This week saw notable releases from two Chicago music-makers working slightly outside their usual groove ...

First, check out Kid Sister's new mixtape, "Kiss Kiss Kiss,' named for the single she dangled a few months ago and fans started clamoring for. Fluidly mixed by Fool's Gold co-founder Nick Catchdubs, the 13 tracks feature input from a wide variety of stylists and singers -- Paul Wall, Gucci Mane, Green Velvet, Carte Blanche, Scoop DeVille, Nina Sky, Caspa and more -- it's still very much a Kid Sister joint, precisely balancing trebly dancefloor beats with smooth R&B and hip-hop flair. I haven't heard both worlds so well-mixed, though with less sass, since C.C. Lemonhead and Jay Ski's Quad-City DJs project in the '90s. The music comes alive and pops right out of your computer, just like Kid Sister does in this cool new video for the Carte Blanche collab "Do! Do! Do!":

Download "Kiss Kiss Kiss" here; all it costs is your e-mail address.

At the distant other end of the musical spectrum, Chicago psych-pop band Netherfriends have stepped outside their usual cheeky music and released an album that sounds like what you'd want to listen to after hours of wee-hours clubbing with Kid Sister. As Shawn Rosenblatt explains in a cautionary note accompanying the tracks, "This is not a typical Netherfriends release. This album is basically an improv album with elements of ambient and drone." The set's title, "Alap," refers to a spontaneous form of Indian classical music. The results are most pleasing and requiring of an Eno-esque description involving warm jets or airports or music with discretion. Each song is named for a day of the week, not in order, and the ebb and flow of the synthesized sounds feels like the recall of last week's memories. Soothing, distant, ephemeral.

Download it here; name your price.