120 Days, The Presets, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, Voxtrot

120 DAYS
Oslo, Norway may be snow-blanketed, but when there’s electrifying electronic music blasting from the mountains, warmth radiates. 120 Days is the latest band to emerge from the arctic tundra of Scandinavia. The quartet’s self titled debut is filled with krautrock inclinations and heavy synths with rock components mixed in. The opening track is the longwinded “Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone),” an epic adventure of a track ebbing and flowing before becoming trance-inducing. 120 Days’ music at first seems repetitive and fragmented, but the pieces coalesce together rhythmically and vocally. A few of the tracks hint at hedonism and escapism, as displayed on “Sleepwalking”: “I can dance this night away/ Take me somewhere else and make me feel okay.” The closing song “I’ve Lost My Vison” clocks in at 11 minutes, with the semblance of Can peaking through. 120 Days pilfer from the best artists but record their own original sonic visions. (Appearing for the late show at Empty Bottle on Nov. 4) –text: Garin Pirnia

THE PRESETS
The Presets know how to milk a great song. So well, in fact, that the Australian duo of Julian Hamilton and Kimberley Moyes have parlayed a few tracks into hits twice. As members of the avant-garde group Prop, the pair garnered acclaim throughout their home country with a reputation for noisy experimentation. But it wasn’t until they remixed their own band’s songs as edgier, dance-floor ditties under their current moniker that the two found a niche. While they succeeded before as vanguard noisemakers, the pair now flourishes as sexy beatsmiths. With a propensity for turning clamorous background sounds into groove-friendly focal points, The Presets’ seductively raunchy debut, Beams, is as much a thing for sweaty clubs as it is for sweaty bedrooms. And what better way to blur the line between the two than with thunderous bass drops and mechanical handclaps? Even if this is the duo’s second time around. (Appearing with The Rapture at Metro on Nov. 5) –text: Derek Wright

SIERRA LEONE’S REFUGEE ALL STARS
They sing that “living like a refugee is not easy,” but Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars deliver a message of hope through joyful sounding rhythms and enthusiastic song — reconfirming, yet again, the healing qualities of music. Established in a Guinea refugee camp by Reuben M. Korama and other displaced citizens of Sierra Leone’s long-lasting civil war, the group traveled camp to camp, and now worldwide, in order to raise awareness of the conflict while lifting spirits with their personal experiences translated into song. Not only is the mission noble — the music is addicting. It beckons sounds from reggae, blues, traditional African, and even surfer music. Following the acclaimed documentary of their work, The Refugee All Stars, the group’s first full-length album, Living Like a Refugee, was recently released on the Anti label. In a world where so much art is self-serving, this is truly music that matters. (Appearing at Martyrs’ on Nov. 4) –text: Jen Fischer–photo: Jane Richey

VOXTROT
Pop music usually carries a negative connotation, but when done right, pop music sounds like Voxtrot. The Austin, Texas quartet had a hometown advantage at this year’s SXSW festival and gained considerable buzz through the blogosphere with two self-released EPs entitled Raised By Wolves and Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives. This month the group releases yet another EP on the Playlouder label called Your Biggest Fan. Voxtrot’s music is ebullient pop influenced by the Smiths and Of Montreal. Some of their songs (like “Sway”) display a melancholy edge, but “Rise Up In Dirt” and “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives” thrive on pop perfection and infection. Lead singer Ramesh Srivastava subscribes to the Morrissey school of falsetto on “Your Biggest Fan”, pontificating: “There’s a right way to fall in love.” A full-length is due sometime in the new year but until then, Voxtrot has given fans enough effusive tracks to feed the iPod. (Appearing with Canasta at Empty Bottle on Nov. 5) –text: Garin Pirnia