Steve Aoki

“NEON FUTURE VOL. 1”

Ultra Records

Few artists, EDM or otherwise, would think of starting this way. Commence with “The Age of Spiritual Machines” author Ray Kurzweil, close with anti-aging guru Aubrey de Grey, and cram Waka Flocka Flame and Fall Out Boy between steely, flashy, raucously anthemic grooves. But DJ, label boss and electro-music instigator Steve Aoki makes too few studio albums. When he does, that’s how they tend to turn out: as loosely conceptual, techie, futurist recordings in which human and machine merge, carving out new eternities.

Aoki’s aerodynamic, thinking-person’s dance music never loses its maker’s flair for slickness and fun. The influence of Kraftwerk is heard on the title track and “Born to Get Wild,” featuring, respectively, Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun and will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. Fall Out Boy adds warm, powerful voices and real drums to “Back to Earth,” and Waka provides wonky raps to the aptly titled “Rage the Night Away.”

For all of Neon Future’s guests, what will grab you on this album is the host, his smarts and his way of making the stadium-anthemic EDM aesthetic intimate enough to sustain surprisingly subtle — even ethereal — musical moments. Here’s hoping Vol. 2 is just as weird and wonderful.

— A.D. Amorosi,

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Caribou

“OUR LOVE”

Merge Records

Dan Snaith’s work under the name Caribou has been some of the most intriguing and enjoyable dance music of the past 10 years. Caribou’s previous record, 2010’s “Swim,” was one of those compulsively listenable albums that you almost feel guilty about over-playing. But I never did get tired of it, and repeated listening only made me curious about Snaith’s next move.

Four years later, he is offering us “Our Love” and it feels like the natural continuation of what Snaith was doing on “Swim.” Caribou crafts amazingly catchy, house-influenced electronic music made up of warm, organic samples and somewhat whiny, yet totally compelling vocals, and “Our Love” manages to take synth-heavy, psychedelic electronic music and make it sound like the catchiest Lady Gaga song that you have ever heard. Here, Snaith bridges the divide between analog, instrument-based popular music and electronic dance music as seamlessly as any artist working today. Most of these songs are quite short and succinct; each track offers specific ideas, unpacks them and moves on, a feat that seems obvious, but that eludes so many like-minded artists. Caribou uses repetition, which is house music’s bread and butter, without ever seeming repetitive.

Snaith had his work cut out for him in following up “Swim” and he could have gone in a lot of different directions. By tweaking the sound of his previous record, adding wisely chosen collaborators and not trying to totally revolutionize what was already working quite well, he has created one of the most enjoyable, crowd-pleasing records of the year.

ON TOUR: March 3, Wonder Ballroom, Portland; www.ticketfly.com or 877-435-9849.

— Benjamin Hedge Olson,PopMatters.com