Almost two decades in, Mouse on Mars continue to be one of the most inventive and unpredictable groups in electronic music. Further proof comes with their first new album in six years, Parastrophics, out February 28 on Monkeytown Records. For the next week, leading into the album’s release, XLR8R will be streaming the album in its entirety.

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MARCOS VALLE is one of the major songwriters of Brazilian Popular music with songs recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Jay-Z, Diana Krall, Chicago, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Toots Thielemans, Joe Pass, Astrud Gilberto, Bebel Gilberto, Sergio Mendes to name a few.

Hardscrabble Appalachia is known for its bluegrass, moonshine and coal mines. Now, with the May 1 arrival of gut-honest singer-songwriter Chelle Rose’s second album Ghost of Browder Holler (Lil’ Damsel Records, street date May 1, 2012), add visceral rock ’n’ roll to that list.Rose brings her elemental power to the 12-song disc produced by legendary Texas songsmith  Ray Wylie Hubbard in Austin.

Specific aromas have the power to transport me back to an earlier, more youthful time: the earthy redolence of decaying leaves, mesquite smoke wafting from a neighbor’s barbeque, and even the gamy stench of a hockey locker room. I also have triggers for my ocular, haptic, gustatory, and aural senses. All of us do. And I thought sensory recall was the closest thing I would ever have to a time machine. But on Friday night, Phil and Friends changed that – not once, but twice.