Artist Mahogany Frog

Mahogany Frog may be grabbing at grandiose prog-rock, synth-stacked jazz-fusion, metal, and electronica all at once, but the biggest surprise is how the Winnipeg band's instrumentals pound it all into a compact rush. The five multi-instrumentalists even remember to write some hooks along the way, making it easier to latch onto all the heady doodling. That's a big help when Mahogany Frog switches gears so much, often within one song. Frantic drums and a warm Farfisa organ lead the band as it ricochets from perky, jazz-influenced straightaways to dense riff-piles on tunes like "You're Meshugah!" from the 2008 album Do5.

Updated 09/23/2009