Chicago Underground Duo - Hyperglyph Vinyl LP

Hyperglyph is the first new album in 11 years from Rob Mazurek (composer, trumpeter, synthesist) and Chad Taylor (composer, percussionist) under their long-running Chicago Underground Duo project. Mazurek and Taylor have collaborated in a multitude of formations over nearly three decades, including Mazurek’s large-scale Exploding Star Orchestra, the expanded Chicago Underground Trio, Quartet, and Orchestra (all featuring guitarist Jeff Parker), and numerous other ensembles. The Duo’s early albums served as embryonic blueprints for the avant-jazz/electronic/indie-rock hybrids of the era, marking key moments in defining the “jazz” dimension of the then-burgeoning post-rock sound—a sound amplified by projects like Mazurek/Parker’s Isotope 217 and the Chicago Underground’s frequent intersections with collaborators in Tortoise.

Like other enduring projects from that era, the Chicago Underground Duo has evolved, reconfigured, and grown over time, always existing in the background of the collaborators’ individual musical explorations. The Duo’s intermittent activity mirrors the personal evolutions of Mazurek and Taylor, making Hyperglyph not only a continuation of their groundbreaking work but also a reflection of their lives and enduring friendship.