Jazz drummer Jochen Rueckert is sick in more ways than one.

Aside from being absolutely nasty on the drum kit when playing traditional jazz numbers, the US-based German also has Wolff Parkinson White syndrome, a disorder affecting the heart. Rueckert ventured into electronic music and chose to name the project for his disease. The music of Wolff Parkinson White is more akin to Aphex Twin than Rueckert’s jazz work, and incorporates no acoustic drumming. Nevertheless, his roots in jazz are unmistakable on WPW, much as they are present electronically in Squarepusher’s work: it’s abstract and electronic, but the structures make it jazz.

The format of his newest release Rest From What is pure math. Rueckert shifts sharp synthetic percussion into varying time signatures. Not that it’s easy to count and follow. The opening track repeats a cycle of 5/8, 4/8, 3/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8…you get the idea. Depending on your idea of fun, the album can be a brain exercise in rhythm, or just a mess of sound that’s pleasing in its erratic nature.

The names of the tracks on Rest From What hint at Rueckert’s ‘f*** the world’ attitude, but don’t be fooled by his foul language. There’s pure genius on every track.

Check out WPW’s “Glasgow Coma Scale”