Pitchfork

Pole-- aka the bass-savvy dubsmith Stefan Betke, proprietor of the ~scape label-- isn't known for crafting dancefloor bangers. Even his comparatively sprightly last album, Steingarten, had "comedown" tattooed all over its hunched shoulders. Enter Thomas Melchior, who throws his trademark housey skip-- ragged hi-hats, jaunty swing-- under Pole's ethereal drift. It's still well mellow: This is fare for Sunday mornings in Berlin, preferably when the snow is piling up on the river outside the Watergate club's floor-to-ceiling windows and dancing is the only alternative to shuffling out into the cold-fronting day, hands in pockets and ears sizzling.