A look at this week's experimental release

FRIEDMAN & LIEBEZEIT

Secret Rhythms 3

****

Nonplace

This latest album from dub techno producer Burnt Friedman and former Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit blurs the boundaries between eastern and western musical cultures and modern and traditional production techniques.

Liebezeit creates rhythms where no national character remains, as his drum patterns flit from the sluggish beats of instrumental hip-hop to repetitive rhythms from the Far East. Friedman, whose own work is heavily influenced by the cavernous effects and lurching rhythms of Jamaican dub, harnesses the power of modern computer technology to forge a disparate tapestry of sounds.

The most compelling music happens when the duo abandon their attempts to adhere to conventional arranging. On S andale, gamelan-style percussion and laid-back beats flow in and out of an abstract soundscape whose components are both familiar and exotic - a conduit to Freidman & Liebezeit's secret world.

www.nonplace.de

RICHARD BROPHY

Download tracks: Sandale, Die Ehrliche Haut, Entsafter