How do two new releases in January already feel like "best of 2005" contenders? More satisfying with each repeated listening, two new CDs hitting store shelves this Tuesday have dominated my stereo for the past few weeks, and I'm not ready to hit "eject" yet. Om Records serves up the Greenskeepers and the new album Pleetch, an infectious masterpiece of electronic funk and sexy dance grooves that sizzles like a 1970s roller-rink all-skate on a Saturday night. Slipping between genres like tuning in distant FM radio stations, the duo of DJ James Curd and multi-instrumentalist Nick Maurer uses a variety of vocalists alongside bassist Coban Rudish to clever effect. This hug-drug dance-floor daydream is unashamed to wear its influences on its sleeve, including Earth Wind & Fire, Parliament, KC & the Sunshine Band, Yaz, The Tubes, Timbuk 3, Ween, and the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Not just a feel-good dance mix, surprises include an earnest cover of Christopher Cross' hit "Sailing" and the must-hear rock ode to Silence of the Lambs' seamstress "Buffalo Bill" on "Lotion" - with its creepy Joe Meek-ish handclap production and the eerie chorus of "It rubs the lotion on its skin ... or else it gets the hose again." More electronic seduction comes next week in the epic third album from M83, Before the Dawn Heals Us on the Mute Records imprint. Fans of Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine, Air, and Brian Eno will thrill to this sweeping, cinematic howl of electronic energy that tumbles in settled, calm, and ambient waves, only to build and crash inside the tide. Primarily instrumental in its ethereal swell of synthesizers, this spinning tour de force is highly recommended for adventurous ears.

Television Alert:

The Late Show with David Letterman hosts ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead tonight; Late Night with Conan O'Brien boasts Ice Cube this evening overnight; and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson toasts the vocal talents of actress Minnie Driver this evening overnight.

New Releases Coming Tuesday, January 25:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change

7Seconds - Take It Back, Take It On, Take It Over! (Side One Dummy) after almost 25 years at the hardcore helm, this is new music from Kevin Seconds and company

Kelli Ali - Psychic Cat (One Little Indian) new solo album from the former Sneaker Pimps vocalist, with guest guitarist Andrew Innes of Primal Scream on "Ideal"

Assault on Precinct Thirteen - original motion picture soundtrack (Varese Sarabande) music from the new re-make of John Carpenter's original film, featuring a new song by KRS-One and a score by Graeme Revell of SPK

Adrian Belew - Side One (Sanctuary) a return to the studio "power trio" setting with bassist Les Claypool and Tool drummer Danny Carey

Tim Booth - Bone (Koch) domestic issue of this new solo album from the former frontman of James

Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek) electric with Yeah Yeah Yeah's guitarist Nick Zinner

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek) acoustic sessions with Emmylou Harris and My Morning Jacket's Jim James

Buck65 - This Right Here Is Buck65 (V2) featuring his hip-honky-tonk "Pants on Fire"

Emma Burton - Free Me (19 Recordings/Universal) solo debut from the former Baby Spice

Jimmy Chamberlin Complex - Life Begins Again (Sanctuary) new project from the Smashing Pumpkins drummer featuring guest vocalist Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers

Chemical Brothers - Push the Button (Astralwerks) with guests Tim Burgess of the Charlatans, Anwar Superstar, Kele Okereke, and Q-Tip

Kenny Chesney - Be as You Are (BNA)

Elvis Costello - The Clarksdale Sessions (Lost Highway) special EP only available on 10-inch vinyl

Elvis Costello - The Right Spectacle (Demon) import-only DVD collection of music videos and television appearances

Cowboy Mouth - Easy (Valley) re-sequenced re-issue from 2000 with two bonus live tracks

Graham Coxon - Happiness in Magazines (Astralwerks) new from the former Blur guitarist

Crash Kelly - Penny Pills (Liquor & Poker) featuring a cover of Cheap Trick's "Elo Kiddies"

Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down (Righteous Babe) housed in a beautifully designed digi-pak slipcase, with co-producer Joe Henry and guest Andrew Bird

Drive-By Truckers - Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance (New West) re-mastered CD re-issues from 1998 and 1999

Erasure - Nightbird (Mute) celebrating its 20th anniversary by touring America in April

Marianne Faithfull - Before the Poison (Anti) in collaboration with a cool list of songwriters

Franz Ferdinand - "Michael" (Domino USA) new 12-inch single with three re-mixes

John Frusciante - Curtains (Record Collection) all-acoustic CD wrapping up his "six CDs in six months" series

Rosco Gordon - No Dark in America (Skuntry/Dualtone) the final sessions from this recently deceased R&B master pianist, blending boogie-woogie and roadhouse jazz

Halifax - A Writer's Reference (Drive-Thru) seven-track CD EP featuring an acoustic version of "Sydney"

Ray Willie Hubbard - Delerium Tremolos (Philo/Rounder) new originals and covers from the Texas singer-songwriter with guests Patty Griffin, James McMurtry, and Ian McLagan

Jennifer Gentle - Valende (SubPop) third album, and American debut, from this tripped-out psychedelic-pop Italian duo, drinking heavily from the LSD inkpot of Syd Barrett

Kill Your Idols - From Companionship to Competition (Side One Dummy) featuring "Only Dicks Don't Like Black Flag" and a cover of The Pist's "Still Pist"

Low - The Great Destroyer (SubPop) heavier, majestic waves from this harmonic, minimalist trio

Magnapop - Mouthfeel (Daemon) the return of these poppy Atlanta favorites

Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - The Way Up (Nonesuch) a new continuous composition clocking in at more than an hour

The Moaners - Dark Snack (Yep Roc) gargantuan wall of swampy rock-and-wail from the duo of Trailer Bride guitarist Melissa Swingle and Grand National drummer Laura King

Anna Nalick - Wreck of the Day (Columbia) produced by Christopher Thorn and Brad Smith of Blind Melon

Casey Neill - Memory Against Forgetting (Daemon) career-spanning retrospective from this politically charged songwriter

One Tree Hill - original television soundtrack (Maverick) featuring Sheryl Crow's acoustic cover of "The First Cut Is the Deepest"

The Pernice Brothers - Nobody's Watching/Nobody's Listening (Ashmont) CD and DVD set featuring radio sessions and student-created videos

Shai Hulud - A Comprehensive Retrospective (Revolation) featuring original four-track demos and live tracks from 1997

Slavery & the Making of America - original television series soundtrack (Valley) companion to the PBS series airing February 9, composed by Michael Whalen

The Chris Stamey Experience - A Question of Temperature (Yep Roc) new from the dB's founder with Yo La Tengo as his backing band, and featuring a blistering cover of the Yardbirds' "Shape of Things" and a 30-second pro-voting PSA

Street Dogs - Back to the World (Brass Tacks/DRT) featuring Boston's own Mike McColgan, full-time firefighter and former member of the Dropkick Murphys, and on tour next month with Social Distortion

Yello - The Eye (Radikal) domestic issue of the latest album from the Swiss duo, featuring a bonus CD of re-mixes

various artists - Elko! A Cowboy Gathering (Western Jubilee/Dualtone) curl up closer to the campfire and listen to this wonderful two-CD collection of eclectic "cowboy poetry" and songs about the American West

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