Mushroom

San Francisco's Mushroom takes their live progressive funk into more experimental realms on Foxy Music. Having recently continued their collaboration with Soft Machine founder Daevid Allen, as the University of Errors, and taken the remix route with Tortoise's Bundy K. Brown and Hans Joachim Irmler of Faust, it would seem that Mushroom want to push their genre-busting sound even further outside the box. Unlike other sonic experimentalists, Mushroom's excursions are always anchored in the most sublime grooves. Featuring cornet, tuba, sax, flute and trombone, along with the traditional rock instrumentation, Mushroom's latest set pounds out gritty jams, highlighted by the killer Rhodes piano bashing of Michael Holt. Some of the wilder tracks bring to mind the spirit of the early '80s post-punk jazz experimentation of Rip, Rig and Panic. Mushroom's heady instrumental explorations mix psychedelic freak-outs with high-strung jazz arrangements, guttural funk grooves, organic ambient textures and driving rock power. Feed your body. Feed your head.