This is a supergroup record from Chicago's rock/dub/experimental underground: Tortoise founder/engineering whiz Bundy K. Brown, all four Red Red Meat members, and the three guys in Rex. The hybrid-group exercise is an unqualified success: the very place where hardcore blues-based sound, contemporary cut-and-paste and lo-fi sampling techniques, exploratory jamming, and subtle songcraft collide. The two bands generally reign each other's most addled, wankful tendencies in, while not denying a mutual love for experimentation that's listenable, playful, highly enjoyable.

Mike McGonigal