From Data Breaker:

Mem1, Wyndel Hunt, Steven Barsotti, Tiflin

(Rendezvous) My eyes and ears perk up when I see the names Jan Jelinek and Frank Bretschneider—even if it's in an e-mail from an unknown electronic outfit. Such was the case with San Francisco's Mem1 (Laura and Mark Cetilia on cello and electronics, respectively), who cold-contacted me about a show they're playing at the Rendezvous on Thursday. They mentioned their new CD involving collaborations with those two genius minimalist producers, plus seven others, including Steve Roden. As it turns out, that disc, +1, burrows into microscopic furrows in the stereo field, tickling the most delicate cilia in your ears and forcing you to focus mightily on the subliminal friction between catgut and silicon chip. At times you feel as if you've been inserted into somebody's body and can hear their internal organs (mal)functioning. The prevalent mood is mournful yet tranquil, evoking the aftermath of a tragedy and the resultant calm; think of the music moving from wah to aaahhh, very gradually. DAVE SEGAL

From Up & Coming:

Big Business, Thrones

(El Corazón) Live, Big Business are a powerhouse of deafening bass chords and dexterous drums. Yet the band have repeatedly recruited indie-pop producer Phil Ek—the man behind records by Fleet Foxes and the Shins—to lay these barrages to wax. It's as if the Biz were hearing something more elaborate and nuanced in their sound, something that the two members couldn't channel alone. Enter Mind the Drift, their third album with Ek and their first featuring new member Toshi Kasai on guitar. The record retains Big Business's unrelenting percussive energy and gargantuan overdriven bass, but adds grandiose Brian May—inspired guitar, transforming their sound into an amalgam of triumphant arena rock and irreverent punk fury. Is this the sound to which they've always aspired? If so, more power to them. BRIAN COOK

X-Ray Press, Marasol, Post Harbor

(Sunset) Seattle's X-Ray Press rock with controlled chaos. Their songs bluster, pause, bristle, and vroom with unpredictable vigor. The singing's agitated, the guitars caustic and bruising, the drumming George Hurley—swift and —brutal. Anyone with Slint, Don Caballero, Minutemen, or Upsilon Acrux releases in their collection will find X-Ray Press a welcome addition to this angsty, angular canon. San Diego's Marasol and Seattle's Post Harbor are more conventional rock bands with arena-size aspirations. Those comfortable with the collected works of Jane's Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, and Pearl Jam will snuggle up to these acts' XXL, emote-to-the-rafters jams. DAVE SEGAL

And there's always more in our complete music calendar listings