AVIDIGI

Mr. Jon Ragel—otherwise known as Boy Eats Drum Machine—is releasing a brand new album, Hoop + Wire. It is a considerably feel-good batch of songs that occasionally slips into dreamy TV on the Radio-territory ("We Make Our Own Light," "Gold in the Hills") while still delivering plenty of that infectious, dance-pop ("Constellation," "Lolo Forest," "Mr. Train") which Ragel is best known for. Plus, there's an impressive odd-ball instrumental song buried in there ("ABQ") that sounds like the score for a major motion picture that is about epic, hiphop dance battles between wizards or something. Um, you just have to listen to it yourself to understand. --The Portland Mercury