I.S.O.

by Eugene ChadbourneThis is a highly recommended recording of electronic improvisation featuring three Japanese players using nothing but turntables, samplers, and electronics. The technical quality of the recording is brilliant, adding a sparkling finish to music that often sounds like a version of Russian roulette played in a stereo repair shop. Bits of electronic interference are traded back and forth as if they were full-fledged riffs. The ensemble texture just keeps changing, it never settles into any recognizable combo sound; in fact, that entire idea is ludicrous in a kind of musical creation where someone unfamiliar with the genre might not even have the impression human beings are present, let alone involved in creating music. Those that like really far-out music should jump for this, because this is about as good as it gets.