The back history of this album is that Fred Frith and Ikue Mori are both legends of New York’s 1980s downtown avant-rock scene. As a guitarist with Massacre, Frith helped redefine the idea of the power trio; as the drummer with DNA, Mori helped define the No Wave sound. On A Mountain Doesn’t Know It’s Tall, Frith employs his usual extended guitar techniques and Mori uses a laptop, and part of the fun of this tremendously engaging album is trying to figure out who’s making which sounds.

– Rick Anderson