Listen from 3'04" to 3'31".
As far as I can determine, the technique on display here is called rotation, a kind of permutation often attributed to set theory. It’s rare and refreshing to see this kind of effect put to use outside of Atonal / Minimalist music. The riff in this morsel makes use of a set of 4 notes, which are always played in the same order. However, over successive bars these notes fall on different beats due to the rhythm in which the notes are played. Every other bar in this passage starts with a quarter note on an anticipated beat, helping to establish the properly jolted rhythmic environment to pull off the rotation technique. In the turnaround, an extra beat is added, making it 5/4. This combined with a dissonant downward spiral of notes makes the section as a whole very disorienting in a way I enjoy. You’ll have to listen carefully to pick up where the bars begin, as the anticipated beats make it harder to hear.
Music Morsels are musical fragments, collected and analyzed.