In Brief

*** Lionrock, “City Delirious,” Time Bomb/Concrete. Leading this largely electronic English ensemble in its second full album, Justin Robertson crafts a rare balance in which being cerebral doesn’t mean being somber, and being frivolous doesn’t mean being vapid. Mechanical dance beats manage to have soul, familiar samples are used for punctuation rather than pilfered for structure and even lounge sounds seem to have substance.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: https://www.latimes.com/sound clips