The supremely addled Liverpudlian collective known as
Super Numeri may look like gypsies or an
Incredible String Band cover group, but they sound quite different, like a group of record fans who've ingested the trance-state ambience of
Miles Davis circa
In a Silent Way and the drum-heavy psychedelics of Krautrock.
Great Aviaries, their debut for Ninja Tune, won't immediately impress many listeners; it opens with eight minutes of fusion noodling, and most of the songs don't resolve themselves. Multiple listens reveal much more going on, though. Similar to
Can and
Tortoise, a pair of obvious influences,
Super Numeri spend long passages developing their ideas, using whatever's handy to advance their songs, whether it's a beguiling string quintet or a loose-jointed take on
the Orb's dub experiments or lopsided guitar skronk in a similar vein to a different incarnation of the post-bopping
Miles Davis, 1970's
Live-Evil. Not the average Ninja Tune record, with its focus on the head instead of the feet, but with the way Ninja Tune puts them out, what's average anymore? ~ John Bush