My job requires a certain amount of attentiveness in addition to time spent talking on the telephone. Though I have a CD player in my computer, I haven't been able to find any music that's good for my environment. Everything was either too dynamic, and hence interfered with my concentration, or too quiet, and got lost in the ambient noise of the office. So I just listen to records I've memorized in my head-- things like The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, Straight Outta Compton, and Bad Timing.

This Mice Parade album solved that little problem. For good or ill, Mokoondi walks the razor's edge between too engaging and not engaging enough. The dynamic range is minimal. The sounds-- mostly acoustic guitar, Chinese harp, vibraphone and drums, with the occasional violin, saxophone and Moog accompaniment-- are universally pretty. And they're arranged in a way that's variable, without changing so much so as to be distracting. It's the perfect music for getting something done. Things like, oh, I don't know, writing record reviews.

My first pass through Mokoondi was uneventful. It's tough to hear instrumental rock music with prominent vibraphones and not think of the "t" word. That's right, "thrombosis," the medical condition that consists of a blood clot forming near the heart cavity. I get a thrombosis every time I hear music that reminds me too much of Tortoise, a band I currently find boring. But after a few listens, this record does so much more than Tortoise has for me in a long while.

For one thing, Adam Pierce (who, in addition to running the fine Bubble Core label and being a member of the Dylan Group, is Mice Parade) doesn't even attempt to make "songs" on this record. These pieces are best described as "patterns." There's barely a chord change on Mokoondi. Perhaps inspired by the beautiful sound of the cheng (that's a Chinese harp), Pierce constructs pieces that evolve horizontally, and have more to do with addition and subtraction than linear movement.

So "Pursuant to the Vibe," the only real nod to dub (not surprising, since parts of it were recorded live with HiM), consists of nothing more than a hip-hop beat, droning clouds of vibes, and an acoustic guitar playing about five notes over and over. Amazing how such simple elements, deployed on a track that has no real melody or chords, can yield something so tuneful and satisfying.

About that cheng-- I have to admit that the tracks featuring this "exotic" instrument (well, not so exotic to the half of the world that lives in Asia) are my favorites. "Circle 1" is just cheng and violin, playing a hypnotic pattern with some uncredited vocalizing in the background. Considering how beautiful this track is, it's far too short at just under three minutes.

Pierce uses the cheng on "Ramda's Focus" to interact with dulcimer, guitar, and his most inspired drumming on the record. He plays just about everything on Mokoondi, but Pierce can really throw on the drums, and when he starts double-timing about halfway through, it's breathtaking. Probably due to the instrumentation, this song reminds me of Macha's first record, though I find it much more organic in the way it combines the geographically varied sounds.

I introduced Mokoondi as background music to work to, but I've since scrutinized it in more intensive listening sessions, and it holds up rather well. It's an unassuming record that opts for sustained beauty over "the big moment," so you shouldn't approach it expecting crescendos. Given what Pierce has to working with, Mokoondi borders on great. Sixty-five minutes of instrumental rock that never gets dull is an impressive accomplishment.

-Mark Richard-San