Les Claypool

Founder of '90s punk-funk heroes Primus and several similarly skewed spin-offs, Les Claypool releases his first album under his name alone. Of Whales and Woe swerves between tight, aggressive structure and fuzzy, maniacal jamming. The ace of bass recorded it in his Rancho Relaxo studio in Northern California and played nearly every instrument himself, with a few key guest appearances on sax, vibraphone and sitar. (Album opener "Back off Turkey" actually features Claypool's daughter Lena and son Cage.) As in-yer-face weird and groovy as anything Claypool's ever done.