*Edition of 200* Chicago’s Haptic are often mistaken for drone musicians. Certainly sustained sounds, mostly of either electronic or percussive origin, are integral to their approach. The Medium opens with a spray of metallic resonance, probably courtesy of Necks drummer Tony Buck – nearly every Haptic concert features a fourth member – which doesn’t let up for another 19 minutes. Vibes criss-cross the shimmer, then a series of smaller sounds manifest; a slow bass pulse, an organ’s swell, the shuffle and clunk of something being pushed across a  table. The accumulation of events reveals the depth, not breadth, of sound to be the trio’s paramount concern. In this respect they’re like Mirror, providing a wide horizon that offers innumerable points on which to focus that yields more and more detail the longer you attend to them. But where Mirror created an atmosphere of mystery, there’s something refreshingly concrete about Haptic’s rougher surfaces. Haptic’s side of the 10" is even deeper and more palpable. Beats, each surrounded by a ripple of echo, loom like craters; electronic buzzes seem to come at you from their far-off invisible edge and slam you against the wall, where a sudden shriek of bowed metal impales you. Meditate upon this stuff at your peril. While the trio occupying the other side, Richmond, VA’s Cristal, also achieve an impressive depth of field and physical presence, their main element is time. Their serrated electronics build to a crescendo, then cut it; then do it again, and again, each time shorter and further away, confronting the listener with the consequences of familiarity. That shouldn’t stop you from playing it again. Bill Meyer, The Wire