Casual music listeners often assume that genre distinctions are real objects - that there's a recipe for making "jazz," "grunge," "hip-hop," etc. which musicians scrupulously follow. (Of course, some musicians do make noise-by-recipe - too bad.) Such listeners are sometimes confused by more complex musics - "what kind of music is it?" - as if the musicians must be lousy, incompetent cooks not to follow the recipe. But fortunately, your more interesting music proceeds sans cookbook, with no regard for fish, fowl, or the rules of wine. So confronting Seely, there seem at first to be several different bands. There's a thoughtful indie rock band playing cunningly constructed tracks, an electronic outfit prone to squiggly, squelchy textures, a Tortoise-shelled postrock instrumental beastie (John McEntire has produced past Seely recordings), a downtempo trip-hop band with understated, romantic vocals...and often all four of these at once. "Planes Circle Do" is a f'rinstance: it opens with an off-kilter rhythm, the bass punctuating nearly dubwise, and a scrabbly lead guitar line unifying the instruments in the manner that a mad skywriter unifies the clouds by flying connect-the-dots bee-style. Each verse features a slightly different arrangement, and the drums, mostly steady rock, unfold into jungle filigree periodically. While close listening reveals mastery of arrangement, the band also retains charm and an indefinable aura of mystery that's only accentuated by its disparate musical ingredients.

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