It’s a rare and bewildering thrill to encounter something as organically bizarre and entirely transportive as Koradan’s newest album, "Around the World...Music". The Italian duo Alex Baccari and Marzia Di Cicco are dedicated acoustic alchemists. They build the very tools they play. Through their patented centerpiece, the "Koritas," they have physically fused materials harvested from five different continents into a single resonating chamber. You...

Twenty years into their tenure, The Plastic Pals have returned with "Keep it Burning", a record that feels less like a studio product and more like finding a pristine, forgotten leather jacket in a thrift store scuffed, smelling faintly of clove cigarettes, and fitting perfectly. Hailing from Stockholm, this group has managed a strange bit of sonic teleportation. They are Swedish, yes, but the...