Hybrid

Cross-breeding animals can be successful only when the parents are of similar species. For example, a buffalo can boink a cow to create a beefalo; a whale can diddle a dolphin to produce a wolphin; and a zebra can straddle a donkey into dropping a zonkey. But what would happen if it were possible to mate musically dissimilar beasts like Beethoven and DJ Hyper? Curious cats can check out the offspring on Hybrid's Morning Sci-Fi.

Hybrid's manager hooked the group up with New Order bassist Peter Hook last summer in Manchester, and the fruits of the resulting alliance's labor produced "True to Form," Sci-Fi's first single. Hook's bass guitar isn't the only new addition to Hybrid's melodic arsenal, however. Whereas the act's debut, Wide Angle, featured guest vocals from MC Soone and Twin Peaks' Julee Cruise, Sci-Fi enlists two spanking-new sets of pipes: those of Adam Taylor and Kirsty Hirkshaw. Taylor nails the majority of Sci-Fi's vocal duties, and Hirkshaw handles the "Blackout" homestretch like a pro.

So where do the influences of Beethoven and Hyper enter the picture? For the second time running, Hybrid migrated to Russia to score affordable orchestra help. Saint Petersburg's Hermitage String Orchestra stroked its strings on a number of cuts. Hyper is a master of breakbeat collage, and Hybrid has the capacity to bust out a few blistering drum programs of its own, as evidenced by "Know Your Enemy" and "Out of the Dark."

If only Beethoven were alive today to shake his booty to these broken beats.