Brandon Mitchell isn't Norwegian. So why is he crafting such satisfying cosmic disco? It's a coastal thing. Mitchell, who records under the moniker Altair Nouveau, has lived in California for much of his life — with a short stint in Seattle — where things move at a slightly slower pace, and the sun shines deep and bright. Which is why his synths bubble and buzz contentedly under slow, grooving drum machines that often sound just like the real thing. Where else but near the sea does someone write an ode to Carl Sagan's Cosmos and have it come out sounding like the best single Ratatat never recorded?

Soundtracks, clearly, are a key influence for Mitchell. "Death on Four Wheels" was originally composed for one, and the percolating keyboards on "Street Thunder II" are clearly aching to be licensed by the director of the inevitable remake of Midnight Run. (Mitchell's moustache could some day give Moroder's a run for its money as well.) My favorite moment of Altair's Dark Energy, though, is on the title track, as our boy transitions from solitary funk to drop a pounding kick drum and three separate synth lines interlock to create a bed for… read more »