s most tablature connoisseurs have already realized, there are many overlapping progressions in pop music, but it’s important to take into account how much greater the number would be if not for the early 20th century twelve-tone movement. Before this musical shift, western compositions were bound to twelve notes and seven notes per key. But a core of expressionist composers led by Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg unfastened music from any limitations, introducing an atonal system while making dissonance, contrasting rhythms and minimalism the new beautiful.

Expressionist virtues have been carried on and adapted over the years, prefiguring the noise of the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray", the dissonant blasts of Wire, and, most recently, the confliction of Xiu Xiu to attain acceptance. While radio hits have rarely featured twelve-note tonal systems or expansive polyrhythm, all music has benefited from expanded parameters.

In true Thrill Jockey form, Radian has taken a firm hold of the unrestrained opportunities 21st century music has to offer. This, their third LP, sees the Austrian experimentalists disrupting a stark field of emptiness, leaving behind their own divisive mixture of electronics, bass and drums that grill up a fascinating instrumental smorgasbord of pulses, crackles, shreds and thumps.

Throughout the album, closely mic'd bass guitar throbs circular notes through a bed of synthetic drones and syncopated drum beats, while indecisive oscillating synths switch from speaker to speaker, and other electro components find a way to coexist, though not always sharing a common key. In the nine tracks that waver between minimalism and abrasion, Radian has clearly birthed a unique, thought-out sound.

As accomplished as Radian's sound is, Juxtaposition has trouble conveying new ideas throughout the album. Most songs follow a similar format and a few of the individual tracks seem to lack a consensual purpose. Instead of building upon a recycling theme like a Godspeed You Black Emperor!, tracks will meander through 4-6 minutes of tape, making the bands efforts sound more like drills than pleasure. "Helix", which is an analog organ and a few soft, Icelandic coos away from sounding like Sigur Ros, hones in on this handicap. The rich bass, sustaining guitar, and chimes offer a pleasing blend of sound, but goes on much too long for the amount of compositional advancement. The formula used in "Tiefenscharfe" is much more effective, as a haunting synth line bellows amid jittery electronics while clocking in under three and a half minutes. Within this track, restraint is utilized that Radian lacks throughout much of the rest of the album.

Of course, the multi-talented members of Radian are not oblivious to the tendencies of their music. Like many artists, they might have desired the album's unstructured feel to capture the raw emotions achieved during a spontaneous creation, rather than what it is: a carefully composed set of pieces. Whatever the case, the European threesome dares to grab a sound that is touched by few and that, in itself, deserves respect.