Arrington De Dionyso

When Arrington De Dionyso formed Old Time Relijun in the late '90s, the group's reliance on the deconstructive glee of free jazz and the mutant skronk of Captain Beefheart was a bracing formula. But over the years, De Dionyso has proven to be more than a mere dabbler in the avant-garde; while Old Time Relijun has continued to release excellent, forward-reaching albums, its frontman has maintained a parallel career as a solo artist steeped in everything from Tuvan throat singing to shamanic mysticism. His most recent solo full-length, 2009's Malaikat Dan Singa, is a showdown between bass clarinet, jaw harp and De Dionyso's own guttural, primordial voice. Like a wizard casting spells in some esoteric tongue, De Dionyso taps into the types of wild and dreamlike expression that make ethnomusicologists cream their jeans — but there's enough of a root in modern improv to make the whole performance a thing of timeless beauty, earthiness and strangeness.