Common Task, The

Microtonal sci-fi rock jams from Baltimore. Guitar/saxophone/bass/drums, playing with such pointillistic precision that it's sometimes hard to recognize this as a rock band. (The first time I heard their music, I thought it was Omar Souleyman.) Surprisingly funky and danceable, with lots of Steve Reich-esque rhythmic phasing. Totally sick. Also RIYL Tortoise, LCD Soundsystem, Trans Am, Mdou Moctar, Sun Ra, Richard Pinhas. Favorites: 1, 2, 4. No words, no FCCs.

1. *(7:22)—Starts slow and simple, quickly picks up in complexity and speed, with head-spinning rhythmic shifts in an out of unison. Starts rocking harder at the halfway point, goes kinda punk near the end.
2. *(7:49)—Mid-tempo krautrock start, again picks up quickly. High, wild processed sax. Choppy Glenn Branca vibe at points. Intense synth finish.
3. (3:04)—Bagpipes! Then heavily processed bagpipes, atonal synth, and back to bagpipes.
4. *(4:21)—Medium-fast. Starts with a spacey techno vibe. Desert blues riffs, cowbell. Strange percussive textures.
5. (18:39)—Starts as a more abstract sound piece: distant voices at a show, droning violin and voice, glitchy effects. Drums and guitar enter at seven minutes, and a mid-tempo krautrock jam with the violin and voice begins and remains steady until the droning, atonal final few minutes.