weirdo disco

There are your humdrum, workaday cosmic disco epics, and then there are your mega mutant bongos'n'lazers boogiethons about being abducted by actual space alien disco freakazoids, which is pretty much how it feels to listen to Mungolian Jetset, a couple of Norwegian knuckleheads with some seriously screwy musical superpowers. Schlungs (Smalltown Supersound) boasts their tightest compositions yet, but it's best when their penchant for deliriously proggy absurdist kitsch excess is left fully unfettered. —K. Ross Hoffman

folk/celtic

Starting with celtic harp accompanied by subtle bodhan, segueing into accordion and fiddle, then the familiar voices of John Roberts and Tony Barrand, the aural refreshment of Jennifer Cutting's Ocean Orchestra's latest, Song of Solstice (SunSign), is gratifying. The subtitle, "Celtic Music for Midwinter," should tell you this is not the average Christmas album. Many tunes are hundreds of years old; others were written to enfold all who feel a sense of awe at the time of solstice. —Mary Armstrong

electronic

Much like last year's quietly enchanting debut by their Hotflush labelmates Mount Kimbie, the eponymous bow from Brooklyn post-dubstep duo Sepalcure — polymathic beat luminaries Praveen Sharma (aka Braille) and Travis Stewart (aka Machinedrum) — filters the diffuse diaspora of U.K.-bass micro-genres into a focused, delicately detailed set of gently fluid, pointillistic grooves, frayed vocal fragments, and warmly woozy atmospheres, whose slightly faceless air of politeness and familiarity hardly diminishes its ample, unassuming charms. —K. Ross Hoffman

rock/pop

The Really Cooks may be the only "food rock" band in Philly. Wait, they definitely are. Blending elements of '60s British pop and tongue-in-cheek themes, the Really Cooks serve some of the bounciest tracks around on their self-released Dr. Lemonade Stand. There are disco dance beats on "Dances in High Heels," "Pitchforks and Knives" has Viking chant verses and "Mr. Carlisle" could be mistaken for Simon & Garfunkel. Hit thereallycooks.com for recipes, then go to The HeadHouse tonight (Dec. 15, headhousephilly.com) to see them live. —Brian Wilensky