So what happened was this free form radio station in Pittsburgh had 28 of the 'best of the best' local bands come and record one hour each of their music live and over the airwaves. They then took the best song from each of those sessions and put them all on a two disc compilation. A pretty interesting idea, but does it hold up in the end?
Well, not exactly. There are a few very talented groups represented... Thee Speaking Canaries, who feature a member of math rock innovators Don Caballero; Zombi, who sound an awful lot like Yes without being a complete rip-off; and Beam, whose 17 minute hip hop/jazz improvisation '10072002' is easily the highlight of the two disc set.
But these gems are few and far between. Most of the CDs' tracks consist of very average-sounding punk and hardcore bands that become really monotonous after a while considering how crazy-huge this compilation is. It was a pretty creative idea, and maybe it would have worked if they had chopped it up into one disc, but as it stands, 'Advanced Calculus' is destined to become just another one of the compilation albums collecting dust on the floor behind your entertainment center.
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