In the wider musical world the biggest news of the month was not the Grammies (Tim Hecker was snubbed again!), but the fact that for the first time a download-only album topped the Billboard chart. The implication of this event is clear: the digital shift is no longer dismissible. We’ve been seeing it unfold for years in the reduction of sales, the shuttering of labels, and the increase of self-released products. Money is so tight that some small labels have been using pre-order revenue to finance their releases, while others have been unveiling increasingly-smaller runs – one recent release was pressed in a limited edition of 15.

What will the next decade bring? Chances are, we’ll hear a lot more but own a lot less, with the curious and unexpected exception of vinyl, the only physical format to show an increase in sales. Our shelves will be empty, but our iPods will be full.

The days of browsing racks of new releases have ended. Tower, Virgin and HMV have fled the States. As the musical community continues its continental drift into the digital world, the role of reviewers cannot help but increase. The Silent Ballet is doing its best to replicate the browsing experience on a digital level, by gathering all of your favorite releases under one roof: here’s what’s out; here’s what it sounds like; here’s what we recommend. Sure, we can be pretentious or geeky at times, but when we are, we hope you’ll think fondly of that obnoxious but brilliant long-haired dude at the record store who knew your name and remembered your taste and introduced you to some of the best music you’d ever heard. And that wall of staff picks you used to love? It’s right here.

1) Slow Six ~ Tomorrow Becomes You

The third album from Christopher Tignor and his band of merry Brooklynites is a revelation. While acts such as Rachel’s, Clogs, and Sunwrae deliver neo-classicism colored by rock instruments, none of these bands have achieved the divine integration of Slow Six. The band’s compositions exude a brilliant levity, jaunting spritely in odd time signatures while sounding completely natural and loose. Spot-on technical drumming and intelligent guitar lines pirouette amidst Tignor’s live electronics, while Fender Rhodes and violin add dynamic lyrical elements. This stuff is leagues ahead of most of our garden variety post-rock. If The Mercury Program is collegiate, Slow Six is chthonian. (Nayt Keane)

Nothing starts the year off right like a Jaga Jazzist album. The ten-piece Norwegian supergroup waited five years to follow up the classic What We Want, and One-Armed Bandit represents a deft sidestep rather than a logical progression. In terms of tone, One-Armed Bandit returns to the much jazzier, horn-based sound of The Stix and A Livingroom Hush, while preserving a bit of What We Must’s post-rock in the distorted guitars of “Touch of Evil.” Lars Horntveth throws a compositional curveball by disallowing improvisation, but while the sonic results are more confined, they are more refined as well. (Tyler Fisher)

Master sound designer and experimental producer BJ Nilsen wants to give you an un-birthday present. When you untie the ribbon and rip through the wrapping paper, you’ll find an element akin to dark matter. Inside this gift is a nightmarish world of aggressive sonics. Nilsen employs a wide range of sounds, including electronics, field recordings, Hildur Gudnadottir’s sublime viola, and an ancient Subarchord synthesizer (originally developed to study subharmonic sounds). The listening experience is like that of free-falling through space, surrounded by satellite transmissions, the sucking of a black hole, and the chatter of indiscriminate insects. Once you hear this album, your only question will be, “Who’d win a grudge match between Frost and Nilsen?” (Gabriel Bogart)

Atlas is as comprehensive as the name suggests. The album combines strong post-rock emotionality (think Aeriel’s The Sentinel as interpreted by Saxon Shore) supported by rational electronics (think of a restrained, much simpler Venetian Snares) resulting in a unique aural combination. And the fun doesn’t end there: the addition of banjo and synths provides deeper nuance to The American Dollar’s sound. There’s a lot of fresh air in these global lands, enough to rejuvenate a napping genre. (David Murrieta)

5) The Non ~ Tadaima

Self-released