When Los Angeles's Love Ghost made their new song "Dopeman," they mixed the raw energy of alternative rock with the pounding beats of Afrobeat in a way that is both bold and surprising. Ghanaian musician Camidoh and DJ Switch Ghana, who is also from Ghana and has great turntable skills, work together on this international project. It has a rhythm that is both creative and...

Seishin Takeno's "Echoes," a sonic postcard from Kanagawa. Nine instrumental pieces, I've been told. Not nine songs, mind you – more like nine shaded windows into a particular kind of quiet. This isn't music that yells; it leans in, like a friend confiding a secret you half-hear on a summer porch. Immediately, you're not so much listening as remembering. Or maybe anticipating. It feels...