Doug Scharin and gang...

HiM is an excellent musical project. I love this cd, it's got some great ideas on it, but "5&6 in Dub" and "Our Point of Depature" are some of my favs. Jeff Parker is one of my favorite guitar players and Rob Mazurek is also one of the most creative musicians out there. If you're thinking about getting this cd, you should. You should purchase all HiM cds and go see them live. I think this is the only HiM cd with Parker and Mazurek, I could be wrong though. I'd doesn't matter though because Doug is the beatmaster, he's got the chops! p.s. Don't mistake the HiM for the glam-metal band from Finland unless you're hungry for some cheese-evil from the 80's sound (also HIM).

The Best of the Tortoise side-projects

After purchasing and listening to dozens of the side projects of the Tortoise ensemble, I find only two which stand out as as-good or better than Tortoise: this album, which mixes jazz, post-rock, and remix brilliantly and compellingly, and Scharin, Brown, and Warden's "Directions in Music." Both create a wall of sound out of jazz improvisation and the mathematical structures of the post-Rock associated with the Chicago scene. This is like the late King Crimson meets Tortoise in a smoky, dark jazz club in 2020.