Norway, Iceland, and Italy: it’s an all-international edition of This Week’s Best Albums.

Having transitioned from acoustic jazz to a prog-jazz-fusion outfit, Shining now delivers a gargantuan rock release, capturing a progressive industrial sound unlike anything else.

Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason presents a debut that is sorrowful, forceful, harmonic, and delicate — an album that undoubtedly will make year-end lists in classical circles.

Lastly, Italian cutup artist Økapi pays homage to a potentially fake Krygyz composer with a soothing glitch-lounge effort. (more…)