MORE DARK SOUNDS FROM BEYOND

The Heliocentrics: The Gorn
From Fallen Angels (Now Again, 2009)

Quickly becoming one of my favorite new acts, Stones Throw/Now Again have compiled a b-sides album that highlights tracks that, for the most part, have been vinyl (or digital) only. “Fallen Angels” treks through more psychedelic sounds while bringing along some hip hoppers for the ride. The Metal Face one, Doom, raps alongside the waterfall flows of Percee P on a remix of “Distant Star” while one half of Cannibal Ox, Vast Aire, has an off-kilter freestyle flow on “Sirius B (Remix).”

“The Gorn” features a more straightforward funk rhythm, without a doubt the most accessible piece of music on the album. With its Jake Ferguson lead on bass, the lead guitar stairsteps its way to heaven toward the end while flutes fly around like butterflies in a mating ritual reeling the listener into an entranced euphoria.

After their Stones Throw debut in 2007 to their collaboration with Multau Astatke earlier this year on the Inspiration Information series, the Heliocentrics have shown that they're a band to be reckoned with while pushing the musical envelope.