Damn, this is one gorgeous mind-wrangle of a record.

Critic types (especially lazy ones) make frequent use of the "blender" concept -- you know, "Put jazz, trip hop and salsa in a blender, puree 'em, and voila: Band X." OAH allows us to extend the concept a little further. Yes, you'll be tossing epic-length guitar-intensive prog rock, Amon Tobin-style electronica, filthy chunks of JSBX riffage, distant strains of cool jazz, a healthy dose of Eno and Orb-esque ambience and some electroacoustic experimentalism into a huge, metaphorical blender...but before you hit that "puree" button, you might as well stick your own head in there. If you don't, the music will do it for you.

It's hard to describe OAH, even in terms of blended genres. The music here hasn't so much been blended as recombined, sometimes in an entirely haphazard, cut-and-paste fashion, like a jigsaw puzzle assembled by someone who hasn't been briefed on the whole jigsaw concept and has no reservations about hammering the bits together any way they fit. Elements are pieced together, but the edges are raw and bloody; tempos and volume levels change, percussion loops trail off in mid-measure and rhythms mutate in abrupt Jeckyll and Hyde style. Apparently these pieces were built from chunks of recorded improvisation, but their sound, while abstract and oddly directed, always seems deliberate. In the end, it's laptop rock, but it's not for the faint of heart.

The album opens with "Hedewa", which draws a sonic comparison between the complex rhythms of hand drums and the mannered control beeps of elderly computers. A dark, sprawling guitar riff provides backbone, and a tinny martial rhythm hints at what's to come, but you'll still be surprised when the piece explodes in a rush of sharp, frenzied guitar lines and sinister keyboard burbles. There's so much percussion here -- from drums to chopped-up bits of white noise -- that sensory overload is a distinct possibility...yet its abrupt end leaves you missing the noise. "Shumri" takes a tootling, faintly mechanical rhythm and adds a Fifties sci-fi drone, tacking a moody guitar exploration onto its end for good measure. "Wave from Water" begins with cinematic desert ambience and drives it into a series of progressive explorations, mutated horns blaring emotionally in the background.

Guitars as texture are scarcely a new idea, but SPLaTTeRCeLL approach the guitar as an unexplored country, clearly believing that it's capable of far more new and exciting sounds than the few hundred they've coaxed from it so far. Their excitement is infectious.

For a real overload, try "Busy Cutting Crap", which takes a hollow tribal rhythm and grafts screeching guitar-wank solos to its structure, then slips a breakneck drum & bass beat and heavy keyboards into the foundation. Neither should you miss "A Dozen Books to Break the Fall," a stretched out assemblage of heavily treated guitars and early eighties film music references that sounds like Kid A's bigger, angrier brother. Amon Tobin fans should not miss "Idiomsnacktreat" and "Chrysanthemum Bang", both of which up the Brighton-based artist's big beat ante to grand effect.

It's no mystery that OAH boasts enticing rhythms; a full three quarters of the artists who participated in its creation are credited primarily as percussionists. This is an album full of resolute sonic challenges. On close examination, some of its lengthy, arty percussion experiments may seem self-indulgent, while other moments (especially some of the more straightforward guitar elements) cleave heavily to cliche. That shouldn't prove overly bothersome; SPLaTTeRCeLL rarely settle on ideas for more than a few seconds before casting them aside in favor of new, fresh input. This may tax your attention span at first, but it packs OAH with enough musical ideas to fuel months and months of happy discovery.

Ironically, while OAH was recorded on a Mac, the bonus ACID remix software that comes with the disc is for PC only, and makes it rather difficult to play the CD on a Mac. The software content made the audio extremely difficult to play on a PC, too. Go figure.