Malik of Baxter House’s music review of OOIO.Taiga is the latest album by OOIOO, the all-female group helmed by Yoshimi P, drummer for the legendary Japanese experimental psych band the Boredoms. While the cult-like Boredoms evokethe ritual mania of a circle of blinded sunworshipers, OOIOO’s music sounds more like the overheard chants of a coven of Japanese schoolgirls. Tiaga opens with “Uma”, a winning combination of cheerleader-style group vocals over frenetic drums. The following three tracks then venture into prog-rock time signatures, with squeeky synths and close vocal harmonies bob and weave through hypnotic basslines. The album then takes a more melodic turn, as OOIOO bring forth the interlocking polyrhythmic guitars, percussion and samples that have become their calling card. Their music is genre-imploding, highly atmospheric, and derivative of nothing, oftentimes veering near the edges of jam-band territory, but a closer listen reveals that what you are hearing is tightly arranged musicianship at work, not shameless wanking. By the time “ioa” closes the album, morphing from a Mr. Bungle style opening into a moog-laced funk jam complete with 808 handclaps, OOIOO have come full circle, rolling elements of dance, psych, glitch-rock and avant-garde jazz into a completely original and satisfying whole.For more information on Baxter House check out: www.myspace.com/baxterhouse