I can precisely pinpoint the highlight within the nine songs of Inventions for the New Season: the 4:29 mark of “Show Me the Season”. Here, the song’s pummeling and mesmerizing groove is accentuated by a bassline that seems to plummet from out of nowhere with a much-needed, well-aimed kick. It’s a genius move, simultaneously necessary and unanticipated. Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn’t offer the same moments of unexpected genius. These 52 minutes provide textured and hypnotic kraut grooves, but, taken as a whole, lack the compositional oomph to differentiate each song from the next. “This Is a Sight We Had One Day from the High Mountain” is all repetitious tension and no release. And, while the seven minutes of “Synchronicity IV” attempt to construct a magnificent finale, a late bongo break fizzles out the tune. Throughout Inventions for the New Season, Maserati builds a decently admirable wall of sound, but ultimately, they hang very little on it.

• "12/16" MP3
• "The World Outside" MP3