Pictureplane

Pictureplane is what Girl Talk would sound like if hip-hop didn't exist. On his 2009 debut, Dark Rift, Denver, CO's Travis Egedy shoved all of his musical eggs into his boombox, combining '90s pop with murky house and rock beats. Over the first quarter of Thee Physical, his sophomore LP, Egedy picks up where Dark Rift dropped off, crafting jams that not only come off surprisingly club-ready, but sound as if they were created right on the dance floor. By the time the album comes to the dark wave trifecta of "Post Physical," "Techno Fetish" and "Real is a Feeling," Thee Physical begins to feel less like a collection of booty-shakers and more like a honest-to-goodness pop record. Whispered verses bookend sped-up samples on "Negative Slave," while "Breath Work" goes from downbeat to hi-NRG without smacking of effort. On Thee Physical, Pictureplane is no longer concerned with creating a dramatic scene. And that's from the man who coined "witch house."