David Bazan + Passenger String Quartet, Volume I (out now, Undertow, davidbazan.com) With his latest release, David Bazan is breathing new life into his back catalog. This latest endeavour for the Seattle songwriter, who originally gained a following with his band Pedro the Lion, is an album of songs culled from throughout his career, each performed on acoustic guitar and accompanied by the Passenger String Quartet (who have performed with Tess Henley, Kris Orlowski, and Judy Collins, to name a few, and are led by one-time Best of Seattle winner Andrew Joslyn). Yet before the cynics accuse the songwriter of repackaging old goods with a well-worn gimmick, the ten songs here don’t sound that way at all. Instead of feeling rehashed, they feel reimagined. These carefully-chosen tracks feature selections that span the artist’s career—from a song like PtL’s ​“When They Really Get To Know You They Will Run” to the title track from last year’s solo outing Strange Negotiations—and are evenly distributed between Bazan’s group and solo work. With this respectful dusting off, the orchestral treatment adds thoughtful elements like gentle, nuanced percussion and a playful feeling, bringing lightness and levity to Bazan’s intensely reflective lyrics. MORGEN SCHULER

ODESZA, In Return (September 9, Counter Records, inreturn.odesza.com) EDM is at the brink of oversaturation, the tipping point where niche genre becomes full-on pop movement. With a track on the Divergent soundtrack, the production duo of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, aka Odesza, might add to that impression. But this release—the pair’s sophomore effort—dismisses it fully. With a foot in both the artistic and accessible music worlds, the group placates cynical purists and party loving teens alike. And while it never breaks out into completely obscure territory, the band favors tasteful, downplayed rhythms over in-your-face “Turn Down For What?” bangers. There are surprisingly moody moments like the ambient “Kusanagi” and the erupting ballad “It’s Only,” while the talents of fellow Pacific Northwest artists like Jenni Potts, Briana Marela, and Shy Girls add color to dreamy instrumentals and shine as some of the record’s best moments (Shy Girls’ Dan Vidmar’s soulful cry seems predestined to blend with Odesza’s lush and ethereal beats). As we predicted earlier this year, Odesza is priming itself to be the next big thing in electronic music; by the sounds of In Return, they’re going about it with their artistic vision intact. DUSTY HENRY

Porter Ray, Fundamentals (out now, self-released; porterray.bandcamp.com) This 17-track opus comes on the heels of last year’s highly acclaimed trilogy BLK GLD, WHT GLD, and RSE GLD. Sonically, the album doesn’t differ too much from those earlier offerings: Ray’s easy, conversational flow is supported by samples of jazz and old soul. Yet Fundamentals feels more nostalgic than its precursors, with Ray looking back over a rather full 26 years. The first track, “Dice Game Diagrams,” lays the rapper’s songwriting talents bare, and the lyrics, more spoken word than narrative, conjure sharp images. “Ruthie Dean” seats us at the family dinner table and shows Ray’s ability to turn a story—dramatically—on a dime: “My auntie’s talkin’ shit back and forth while we eat/My cousin’s freestylin’ back porch to the beat/A bullet turned my brother [in]to a picture on the wall.” Sure, there’s plenty of weed and women (“All we ever talk about is sex, drugs, and money,” is “Blackcherry’s” hook), but those tropes play bit parts in these tales. This release dropped on the same day that Ishmael Butler signed the rapper to Sub Pop, the local imprint whose roster includes the likes of Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction. With Ray and his talents on board, expect his label-issued album—dropping sometime next year—to deliver more of the same here, and likely then some. MICHAEL F. BERRY