For Pat Grossi of Active Child, the last two years have been nothing short of enriching. Musically, Pat has worked within and appropriated a number of styles into his sound, from his early days singing with that heavenly voice as a choir boy to his more recent forays into laptop-assisted indie-pop made in his bedroom, best exemplified on 2010's acclaimed Curtis Lane EP. His sound is so wide-ranging that he has found himself touring with many notable acts of differing genres, including dubstep producer James Blake, dreamy synth-pop of School of Seven Bells, and the indie-rock bands White Lies and White Rabbits.

The project of Pennsylvanias Alec Koone, Balam Acab (named after a Mayan demigod who created rainbows by piercing clouds with arrows) began as an experimental noise project while he was a high school student.

Fuzzy, almost dubsteppy bits of gently glitchy gauziness, angelic vocals, wreathed in reverb, drifting over swirling industrial loops and shimmering synths. Totally blissed out and otherworldly. Recalling The Caretaker, Pole, Broadcast and Boards of Canada, and even the canonical chill-out of Global Communication and The KLF.

Sumptuous, psychedelic, richly melodic: Balam Acab's latest album is a joy to listen to, and confirms he is a singular, exacting artist who exists in spite of, not because of, contemporary trends. Highly recommended. Triangle Records