Henry Flynt

A Henry Flynt disc is always an intense listen. It's cacophonous, raw and lacking mainstream pop sensibilities. But the New York artist's mid-'70s work with his band Nova' Billy has to be hailed as a truly innovative fusion of American roots music and avant-garde art. Flynt, as always, pushes his fiddle into piercing atonality, yet the group's motor never strays from Bo Diddley and Booker T. There's even some swing jazz and country boogie thrown into the mix. In other words, Nova' Billy jams.