It’s not just about mosh pits and busted lips: Both Summer Sonic and Fuji Rock have plenty of rump-bouncing beats on offer. In fact, the dance-oriented acts in this year’s lineups are as diverse as ever. Here are a few of the best places ...

Jimmy LaValle’s classical training helped define his old outfit, Tristeza, whose intricate post-rock pastorals could have been jarring or cluttered without a subtle, steady hand. As the Album Leaf, his present incarnation, the San Diego guitarist’s strings recede into more barren terrain. Lush acoustic ...

Japanese guitarist Kenji Jammer’s eclectic dossier includes studio work with everyone from U2 to Bill Laswell to Simply Red. His “Hula Hula Dance” CD series, however, has focused on a reinterpretation of Hawaiian-style steel guitar, sauntering past the luau for the sleek sofas of ...

It’s been said that the musical style now referred to as “electro” wriggled to life in the early ’80s, when the heavy thump of funk collided with burgeoning synthesizer technology. Jittery, bass-heavy and bombastic, electro lurked on the half-courts and back-alley clubs of New ...

Few hip-hop fans argue the relevance of golden-age innovators De La Soul, but two recent releases from the Rhino label may cause debate. The first, “Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996,” catches the trio performing for a hyped home crowd near their creative peak — ...

Any DJ worth his wax knows there’s more to hip-hop than beats, bravado and samples extracted from R&B vinyl. On “Since We Last Spoke,” the Def Jux label’s star spinner, RJD2, strays further from the medium’s usual rap/soul axis and delves into arena rock, ...

In a recent interview, Sufjan Stevens confessed vocal inadequacies: his range is limited; his falsetto is strained; he lacks Patti Smith’s attitude and Willie Nelson’s cliches. However, narrative, he says, saves the music from these weaknesses. He sells himself short, but Stevens has a ...

Danish duo Junior Senior may be difficult to describe, but their message is unmistakably clear: Get on the freaking dance floor. Their debut, “D-D-Don’t Don’t Stop the Beat,” was last year’s best party album, brimming with tracks that read like cheerleading chants: “Move Your ...

Avant-garde hardcore duo Lightning Bolt may be the heaviest thing ever to come out of Rhode Island. Technically precise, unwaveringly experimental and deafeningly loud, their shows are known for blowing the minds (and eardrums) of headbangers and jazzbos alike. Drummer Brian Chippendale speaks via ...

Ben Harper just had a great week. First, the singer/songwriter and master of the acoustic slide guitar spoke with Andre 3000 of hip-hop heroes OutKast about going into the studio together. A few days later, guitar legend Ry Cooder called about collaborating. Then blues ...

In the spring of 2002, Scott Herren — known best for avant-garde hip-hop under the moniker Prefuse 73 — decided to put his beats in storage and move to Spain. There he met Eva Puyuelo Muns, a singer/songwriter with tastes in traditional Latin music ...