyn quartet offers certifiably adventurous indie-rock, in the nouveau Brooklyn way, yet its second album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth, is much more fun to listen to than, well, most of what’s blabbed about in New York magazine. It’s because Bear in Heaven has a subtle way of bringing in experimental touches: odd bursts of repetition, or hand percussion, or glistening drones. You almost can’t put your finger on what sets songs like the glistening “Ultimate Satisfaction” and the dramatic “Deafening Love” apart—you just know your ears are in the presence of something equally accessible and unique. (M.L. Thrope)

Pay little mind to the misdirecting names used here (“Black to Comm” being a blazing old MC5 psych-soul track, and 1968 being the most explosive year of the Sixties). This Black to Comm is the recording name of one Marc Richter, leader of the German label Dekorder and an electronic-music artist of soul-enveloping power. Which is to say Alphabet 1968 is ambient music in much the same way Gas is: The basic nature of the 10 tracks here is electronic—softly insistent, often beatless but full of motion and emotion. What puts Richter in a class with Gas’s Wolfgang Voigt is that his music feels staggeringly alive, so haunting and lovely that it approaches some kind of wordless mysticism. If you want an experience (and you like bunnies), go and YouTube “Hotel Freund”—the best track on Alphabet 1968—then come right back here to make your purchase. (M.L. Thrope)

From the dark, mysterious club world of the … Netherlands! OK, I kid, I kid, but the latest from 2562, Unbalance, is perhaps the year’s finest dubstep album (excluding all those recent comps). If you dig dubstep and its funky beats, heavy bass, dark atmospherics and creative use of synths and samplings, then do yourself a favor and check out this album, the brainchild of Dave Huismans, who resides in the Hague. His address may mean nothing, but I suspect Huismans’ detachment from the London scene allows his work a little more flexibility, hence the album’s rich diversity in sounds and rhythms. The result? Nary a bad moment. It’s utterly hypnotic from beginning to end, creating a strange and lovely world of great sonic imagination. You don’t have to be a clubhound to find this record thoroughly enjoyable. (James)

This two-CD set comes from the people who’ve previously compiled the Nigeria Special and Ghana Soundz series. This album is less psychedelic than the former and much closer to the first Nigeria Special set, the title and subtitle of which were identical with the obvious exception of the country. Pretty much anyone who enjoys Nigerian music will enjoy this too; they’re not the same, but they share the same virtues: the highlife tracks (the earlier material, mostly) infectiously joyous and rhythmically stimulating, the later stuff denser and grittier, like the most complex garage rock you’ve ever heard, and while that sounds like a contradiction, the groups here make it work. (Steve)

The second volume of Analog Africa’s OPRC reissues is subtitled From the Vaults of Albarika Store 1969-1979. This disc sounds much better than the fine but motley volume 1, for the material here was recorded for the Albarika Store label at EMI’s studio in Lagos, Nigeria. While this legendary Benin band had some some Western influences, this is less derivative than a lot of the ’70s stuff that’s been the target of compilers, more African thanks to the complex Vodoun polyrhythms that the band’s name boasts of. Funky highlights include “Malin Kpon O” and — oh heck, every darn track is a highlight, as this 14-song set was boiled down from 200 or so and represents the very best work of one of the greatest African bands of the ’70s, and if you know anything about ’70s African music you know that’s really saying something. (Steve)

The only well-known artist on this three-CD set is Snooks Eaglin (who recasts “Down by the Riverside”); casual gospel or “roots” fans may also have heard of Precious Bryant, Abner Jay, Bishop Perry Tillis, and Isaiah Owens. So over the course of the 80 tracks heard on this revelatory set, you’ll be introduced to a ton of hard-rockin’ folks you’ve probably never heard of who will kick your sinner ass with gritty guitar and unrestrained singing. How unrestrained? If there were a showdown between Aretha Franklin and Lulu Collins, on the basis of the latter’s “Help Me” I’d expect her to wipe the floor with her more famous counterpart. The selections are resolutely lo-fi and anti-slick, no impediments to musical enjoyment. (Steve)

This one’s for you beat-crazy caffeine-and-sugar freaks out there. Hudson Mohawke is the Scottish DJ and producer Ross Birchard, and the only thing regular about his debut album is its name. That said, Butter does fit into the Warp view of modern club music, with its cracked but brightly colored vanilla-funkisms and electronica-flavored quasi-hip-hop. More than any style of music, it’s Hudson Mo’s DJ’ing history—he was a U.K. DMC finalist when he was just 15—is what informs the jump-cutting sensibility of his sound. Two tracks feature Dam-Funk, two feature Olivier Daysoul, and beyond that, at 18 tracks total, the album kind of just melts into a fun, fractured and constantly changing rhythmic playground. Happy swinging! (M.L. Thrope)