Dirty Beaches' low-slung, lo-fi, post-rockabilly is the project of Alex Zhang Hungtai, who was born in Taiwan but moved to Canada at an early age. Mixing a croon worthy of Elvis or Roy Orbison with Suicide-like drum machines and a fondness for found sounds and hypnotic loops, Hungtai's music is equally familiar-sounding and surreal. He released a slew of albums, EPs, and cassettes on labels such as Night People and Fixture Records, then moved to Zoo Records for his official debut album, Badlands, which was released in early 2011. ~ Heather Phares