(Warp)

Guillermo Scott Herren, another of Warp’s ever-reliable stable of boundary-busting electronic innovators, returns here with a concept LP in the loosest sense: the theme seems to be giving each of its sixteen tracks a name beginning with the words ‘The Only …’ and roping in a high-end supporting cast of female singers, who lay down psychedelic sonic shapes rather than literal vocals. Herren’s cut-up beats and samples are of the futurist variety, although there’s a real warmth to even the sinister clock-chime mechanics of ‘The Only Hand to Hold’ and the cut-up cataclysm of the Zola Jesus-featuring ‘The Only Direction in Concrete’. The late Trish Keenan’s presence on the gorgeous ‘The Only Trial of 9000 Suns’ lends added poignancy.