Epileptinomicon

Epileptinomicon's latest is kindred to the more cutting-edge releases on the Kranky label or even Denver's own Pteranodon: It's not music so much as an arty vehicle that captures moods and expresses things that are difficult to get across with words. It's remarkable to think that Mike Reisinger and Kevin Richards use only bass, guitar and vocals — albeit in a manner that's nearly unrecognizable — to create their sound. Imagine droplets of water echoing in distant chambers, resonating all around you, or drifts of otherworldly tones and the unmistakable sound of footsteps in the swallowing darkness, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what it's like. Had eccentric fantasy writer Clark Ashton Smith collaborated with Robert W. Chambers to write music to accompany his spookiest and most cosmically terrifying work, the results might have resembled something as beautifully mysterious and eerie as this disc, which traverses ethereal tendrils to the forgotten places of inner space.