My recommendations 2006:The Looks by MSTRKRFT

MSTRKRFT: The Looks
Last Gang 7/18/2006

I was saddened by the news that Death From Above 1979 had split this past August. Though it was a little too harsh for me at first, 2004's You're a Woman, I'm a Machine grew on me and was in heavy rotation on my iPod by the end of 2005. Its abrasiveness, the very aspect which had originally put me off of it, became its most endearing quality. The same can be said for The Looks, the debut album of MSTRKRFT, DFA1979's partial reincarnation. Though MSTRKRFT create dance music, as opposed to DFA1979's noise-rock, they still sound as if they are felling redwoods. The Looks is reminiscent of the Ibiza-via-Manchester acid house of Technique-era New Order, and even The DFA (despite the well-publicized acrimony between The DFA and Death From Above 1979 over forcing the latter to change its name).