After two unessential collaborative records, the loudest voice in hip-hop, emcee/producer Kanye West, has returned with a stylistically ambitious album called Yeezus, his sixth proper solo studio record since making his debut in 2004. For the record West collected over three hours of bits and pieces here and there with the goal of making another experimental-leaning work. The bits and pieces we hear in the final product are largely of the drill and trap variety, resulting in a very dark, artsy, adventurous record that – at just 10 tracks over 40 minutes – is surpassingly tight and cohesive. For the album, whose final production was rushed (more on that later), West – a guy who has been excessively materialistic in the past – wanted to take a minimalist approach. And so his record – which has no proper album cover and no singles – received no conventional promotion, West instead projecting videos on walls in big cities around the world.

The story goes that West showed up at famed producer Rick Rubin’s doorstep with three hours of music just days before the recordings were due to the label. Nothing final, but a whole lot of ideas and elements to get started with. The record was due in a few days and West needed help putting the pieces together (also, I think West was maybe overwhelmed by the quantity of ideas he had, and wanted Rubin to work as tastemaker). So West and Rubin went to work, pasting together the pieces, writing and recording vocals and, mostly, stripping West’s collection of pieces down to their core ideas. I found this news odd, as West famously worked night and day, for months and months, on his last record, 2010′s star-studded My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. But, in some ways, the rushed aspect of the Yeezus recording process works really well. Sure, the lyrics are laughably simple and cliche-filled for a 36-year-old man and the vocals do feel at times lazy and boring, but the music is adventurous and creative. As noted above, this is West in experimental mode, which we’ve not seen since the surprisingly interesting departure that was 2008′s 808s & Heartbreak.

Assisting West and Rubin with production duties on half the record are Parisian electronic pioneers Daft Punk. The results of that collaboration are intense, cold and big, West and his cohorts really going for it, creatively speaking. A number of other producers help out here and there on the record – including RZA, No I.D., The Heatmakerz, Young Chop and TNGHT – but none have the impact that Daft Punk do. Opener “On Site,” one of the Daft Punk tracks, kicks things off in an abrasive, attention-grabbing way. Production-wise, it’s not a track I suspect your average pop-rap fan will instantly respond to, though it is brazen enough to appeal to music critics. The track goes back and forth between a powerful soul sample and Daft Punk’s gritty house production. Despite his supposed new love for minimalism, we quickly learn that West is still writing the rhymes of a shallow, materialistic man child – and being thoughtlessly celebrated for it. Someday, I think, West will worry a little more about his words; for now, the vocals and writing on his records serve only the purpose of increasingly bloated – and increasingly uninteresting – vanity.

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Deafheaven’s Sunbather is one of those anomalies that happens every so often in metal music where you’re moved to your core listening to the aural violence. Singer George Clark sounds like Deftones’ Chino Moreno having some sort of attack as songwriter/guitarist Kerry McCoy creates transcendent – albeit bludgeoning – music that sweeps you up in the drama of life and existence.Sunbather sounds like what would happen if Explosions in the Sky dabbled in black metal. It’s a record that comes around every so often, and when it does all you can do is let it wash over you.

“Dream House” is a wall of guitars. And ebb and flow of dramatic sweeps and moods. This is what happens when post-rock goes through primal scream therapy. I imagine Mogwai was brought up once or twice in the studio while recording this epic opening track. A barrage of guitars bash against each other as if waves pummeling the lone schooner in a black ocean. Clark screams orders till the storm calms as the piano and echoed guitar of “Irresistible” steps in during a moment of solace, quietly taking us into the 10 minute title track. Deftones haunt the sound of this song, not only in the shredded vocal cords but also in McCoy’s exquisite guitar. His guitar is a sound filled with both guttural pain and heavenly scope. As you spin the record you may feel as if you’re listening to a great epic tale – much like Homer’s Odyssey – put to music. This is a journey record (and not that “Don’t Stop Believin’” junk). “Please Remember” starts as noise and increases in intensity, climaxing to a buzzsaw screech before dissipating into a quietly strummed guitar. Ebb and flow.

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Every once in a while you have to put away the Morbid Angel and N.W.A. and just chill out. It can’t all be bloodlettings and drive-by shootings. Sometimes you need a breathy voice and a mellowed-out vibe to bring you back down to earth for a bit. Still Corners is here to do just that. They’ve just released their newest long player, titled Strange Pleasures, and it improves upon their 2011 debut Creatures of an Hour by not so much changing their sound, but smoothing that sound out and reinventing themselves as a cross between Mazzy Star and The Church.

“The Trip” is the kind of opening track that clears the way for a listen ripe with possibilities. Driving rhythm, strummed acoustic guitars, synths bubbling underneath and the beautifully haunted vocals of Tessa Murray clear the mind of clutter so that listeners can concentrate on the trip they’re about to take. “Beginning to Blue” is an 80s-inflected pop track, not unlike something you might’ve heard on your Ford Escort car radio while on your way to TCBY or Video Plus to rent Real Genius or Short Circuit 2.

Greg Hughes’ sonic structures and studio prowess play a big role in the mood created on this album. It’s a great mixture of 80s pop elements and a dreamy, drugged-out hallucination. But as far as hallucinations go, this one is quite pleasant. This London duo must’ve wowed the bearded rockers at Sub Pop with their hazy charms for sure. It’s hard to imagine a Sub Pop mixer with Still Corners rubbing elbows with METZ and Mudhoney. Then again, that could be something of a peanut butter and chocolate moment.

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Supposedly marijuana is fast on its way to being legal in the United States of Not Texas. Several states have decriminalized the drug and made it available for “medical use,” with progressive states like Colorado and Washington having even legalized that stinky little weed. While grass was certainly frowned on by the public opinion in the U.S. through the 80s and 90s, things seem to have changed over the last decade or so. Like penis jokes, sushi and gay marriage, weed just seems to be a part of our culture now. And here’s the thing: you’ve probably done it; your parents have probably done it; your boss – he totally still does it. I promise. And while we’re not exactly allowed to speak candidly about loving to partake, I think we can all agree that legalizing the stuff just might be a very positive thing. For starters, if people want to use it, they’re gonna. Secondly, if people want to use it and can’t find it, then they can easily get their hands on a much more dangerous “legal weed” substitute. But mostly, I think weed will become legal because it’s less dangerous than alcohol, easy to control, easier to tax and, well, it makes people happy. It makes people want to listen to records that bands like Baths make. Records like the very good Obsidian.

Will “Baths” Wiesenfield doesn’t exactly make trippy or psychedelic drug records in the way The Stone Roses, Pink Floyd or even Mr. Bungle did. No, Baths’ sound is more inline with hip-hop influenced artists like Fourtet, Bibio, Flying Lotus or even DJ Shadow. Kindred spirits would be Boards of Canada, Daedelus and even certain Animal Collective and Cairbou/Manitoba tracks. The sound is both electronic and indie rock, like a more drum programming-driven version of The Notwist’s sadly forgotten 2002 classic Neon Golden. Dan Deacon also comes to mind. This is electronically produced music for a generation of listeners who grew up on indie rock, heavily produced radio pop, hip-hop and classic rock. This is modern music, maybe even at its finest, depending on your personal tastes.

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