Los Angeles trio the Delta Mirror say they’re of a mind with bands like the Big Pink and Fuck Buttons, acts bent simultaneously toward shoegaze and electronics. But the DM is less expansive and less noisy, respectively, than those acts: Their debut LP Machines That Listen is downcast and down-tempo, heartfelt and brooding, immersive and swirling. It’s also gorgeous and incredibly repeatable. The beats are savvy. They glitch and break unpredictably, tricks the trio’s Craig Gordon and David Bolt no doubt picked up while working in their hip-hop project prior to this one. Lyrically, each song takes place in a different room of a hospital; it’s an emotional and conceptual palette that mirrors the Antlers’ Hospice. There are three voices at play, including bassist Karrie K’s, but it’s a gothy baritone that pushes most of the songs, registering like Interpol’s Paul Banks discovering IDM and M83. You should hear the whole record, but start with the gem “He Was Worse Than The Needle He Gave You". From LA

What they do for fun reminds me I'm not one of them. Happiness is nothing more than a flirt. I stand for nothing you would understand. I will buy this country back. When things are artificially bright, I run for my life. I'm a bullet. Will you be my gun? We are The Ropes. We want to fight you.

Coming out of Pennsylvania’s Leigh Valley, Soars’ songs are awash with waves of guitar that pull you about, as the vocals build wispy worlds that are alive for only minutes at a time, and can end as abruptly as they started. Sometimes those endings flow together without a seam, and sometimes they’re accompanied with sudden blasts of confusing disparity that may startle your eyes open for a second, almost allowing you to escape…But then the next song starts, and you’re pulled right back in.