Electrelane:
Emma Peel or
John Steed? They
can’t decide.
Dan Deacon
Spiderman of
the Rings ½
ITUNES MYSPACE

Baltimore goofball packs ingenious sonic punch Dan Deacon may look like Bill Nye the Science Guy, but he’s more like Dr. Demento. This one-man A/V club party makes low-budget electronic pop that’s as bizarre as it is uproarious. Deacon’s first proper album (after several limited releases) tricks out Devo-esque new wave with eight-bit beats, cartoon sound effects, and munchkin-pitched Ludacris quotes. While a classically trained background shows through the blissed-out drones of “The Crystal Cat,” Deacon’s weird-science experiments more often test your funny bone—and shake your moneymaker. MARC HOGAN

“Anything New” sounds like Fatboy Slim in robot drag, the title track crosshatches Underworld snarl with Daft Punk cheese, and “Digitalism in Cairo” vivisects the Cure to simultaneously disorienting and fist-pumping effect. “I am the biggest party ever,” boasts the sole line of “Home Zone,” and that might not be such an outrageous claim. MICHAELANGELO MATOS

 

Digitalism Idealism ½ ITUNES MYSPACE Late-’90s rocktronica nostalgia is here—woo-hoo!

Jens Moelle and Ismail Tuefekci may be German, but the tracks they make as Digitalism slot right in with the recent wave of Parisian house music for headbangers. Idealism shows off plenty of blaring synth riffs:

Dungen Tio Bitar ITUNES MYSPACE

If you want to soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic Led by wunderkind multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes, Dungen keep a fierce distance from the fleeting indie-pop trends of their fellow Scandinavians. Here, with Swedish lyrics, lysergic swatches, and breezy flute passages, they display the same studied appreciation for Hendrix jams and Nordic folk that marked their 2004 U.S. breakthrough, Ta Det Lugnt. But on this new batch of mood enhancers, Ejstes orchestrates a more intricate balance— ebullient piano melodies tether spiraling feedback on “Gör Det Nu,” while “En Gång I År Kom Det En Tår” filters triumphant guitar riffs through pastoral dirges. Tio Bitar may start with

wailing sirens, but Dungen reject bells and whistles, creating a subtle hallucinatory pastiche. JENNIFER MAERZ

Electrelane No Shouts No Calls ½ ITUNES MYSPACE Post-rock—it’s not just for wannabe jazz dorks

The English ladies of Electrelane do angelic and droney equally well, but it’s when they combine the two into a simmering twee-pop/kraut-rock stew that

slight pleasures become tiny triumphs. The mix is better than ever on their fourth album: “The Greater Times” coaxes sunlight from murk, imagining Stereolab without the detached cool; and “After the Call” teases with sweet nothings before smashing with indie-fried guitars. Even when Electrelane ditch the cheer completely (as on the towering, Farfisa-led instru-metal “Five”), they inspire more smiles than growls. JOSH MODELL

Fields
Everything Last
Winter ½
ITUNES MYSPACE

They’ll cut out your heart with a delicate touch Not to be confused with Field Music, the Field Mice, the Field, or Korn bassist Fieldy, Fields are a British/Icelandic combo that take typically bright pop particles (male/female harmonies, quavering synth lines) and rearrange them into devastating laments. A brusque

Would you like
to touch my
talisman?
No Fairy Tale
Alt rock’s fiery earth mother bares her teeth
Tori Amos
American Doll Posse
½
ITUNES MYSPACE

Not merely the most confrontational, catchy, and guitar-heavy music of Tori Amos’ career, this abrupt about-face from 2005’s sedate The Beekeeper is arguably the singer/ pianist’s greatest, and undeniably sexiest, album. Now reserving her motherly side for family time, Amos shifts into warrior mode, with anthems so ballsy that her rep as the remote princess of airy-fairy twinkle begs for serious revision.

Start with the swaggering “Teenage Hustling,” where Amos warns a sneaky young contender not to go “skankin’ around” her man. Then check out the feral “You Can Bring Your Dog,” in which she entreats a “pretty boy” to “play the

wolf for the evening.” Her songs had
become long and loose over the
years; here they’re tight and sharp
and snarling.

No longer just singing to the converted, this consummate cult icon now sounds committed to taking on the world. From the softly seething opener, “Yo George,” to the climactic lament “Dark Side of the Sun,” this 23-track, but atypically succinct, statement deals with

The consummate cult icon
is now taking on the world.

life during “the madness of King George” and calls on women to stop disappearing behind fragmented feminine roles and reach out to their religion-polarized brothers. Trading obscure metaphors for assertive personae, Amos sings with a remarkably forceful focus. Anger has made her accessible and her songs instantly memorable. BARRY WALTERS

FROM TOP: LOUIS DECAMPS/COUR TESY TOO PURE; BLAISE REU TERSWARD/COURTES Y EPIC RECORDS