Toob

• Genre: Beats & Breaks

About

Many groups have angled for the join where live funk meets technology's coldly kinetic logic, but the Wales-based Toob prove unusually adept at the form. The group formed in 2001, when the multi-instrumentalist Jakeone (Jake Williams) brought his electronic talents to Rich Thair's polyrhythmically perverse Red Snapper, and throughout the decade they honed their sound across a handful of records, including 2005's How to Spell Toob for Lo Recordings, and live gigs that tested their chops and their technology in equal measure. Thair's drumming provides the duo's sturdy spine, locking together breaks-inspired beats into a pulse that's supple and rigid all at once; Williams, on guitar, bass, keyboards, mic and more, ranges from acidic basement jams to buzzing ethno-techno. On 2008's Push Me, Pull You, they're abetted by Alpha's Wendy Stubbs, who brings a gospelly richness to the mix; Bomb the Bass' Tim Simenon turns up on "Pirate Teeth," returning the favor for Toob's contribution to Bomb the Bass' Future Chaos.

- Philip Sherburne