THESE ALBUMS WILL SAVE YOUR SPRING

HOT CHIP : in our heads : Domino
Ah, so good to see Hot Chip back in full pinball mode, because that's what these guys do and have always done best: playful bouncing, bouncing, and more bouncing, back and forth, stylistically all over the board, always with a certain tongue-in-cheek element, and first and foremost nimble-footed, light-footed, soft-footed, sonically speaking. It's music to hop around on glowing dancefloors to; music to move cringe-worthily and not care less to, especially if it's slow-moving monsters like "Look At Where We Are" - so smart and cheeky and sleazy and almost like R. Kelly for the sane-minded. Oh, you guessed I was in love with that voice? Indeed. "Now There Is Nothing" is another one of those mellower, cheesier stand-outs, which feel like Bee Gees 2012 - in a good way. At the time this is written, some funny guy added the tag "Hipster Indie" to Hot Chip's wiki page, even though there's not even a page this link refers to (yet). We'd never call Hot Chip Hipster Anything. Partly because we don't have time, as we're too busy on the dancefloor. (rnk)

HOLOBODY : riverhood : Mush
The last time I heard of Saskatchewan was in an old Tex Avery animation. But make no mistake, the debut album of musical wunderkinder Holobody (siblings Charlotte and Luke Loseth that already released solo albums under their monikers Sea Oleena and Felix Green) is far away from being cartoonish even though it’s similarly infectious. “Riverhood“ is a genre-bending gem that flawlessly connects the dots - didn’t know before that there were any either - between impressive beatsmithery, gospel, indie-pop, folk, rap, and playful psych. They could be described as a well-behaved and home-schooled version of the Bumblebeez that lives in an accessible alley next to Bradford Cox’s Atlas Sound project. But that wouldn’t do this extraordinarily inviting record justice really. So, yeah, follow that white rabbit down the hole and find out for yourself. That’s all folks! (seven)

SLEEPY SUN : spine hits : ATP Recordings
San Francisco's finest psychedelic outfit returns with one less singer (Rachel Fannan left the band; no idea why that happened) and a bunch of serious hits indeed, because the tracks on this new album are shorter, more compact, yet they don't lack the wicked twists and turns Sleepy Sun are known for by now: steadily rolling on down into the sun, urgently, massively riffing, and with broad shoulders and an expression of restlessness, guzzling down the leftovers as they go along, they just rock. "Spine Hits" is perfect road trip music if you're lucky enough to start road-tripping this early in the year. It's banging your head in front of the screen music if you're still saving up some cash for that motorcycle you should've gotten last year. And no cheap-ass excuses this time. (rnk)

LOTUS PLAZA : spooky action at a distance : Kranky
In our day and age of consuming music - not to be mixed up with listening to music - a record like this usually would have been filed under “shoegaze/indie rock“, and off you go to find the next thing to scatterbrain yourself with. But since Lotus Plaza is the project of a particular Lockett Pundt, the guitar wizard of this band named Deerhunter, his second solo-album will get a lot more attention. And rightly so. As unspectacular as “Spooky Action at a Distance“ might feel on first listen, you’ll find out soon that every note and every chord is exactly where it should be. Stylistically a lot closer to Rainwater Cassette Exchange than Halcyon Digest of the aforementioned mothership, Pundt melds everything you’ve ever loved about indie into ten songs: layers and layers of guitars and sentiment and hooks galore and hidden anthems and an overall promise that this spring might even last a lifetime. (seven)

SLUGABED: time team : Ninja Tune
This new guy Slugabed is one young Greg Feldwick, 23, originally hailing from Bath and now bathing in beautiful Brighton, and his debut effort is quite something: On "Time Team" Feldwick takes his hip-hop roots, drags them through everything that's currently happening in the dance and pop and dubstep scenes in UK and the US, and comes up with an equation that's part Dilla, part rubbery synths, part underwater Kelpe gone G-Funk, part Grasscut gone bubbly and mathematical-minded. Did that make sense? Whereas he's been found explaining it all away with some hexagonal crystal shapes and other way-out theories, "Time Team" is essentially deep stuff to keep you warm, so it's just what you need when spring feels still a little cold around the ears.

DENT MAY : do things : Paw Tracks
What do you think it is Dent May means when he says "Do Things"? Especially now that we've been waiting so long for more of that good feeling 60s-influenced pop music, only to find out he got rid of his ukulele and all that. It's been a year since he dropped said instrument and set out to find other ways back to a more blissful past, more blissful than yours or mine; and so "Do Things" is probably really just his message to finally grow up, and it goes: You start out with "Rent Money" (?), get some cash, have some "Fun" (before it's too late), meet her, get it on, "Tell Her", find a "Best Friend" as your best man, "Don't Wait Too Long", plan the "Wedding Day", if only to please those "Parents", then go to bed, together, for the first time (?), "Find It" (right), "Do Things" (uh-oh), and then you'll discover it doesn't get any better - so there's "Home Groan". What a life, though making an album like this makes perfect sense for someone who compares his style to a "wedding reception band on acid." (rnk)

PETER DUNDOV : ideas from the pond : Music Man
Finally, Croatian mastermind Petar Dundov’s third album and first full-length release since 2008 appears three years after his amazing 'Escapements' album, a spectacular debut which classifies as a real landmark release for Dundov, a character to be firmly established in the techno world and major figure in the Croatian dance music scene. 'Ideas From The Pond' therefore sees him masterfully mixing ingredients from different styles like Ambient, Techno, IDM, psychedelic House and a variety of (complex) cosmic sounds, extremely melodic and spaced out. Almost 80 minutes of epic and profoundly atmospheric compositions, partly clashing into dreamy/lazy mid-tempo beats - offering a special kind of sentimental, hypnotic playfulness. Beautiful layers of techno and galactic synthesizers, mesmerizing rhythms and shimmering melodies with an understated strength, citing old Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and stackful of 90s trance. A harmonious blend, breathtaking and highly recommended! (Dars)

POLIÇA : give you the ghost : Totally Gross National Product
Give You The Ghost is a stunning example of one of those rare albums that shine by having left prescribed musical paradigms. Admittedly, a rather excessive usage of the still polarizing - well, for a good reason I’d say - Auto-Tune in indieland isn’t a novelty anymore these days (check the last Bon Iver and JJ albums for the rather dodgy results). The very unusual thing about Poliça’s debut though is that the assignment of Auto-Tune simply doesn’t suck. Produced by Gayngs-mastermind Ryan Olsen, the Minneapolis-based band took quite a risk by dehumanizing the fantastic voice of frontwoman Channy Leanneagh and juxtaposing it with an unorthodox rhythm section that always seems to be borderline out of control. Partly stirring pop, partly dark R&B, and partly futuristic wave the result is nothing less than complex perfection. (seven)

TRISTESSE CONTEMPORAINE : dto : Dirty
Three international drifters - Narumi, a Japanese trained pianist that played The Cure cover versions in an all girl punk band back in high school; Maik, an East London native that already had an early taste of success in the 90s with Earthling; Léo, a hockey player from Stockholm that learned to play the guitar at the tender age of 18 and played next to Jay Jay Johanson only three years later - accidentally met in Paris and almost immediately formed a band in 2009. The result is an album - mixed by the always proactive Pilooski - that is as hip and sophisticated as it it is fairly brash (in a good way). It’s as if Robert Smith, Martin Rev, David Byrne and Holger Czukay survived a weekend at Berlin’s notorious Suicide Circus and wrote a musical about their experience. Make sure you don’t miss the premiere. (seven)

EL-P : cancer for cure : Fat Possum
NYC's illest El-P dropping another solo album is probably the greatest news for anyone who's into a) hip-hop (the real hip-hop), b) sonic representations of dystopia, or c) venomous, claustrophobic stunts from the year 2017 aka that future shit. Now that he's found a new home on Fat Possum, the follow-up to "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" (and of course there was also that instrumental thing in between, oh well) is chock-full with insane beats and even more insane raps, plus the former Co-Flow mastermind, who just delivered all the beats for Killer Mike's album, has a bunch of fine (and some unexpected) guests to join the party: Said Killer is also present here, and so is the incredible Danny Brown, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and last but not least Interpol's own Paul Banks, which makes "Cancer For Cure" a sort of "Best Of Both Worlds" for 2012. Oh, did I say "dystopia"? Make that utopia. Here's why: "... where harmony and love reign/no longer do we live in a society bent on its own destruction/children of every race, creed, and religion frolic through fields/of golden dandelions." Just kidding. (rnk)

LOWER DENS : nootropics : Ribbon Music
If I didn't know anything about Lower Dens and hadn't fallen in love with 2010's "Twin-Hand Movement" already (perfect album for night-time driving, especially on the way back into the city), I guess I wouldn't believe a word if anyone told me that they're from Baltimore. I'd go, "Yeah, right, and they probably live right in-between Omar's pad and Victoria Legrand's studio" or something. But it's true: Lower Dens are from Baltimore, sound like Baltimore, feel like a cold, chilly wind in the streets of Baltimore. Hazy and rhythmically on a different page this time around, "Nootropics" is frightened, nocturnal tropicalia from a city of little light. Singer Jana Hunter calls this new one their true "record that feels good looking out a car window." So we'll be looking out some more. Expect streetlights flying past those windows, dark textures, darker timbres, the darkest possible bliss. (rnk)