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There are a few really cool new albums I’ve been listening to lately that I want to share with you. They’re all kind of in the “electronic” genre but it’s hard to place. The first is the debut album by French house duo Justice, called “†”. The sound is probably closest to Daft Punk, but it’s more down and dirty. But what I especially like is the variations. Let There Be Light has a really cool chord progression, hard and loud like the first song. About two thirds of the way through the song, however, it the instrumentation changes direction and it becomes hopeful, like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. All the tracks are just so catchy and unexpected, and all the tracks are connected to each other, like Dark Side of the Moon. I love that in an album. Another stand out track is The Party. It has a wonderful chord progression, slowly adding layers and variations, and the whole time has the sing-song voice of guest star Uffie rapping, just floating over the music. It’s so unbelievably catchy, especially the refrain. Listen to “The Party”

Another new album that deserves your attention is Feed the Animals by Girl Talk. This guy is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based DJ and mash-up artist who just combines every conceivable kind of music in new and interesting ways. This is perfect club and party music, it can really make you groove. And like “†”, it also connects the tracks. The stuff he uses is mostly pop, rock, and rap. He’ll sample everyone from Radiohead to Eminem to Yael Naim (she did iPod commercial song New Soul). He even put Eminem rapping his song “Shake That” over New Soul, and it’s pretty hilarious. Listen to “Play Your Part (Pt. 1)”

The last album I’d like to highlight is called LP3 by Ratatat. This is some of the coolest sounding music I’ve ever heard. Just the sound of it. Most of the time I don’t even know what they are. The songs have no vocals, so it all relies on the strength of the music itself. And the music is sublime. It creates a kind of otherworldly atmosphere much like Radiohead does. And the instrumentation is so diverse; there are electronic blips and beeps, guitar chords that sound like they’ve been reversed and played backwards, cellos, even a a harpsichord by the sound of it. The percussion is some of the best I’ve ever heard. In the song Mi Viejo, there is a thick downpour of tablas (the Indian bongo-like instrument). There are handclaps and strange swishing and slapping noises. And it’s all used to wonderful effect. The song Imperials is also cool in that it has this fast, continuous electronic solo fluttering every which way. It sounds like it’s under water. You have no idea where it’s going, but once it gets to the end…well, I won’t spoil it. It’s just cool. Listen to “Imperials”