An occasionally darker matter than Andrew Weatherall's likeminded mix of post-punk and early industrial, Nine O'Clock Drop, I Can't Live Without My Radio could be referred to as Nine O'Clock Drop Dead. Granted, DJ Morpheus didn't put this together for Cleopatra, the likes of Medium Medium and Heaven 17 sound excited about being alive, and there's a reasonable amount of variety considering the aesthetic focus. Jeff and Jane Hudson's "Los Alamos" and the Residents' "Kaw-Liga" begin the set with a sinister pulse, while Virgin Prunes' "Pagan Love Song" opens it up with hedonist rampage, which only comes to a grinding halt with the screech of Medium Medium's punk-funk "Hungry, So Angry." Just as importantly, the transitions aren't harsh. (The disc is technically, albeit barely, mixed for added sense of continuity.) If you've been following DJ Morpheus since his series of Freezone mixes, this should be a welcomed change of pace; most of the songs in the mix were released while he was known as one of the members of Israeli post-punks Minimal Compact, and it's apparent that he's thrilled to revisit his past. As he points out in his liner notes, several of the songs are politically charged and translate (depressingly enough) to 2005 -- Heaven 17's "We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang," Time Zone's "World Destruction," and Love and Rockets' "Ball of Confusion" in particular. ~ Andy Kellman

This series of compilation albums is based on architect Frank Lloyd Wright's "floating foundation" principle used to build the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. How the concept is applied by the artists to the music heard in this volume remains very much a mystery. Vol. 1 featured ethereal experimental electronics, from glitch to minimal, but this time around things are more varied and puzzling. The set opens with a guitar piece by Disjecta (aka Mark Clifford). Sparse but full-bodied, it features long resonating notes in a construction that could be described as architectural but sure takes listeners places the previous disc ignored. David Toop's "Tricyrtis Latifolia" also features guitar, this time embedded in a complex and captivating electro-acoustic piece. ConcrŠte sounds, electronics, conversation, and guitar come together to form not a narrative (the usual "cinema for the ear"), but something closer to the act of remembering. Scanner's "Weightless" and Carl Michael von Hausswolff's "With the Flow Against the Current" both bring listeners back to the first disc in this series: electronic works that seem to float. The latter's piece seems to be based on the humming of electrical current, making it an extension of the 2001 work and CD Str�m. Hard Sleeper's (aka Peter Maybury) "Ends > Circle Walks" walks in circles indeed, adding loop upon loop of glitchy electronics to little avail -- the only weak cut. All five pieces were created in 2001-2002. ~ Fran‡ois Couture

In an intriguing tweak on the idea of going "unplugged," the Cobra Killer partnership completely ditches its usual electronic backing for Das Mandolinenorchester, revisiting songs from earlier releases as if they were Eastern European folk songs. Admittedly that's a bit of a stretch -- the duo keeps the songs grounded in their original sources, their voices wry, winsome, and witty. But instead of doing the music, they hand over everything to the mandolin-based act Kapajkos, who tackle the arrangements with vim. To top it all off, all the tracks were recorded live in the studio aside from some brief overdubs, lending the album an immediate, playful quality that is echoed in the occasional side comment from the bandmembers. That Eastern European folk music can be as hyperspeed as any gabber techno or thrash metal act ever was already clear, but hearing Kapajkos tackle songs like "The Stoker" and "L.A. Shaker" and completely make them their own is simply wonderful. Sometimes all it comes down to is simply captivating beauty as well -- "High Is the Pine" concludes on a series of gorgeous mandolin flourishes. The contrast between Cobra Killer's more rabble-rousing instincts and the groove of the music is sometimes magical -- consider the way they sing the chorus to "Helicopter 666" while the band adds in backing cheers, not to mention a wonderful, rousing interpretation of the instrumental break, while the first version of "Mund Auf -- Augen Zu" included is strident and confrontational, and doesn't need a speck of electricity. Cobra Killer may or may not do anything like this again, but be glad they did this at least once -- it's a unique, wonderful record that deserves attention. ~ Ned Raggett