After a convincing but timid solo beginning, Dot Allison affirms her talent as a composer with We Are Science, an ambitious and varied album where the singer proudly displays her electro and new wave influences.

Rather than capitalize on the easy success of revamped Bauhaus, Daniel Ash has chosen to explore new musical regions solo. The result is a daring and baroque album that combines the essence of early Love & Rockets with innovative electronic sounds.

Ethereal, warm and electronic, the latest Aterciopelados release is worth seeking out. Breezy and warm, Andrea Acheverri's beautiful vocals merge with trippy lyrics and cosmic sounds that work off of each other brilliantly to create a melodious album.

Whereas any hope for the return of noisy pop seemed to have evaporated, B.R.M.C and their sharp-edged guitars suddenly come to revive the flame of noisy rock in the great tradition of The Jesus & Mary Chain and Velvet Underground.

An undeniable return to the source following the multiple musical adventures that have marked these last few years, Heaven is a successful and transcendental work in which Bowie resurrects his most mythical incarnations in the 21st century.

Bright Eyes' newest opus challenges listeners without remorse, but provides great rewards as well.

For some Old School Cuban the Buena Vista Social Club, produced by Ry Cooder, is a sure favorite. A group of long forgotten but still alive and kicking musicians were found and banded together to make a musical recording that went on to win a Grammy and explode internationally

Mr. Johnny Cash has come full circle with this haunting album of original songs and covers. On this album Cash covers songs by artists as diverse as Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Hank Williams, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Derivative dance with influences that perfectly match your vinyl collection? Yes. Terrifically good? Also yes.

You have to admire Future Bible Heroes' sheer unabashedness. There's no shame in their love of the synthesizer. There's no wink-wink-nudge-nudge admission that their lyrics often fly off the kitsch scale into embarrassment.

The bewitching Ely Guerra has finally released an album on American shores. Lotofire, her first US release, is gorgeous and captivating both lyrically and musically.

They come from a northern land, British Columbia, and they have shown me Canadian music doesn't stink these days. Hot Hot Heat remind me of when XTC still rocked, way back in their early New Wave days.

Viva Mexico! Kinky, a grupo de cinco, hails from Monterrey, Mexico. Along with Moenia and Nortec Collective they are next in line to revitalize the current dance music scene. Traditional sounds like samba, batucada and norteño are poured into their electronic music, creating a percussion heavy, highly infectious sound.

Though Traci Lords is undoubtedly an accomplished star in the very intimate circle of the most acute film enthusiasts, her album 1000 Fires remains to this day an inescapable techno classic that made her one of the Los Angeles rave scene pioneers.

Though The Mission reached the summit of their art with Carved in Sand in 1990, the band had since sunk into oblivion, after a fistful of uninspired albums and the successive departures of its original members. Returning to the sources of their gothic and lyrical rock, with Aura Wayne Hussey signals a long-awaited comeback album.

Transcended by the ardor of their youth, The Music combines Led Zeppelin-style psychedelic roars to rhythms inherited from the great days of Madchester.

Whereas the idea of a new New Order would have lent itself to smirks a few years ago, given the sinuous course of its members since the insipid Republic, Get Ready proves to be a solid album for a welcome return.

By combining vibrant Norteño music from northern Mexico with more modern electronic sounds, the musicians of the Tijuana-based Nortec Collective spearhead a new movement with this hypnotic album. At the same time, the project put their city on the map as an electronic pole on the same level as London, Paris and Chicago.

What better way to conjure up images of East L.A. Pachuco boogie circa 1950: Zoot suits, crooners and lovely Latinas, than listening to bonafide music of the era? With the resurgence of 50's music and culture in Southern California, their music is ripe for the picking.

Although she's been associated with the electro revival, Peaches distinguishes herself from her congeners with her more varied musical approach and disturbing punk rock attitude.

Two musical pen pals create a perfect blend of indie pop and electro. Is this the birth of yet another new genre? Let's hope so.

The arriving of a new Radiohead album is always an event, as the uncompromising and artistic approach of the band is singular in a musical world where "appearance" is much more praised than talent.

13 years before the planet succumbed to Prodigy's techno-punk, Sigue Sigue Sputnik had an intergalactic hit with a "Missile F1-11" foreseeing the electronica of the 90's.

First solo project from the ex-singer of the band Mazzy Star, Bavarian Fruit Bread is a bare album which reveals its beauty in the subtlety of harmonies on the edge of lethargy.

The Second Album by Suicide is as essential as its predecessor if want to get to know one of the most daring acts of modern rock history.

Rap or Classical? When rap artists meet classical music. Featuring Warren G and singer Sissel on "Prince Igor", LL Cool J, MOBB DEEP. ONYX and more. Unreleased in the US.

The "ubadubadoo" of "Congo Square at Midnight" sums up the album bravado best. Sultry, bluesy and full of sly winks, it's masterful in its simplicity. The man's got rhythm and it's heard on every second of this album.