For ages, we've been receiving requests for a section running down the best new music. So I was thinking about how to make something like this manageable, in addition to all our other daily content. Originally, I'd planned to just drop everything that scores an 8.5 rating or higher in this section, but looking back at recent ratings, I thought it might be more effective to make this section even more exclusive. So these ones are the sure shots-- a selective offering of the records I think are most likely to appeal to virtually everyone who reads this site. All picks are ranked according to which date their reviews first appeared on Pitchfork, and with genre listings (so that, if you don't dig on, say, Japanese prog or black metal, you know to exercise some caution there), review scores, brief descriptions of the record, and links to their respective reviews.

!!!:
Me and Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard
[Touch & Go; 7.8 | Dancepunk]

At the helm of the dancepunk revolution lie three bands: Liars, The Rapture, and the Sacramento-based eight-piece !!!, arguably the progenitors of the movement. Sharing members with Out Hud, !!!'s 2001 GSL debut fused the polyrhythms of Remain in Light-era Talking Heads with straight-up 70s disco funk, sending a shockwave to the heart of by-numbers indie rock: a certified wake-up call. Now, just as so many talentless poseurs are beginning to wear out the genre's welcome, !!! return with this new 23-minute teaser for their pending second LP and take the shit to heights undreamt of. This is just the beginning. [full review]

Single Frame:
Wetheads Come Running
[Already Gone; 8.5 | Indie Rock/Pop]

Austin's got a brand new band, and their debut album blends influences ranging from Fugazi to Modest Mouse to Les Savy Fav, to come away with some of the catchiest shit we've heard all year. Absorbing a large index of musical inspirations, Austin, Texas-based newcomers Single Frame blaze through 20 songs in a scant 37 minutes, their countless influences congealing and materializing as short, clipped pop songs that stick around only as long as their hooks can remain fresh. We don't really know who these guys are, exactly, but if they keep making records like this, they won't have that problem for long. [full review]

Fog:
Ether Teeth
[Ninja Tune; 8.4 | Experimental, Electronic, Indie Pop]

Hailing from the suburbs of Minneapolis, bedroom experimentalist Andrew Broder dropped his debut last year to mild acclaim, but as the startlingly beautiful and intensely intricate Ether Teeth proves, he hadn't yet come into his own. Here, Broder layers his snagged material-- movie dialogue, conversations, fragments of old songs, and birds, birds, birds-- over droning guitar chords and splatters of piano. Though spotty in places, the album's high points are among the year's best, and worth the occasional awkwardness. [full review]

M83:
Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
[Labels; 9.2 | Synthgaze]

Most electronic artists are content to rely on cliched organic drones to easily approximate warmth and humanity. But M83, in approaching a similar end, have taken a more challenging tack: on Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, the French duo create impossibly gigantic, heartbreaking avalanches of pristine beauty from the most synthetic sounds available-- tidal swells of synth strings, techno keys and drum machines-- keeping layers of guitars, bass and vocals buried at the core. The result is distinctly original: not quite rock, not nearly electronic. This is beauty through bombast, like the best of classic shoegaze, a sound so bursting and full that speakers seem hardly able to contain it. [full review]

Prefuse 73:
One Word Extinguisher
[Warp; 9.1 | Glitch-hop]

Is this year's breakthrough breakbeat record also its most heartbreaking breakup record? Scott Herren one-ups his acclaimed 2001 debut by reappropriating his cut-up approach to hip-hop glitch-outs in a more emotional and melancholy environment, replete with rainy-day chord progressions and grief-stricken vocal samples. Collaborations with emcees Mr. Lif, Diverse, and producers Daedelus, Dabrye, and Tommy Guerrero lend some additional variety to the mix, but Herren's continually fluctuating emotions-- from rage, to defeat, to resentment and resign-- remain the beautifully affecting core. Nice. [full review]

Panthers:
Let's Get Serious EP
[Dim Mak; 7.9 | Dancepunk]

Their first album, Are You Down?, issued by Troubleman Unlimited, was such a stunning low for these ex-members of Orchid, Turing Machine and The Red Scare, that it was genuinely inconceivable to me that it even saw release. But even more stunning is the incredible turnaround Panthers have made in less than a year's time. In fact, it could be said that a 180 of this magnitude is among the rarest occurrences in rock 'n' roll. But it's true: Panthers have dropped their nauseating political cliches and laughable ineptness to become, it seems, a completely different band-- a band who can now count themselves among the most promising in the suddenly burgeoning dancepunk movement. The energy here is fucking insane, the songs even better. When frontman Jayson Green shouts out, "You didn't! You didn't hurt me yeh!" over those raging, art-punk guitars and that sick-ass rhythm section, and the song races to a hurtling climax to explode in one last great din, the people know what time it is. [full review]

Sunburned Hand of the Man:
Headdress
[Records; 9.0 | Experimental]

The new vinyl-only release from these Boston-based primitive experimentalists is built on a foundation of loose and extremely fluid drumming and dirty, fuzzed-out bass. Beyond that, expect anything, so long as droning, ritualistic chants occasionally enter the picture. It's an incredibly difficult sound to describe, due in part to its extreme uniqueness, but it might be loosely explained as a tribal fusion of psychedelic folk with the spaced-out jams of Ege Bamyasi-era Can at the hallucinatory peak of a very good PCP trip. Or, in plainer terms: damn. [full review]

The Exploding Hearts:
Guitar Romantic
[Dirtnap; 8.8 | Power-Pop]

Pacific Northwest power-pop/punk enthusiasts have again made paying homage to the classic indie rock bands of the late-70s/early-80s as uncool as it was meant to be. Their total disregard for fashion and design sense-- not to mention the fanatical reverie they play with-- are pure geek, but their songs contain the most infectious hooks this side of The New Pornographers' Mass Romantic. This is indie rock at its most candidly classicist, and it couldn't sound better. [full review]

Manitoba:
Up in Flames
[Leaf/Domino; 8.6 | Indie Pop, Electro-Organic]

His 2001 debut was pretty, pastoral IDM, but you'd never know it from this beautifully abstract pop record, whose detectable influences range from Spiritualized and My Bloody Valentine, to The Beach Boys and Phil Spector. Manitoba doesn't waste time getting to the part of the song everybody wants to hear; he starts with it, and makes it the focus of the entire track. Warm and beautiful, Up in Flames makes for a perfect springtime record, and may very possibly end up regarded as one of the year's finest. [full review]

Deerhoof:
Apple O'
[5RC; 8.3 | Indie Pop/Rock, Art-Rock]

The follow-up to last year's Reveille, which cracked the top 20 of Pitchfork's year-end 50 Best Albums list, establishes Deerhoof as a band not to be fucked with, toning down the abstract noise and experimentation and refining their always-stunning pop songwriting sensibilities. Satomi Matsuzaki's kindergarten-cute vocals tint these killer indie rock songs with an undercurrent of Japanese-girl wonderment, without ever resorting to self-consciously twee gimmickry or blatant quirk-- in fact, they add an element of magnetic charisma to the music you can't get from any disinterested indie frontman. Innovation, accessibility, fucking great songs. Awesome. [full review]

The Decemberists:
Castaways and Cutouts
[Hush/Kill Rock Stars; 8.1 | Indie Pop]

Blending understated, sparkling folk-pop and the occasional acoustic rocker with Colin Meloy's Jeff Mangum-esque song stylings, The Decemberists embark on a feverish journey through a world just slightly askew. Like distorted dreams or tales from an Edward Gorey storybook, their reality is a strange place a few years removed from the modern world, permeated with gray skies and melancholy. Organs and strings embellish the gentle guitars, even recalling a breezier Belle & Sebastian, while still hearkening back to the spirit of the glory days of Neutral Milk Hotel. They evoke some classic acts, but only as remembrances hinted at by the music while still maintaining a sound that's very much their own. [full review]

The Blood Brothers:
Burn, Piano Island, Burn
[ArtistDirect; 9.1 | Hardcore, Indie Rock]

For years, hardcore has reveled in a state of unending stagnation, its bands either trying to remain as true as possible to some unattainable apex of conventionality, or simply at a loss of ideas for new directions in which to take the genre. Whether The Blood Brothers' aim is to change the music from within, or to simply exist as a brilliant anomaly in a dead-end scene, their albums have challenged hardcore from the very start, pushing its boundaries, bludgeoning it with its own rulebook to see what it can withstand before shattering into something entirely different. Burn, Piano Island, Burn is the culmination of their efforts: hardcore's signature dizzying charge of blind aggression coalescing at last with the determination of invention. This will kill you. [full review]

Songs: Ohia:
Magnolia Electric Co.
[Secretly Canadian; 8.2 | Folk-Rock, Indie Rock]

On his latest album as Songs: Ohia, Jason Molina says a farewell of sorts to the skeletal acoustics that haunted his soul-baring earlier works, turning instead toward the musical heart of the working-class sentiment his songs embody: the unfettered Americana of 70s roots rock. Some of the minimalist fragility is traded in favor of the sound and the mystery of the open road, resulting in an album as intimate as it is courageous. It may simply be the natural progression from the slightly fuller sound of Didn't It Rain, but the overt desire to move on, musically and lyrically, preoccupies Molina. If the last album was a lamentation on finding his home in Chicago and the sheer inertia of blue-collar hand-to-mouth, then Magnolia Electric Co. is about finding the strength to move, to grow, and to leave it all behind. [full review]

Jóhann Jóhannsson:
Englabörn
[Touch; 8.9 | Electro-Organic]

Jóhannsson is a member of the Icelandic artist group Kitchen Motors. Taking cues he provided to a stage play by Hávar Sigurjónsson, Jóhannsson's Englabörn is composed of music he wrote, as performed by the Eţos String Quartet, with a light gauze of electronic processing applied to it. Although it's difficult to ascertain any obvious tweaking in the end result, there is just a slight haze in the air surrounding the sounds, letting the notes levitate and linger. Fragile, and dripping with the condensation of ringing chimes and melting strings, this is the album Björk would make if she didn't concern herself with pop songs. [full review]

Lightning Bolt:
Wonderful Rainbow
[Load; 8.4 | Noise-Rock]

Wonderful Rainbow delivers what this Rhode Island-based duo's 2000 album, Ride the Skies, most lacked: Musical diversity. Possibly taking cues from their psychic brethren and frequent tourmates Hella, Lightning Bolt have replaced much of their corrosive noise with throat-grappling melodies that are... actually kind of pretty, in their own cripplingly destructive way. But by balancing their strong-armed aesthetic with unexpected dynamics, they're now proving themselves as artists with actual range, a band that can deliver beyond the novelty that got people talking. [full review]

Xiu Xiu:
A Promise
[5RC; 8.6 | Experimental, Post-Punk]

Few bands have caused as great a stir in the independent music world as Xiu Xiu, on the basis of sheer weirdness. And though virtually guaranteed to be unlike anything you've ever heard, lines can be drawn back to Joy Division, The Smiths and David Bowie's Berlin trilogy, if only musically. Vocally, Xiu Xiu are an entirely different experience: frontman Jamie Stewart sings, speaks, mumbles and screams with all the tension, frailty and hysteria of a recklessly homicidal outpatient, while the music, a chaotic blend of post-punk and seemingly improvisational experimentation, lends further imbalance to the anarchy. Certainly not for everyone, but definitely one of the strangest and most curiously compelling records you're bound to hear all year. [full review]

The Majesticons:
Beauty Party
[Big Dada/Ninja Tune; 8.7 | Underground Hip-Hop]

The Infesticons rep for the underground; The Majesticons embody the mainstream; and both are fictitious groups invented by underground hip-hop icon Mike Ladd, who has squared the two off against one another over the course of several albums-- each released under the names of their respective groups. 2000's Infesticons release Gun Hill Road was, until now, just the latest chapter in an ongoing satire of all hip-hop. But The Majesticons' Beauty Party may be the best release yet from either of these fabricated camps, combining the massive dancefloor throwdowns of gangsta rap with the intellect and quick-witted criticism of the underground into one impossibly crunk LP your hipper-than-thou friends won't tease you for liking. [full review]

Cat Power:
You Are Free
[Matador; 8.9 | Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop/Rock]

Cat Power reclaims her history, potential and allure in this collection of impressionist balladry, and though it has a weak spot or two, the majority of these songs are flawless. Alternately lulling and psychologically stinging, Chan Marshall's vocals are in top emotive form-- sometimes cold and detached, and scorchingly savage at others. But the songs are the real highlight, with their brilliantly simple melodies and harrowing storylines. [full review]

Giddy Motors:
Make It Pop
[Fat Cat; 8.3 | Art-Punk]

Make It Pop is Giddy Motors' case study in hellish cacophony; with just guitar, bass, drums, and a little sax (!), Giddy Motors lurch, stomp, and eventually plunge headlong into near-total bedlam. The only constant throughout is Manu Ros' flawless percussion; rhythm is the heart of any band, and with drumming this solid, a band would be justified in doing just about anything, period. Gaverick de Vis' guitar wails like thunder and lightning, matched only by the orgiastic spasms of his own vocals. Together, the sound is hell on wheels, with a beat that absolutely slaughters. [full review]

Supersilent:
6
[Rune Grammofon; 9.1 | Experimental, Avant-Garde]

One of the most eerily beautiful and most accessible experimental records of the year so far, this Norwegian quartet's latest offering is enveloped by a mood that closely resembles something like a much darker version of Miles Davis' classic In a Silent Way, yet without falling anywhere near the jazz spectrum. Employing vintage keyboards-- some remarkably similar in sound to the dense analog tones of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine"-- as well as live manipulation and stoic drumming, this is Supersilent's finest record to date, and one that any fan of electronic, experimental, avant-garde, drone, ambient or jazz should be utterly consumed by. [full review]

Ted Leo/Pharmacists:
Hearts of Oak
[Lookout!; 8.3 | Indie Pop/Rock]

Shunning standard-issue hipster influences like The Velvet Underground and The Stooges in favor of didn't-know-they-were-supposed-to-be-good bands like Thin Lizzy and Dexy's Midnight Runners, Ted Leo wields his two specialty instruments-- manic guitar and maniac voice-- with unbridled enthusiasm. As such, Hearts of Oak comes out smelling much sweeter than the releases of Leo's fellow glossy-mag guitar loyalists. Drawing from a well of FM classic rock influences with unguarded passion and infinite charisma, Ted Leo makes a sound filled with so much authentic abandon, the British mags probably can't handle it. [full review]

Soft Pink Truth:
Do You Party?
[Soundslike; 8.4 | Neo-Disco, Glitch-Funk]

Drew Daniel's full-time gig is being one-half of electronic glitch-samplers Matmos, but on this solo debut side project, he drops the noise and experimentation to create one of the most fun party records in recent memory. Do You Party? lays down sub-bass beats and glossy R&B--; not completely unlike that of Timbaland and The Neptunes-- but adds a distinctly future-disco feel to the mix that, when all elements are combined, makes for a seriously original sound and one fuck of a great time. [full review]

Broken Social Scene:
You Forgot It in People
[Arts & Crafts/Paper Bag; 9.2 | Indie Pop/Rock, Orch-Pop]

Countless bands on the experimental Toronto circuit (including Stars, Do Make Say Think, Treble Charger, A Silver Mt. Zion, KC Accidental, and Mascott) come together to create a pop album, resulting in one of the most accessible and beautiful records of the year so far. With most tracks penned by different songwriters within the 15-strong collective, You Forgot It in People jumps from one pop genre to the next, yet all are bound together by elaborate, densely orchestrated instrumentals that give this disparate mix an incredibly unified flow. [full review]

The Angels of Light:
Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home
[Young God; 8.6 | Gothic Folk]

Latest project from ex-Swans frontman Michael Gira is a darkly brooding folk record, fleshed out with dense instrumentation, creaking percussion and lush production. Gira's humble songwriting and claustrophobic dejection is stunningly bleak, and his deep, haggard vocals, backed by rustic, fingerpicked guitar, church bells, and children's choirs, execute each line so believably that the pain of each character becomes almost visceral. [full review]

The Microphones:
Mount Eerie
[K; 8.9 | Experimental, Lo-Fi, Indie Pop]

The follow-up to 2001's landmark The Glow, Pt. 2, like all previous Microphones releases, follows an elaborate story arc, this time one of death and spiritual awakening. Ripe with pastoral imagery, deeply intimate lyrics and acoustics, and haunting group harmonies, The Microphones succeed yet again in creating a truly unique listening experience, even for seasoned fans of experimental pop. [full review]

Out Hud:
S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.
[Kranky; 9.0 | Art-Funk]

On their debut full-length, Out Hud fuse the stabbing guitar work of Entertainment!-era Gang of Four with the dense polyrhythms of art-funk contemporaries !!! and Radio 4, giving the record an entirely unique noir-disco feel and offering an overt cerebral complexity perfectly suffused with dynamic, vibrant rhythm. Out Hud excel at creating atmospheres, allowing the listener to read into the music, and it's this subtle ambiguity of intention that makes S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.'s mystique so intriguing. [full review]

Ms. John Soda:
No P. or D.
[Morr Music; 8.8 | Lap-Pop]

From the Weilheim, Germany camp that presented us with The Notwist's Neon Golden, Lali Puna's Scary World Theory, and Tied & Tickled Trio's EA1 EA2 comes the debut full-length from Ms. John Soda, a duo composed of Notwist bassist Micha Acher, and keyboardist Stefanie Bohm of German post-rockers Couch. Though very similar to Neon Golden in that it contains the glitch trickery synonymous with IDM juxtaposed against warm vocals and insti-grip pop melodies, No P. or D. distinguishes itself as a much more feminine and less guitar-centric counterpart. Here, clicks and cuts bounce disorientingly between channels, melding with the hum of glowing keyboards and Bohm's cyborg vocals, revealing a decidedly fresh brand of stunning electronic pop. [full review]