Brandt Brauer Frick – Miami

Berlin-based trio Brandt Brauer Frick have succeeded in their mission to bring a bit of classical music's style and grace to techno with their two previous albums, and on Miami, their third outing, rather than putting that particular pony through its one very impressive trick, they've crafted an album of complex, intoxicating songs which once again push the boundaries between beat-making and composition to heretofore unheard levels of conceptual bleed.

It's a star-packed record, too, with vocal contributions from Om'mas Keith, producer of Frank Ocean's Channel Orange, Russian DJ/producer Nina Kraviz, Neubaten alum Gudrun Gut, and the UK's number one alt.soul crooner Jamie Lidell. The warped, jazzy house of Ocean Drive literally bounces out of the speakers; Plastic Like Your Mother pushes techno into awkward, jacking, minimalistic shapes; while Lidell's simple vocal on Broken Pieces is one of the most dramatic and engaging songs he has recorded. Sometimes overbearing, but never short of ideas, it's an intriguing record.