by Sean CooperAcronymic globetrotter trio HAT are the combined efforts of, in order, Japans Haruomi Hosono, Germanys Uwe Schmidt (a.k.a. Atom Heart), and New Yorks Tetsu Inoue. The groups on-again/off-again collaborations have to date produced two CD-only releases, each bringing together elements of ambient, techno, electro, jazz, pop, lounge, and exotica. Occasionally demanding and always entertaining, both albums number among all three artists finest recent releases, each successfully fusing Hosonos mastery of offbeat pop with Schmidts bizarre rhythmic frameworks and Inoues elegant, alluring digital acousmatics. The groups self-titled debut was released on Schmidts Rather Interesting label in 1995. A visionary and effortless electronic fusion with a heavily improvisational feel, the CD was reissued by Hosonos Tokyo-based Daisyworld imprint in 1996, and the success of the disc in Japan led to a follow-up, DSP Holiday, recorded and released in 1998. DSP Holiday showed a deeper concern for accessibility-probably driven as much by the popularity of the first disc in Japan as by each artists growing interest in porting abstract digital sound experiments into a pop framework-although thats hardly a criticism; the disc is at least its predecessors equal.