Quix*o*tic - Heliotrope 7" (1998, Ixor Stix)

Not exactly a toe-tapper, but a veritable curiosity that I think some of you will appreciate.  Until I did my homework on Quix*o*tic, I didn't realize that subsequent to this 45 the coed trio in question recorded an under-the-radar full length for Kill Rock Stars, Mortal Mirror, before disbanding.  The band beat a lot of their contemporaries to the punch in the coming post-punk revival, bearing an economic yet highly textured aplomb on the angular and eerie "Heliotrope," with the song's final  moments steeped in a tense, staccato-heavy foray, tapering off to an uneasy nadir. The rhythmically sentient "Prediction of a Crash" is comparatively accessible (and stimulating), while "Reqi*es*cat" exudes a doomy flow, that taps into a Sonic Youth by way of The Fall middle ground.

A. Heliotrope

B1. Prediction of a Crash

B2. Reqi*es*cat

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