Disco Biscuits, Planet Anthem in Brief / New Album Releases This Week!

So, let's say the Dave Matthews Band or Phish regularly employed synthesizers, consequently giving their rhythmic rock jams the electronic wings to soar. Now you have an idea of the music on Planet Anthem, the first full-length Disco Biscuits CD since 2006's Wind at Four to Fly.

With opening tracks "Loose Change" and "On Time," Planet Anthem seeps beneath the temples with brain-swaying beats and loops that are as hypnotic as they are grooving. Tunes such as "Rain Song" and "Fish Out of Water" are equally catchy and psychedelically computerized. And with the instrumental "Uber Glue" and the closing cuts, "Vacation" and "Quad D," you get plenty of the band's experimental prowess.

Planet Anthem is an intoxicating ride, one that swirls and slams in the right places. These trance-fusion pioneers from Philadelphia definitely crafted an engulfing opus. The music has a levitating quality even while it sounds firmly planted on solid ground.

In Stores This Week

Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do (ATO) – Label debut for the acclaimed alt-country-meets-Southern- rock group that decidedly made a rock album, frontman Patterson Hood has said.

Flobots, Survival Story (Universal Republic) – More social and world consciousness from the Denver rock and hip-hop group that struck a nerve with 2007's Fight With Tools and its single "Handlebars."

The Nadas, Almanac (Authentic Records) – The Des Moines, Iowa, rockers constructed their seventh album by writing, recording and releasing one song a month last year, each streamed live on the band's Web site.

Marvin Sapp, Here I Am (Verity) – Gospel singer, who launched his career with Fred Hammond's group Commissioned, delivers his eighth solo album.

Julieta Venegas, Otra Cosa (Sony Music Latin) – The always refreshing Latin pop singer-songwriter returns with her first studio album since 2006's beguiling Limon y Sal.

The White Stripes, Under Great White Northern Lights (Warner Bros.) – Live concert recording from the respected alt-rock duo finds them offering a souvenir of their 2007 Canadian tour.

New Artist

Singer-songwriter Ben Fuller, based in Lake Tahoe, Nev., has an uncluttered pop-rock sound on his self-released debut EP, Aquarian Son. He's got a way with hooks, particularly on "Ashes" and "Handsome Loser," and he manages to keep an acoustic purity to his music even while backed by a full band.

For the EP, go to www.benfullermusic.com or www.my space.com/benfullermusic.