RECORD RACK

*** Silent Poets, “To Come,” Atlantic. An air of poignant bittersweetness permeates the Japanese group’s sixth album and it’s easy to understand why: The 10 tracks (eight of which were remixed by other artists) mark the last collaboration between keyboardist-programmer Michiharu Shimoda and longtime musical partner Takahiro Haruno. The pair flirts with hip-hop and spoken poetry, but its elegant sound scapes are steeped in the meditative philosophy of the ambient genre. The result is an eclectic brew of dance material with an experimental, dreamy edge.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.