Art-rock is forever caught in a tug-of-war between concept and execution. The concept is the idea prompting the work — a new gallery or museum installation, a new instrument, an adaptation of a story or painting. The execution is the work itself. If the former supersedes the latter — if the inspiration is stronger than the results — then all the novel approaches in the world won't make it a success.

Rob Wasserman seems well aware of this dilemma. A Grammy-winning upright-bass player who has worked with (among others) Elvis Costello, Lou Reed and various Grateful Dead members, he needed a fresh direction after releasing his trilogy of '90s albums, Solos, Duets and Trios. (Presumably Quartets was not an option.) When musical inventor/designer Ned Steinberger suggested a six-string electric upright bass that would stretch the range of this most resonant of instruments, Wasserman seized the opportunity to become its test pilot. Hello, concept.

The boundary-stretching Wasserman naturally imposed on himself the challenge of making an entire album built around this new creation. To avoid sonic limitations, he enlisted the aid of producer/mixer Dave Aron (Prince, Snoop Dogg) so that the tracks would be built on funky grooves. The result — this album — will intrigue and reward any dedicated fan of experimental and electronic music, although, admittedly, a casual listener may have a harder time getting jiggy with it.

Most tracks find Wasserman layering his six-string on top of itself — using it as a bass, of course, but with the extra octaves allowing it to also be the melodic lead. In addition, placed through appropriate effects, it sounds like an electric guitar. On "Got To Rock" and "Feel the Bass" (RealAudio excerpt) — both bolstered by DJ Jam's hip-hop scratching — and on the title track (RealAudio excerpt), which features the ferocious drumming of Jane's Addiction's Stephen Perkins, the results are as funky as they are arty. And mellow cuts such as "Ipanema," which borrows the melody from the Beatles' "Yesterday," and "Prairie Song" (RealAudio excerpt), where the bass slides deliciously all over the place, are noteworthy as well.

Titles, clearly, are not Wasserman's strong point. Apart from the above examples, we have a "Love Song" and a "Nu Ballad." We also have a concluding "Sultan Song" (although that one, featuring the majestic vocal utterances of Ustad Sultan Khan, is excused) and a "Hillbilly Hip Hop," on which Wasserman's vocal rap is as excruciating as the title suggests.

People like Rob Wasserman enrich our musical experience as they ignore conventional boundaries and create fresh sounds out of newly invented instruments. But if there's an underlying lesson here, it's that art simply cannot be all things to all people — and the push and pull between concept and execution continues.