Just like jazzers floating in an arbitrary quest, searching for those un-played notes, those un-visited patterns, Tom Lake finds - and to some extent re-creates - unlikely sounds and textures, marries them to one another, and successfully pushes the sonic choices musicians have to choose from to infinity. His "Whoomsical Proclamation" on Expanding Pegasus Records is unsettling in the fact that it's unencumbered by a map. Where the hell is he taking us? But it's comforting as well, with the womb as ground zero. The same thing could be said for Stories and Statistics (Brandon Herford) with its incantations and strum. Again, a little womb-like, but in this case, Mama just ate a big burrito. Both projects, though electronically rooted, incorporate organic tones and instruments, perhaps to remind the listener there is still flesh and blood in there and behind the music.

Tom Lake and Stories and Statistics perform Saturday, January 2, 8 p.m. at Boulder Coffee, Brooks Landing, 955 Genesee St. Free. 454-7140.