2005 continues to be a banner year for fans of electronic music pathbreakers Meat Beat Manifesto. June saw a tour the United States and Canada in support of their At the Center record, released in May. A second leg of the tour is being booked now, for late autumn and early winter (check out confirmed dates and connect with other fans at the Meat Beat Tour site). And in stores on 25 October, a supplement to the At the Center release, the off-centre 12" and CD5.

Like At the Center, off-centre is part of the Blue Series of releases by Thirsty Ear Recordings. Over the past five years, the iconoclastic Blue Series has garnered significant and widespread critical and popular attention with its commitment to the polyvocity of contemporary jazz. This new collection from Jack Dangers and company pushes against the stale boundaries of both jazz and electronica, bringing a new technical complexity to the former and deeply felt grooves to the latter.

Track Listings:

12":
Side A. Wild (Rmx)
Dummyhead Stereo
Side B. Prime Audio Soup (Live)
Shotgun! (blast to the brain) (Live)

CD5:
Wild (Rmx)
Postcards
Maintain Discipline
Dummyhead Stereo
Shotgun! (blast to the brain) (Live)
Prime Audio Soup (Live)

The CD is packaged in a standard jewel case; art provides a link with At the Center through the repetition of the spiral motif. Liner notes are minimal, but do include instruments and equipment used and recording notes for the live tracks (from the 22 June 2005 show at the Metro in Chicago). What's most important here is the music, and the music does not disappoint.

From the At the Center sessions, the previously unreleased tracks extend Meat Beat's marriage of up-front percussion, deep, heavy grooves, and jazzy melodies. As with the full length, these songs are all instrumentals, with flute and organ pushing the high end. The (beautifully recorded) live tracks present most of their studio counterparts, but highlight the space allowed for improvisation and extension in a live setting. None of that canned DATronica here: turn your stereo's volume up loud enough and you can almost hear the machines getting a workout.

Off-centre will find a warm home in the collections of longtime Meat Beat Manifesto fans, but it will equally reward new listeners. If you caught them on tour in June, or if you will see them in the end of the year, the live tracks are especially worthwhile. If you only know them from the studio version of "Prime Audio Soup" that appears on the Matrix soundtrack, you'll find a mellower and more introspective side of the group here. And if you're new to "jazztronica," or are looking for a progressive direction, something deep and cool, you'll want to give off-centre a good long listen. It's the real deal.