Carla Bozulich, Boy (Constellation) After several phenomenal albums with her versatile, razor-edged band Evangelista, singer-songwriter Carla Bozulich took things into her own hands for the new Boy—she not only played many of the instruments but also produced and mixed the record (Italian drummer Andrea Belfi provides most of the beats, while Bay Area multi-instrumentalist John Eichenseer contributed keyboards, viola, and electronics). The press materials for Boy call it Bozulich’s “pop record,” and that’s true insofar as the songs follow standard verse-chorus-verse forms—her focused, aspirated singing and the music’s harrowing textures aren’t exactly sweet and accessible. Bozulich has always been an expressive vocalist, but here she sounds more powerful than ever, with a primal intensity that’s somewhere between Patti Smith and Nick Cave. More than 20 years into her career, she keeps getting better. —Peter Margasak
Issue, Liquid Wisdom (Greedhead) Three things to know about Bay Area rapper Issue: he’s the son of hyphy legend E-40, he doesn’t sound anything like his dad, and he’s obsessed with tea. Liquid Wisdom, which former Das Racist member Himanshu Suri released on his standard-bearing avant-rap label, Greedhead, references different varieties of tea the same way other rap albums reference marijuana strains or boutique vodka brands, and Issue’s spacey, stream-of-consciousness flow brings to mind the hippie-fied based vibes of fellow Bay Area denizen Lil B. The album’s beats (one of them from Chicago duo Supreme Cuts) ride a similarly blissed-out wave, which would make it perfect for yoga if it weren’t for the frequent punch lines and funny voices, delivered with the awkward comedic style of a teenage boy who dresses in hoodies and an MF Doom mask. —Miles Raymer
Owls, Two (Polyvinyl) In 2001 four of the five members of second-wave emo heavyweights Cap’n Jazz—vocalist Tim Kinsella, guitarist Victor Villareal, bassist Sam Zurick, and drummer Mike Kinsella—released an LP as Owls. Now, four years after the Cap’n Jazz reunion tour, Owls are back with Two, where they rough up and bulk up the artsy, mathy emo of their debut until some tracks sound like the huge, bold postpunk Dischord Records put out in the late 80s and early 90s (not long after the Revolution Summer kick-started emo). Villareal still sometimes plays the complex, spellbindingly fast guitar patterns that made him the godfather of “twinklecore,” but often he slackens his pace to create heavy, trance-inducing melodies. The guitars have some city grit to them too, and when Tim Kinsella sings “All Chicago smells like chocolate” on “I’ll Never Be . . . ” I can’t help but think about walking through the grimy underpasses near the Blommer factory. —Leor Galil
Sisyphus, Sisyphus (Asthmatic Kitty/Joyful Noise) In 2012 oddball Chicago rapper Serengeti teamed up with eclectic producer Son Lux and indie-rock hero Sufjan Stevens as S/S/S, but for their debut album—commissioned by Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music concert series—they’ve renamed their collaboration Sisyphus. These songs are as party as they are arty—the nimble, buoyant dance-funk of the first single, “Calm It Down,” would sound familiar to James Murphy. Sisyphus segues from Son Lux’s colorful electronic pileups to Sufjan’s symphonic wool-sweater indie folk to Serengeti’s spacey, giddy rap, often within a single track. The album’s best moments, particularly “I Won’t Be Afraid” and “Take Me,” are sublime, wistful, and angelic, much like the three members’ moodier solo work—but with new eccentricities that only could’ve come from this project. —Leor Galil
