Maps

Originally going under the name Short Break Operator, Maps is essentially Northampton U.K. sound sculptor James Chapman, who combines indie electronic sounds with atmospheric, sleepy rock that owes as much to Spiritualized and My Bloody Valentine as it does to Four Tet and Boards of Canada. Chapman has released a few EPs, including Start Something via Last Space Recordings in 2006, and is assisted by a full band when playing live. Released by Mute in mid-2007, Maps' debut full-length album, We Can Create, was co-produced by Valgeir Sigurosson (Björk) and mixed by Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós). The more electronically inclined Turning the Mind, which explored the concepts of mindfulness and the way the mind reacts to different stimuli, arrived in fall 2009.