The latest releases reviewed.

KIERAN HEBDEN AND STEVE REID The Exchange Session Vol 1 Domino ***

Taking grand musical leaps has always been at the heart of Kieran Hebden's work, with Four Tet and Fridge providing suitable templates for his myriad of hops, skips and jumps. In jazz drummer Steve Reid (he's wielded the sticks at sessions for Miles Davis, James Brown and on Dancing in the Streets) Hebden has found a foil with the chops to reproduce the sounds dwelling in the most vivid reaches of the producer's imagination. Recorded in a day last April, The Exchange Session matches Hebden's freestyle scatter of digital improvisation with the sturdy rhythmic muscle of Reid's playing. There are only three tracks here, but they're quite breathtaking in scope and stature. Wholly unconventional even in terms of electronica's sneaking regard for unorthodoxy, yet hugely compelling, it's a work of considerable rapture. www.kieranhebdenandstevereid.com

Jim Carroll