The cover of Ridina Ahmedová and Petr Tichý's impeccable, crowd-funded duo debut HLASkontraBAS has an eye peering through a double-bass's sound hole. In Czech the title is a pun starting with an uppercase voice (hlas) and end-rhyming with bass. It signals complementing voice and bass, or pitting one against (kontra) the other. Expanding this basic proposition, both musicians use loop stations to multi-track the human and the instrument's voices and ranges. It is something they do live on stage, improvising as they go. Musically, the eight original compositions are grounded in jazz, world and electro. Despite working steadily in concert and vocal workshop settings, this is only Ahmedová's second album in 10 years. (2006's hlasem, a solo affair, included a multi-tracked vocal treatment of Mongo Santamaria's ‘Afro-Blue’.) That gap between releases shows in the quality of the tested compositions. Sonically speaking, they duplicate nothing. Ahmedová deploys a vocal palette that bursts with a variety of vocalese techniques. Her's bears comparison – highest of praise – with her fellow countrywoman Iva Bittová. On ‘Po bouři’ (When The Storm Is Gone) she improvises using humming. On ‘Černým lesem’ (Through The Black Forest) she switches between a wordless vocal melody using syllables and R.D. Burman-style Bollywood panting. (Check out Burman and Asha Bhosle doing ‘Piya Tu Ab To Aaja’ (Come To Me Now, My Love) from the film Caravan.) Tichý's basses mirror, bolster and egg on the vocals with plucking, bowing and, of course, multi-tracking. Exquisite crafting and truly outstanding melodies.