After a whirlwind couple of years that saw them handle everything from a video game soundtrack to an opening slot with Tool, SF/DC’s kingpins of tongue-in-cheek synth-rock are back with their 9th album, Thing, on Thrill Jockey. On it, "you get your sci-fi post-rock like 'Space Dock,' which would fit neatly on the Tron soundtrack, and 'Naked Singularity,' which is like the Knight Rider theme turned inside out and remixed with heavy metal drums. For a band that never seemed to take itself all that seriously, the aesthetic decisions Trans Am made ages ago fit with remarkably well with what's going on in music now. The nods to funk, the krautrock rhythms, the hints of electro, the occasional glitch in the beat-- all are just part of indie rock these days. There are times when Trans Am does it better than anyone-- fractured and funky "Arcadia", with its storm of delayed guitar set against locked-in drums and sequencer, is a good example, while "Interstellar Drift" does something similar, only with an insistent motorik bass and drum pulse. ... it's great to hear them again, doing what they do best." --Pitchfork

"Nice Nice is the work of one guitarist, one drummer, and a whole lot of electronic loops. Their first album, Chrome, was a collection of alien funk, sound collages, and junkyard skronk. They've since released a few EPs, always honing a distinct, layered, and monstrous sound that seems far too large to be the work of just two men. Extra Wow-- their second full-length and first for Warp—keeps the eclecticism of their previous work but aims to be more cohesive via a relentlessly sunny, psychedelic feel." --Pitchfork

SF quartet featuring Phil from Trans Am. "Jonas Reinhardt is the latest artist to throw forth his attempt at recapturing the magic of the early '70s, and in my opinion he could be the most successful yet. Using his keen ear for production to recreate the sounds of Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel, Kraftwerk, and oddly enough, Jean-Michelle Jarre, he has ended up with an album that works as some kind of summation of the sprawling scene. Most interestingly for me, Reinhardt has nailed that element of the music that eludes so many artists -- the beats. And with an arsenal of vintage drum machines he creates the kind of cyclic rhythmical throb that made us all fall in love with Harmonia all those years ago. This is real electronic music, free of the modern tricks of laptop-heavy subgenres, and as such it delivers a purity rarely chanced upon in these cynical times." --Other Music