Nail That Stands Up Gets Pounded Down, The

Enjoyably chaotic quintet, playing lots of confusing, overlapping parts that carry jazz motifs but owe a lot to modern classical music, too. Kind of like an orchestra tuning up.

Technically not jazz because there's NO IMPROVISATION! Yes, every note and every drumbeat is pre-planned and written down -- you'll be amazed. But it carries a crazy "jazz" sound to it. Think Frank Zappa complexity. (The same goes for his other CD in our collection, "Control and Resistance.")

Clarinet, sax and guitar lead the way. The music has a fun atmosphere but tracks are admittedly not easy to distinguish. They seem intended to segue, too, so some endings might be awkward.

1- Stumbling and off-tempo, with rock-minded guitar distortion
2- More of a chaotic chamber-jazz feel, less guitar
3- Eleven-second blip
4- Nice energetic stretch; ending is cool but abrupt.
5- Some slower guitar lines, almost a different mood
6- Another blip
7- Gets into some cool, complex unison lines with sax soloing
8- Jaunty jazz feel. Some long, awkward pauses in the second minute. Simple guitar riffs in the last couple minutes. SEGUES into:
9- Chipper, fairly fast
10- Mid/fast. Slow drum solo near the end.