Lorn

For his second album, Ask the Dust, Milwaukee DJ Lorn jumped the pond, signing with UK-based Ninja Tune, after being one of the few DJs settled elsewhere to sign on with FlyLo's L.A.-based Brainfeeder for first release Nothing Else. After moving away from an album that Lorn says now seems "cold and strict," Ask the Dust appears as an ethereal entity that's "haunted, oily, slick." The album vacillates between something in the midst of winding down (tracks like "This," "Everything is Violence" and "The Gun" throw abysmal echoes into the void, where the energy seems to dissipate slowly), while other tracks play off an unembellished rawness. Lorn uses his vocals to give tracks like "Weigh Me Down" a visceral undertone, a tangibility that permeates the consciousness amongst the grinding synths. Standout track "Ghosst(s)" rises from the ashes of precursor "Ghosst," presenting a lucid track overtaken by guttural distortions and sweeping, haunting strings. Think Burial operating on a slower, divergence-filled soundscape.