HiM

"Post-rock" has been such a reliable term for us as music writers. For years now, it's let us safely categorize any band with guitars and drums that strays into a permutation of prog-rock, ambient, electronica, or avant-jazz: There ya go, fellas, you belong somewhere after rock. Well, drummer Doug Scharin has really screwed us. Over the course of a half-dozen albums to date, Scharin and HiM, his rotating revue of musicians, have steadily stretched out the guitar-driven band format via Scharin's innovative composition and dub-fueled production values. HiM's new album, Many in High Places Are Not Well, adds African instruments and minimalist vocals into this evolving mix, making for just enough sonic emotion and instrumental density to embarrass the most pigeonholing music pundit.

Scharin and his band blend the heartiest aspects of Fela Kuti's Afrobeat, Miles Davis' renegade jazz, and King Tubby's dubwise excursions. Many ... sees HiM touch on multiple moods, often within the same song. The title track combines a thumping, vibraphone-and-guitar-led West African rhythm with a gorgeous kora harp ad-lib by Abdou M'Boup. "Elementals" finds the band boosting a shimmering, mutant brand of Afrobeat with lithe cornet accents before shooting off into expansive dub-space. "Slow Slow Slow" is a burbling indie waltz with languid vocal chants by Christian Dautresme and Múm's Kristín Anna Valtysdóttir.

As producer, Scharin infuses the album with a dual notion of sonic atmosphere. His jazz side fixates on the calming wood-and-brass fragrance of the acoustic instrumentation, while the dub lover in him favors the power inherent in a gingerly placed echo effect. Despite its intricacy and complexity, however, Many ...shows that Scharin's hit upon a clearly emotive energy that's rare in any rock-derived music that doesn't emphasize lyrics. HiM's heartfelt impetus to move the music forward -- both technically and emotionally -- makes a reactive term like "post-rock" simply irrelevant.