The long-awaited full-length Idle Warship album, Habits of the Heart, is out today, 1 November. The power team of Talib Kweli and Res have turned in a fresh and inventive genre-bending album hearkening echoes of classic 80′s synth pop & new wave combined with high-energy R&B and hip-hop. This song, ‘Rat Race’ is one of my favorites. If you have Spotify, stream a full-length preview of the album, then purchase it from iTunes here.

The duo of Olaf Hilgenfeld and Iftah Gabbai is definitely not your run-of-the-mill techno, disco or jazz. So then, color me intrigued by Skinnerbox & their unusual (and efficient marriage) of disparate styles, particularly when it matches so clearly with the musical calico I’m hearing out of European electronic music lately.

There’s a taste of Richie Hawtin meets Mark Farina meets 808 State in these songs. Do I have your attention?

Under the surface, there are also tastes of Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones influence in this particular collection, dotted with edgy Grace Jones/Nina Hagen/Lene Lovich-esque references (thanks to the vocals of occasional guest Elle P) — an embrace of experimental 80′s synth/Moog influences enmeshed with a love of Italo-Disco and New Wave lives in every corner of this music, it’s easy to fall in love with instantly and, later, return to analyze it’s cleverness. Even with it’s technoodling, Skinnerbox’s recordings here are (at their core) jazz music — completely experimental, and definitely out there.

Check out these tracks, courtesy of the band themselves. If you dig it, be sure and check out this terrific live set of theirs from Paris in October of 2009.

Skinnerbox – “King of Diamonds”
Skinnerbox – “Turtletaube”
Skinnerbox – “Varvantakis”

[Purchase : MySpace Page]