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World Construct is the fourth album by Matthew Shipp's trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker. Together since 2015, they are his longest continuous trio. Recorded in Brooklyn on a single day in 2021, it is a different portrait of Shipp than we're used to. For starters, ten of these 11 selections range from just under two minutes to eight and a half. While all feature improvisation, there is a new formalism in structure that reflects near classical discipline in Shipp's approach. Far from stilted in expression, this music is as colorful as it is intellectually and emotionally rigorous. Opener "Tangible" commences with a Latin groove; Shipp leads through a vampy finger-popping exercise in dexterous harmonic invention, but at only 1:46, it ends just as they settle in. "Sustained Construct" follows as a thoughtful, elliptical solo ballad, with lean chords punctuated by sustained single notes. A lilting melody emerges, appended only by the sound of pedals, but it doesn't conclude so much as end abruptly. Shipp introduces "Spine" with a blues vamp but lets it slip as Baker and Bisio pick up the frame, then free it. Shipp solos while listening intently; he places blocky chords and lower-middle-register ostinatos inside their winding improvisation. Bisio and Baker introduce "Jazz Posture" with a flurry of rumbling notes and clattering beats. It sounds free initially, but the bassist's spirited sprint up and down the neck opens the door for Shipp, who delivers a post-bop vamp and an explosive solo erected from scales, and then lifts off in fleet, pointillistic improvisation amid shifting double-, triple-, and even quadruple-time acceleration from his rhythm section. Hinge track "Beyond Understanding" is spectral and nearly formless; Bisio plays a restrained arco as Baker answers Shipp's shapes and rings the bells on his cymbals. Later, "A Mysterious State" is a showcase for complex, intuitive communication. Shipp's circular chord voicings expand as Baker rides the snare with propulsive, prophesying force; Bisio urges him on before engaging in a contrapuntal dialogue with Shipp, who revels in his own rhythmic approach. The pianist introduces the closing title track solo. Minimal chords played in elliptical, striated patterns resemble Bartók's Mikrokosmos compositions momentarily, flirting with folk melody and lithe dissonance as the rhythm section counters these notions in wide, thrumming arcs. The pianist shifts the focus of their concentration toward flowing post-bop before they engage in startlingly complex, compellingly rhythmic group improvisation. Together, they offer a balanced yet incendiary interplay in a plethora of colors and textures amid drama, tension, and release. World Construct does showcase the jazz world Shipp has erected over these past three decades, but it also points to an entirely new one that is rife with possibilities for piano trio. © Thom Jurek /TiVo

Dark, corrosive and claustrophobic, The C.I.A.'s second album is also weirdly liberating. A collaboration between prolific experimental singer-songwriter Ty Segall and his wife, Denée Segall, along with Emmett Kelly of The Cairo Gang, the trio pummels with double bass, Big Black-like stylish rage and a punk relentlessness, to break on through to the other side. "Inhale Exhale" crossbreeds New Order synth with greasy Jon Spencer Blues Explosion guitar as Denée builds to an explosive war cry: "Just leave her alone," over and over, each call more desperate than the last. "Impersonator" is a different stripe of mad-scientist concoction: sinister and slinky, it finds her singing "Same old story/ Different sequel/ Thanks for coming/ Nice to meet you!" in a style so chipper it's unhinged, almost like AI with overheating wiring. "Surgery Channel Pt.1" smashes together harsh industrial snare with what sounds like 1970s stock soundbites of "futuristic" computer bleep-bloops, Denée going from girly to grisly with her effects-heavy growl of the title. Instrumental follow-up "Surgery Channel Pt.2" is maddening and grotesque, worming its way into your brain like a horror movie snake. Speaking of: "Bubble" conjures a slithering Shirley Manson, while "You Can Be Here" pairs a pervasive lethal rattle with racing rhythm to make a bed for lines both goth ("Yes, demons exist/ But only when called") and self-help ("Let go! Be found!"). "Construct," meanwhile, is a laundry list of seemingly unconnected words, almost like being assaulted by a random Google search history: "Image Guarded Liquid. Augment Hurting …" After all that pummeling, "Under" is a wild relief of acoustic guitar, like stepping into air conditioning on a 100-degree day. But don't let down your guard. Out of nowhere, the song kicks into a seductive electronic groove, offering an alternative perspective like some Gone Girl mystery: "I've been down/ Stripped and bound." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

World Construct is the fourth album by Matthew Shipp's trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker. Together since 2015, they are his longest continuous trio. Recorded in Brooklyn on a single day in 2021, it is a different portrait of Shipp than we're used to. For starters, ten of these 11 selections range from just under two minutes to eight and a half. While all feature improvisation, there is a new formalism in structure that reflects near classical discipline in Shipp's approach. Far from stilted in expression, this music is as colorful as it is intellectually and emotionally rigorous. Opener "Tangible" commences with a Latin groove; Shipp leads through a vampy finger-popping exercise in dexterous harmonic invention, but at only 1:46, it ends just as they settle in. "Sustained Construct" follows as a thoughtful, elliptical solo ballad, with lean chords punctuated by sustained single notes. A lilting melody emerges, appended only by the sound of pedals, but it doesn't conclude so much as end abruptly. Shipp introduces "Spine" with a blues vamp but lets it slip as Baker and Bisio pick up the frame, then free it. Shipp solos while listening intently; he places blocky chords and lower-middle-register ostinatos inside their winding improvisation. Bisio and Baker introduce "Jazz Posture" with a flurry of rumbling notes and clattering beats. It sounds free initially, but the bassist's spirited sprint up and down the neck opens the door for Shipp, who delivers a post-bop vamp and an explosive solo erected from scales, and then lifts off in fleet, pointillistic improvisation amid shifting double-, triple-, and even quadruple-time acceleration from his rhythm section. Hinge track "Beyond Understanding" is spectral and nearly formless; Bisio plays a restrained arco as Baker answers Shipp's shapes and rings the bells on his cymbals. Later, "A Mysterious State" is a showcase for complex, intuitive communication. Shipp's circular chord voicings expand as Baker rides the snare with propulsive, prophesying force; Bisio urges him on before engaging in a contrapuntal dialogue with Shipp, who revels in his own rhythmic approach. The pianist introduces the closing title track solo. Minimal chords played in elliptical, striated patterns resemble Bartók's Mikrokosmos compositions momentarily, flirting with folk melody and lithe dissonance as the rhythm section counters these notions in wide, thrumming arcs. The pianist shifts the focus of their concentration toward flowing post-bop before they engage in startlingly complex, compellingly rhythmic group improvisation. Together, they offer a balanced yet incendiary interplay in a plethora of colors and textures amid drama, tension, and release. World Construct does showcase the jazz world Shipp has erected over these past three decades, but it also points to an entirely new one that is rife with possibilities for piano trio. © Thom Jurek /TiVo