Ultimately, the techno-wizardry counts for less than the musicality of the results. Since the whole melange grows out of their improvisers' aesthetic, the studio work has the spontaneity and humor of the trio's live work. In performance, they can create a giddy, otherworldly din with Robair's fractured time and funky grooves, Boisen's crystalline shards of melody and electronic wailing, and Barrett's splintered lines. The studio here is just another instrument for realizing the same challenging, multidimensional music.

-- Ed Hazell