Toe 2000

Toe 2000 begins as a fairly traditional post-rock album, which one would expect, given that Doug McCombs and Jeff Parker of Tortoise make up half of the band. After setting down a few grooves, however, the album gradually digs into its truly post-rock ammunition. First come the vocals of Yoko Noge, sensuous and visceral in an almost startling fashion. Then comes a good deal of electronic manipulation, washing over the jazzy, highly syncopated grooves upon which the record bases itself. It's not comfortable listening in the sense that top-shelf post-rock like Tortoise might be, but there's a sense that Toe 2000 is pushing the opposite boundary of what post-rock means, and occasionally making significant progress.