Four years is a long time to wait for an album, but that’s how long it took between Koushik’s first EP and his “debut” album. Taking hip-hop (and particularly sampling) as his departure point, this Canadian producer and singer glances back to ’60s era pop music while floating into the future on a magic carpet of flutes, slap bass and huge strings.

Koushik “Bright And Shining”

“Be With” will lock into your brain with its woozy strings, soft “ahhh’s,” and lazy snare work, while “Bright and Shining” rocks hard with cowbells, heralding horns and a sense of headlong abandon. With solid hooks and beats plus an accomplished sense of itself as an entire whole (rather than a series of unrelated but well-executed loops), Out My Window manages to be Stones Throw’s most solid album in years—no mean feat. (Peter Nicholson)