PORTISHEAD - Third

Presumably named after that yawning 10-year gap between albums, "Silence" commands with rolling toms and a confounding 15-beat figure. Adding hues richer than remembered to tunes otherwise fitting into their sound of old ("Hunter" and "Plastic"'s distorted interruptions; "Small"'s Deep Purple organ wheeze), the band also delves into out-and-out new territory, getting their feet wet with the to-a-tee Silver Apples homage "We Carry On" before back-to-back 180s on uke ballad "Deep Water" and industrial drumpad pattern "Machine Gun", an act at their stark and versatile best on both.

ROBYN - S/T

Hearing the blog-ballyhooed Swede acting hard and taking on R&B "realness" on most of these tracks is ridiculous no matter how you slice it, unfortunate since when this woman ditches the Don King skits and Prince pottymouth and goes straight for the pop jugular as on Kleerup collab "With Every Heartbeat", she's bubblegum diva supreme. (Speaking of "Heartbeats", it's all too sadly expectedly cookie-cutter of The Knife to have their turn at producing Robyn, "Who's That Girl", sound just like an imitation of their aforementioned. Since most of this came out in '05 on import, though, this is all old news to fans.) 

M83 - Saturdays=Youth

As two of the 'teenaged' subjects of Saturdays=Youth's booklet photo shoot get introduced in "Kim & Jessie", M83 remodel John Hughes anthem mainstays like Simple Minds and The Psychedelic Furs in sleekly sincere, high-end fashion, while Morgan Kibby's vocals on "Skin Of The Night" and "Up!" stay '80s for full-blown respective Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush nods. Few Loveless-loving groups give those cooing keyboards a try, so it's notable that Anthony Gonzalez puts them in his palette, popping them up in JAMC-simple I-IV form on "Graveyard Girl", and the floor-tom pound of "Highway Of Endless Dreams". 

HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR - S/T

"Free Will"'s languor settles you in softly, its slow pulse, sizzling cymbal pads and massed Antonys letting you off easy before the clavinet, horns and disco-string strut of "Hercules Theme" throw you to the dancefloor, that drum kit and bass style giving away the DFA's participation in this project, however gladly subjugated they may be to head Herc Andy Butler. "You Belong" bounds with sounds uncannily jacked from Kevin Saunderson's early-'90s crossover playbook, and the inversions of "True False/Fake Real" couldn't be more apposite--they know you know they know it's both, bashfully full-bore. 

CLARK - Turning Dragon

Christopher Clark's second LP is riddled with station-scrubbing static, bringing to mind Marc Leclair's micro-sampling as Akufen (especially in what sounds an awful lot like chopshopped INXS on the aptly pointed "Truncation Horn") mixed with Aphex Twin's Analord acid baths, but ultimately has a clubbier take than either, closer to the bent beats of Basement Jaxx while staying bunkered and holding the vocal cameos. Hopefully, fellow Warp artists Autechre's return to form on Quaristice won't completely overshadow the turns taken here.

JUNIOR BOYS - Body Language Six

Junior Boys' contribution to the Body Language series is mainly a tech-house affair, as briefly as it may flirt with current cosmic/balearic rumblings from Sorcerer and Studio. Chelonis R. Jones' Prince-liness lends the first signs of life to the mix with a standout track on par with Kelley Polar's synth arpeggiations; a sympathetic squelch follows from Steadycam, and you can imagine a crowd finally letting loose. More of a vocal/new wave bent follows, as recent Stereo Image and Matthew Dear bleed into vintage Pushe and Visage, making way for the Boys' own exclusive "No Kinda Man", edging things into a moody finish.   

GOLDFRAPP - Seventh Tree

Starting with and often returning to a pastoral orch-folk setting that frankly flatters Alison G.'s wispy but poised vocals, the tracks featuring such retro innovations serve to cast the predominant familiar elements in a new light, turning the more conventionally-programmed numbers like "Road To Somewhere" into the disorienting ones, as well as making one more forgiving of songs like "Some People", where the strings and ponderous tempo conspire to lay it on way too thick. Missteps and all, the various refinements on Seventh Tree should bring plenty of new fans Ms Goldfrapp's way.

DAFT PUNK - Alive 2007

After hearing this, anyone who skipped this French duo's Toronto show last summer is gonna know they messed up bad (but at least it explains that gig's hefty $58.50 ticket price). Essentially a monstrous greatest-hits disc recorded live, Alive 2007 is a testament to Daft Punk's considerable powers--it's as overblown, ridiculous and deafening as it is seductive, brilliant and exhilarating. In other words, a really good time that's equally smart and stupid--like all really good times. Between these gents, LCD Soundsystem and Justice, 2007 was certainly a year when dance music rekindled its potency.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - 45:33

Before "Someone Great" was one of 2007's best songs, it was an instrumental section to LCD Soundsystem's 2006 iTunes-only workout disco symphony, 45:33. Now issued on CD with a trio of bonus tracks, we get a chance to hear the creative process in reverse. A piece of music commissioned by Nike, 45:33 was designed to accompany a 45-minute cardio workout, complete with warm-up and cool-down sections. Despite the commercial nature of it, this project is an interesting creative concept and one for which James Murphy was ideally suited. Irreverent, full of hidden subtleties, and just as fun off the treadmill.

BURIAL - Untrue

This album is already the rage amongst UK electronic afficionados for whom his self-titled debut was a much needed revitalization of dubstep. Since names like Tricky and Massive Attack have gone creatively packing, Burial does indeed appear primed to move on to bigger and better things. Untrue is a little too bleak an album to harbor its own "Teardrop", but it's not all doom and gloom. Burial manages to successfully convey a haunted, metropolitan atmosphere without completely forsaking a sense of adventure or lightness in his music. The result is an album of more layers than are first apparent.

HOLY FUCK - LP

This Toronto quartet have been successfully experimenting with the possibilities of live electronic music for a few years now, but with LP, they've happened upon the secret to bringing their party off the stage and onto record. Fashioned on the road, these tunes vibrate with tangible energy and locomotive intensity, but the secret is the dollop of sugar thrown into the mix. Instrumental pop hooks give these songs the added buoyancy that was lacking on their self-titled debut. What's more, their madcap ability to keep their bleeps and bloops fluid rather than rigid allows for a looseness missing from most electro-dance music.

SANDRO PERRI - Tiny Mirrors

As Polmo Polpo, Perri was the voiceless creator of beautifully submerged, amorphous music. So it's somewhat shocking to see just how nuanced a singer and songwriter he actually is. Hints of the great potential for Tiny Mirrors have been littered across CD-R releases and 2006's strong Sandro Perri Plays Polmo Polpo, not to mention his always excellent supporting cast of players. But that voice! Bringing to mind such singers as Arthur Russell and Talk Talk's Mark Hollis, Perri's voice is simply a revelation and Tiny Mirrors marks its strongest step into the world yet. Makes you wonder what other tricks he's hiding.

CARIBOU - Andorra

Ever since his stunning 2003 sophomore left turn, Up In Flames, it's been clear that Caribou is capable of nearly anything. It isn't so much that Andorra sounds worlds removed from his past work. It's another densely layered, polyrhythmic, psychedelic carnival ride of an album. But his career transition from IDM glitch king to Zombies-obsessed falsetto pop junkie has been so organic, it's only when you listen to this back-to-back with his debut, Start Breaking My Heart, that you truly realize the massive scope of his growth. In other words, Andorra is fascinating and bloody gorgeous.

read our interview with Caribou here

M.I.A. - Kala

Given the unseasonably cool weather in Toronto lately, it's hard to believe it's summer, nevermind August. Anyone looking to the replicate that hot, sticky vibe best pick up Kala. This record is more than just a collection of wickedly written club anthems, although that it certainly is. M.I.A.'s restlessly globe-trotting beat radar leaves no stone unturned, and hearing gamelan and African rhythms so effortlessly spliced with high-gloss Miami/London club crunk is as hot a blast of sunshine as any 2007 recording can boast thus far. Politically charged and damn smart too. Shake. Your. Rum-pah!

UNKLE - War Stories

This project of James Lavelle (Mo' Wax head) and Richard File has always produced mixed results. The addition of producer Chris Goss and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme is promising, but doesn't add up to the album's best moments. In this superstar project (which includes strong vocal turns from The Cult's Ian Astbury), the best tracks come courtesy of underdogs. UK bruisers The Duke Spirit tramp their way through "Mayday", while criminally underrated LA trio Autolux add their pop noir skills to "Persons & Machinery". Dense and slow to reveal itself, but great moments do exist.

STUDIO - West Coast

After this year's earlier import release of the limited-edition Yearbook 1 CD, which compiled the 2006 West Coast 12" with two extra tracks, Gothenburg, Sweden's Studio have thankfully made the latter domestically available as a stand-alone disc. Boasting sunny percussion, spiky guitars and the occasional House-via-Madchester piano stab or (often very Cure-like) lead vocal, West Coast is the best kind of '80s throwback, reimagining balearic Ibiza dance-pop with a warped cosmic dub sensibility heightened no doubt by the duo's distance from both that era and locale.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Required Listening 2

Local label head John Kong started the Do Right label as a way to showcase local electronic, jazz, soul and hip hop acts. In a short time, he has proven that Toronto is a hotbed for more than just indie rock. Although the second in his Required Listening compilations draws from outside T.O., Abdominal's excellent opener "T-Ode" makes certain we know where Kong's heart lies (the track even features an intro by Toronto mayor David Miller!). Like its predecessor, this collection is an excellent cross-section of jazz, hip hop and soul, and a great reminder of just how diverse this town can be.

ULRICH SCHNAUSS - Goodbye

Ever since My Bloody Valentine broke-up/retired/went-into-hiding, barely a month goes by before another band is christened heirs to their ethereal throne. Now, I'm not saying Ulrich Schnauss is the next MBV (he lacks their powerful multi-guitar attack), but his music has a similar effect on the body and soul. The long-awaited follow-up to 2004's excellent A Strangely Isolated Place, Goodbye is an album that doesn't so much play as it does drift out of your stereo. Give this album a few spins, and that drift becomes a gorgeous fog which you'll quite happily allow to fill the room.

JUSTICE - †

There is a music gene over which the French maintain a puzzling monopoly: the electro-funk dance gene. Many of the country's best acts, from Air to Phoenix, have a relationship with dance music which is far less self-conscious than that of their North American counterparts. Inside of worrying about whether or not it's kitsch, Justice revel in the pure sonic power of their robot music. The result is their relentless debut: † ("cross"). Alongside song titles of such weight as "Genesis", "Let There Be Light" and "Waters of Nazareth", come titanic, inventive booty-shakers that refuse to sit still.  

MATTHEW DEAR - Asa Breed

Matthew Dear had a breakthrough release in 2003, Leave Luck To Heaven, that saw him make electronic music that flirted with the world of pop. Asa Breed is the full-blooded step into that field. Though his low-key tenor won't have anyone mistaking this for the Beach Boys, there is a directness and hooky feel that premeates the album. A nice companion to the Junior Boys or even a digital take on the recent pop-noir of The National, Asa Breed is a sleeper in every way: unassuming, seemingly innocuous, but capable of touching the rear nook in your brain with ease.