Inhabitants

This music launches from the speakers like Leonard Cohen's bad dreams of jazz immortality. And post-rock is way too simple a concept to lard onto this thoughtful, yet slightly menacing, band from the opiate coast of British Columbia. (Although, if it's categories you want, the Inhabitants could probably oblige you with that one.) Combining the decadent grandeur of Godspeed with the Midwest spaciousness of Bill Frisell is no mean feat and yet the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Unrelenting ensemble grooves give way to sparse conversations that redefine ambience. Skye Brooks, J.P. Carter, Pete Schmitt and Dave Sikula manage the white boy dub sensibility with ease and conviction, making this CD at home in transit or in the wee hours of a very late night.