DRACO

First, something that sounds like bongos can be heard in the distant background followed by a strange sample of what may or may not be someone doing unnatural things to a trumpet. Worry not, though, because just a few seconds later a strangely soothing, disembodied voice reassures us all, “Draco’s coming down, so keep your head up.” It’s good advice, and on Enter the Draco, there’s plenty of reason not just to keep your head up but also to keep it bobbing along. Packed wall to wall with space-age freaky beats, the Japanese duo of Naoki Morimoto and the singularly named diva Mima has constructed a memorable concoction that combines new wave hummability with an oddly charming DIY bedroom aesthetic. By forgoing any kind of lyrical coherency in favor of oddly crafted phrases (song titles include “First Buckaroo vs. Summer Alien,” though that is one of the more extreme examples) that make sense only in the loosest definition of the term, the disc plays like what we thought in the ’60s that the future would sound like.