Hidden Cities

These royal equines (although it’s unclear if they are rulers of or titled horses) do a lot more than just stamp out notes with their hooves — their wild and untamed take on rock draws from sources as varied as jazz, space rock, and avant-garde music. They eschew words over these five compositions. Instead, they use the art of repetition to engage, subtly changing things up as the songs evolve to draw the listener in and engage their attention for sometimes up to 13 minutes of muted sax, mathy guitar, and shifting drum signatures. The quartet isn’t afraid to get dorky, either: “Outer East” quotes Yes standard “Siberian Khatru” before bursting into a joyous interplay section between the musicians.