French Vietnamese percussionist L� Quan Ninh is a remarkably visceral musician. In concert, he stands over a bass drum turned on its side, working its head with cymbals and small objects and creating rich and resonant sounds with the big drum serving as a sound chamber for his operations. He looks like a ceramist at the wheel, carefully turning his clay.

As interesting a live performer as he is, it's still something of a surprise that a solo audio document would come across. But Le Ventre Negatif, his second solo recording, is a strong and varied work. Its five tracks move through soft, ringing passages and rolling, energetic sections. When the momentum builds, it's difficult to imagine just what he's doing. A rolling rhythm is offset by higher-pitched rattles with a metallic rumble on top. In concept, his physical approach is a marvel. Here, the abstract imagery of his aural constructions can make the listener forget there's a ghost in the machine, or that the evocative sounds were even intentionally made.