An exhilarating blend of electronica, hard, outside jazz, and rock drive,
Birth's eponymous debut is one of the most exciting CDs to come out of Cleveland since
Nine Inch Nails' 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine. And even though it is jazz -- determinedly instrumental, no vocals in sight -- it shares the drive that Nails brought to industrial rock, only in the jazz field.
Birth is Joshua Smith, saxes and effects; Joe Tomino, drums, percussion, metals; and
Jeremy Bleich, bass. The band recorded this October 19-22 in Pittsburgh, had it mastered in New York, and released it at the very end of the 20th century (December 30, 1999).