Craftily subversive and sometimes willfully abrasive, the pop saboteurs in the Chicago post-rock duo Mahjongg create jagged electronic soundscapes out of the shards of German drone rock, Afro-beat rhythms, and ‘80s electro. The cannily crafted, drum machine-tempered chaos of their debut EP, Machinegong, and the more streamlined sounds of Raydoncong 2005 won them a contract with the Olympia-based K records, which, in 2008, released their most cohesive effort up until that point--the furiously experimental Kontpab. ~ James Steiner