MAPS & ATLASES Perch Patchwork (2010 UK 12-track vinyl LP - Formed in 2004, having met as art students at Chicago's Columbia College, Maps & Atlases' initial output [a 2006 EP titled 'Tree, Swallows, Houses'] showcased their astute technical abilities and deft musicality, changing rhythms and tearing across guitar fretboards at breakneck speed. Their follow-up EP [2008's 'You and Me and the Mountain'], however, demonstrated a desire for a more measured – yet similarly unconventional -pop-orientated course that retained the mathematical precision of their first set of recordings, but demonstrated a stronger compositional virtuosity. It is this path that has led them to debut full-length 'Perch Patchwork', a densely textured, exhilarating body of work that sees the band developing further intricacies in songwriting, and in lush brass and string arrangements beyond the lightning-fast guitar lines that characterised earlier output - and the results are gripping. From the multi-part military drum lines of 'The Charm' to the nimbly overlaying, flickering guitars and almost Afro / Latin percussion of 'Living Decorations' to the soft Beach Boys-esque vocal chorus of 'Israeli Caves', this record is clearly the work of serious and brave musicians).