Douglas McCombs has more bands than most small indie labels. Besides being a member of Tortoise, he is a mainstay with Eleventh Dream Day, Pullman, and Brokeback (with whom he made 1999"s Field Recordings from the Cook County Water Table). Now permanently paired with bassist Noel Kupersmith, McCombs continues to pursue his post-rock journey into sonic ambience. Morse Code contains but three tracks, the first two of which are accompanied by impressionistic QuickTime movies by filmmaker Braden King. Track one, "Lives of the Rhythm Experts," is typified by a hovering, shimmering quality, like wind rippling through high-tension lines. "Flat Handed on the Wing," a collaboration with Calexico"s Joey Burns and John Convertino, betrays its improvisational recording process by sounding rather directionless. The final track, "Running Scared," is a fairly straightforward--by McCombs"s standards--instrumental rendition of Roy Orbison"s histrionic love song. --Mike Pattenden