Altered Zones

San Francisco’s Group Rhoda is pop in the same way that Kate Bush is pop: perfectly. Gorgeously enunciated vocals over deceptively simple but giddy arrangements: check. "Concrete Jungle" takes what sounds like the end of a run-out groove and turns it into a rolling heartbeat; in comes some foggy hiss, a simple keyboard melody over subdued synth chords. Group Rhoda foregrounds her vocals as much as Fever Ray masks them behind demonic layers of sound; they are beautifully clear, naked, precise. This is folk abducted from Newport, dragged through cold wave, and left in a mist-filled scrapyard for once commoditized and slightly damaged electronics. --20 Jazz Funk Greats

MP3: Group Rhoda: "Concrete Jungle"

Group Rhoda doesn't have anything to sell yet, but you should check out her website for more glorious outré pop