Pitchfork

Microcastle and its bonus disc, Weird Era Cont., sidestep much of the art-damaged squall of previous Deerhunter records, but they don't embrace 1950s and 60s pop as dramatically as lead singer Bradford Cox had intimated in early interviews. Instead, this 2xCD set captures urgent and imaginative songs that reorganize 4AD haze, off-kilter indie pop, crashing garage-punk, forward-leaning krautrock, and hypnotic Kranky ambience into a singular-sounding call-to-arms, or at least call-to-guitars. Black Lips' Cole Alexander guests.

Jace Clayton, aka DJ/rupture, returns with another outstanding mix. While Uproot feels every bit as purposeful as minor classics Gold Teeth Thief and Minesweeper Suite, it's far more subdued and spacious. Combining dubstep, pulsing ambience, and orchestral flourishes on tracks from Ghislain Poirier, Shackleton, and Ekkehard Ehlers, Rupture doesn't just wade through music, he constructs an alternate history.

The producer and rapper returns with an album that reflects recent developments in the anticon. label, focusing on hip-hop while remaining flexible and incorporating elements of more abstract electronic music and indie rock. Guests include Why? and the One AM Radio.

Keeping one foot in grindcore while the other plays a game of Twister with electronics, noise, and feints at jazz, Ottawa's Fuck the Facts have created their heaviest album yet.

In contrast to his former Death From Above 1979 partner's MSTRKRFT project, Sebastien Grainger's debut solo effort ventures down a more conventional rock path with tracks built loosely on the singer-songwriter template.