No Age
Nouns
(Sub Pop)

Pitchfork is already slobbering about the debut full-length from the LA duo, and we'll echo that praise here. Nouns is weird and beautiful, and easily one of the year's best rock records.

Russian Circles
Station
(Suicide Squeeze)

Chicago instrumentalists with a strong Grand Rapids following have come to typify what we call post-rock, and their newest hits all the art-rock-via-metal buttons.

Matmos
Supreme Balloon
(Matador)

Another kaleidoscopic, virtuoso offering from the electronic duo diverts slightly from their normal (probably the wrong word) habits, in that it was constructed entirely with synthesizers.

Animal Collective
Water Curses EP
(Domino)

Another dense, heavily experimental effort from Baltimore's insanely productive outfit aims for and achieves the liquidity implied by the title. EP contains four swimmingly good tracks.