Hazel
True avant-garde rockers have to be the most patient people in the world. They make albums that tend to get lost (if they're ever released at all), and then wait a decade or more until someone notices. The Red Krayola's  resurgence (two albums, an EP, and two singles in the mid-'90s) came when--for only the second time in their 30-year career--someone noticed. Formed out of the late '60s Texas psychedelia scene that spawned other cult obscurities like the 13th Floor Elevators, the Red Krayola made a series of increASINgly abstract records in 1966 and '67. Then they all but disappeared until the late '70s, when sole remaining member Mayo Thompson resurfaced in England with a spate of Red Krayola records featuring a new generation of dada/skronkers, including members of Pere Ubu, Swell Maps, and X-Ray Spex. Now, after having sunk again into deepest obscurity, Thompson resurfaces withHazel, teaming with Chicago avant-rockers John McEntire (Tortoise), Jim O'Rourke and David Grubbs (both of Gastr del Sol), and others. Perhaps there's power in numbers.Hazelemploys a cast of 15 to produce what could be Thompson's most successful amalgamation of melody, rhythm, and experimentation yet. Where past RK outings have been frustratingly jagged and opaque,Hazelemphasizes accessible ("I'm So Blasé") over impenetrable ("Boogie"). Angular and dissonant qualities are still well represented, but so are pastoral, rocking, and even funky ones. At best, tracks like "Another Song, Another Satan" manage to shift easily between free-form abstraction and well-crafted tune, making them thoroughly listenable without sacrificing complexity.--Roni Sarig