9. Tyondai Braxton – “Scout1”
HIVE1, from which “SCOUT1” is sourced, arrives from a live multi-sensory exhibition that ex-Battles frontman Tyondai Braxton originally premiered at New York’s Guggenheim Museum in 2013. At over nine minutes in length, there is plenty of room for Braxton to wander. It takes nearly half a minute for the first few notes to arrive, and as the elements evolve, the track shifts from a casual electro-tribal discussion into an all-out blitz of acid and analog-decay before exploding into some parallel astral plane. Don’t try to steer, just remember to breathe. And be sure to grab HIVE1 on May 12th via Nonesuch. –Derek Staples