In this new weekly feature, the spotlight...

In this new weekly feature, the spotlight will be on buzzworthy unknown or still-emerging pop musicians. In the first installment, the focus is performers from different ends of the alt-rock spectrum whose albums hit stores Tuesday.

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Buckethead & Friends

“Enter the Chicken”

Serjical Strike Records

Artist info: Enigmatic guitar savant Buckethead may be one of the best electric instrumentalists in rock, but he’s better known for his taste in headgear: He’s never seen without his eerie white mask and KFC bucket hat.

Back story: To expand beyond avant funk-accented heavy metal, Buckethead enlisted System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, spoken word artist Saul Williams and Efrem Schulz of Death by Stereo for “Enter the Chicken,” a hodgepodge of grindcore, opera, hip-hop and world music.

Influences: Yngwie Malmsteen, Bootsy Collins, AC/DC’s Angus Young

Trivia: Buckethead played on the soundtrack for “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.” Last year Axl Rose fired him from a guest stint in Guns N’ Roses for “creating uncertainty and confusion.”

The Fiery Furnaces

“Rehearsing My Choir”

Rough Trade

Artist info: Brother-sister Brooklyn duo Eleanor (singer-drummer) and Matthew Friedberger (multi-instrumentalist, singer) blend thoughtful nostalgia and art rock on their second album.

Back story: The group crafted a fictionalized narrative around the sung and spoken remembrances of their grandmother, Olga Sarantos, an 83-year-old former choir director.

Influences: The Who, Brazilian art rockers Os Mutantes, Syd Barrett

Trivia: Eleanor Friedberger was chosen by fashion designer Miuccia Prada as one of the “stars” of her Miu Miu fashion line’s fall ad campaign.