My work iTunes currently houses over 48,800 songs. Every day, publicists, labels, and artists send dozens of downloads my way. Sometimes (a lot of times) I forget I've downloaded something, and months or even years can pass until I realize I haven't played that thing. Such was the case with Welsh producer R. Seiliog's In Hz album (you can stream it here; by the way, Seiliog's real name is Robin Edwards, not to be confused with The Stranger freelancer). I uploaded it to iTunes October 28, but didn't get around to listening till December 14. When I did, it was astonishment at first hear.

This is not your run-of-the-mill tech-house release, of which I've heard too many in this lifetime. In Hz is that rare beast that infuses a surplus of euphoria into its tracks without emitting an iota of sappiness. Its seven tracks are animated by a sense of cosmic bliss that may sound familiar to fans of spacey, psychotropic German music from the '70s and '80s. Couple that element with Seiliog's propensity for smooth, cruiseworthy beats and you have a recipe for constant elevation. "Constellation Drip" is perhaps the peak of this style, although "Wow Signal" gives it a serious challenge. But really, anywhere you go on In Hz offers a surfeit of textural and rhythmic pleasure.

I nearly overlooked In Hz, perhaps forever. Instead, tragedy was averted and it's going into my 2014 top-10 list. Now if I can only figure out how to pronounce Seiliog...