Ignaz Schick doesn't have to leave home to play with a lot of improvisers: the Berlin-based turntablist is already a member of two large, well-established ensembles, the seven-member Phosphor and the 24-piece Splitter Orchestra. During his recent travels he's taken to throwing mini festivals during which he plays a series of short duets—sometimes with old friends, sometimes with people he's never encountered before. He calls these events Explode the Monkey, and he's staging one in Chicago at Enemy on Friday and Saturday night.

Calling Schick a "turntablist" takes as many liberties with the word as he does with his instrument. You won't see him put any vinyl on his wheel of steel—he's more likely to load it up with cymbals or debris, which he amplifies with the tone arm to create undulating waves of steel-wool sound. Over the course of this fourth installment of Explode the Monkey (previous editions have been staged in Berlin, Montreal, and New York City) he'll improvise with musicians specializing in everything from old-school free jazz to school's-out noise; if one set doesn't work, at least the next one will be different.

On Friday Schick will play with percussionist Michael Hartman, baritone saxophonist/clarinetist Mwata Bowden, and "springboard" inventor Eric Leonardson. On Saturday he'll duet with resonator guitarist R. Keenan Lawler, harmonium and electronics player Jaime Fennelly, electronicist Jason Soliday, and drummer J. Guy Laughlin. Aaron Zarzutski will open with a solo set each night.