I promised you awhile back that I would let you know when M.C. Maguire’s CD Meta-Conspiracy appeared on Tzadik, and I’m a couple of weeks late. It contains his piano “concerto” Short History of Lounge and his guitar “concerto” Got That Crazy Latin/Metal Feelin’, both resplendently recorded. I put “concerto” in quotes, because these are pieces for solo instrument and envelopingly noisy electronic soundfiles. Compared to Maguire, Berg was a doodling improviser: these are stunningly complex works, built along the lines of astonishingly intricate tempo and tonal systems that govern most of the details. But they don’t sound like that, for fragments of pop song weave in and out, and rock-style guitar riffs, and computer-voice messages, and everything but samples of the kitchen sink. I described the pieces better in my original post, and, as promised, I’m deleting Short History from my web site so as not to cut into Mike’s (and Zorn’s) sales. But it’s one of the most astonishing CDs I’ve ever heard, not intended for the faint-hearted, and if you listen often and closely, you’ll hear tempo and collage effects you’ve never heard before.