Doug Mosurock

In 1991, the Tokyo Flashback comp introduced the world to Japanese psychedelic music. Experience the whammy-bar wizardry of White Heaven's "Blind Promise" from a new reissue.

On its far-reaching, synth-strewn new album, a playful sense of retro-futurism underscores the Vancouver band's heavy tone of doom and despair.

On Prosthesis, bandleader Mark Ryan indulges some of his obsessions: vaguely sci-fi-influenced, tightly wound rock 'n' roll, set off by dual drummers and portentous electronics.

Carrying on the non-stop activity of the last eight years, the prolific rocker's 10th solo album feels as fractured and delirious as anything he's recorded.

Always provocative, the band jettisons post-punk thrash in favor of a sturdier Top 40 pop sound that recalls the early to mid-'80s.

The duo takes a few steps toward modernity on Fantasy Empire, which finds Lightning Bolt moving away from congested, low-fidelity sounds in the pursuit of studio clarity.

In the wake of Sonic Youth's collapse, Moore's new solo album is almost calming in its familiarity, particularly as it recalls a minor-key update of SY's well-loved late-'90s salvo A Thousand Leaves.

It's a shame that the rock record of the summer had to surface at the end of the season. Segall's lush, panoramic double-album piles on glam-rock excess without ever feeling excessive.

Performing as White Fence, Tim Presley steers toward the gentle pomp of late-'60s psychedelic pop, rock and folk. Along the way, he writes to the canon from which he performs and bends it to his will.

The Brooklyn rock band still wind-sprints with deadly efficiency. But the slower moments on Sunbathing Animal locate the essence of heartache in unexpected ways.