Mono

If you think this is a reunion of the U.K. Mono-monikered band that won trip-hop infamy with Formica Blues in the '90s, forget it. But don't expect to be disappointed -- this altogether different Mono is an instrumental band from Tokyo that's heavily influenced by Mogwai and Godspeed. And who knows -- someday, you might also hear this Mono on the soundtrack of an Ethan Hawke/Gwyneth Paltrow movie, if someone signs off on a script about a dysfunctional couple who can't decide whether they want to blast quiet ambient music or furious white noise in their apartment. Mono's latest opus, Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined, was produced by abrasion expert Steve Albini, but has a lot more lush orchestral passages than you might expect. Scenesters will scare off the uninitiated by calling this "post-rock," but if you can imagine Phil Spector's Wall of Sound with all the echo and none of the pop, you too can make "back to Mono" your rallying cry.