Battles - Mirrored (Amazon, iTunes), Diplo - Florida (Amazon, iTunes), Farben - Textstar (Boomkat, iTunes), The Go! Team - Proof of Youth (Amazon, iTunes), Lady Sovereign - Public Warning! (Amazon, iTunes), St. Vincent - Marry Me (Amazon, iTunes).

Top-notch songwriter: Beirut home page, Beirut on iTunes

Robin Guthrie — multi-instrumentalist, prolific producer and co-founder of 1980s and ’90s seminal alternative/ambient group the Cocteau Twins — and Harold Budd — ambient/avant garde composer and collaborator with Brian Eno — have released several excellent albums in recent years.

In their first new work together since 1985’s The Moon and the Melodies (iTunes), they collaborated on Music from the Film ‘Mysterious Skin‘ (iTunes). Now, they have released the companion albums After The Night Falls (iTunes) and Before The Day Breaks (iTunes).

All four albums feature Guthrie’s ethereal, intricate guitar and Budd’s spacious, brooding piano, and I highly recommend them.