ARTIST/GROUP OF THE MONTH

DJAM KARET: Burning The Hard City CD
DJAM KARET Suspension And Displacement CD
Repackaged and remastered, these are two albums from this red hot dual electric guitar-bass-drums dominated instrumental band that originally came out together, and have now done so once again. "Hard City" is still one corker of an album, full of red hot electric guitars duels/solos that's really dynamic and wide-ranging, with some wonderful softer moments that really serve to heighten the effect of the power chording, often changing from one to the other at the drop of a guitar pick. Now you also notice all the subtleties in the album and the sheer tightness and driving ability of the rhythm section who hold it all together. The guitar work is a revelation as they dive and burn into musical beacons that light up your sky. One of the most riveting examples of psych/Kraut/jamming-style rock guitar with structure and substance making the likes of even Man's legendary long live version of 'Spunk Rock' look weak by comparison.
Years on, the "Suspension" album, once hailed as disappointing and complex, is now a positive revelation, sounding more contemporary now than it did way back then. There are passages where you feel a distinct Fripp/Fripp & Eno influence, only with a lot more happening in terms of musical arrangements and content. The way that track one develops into a quartet-delivered slice of musical heaven with the guitar drones, textural leads, ringing guitars, rolling drums and tasty solid bass, is nothing short of nearly eleven minutes of magic, all superbly played, produced and arranged, with a fuller sound than you'd expect, plus a juxtaposition of languid and tension-filled feel to the proceedings. After this, on a further 8 tracks, from three to nearly thirteen minutes long, there are some superb arrangements with impeccable, full-sounding compositions that range from rock solid cosmic music, with synths and guitars weaving a beautiful, complex musical web, to gorgeous passages of chiming guitar leads, flowing guitar backdrops, tumbling, sparingly used drumming and rich, sonorous electric bass lines at the bottom of the mix. Seen through modern eyes, one album that is equal in stature to the previous greats of soundscaping and solid guitar work. Magnificent.

DJAM KARET: Still No Commercial Potential CD
A ltd edition fan-club only disc that we have secured especially for CD Services, and another set of scorching instrumental tracks recorded live in the studio, all exclusive to this CD yet retaining the feel, spirit and spark of the original "No Commercial Potential". This is an electric guitar fan's heaven, as are all releases by this phenomenal instrumental dual-electric guitar band that has power, dynamics, finesse, class, consistency and remains one of the most underrated guitar bands on the planet, transcending categories such as psych, rock, west coast, jamming,,etc and just producing accessible, long-lasting sensational instrumental music.

DJAM KARET:The Devouring CD
An album largely slammed by the specialist press, so that alone tells you it's going to be good......and you wouldn't be wrong. After losing direction over the last year or two, they are back with a long, all-instrumental amalgam of prog, psychedelic, jamming and fusion, the result being a fierce cauldron of compositions where the electric guitar riffs and red hot guitar solos scorch all over a backdrop of bass, drums, more guitars and keyboards, the overall effect being one where the listener is completely transfixed from start to finish. The opening track alone has guitar work from heaven, as solo after solo spirals forth from the pounding rhythm section and occasional keyboard fills, so hot you are convinced your speakers will melt on a sensational 7 minutes of real guitar-based rock. Track 2 begins with another furious guitar riff as an ocean of mellotrons emerges, the rhythm section crashes in, and the track takes off on a furious trip, guitars and mellotrons soaring out of sight, a sea of electric guitar riffs storming over a thunderous electric bass. Then it suddenly decelerates, and a fusion of sizzling electric guitar plus gut-crunching bass takes the piece on yet another path, yet still the piece flows unstoppably along, as the music patterns change and travel. Fantastic!!! With a further 8 tracks of equally amazing full-sounding, superbly produced, immaculately played, electric guitars-dominated psychedelic jamming, with a touch of prog, this is essential listening now and for a long time to come. 70+ mins of prog-psych-acid-rock fusion that is simply awesome.

DJAM KARET: Live At Orion CD
One of the finest dual-guitar jamming style albums for ages..... this mixes rock, psych and fusion like no other band I know. It was recorded live IN THE STUDIOS as opposed to in concert, so no worries about quality here - the production and sound are perfect. Most of the 74 minutes and eight tracks revolve around high-flying space-rock oriented mix of structure and improvisation (although you'd be hard pushed to separate the two in a million years) with dual-electric guitar work providing the main action over some of the finest bass and drum work you'll hear anywhere. If you thought that Man's "Greasy Truckers' version of 'Spunk Rock' was the ultimate jamming guitar track, then take a listen to the third track here - it may only be eight minutes, but it's some of the most fiery and flowing guitar work on display, leaving you jaw-dropped and breathless by the end. The album opens in similarly blazing style with the guitars duelling and riffing to incredible effect, while track two starts off quietly and gradually builds a head of steam but manages to remain dynamic rather than intense, so that when it cuts loose there's still a great air of tension present. The fourth track starts with synths as the drums & rumbling bass lurch in. Above this a lead electric guitar solo soars to the heavens worthy of finest Pinhas without actually sounding identical to his style, although here the feel is definitely similar as the solid track rolls on. This dies away, the second electric guitar enters and there follows some superb passages where guitars solos and back each other up above the crisp, tight an solid rhythmic base, a corking track.
Track five fires up around the two minute point, threatens to become a molten Heldon - style sea of guitars but then the electric bass pushes up in the mix and the piece heads off in a kind of fiery rock-fusion direction as the lead guitar twists and turns backed up by a churning guitar riff until the two meet in a furnace-heat of guitar intensity that rises to a gripping conclusion in a tumbling, spiralling blaze of ensemble thunder. Track six gives a lion's share of the lead work to the synth as it solos over more beefy guitar riffing on a track that's another strong example of restrained, fiery fusion as the band flows with great feeling and passion. Track seven in a near 15 minute piece that starts slowly in very atmospheric fashion and gradually builds and evolves as the guitars stretch out and breathe so that the music follows the earlier path of restrained psych-rock allowing the guitars to reach a molten rather than a nuclear-force climax, which is what makes this band so much more than those that follow the obvious cliches. Finally, the album ends on a track that sees the band alternately reflective yet still rhythmic and forceful in a kind of open-ended way as the guitars bloom, rather than explode, into life and this balance makes for a most engaging track, with some exemplary work from bass and drums, as throughout the album.
This album shows that not only is this band one of the best ever instrumental guitar bands on the planet but that the dizzy heights reached on the essential "Devouring" album have not left the band members creatively spent and there is a new fire down below as the next lease of life beckons. One of the best guitar albums of the decade and beyond, for sure.

DJAM KARET: New Dark Age CD
A title for a new studio album that essentially sums up the direction where the band are heading these days. Still present are the dual-guitar-led workouts only now more structured and economical, while more prevalent are the synth and electronic passages to add both as a neat contrast to the guitar work but also as a compositional vehicle in its own right. As indicated, some of the passages are quite dark, but never loses the group identity all the same, lending an air of multi-textured musicianship to the proceedings along the way. Of all their albums to date, one of the least 'instant' yet quite possibly destined to be one of the most long-lasting, I would recommend that. If you have a liking for guitar jamming, melodic instrumental psychedelic rock and eerie synth work, this is a good one to investigate.

DJAM KARET: Collaborator CD
I have to take issue with the band here. While I heartily applaud them for trying something new, they really should have changed the name of the band for this CD to something like 'Djam Karet Project' or similar, to denote to existing fans that this album is unlike their normal work.
For those unfamiliar with the band, they are a USA psych-rock instrumental outfit consisting of two incredible electric guitarists, synth player and rhythm section. Yet for this album, they have enlisted the help of some of the major players in the synth music scene such as Steve Roach, Jeff Greinke, Walter Holland, Kit Watkins and others to produce an original album that is largely spacey, spacious and multi-textured, but with added dimensions from the main band that give the music a quality that you won't have heard before in the work of the synth artists concerned. The sound of synths and electronics dominates the tracks. Rhythms aren't that common an occurrence, but work effectively when used, while the layers and landscapes that are explored on each of the twelve tracks and seventy-two minutes running time, are varied enough to provide a constantly engaging album without treading the same ground from start to finish. If you're a fan of any of the synth artists concerned, you should enjoy this considerably, but if you're a fan of the main band, you may well wonder what on earth possessed them to do something like this. I loved it and I like both, so make what you will of that.

DJAM KARET: A Beginners Guide Vol 1…..Plus CD
DJAM KARET: A Beginners Guide Vol 2…..Plus CD
The ideal introduction for anyone not familiar with this amazing instrumental, dual-guitar dominated quartet from the USA. Primarily dual electric guitars, electric bass and drums, with occasional keyboard embellishments, the band play a spectacular blend of structure and jamming styles to create compositions that really do have that magical set of passion, grace and fire, exuding from every guitar-soaked pore by the litre. The first volume concentrates on the early years with tracks from four of their classic albums plus two rare tracks, one taken from the 'Dali' album and one from the 'Past Present Future' album. Between five and twelve minutes long, you'll hear a predominantly smoking brew of musical might, the band coming across somewhere between the jamming seventies bands such as Man, AFT and, to a degree, eighties/nineties King Crimson, mixed with the rock sensibilities of metal music guitarists, only with a good deal more intelligence in the construction of the tracks and the delivery, so that while it all remains consistent, it has incredible dynamics and melody running through the heart of the electrifying storm that the quartet whip up. The way the tracks build and develop is a process that keeps you hooked for the duration, the band playing compositions that really make you want to listen to them, time after time after time.
A couple of the tracks show their more "sound-sculpting approach with a less rhythmic side of the band on display as rich layers of sound unfold, while a track such as the six minute 'Forbidden By Rule' adds mellotron to the twisting, turning and driving composition with guitar work that's inspiring as well as powerful, but always melodic. The second volume, covering more of a range from the early albums to recent music, is a more varied affair, with added organ/synths fleshing out the guitars to a greater degree, although it's still the guitars that dominate and set your world on fire. From delightful to downright dirty, this is one seriously sound way to sample this band, a track such as the fiery monster that is the eight minute 'New Light On The Dark Age' (one of three "rare" tracks, this one taken from the 'Fluorescent Tunnelvision' project) sitting neatly alongside the gorgeously flowing seven minutes that is the 'Ascension' album's 'The Hanging Tree'. The near nine minute 'Dedicated To K.C.', taken from the 'Unsettled Scores' compilation, could conceivably have been an outtake from Heldon's mighty 'Stand By' album, and is possibly the most searingly powerful track on an already muscular album, worth the price alone just to hear the DK's take Heldon head on.
So, from fan to newbie, these are two thoroughly brilliant CD's in their own right and the ideal introduction or the essential collector's items, depending on which side of that fence you are on.

DJAM KARET: No Commercial Potential - Rock Improvisations from 1985-2002 DBLCD
A double with the original 'No Commercial Potential' CD from 1985 coupled with the previously unreleased '….And Still Getting The Ladies' from 2002.
Apart from one seven minute track, the compositions last between eleven and thirty minutes, and this is a set of 6 tracks in total that really allows the band, this time just the two electric guitarists, bass and drums, to stretch out, giving the likes of seventies Man & Wishbone Ash more than a run for their money, and mixing it with more modern instrumental electric guitar dominated albums from the likes of Jonas Hellborg and similar. If the near seventeen minute 'Where's L Ron' that opens the 'NCP' album doesn't take you to a very wonderful place, the unfolding guitar work that drives, flows and sears through the near thirty minute 'Blue Fred' will most definitely take you there and beyond, as the guitar work becomes positively organic in the finest 'Spunk Rock' and 'Phoenix' traditions, smouldering, soaring and scorching throughout, again the melodies always present, and the rhythm section playing a blinder.
The three improves on the 2002 CD were recorded during the sessions for the more recent 'Night For Baku' album. The first seven minutes of the twenty minute opener, 'The Building', are set of musical soundscaping, the guitars and bass creating a rich, warm atmosphere in crystal clear sound, before the bass starts a slow undercurrent, cymbals are heard in the distance, the guitars chime and string synth fills the backdrop, again all slowly unfolding and a gorgeous mix of melody and mood. Around ten minutes the drums come in, the band begins to take off in slow and relaxed fashion, gradually increasing the melodic strength while still maintaining an air of languid harmony as the real meat of the track develops, all in all a stunning and quite breathtaking side to the band. The near eight minutes of 'The Door' are again more in sonic sculpting mode, with rich and dark layers of guitars, bass and synths swirling around the mix. Finally, the twenty-seven minutes of 'The Window' start with a slowly swirling space synth as further synth and chiming guitars create this warm sound pattern up to the seven minute point, whereupon the band really take off this time and a most sizzling sea of dual-guitar led dynamics, begins to unfold, the drums and bass propelling it all on as the guitars spark off and entwine with each other to dramatic effect, this mix of power, strength and red hot melodic improvisation lasting for the next twenty minutes, resulting in one incredible track that really does it all - anyone into lengthy twin-guitar instrumental improv-rock/prog will just be in total rapture every time they play it, and that will be lots!!!! Overall, a winner on every level.

DJAM KARET: The Ritual Continues CD
There are two tracks on here from the pre-Djam Karet band Happy Cancer, whose cassette-only release back in 1982 was where I first encountered these guys - jeez, 1982!! Gawd, I feel old all of a sudden - on and off I've been selling this lot's music for twenty years!!! Anyway, the two tracks here from that cassette showcase the Djam Karet band minus Gayle Elliott, but plus guitarist John Glass and Andy Frankel on drums predating Chuck Oken, who's actually here playing keys and 12-string guitar. The two tracks couldn't be more different - one a searing guitar jam, the other a looser piece of chaotic structure with molten guitars, fractured rhythms, gentle acoustic guitars and occasional voice samples, but both quite superb. Then it's onto the main body of the album, seven tracks between five and seventeen minutes long from 1987, and like the previous two tracks, remixed and reassembled in 1993. Musically there's a lot of variation within its guitars-driven realms, from brooding to smoking, languid to powerful, fusion to rock. Overall, the electric guitars dominate with some seriously sizzling solos and duels throughout, the title tracks starting quietly and building slowly into eight minutes of hypnotic dynamics as the guitars finally break through in magnificently soloing fashion, towards the final third of the track. The near seventeen minute final track spends ten minutes in gorgeously tranquil mode, before the final seven minutes become almost chaotic as guitars, sampled voices, effects, percussion and deep bass seal soundscapes that are truly bizarre. Way more varied than a "typical" Djam Karet CD, it nevertheless remains a fine statement from the band that's lost none of its charm, magic, enjoyment and originality along the way.

DJAM KARET: Afghan CD
Limited edition document of their live performance in NYC on 26-06-01 and it's one of those cases where the ever so slightly "bootleg" quality to the mix, although sounding great and you hear everything, actually enhances the enjoyment of the music, so that you can turn it up and feel like you're actually there, as the jamming supernova that is this incendiary band comes cruising through the airwaves loud and clear. Opening with 'Forbidden By Rule', the band immediately nails their colours to the mass and your ears to the wall, as this searing sea of dual electric guitar soloing and duelling comes pouring out of the speakers, the thudding bass sounding suitably disembowelling at the bottom end while drums crunch and drive, the quartet letting the guitar work flood out, as melody, bite and feel exude from every pore in glorious fashion. Throughout the rest of the 46 minutes, the band proceed to deliver as "on-fire" a set as you'll have heard, as they attack and drive with determination and passion, as steaming and enjoyable a set as you'll hear from these guys, raw and exciting.

DJAM KARET: Ascension - New Dark Age Vol 2 LTD CD
Limited to just 750 copies world-wide, this is "a companion release to the 'New Dark Age' album, exploring further the themes and concepts present during the recording sessions". But what a superb album it is!! The first three minutes of the five and a half minute 'Arose From The Ashes' feature this wonderful sea of swirling and chiming acoustic guitars in an almost raga-like setting that is so melodic, haunting and memorable, but this then leads into an altogether darker section with drums and percussion slowly beating as distant organ backdrop gives way to almost Fripp-like cosmic guitar and the sound of the outback, a setting that segues into two minutes of 'Licking The Skull' where what sounds like an electric drill chimes away over a sea of organ and sustained guitar chords, all very dark and unnerving. The seven minute 'The Hanging Tree' starts in almost Zappa style with a slowly flowing river of keys and guitars over a strong, swaying rhythm section, and the guitars entwine gracefully as the track flows on, the organ backdrop absolutely perfect to add to the atmosphere, almost sounding like its straying into mid-seventies Pink Floyd by the two minute mark, and its wonderfully languid construction rolls on. Around three minutes a searing electric guitar lead rises to the foreground to solo majestically over this gorgeously rolling proggy backdrop, and this continues to the end of the piece.
'Swimming In The Big Sky' mixes the acoustic style strength of the opener with the spiralling clouds of electric guitars and resonant rhythm section to produce a deep, layered composition that really soars to the heights, while the similarly length (just short of five minutes) 'Special Cases' is more powerful with strident rhythms, an distinct middle-eastern flavour, more of the cosmic Fripp-esque guitars, extra layers from acoustic guitars and effects, the bass well up in the mix to provide some real thunder, and overall, a track that has so much going on inside it that you'll need a few plays just to capture it all, but it's so atmospheric at the same time. The six minute 'Stage Three' sees the band rocking out as it's most known for, with some solid and pounding work from the bass and drums, over which the two lead guitars dive and duel to breathtaking effect, the mid-paced piece really delivering the goods in classic mid-eighties King Crimson vein only here with such a depth of sound and superb production throughout. The final, sixteen minute, 'Disintegration' takes all the previous elements and adds to them a huge barrage of effects, percussion and electronic effects to create a piece that starts out acoustically, with chiming melodies, upfront bass and rattling percussion and where you think it might spiral into blazing guitar nirvana, it surprises you by becoming a cauldron of percussion, drums, effects, bass and textural layers that really shows yet another side to this remarkable band.

DJAM KARET: Live At Nearfest 2001 CD
If I remember correctly, their first non-studio bound live album - and it rocks!!! With the dual electric guitar attack on stunning form, this is nine tracks and 65 minutes of instrumental guitar rock that is way more than rock or metal, which is why this band are so loved by the prog-rock audience - the compositions have the lot - flow, bite, attack, intricacy, dueling guitars, cyclonic guitars, surging drums and bass and keyboard fills. But, above all, they have melody - yes, tunes - sometimes languid, sometimes forceful - but always there. The guitar attack is thus rendered even more palatable than your average instrumental guitar rock album, so that while there is power and dynamics a-plenty, you never at any time get the feeling of self-indulgence that tends to happen with instrumental rock-based, guitar-dominated albums. So, strap yourself in and get ready for the ride as over an hour of twin (sometimes triple) guitar assault washes over you in quite magnificent fashion.

DJAM KARET: A Night For Baku CD
What can you say - this instrumental band has to be one of THE most underrated bands of the last twenty years - why on earth they are not a world-wide name is beyond me. You can see what's going to happen - way when it's too late, they'll be recognised as the band that everyone should have bought, but didn't. In the meantime, for those of us astute enough to know when we're onto a good thing, this is a brand new studio album, and it's not doing the band a disservice, to say that it walks all over the previous one, and THAT was good. But this is seriously hot - and I mean HOT! The combination of playing, writing, arrangements, production (the production is among the finest you'll ever hear on any album let alone this one), quality and sheer passion of playing, is enough to make you go weak at the knees for every track that comes along. You simply cannot believe the mesh of intensity, melody, wealth of sound, strength, dynamics, fluidity of composition and feeling that this band injects into their music. Every one of the tracks, from the anthemic opener 'Dream Portal' to the closing ten minute might of 'The Red Thread', is pure genius, as this dual electric guitar, keyboards/synths/mellotron, bass, drums outfit, produce tracks that are so full-sounding, so flowing, so strong and so powerful, it's enough to make you weep with joy when you hear it. The music is beyond mere categorisation, nothing so obvious as "just prog" or "just fusion" or "just...anything" come to that - no, this is music that is purity itself, guitar playing to die for, structure and cohesion that is out of this world, and a sound from the band as an ensemble that is simply second to none. The breathe fire, exude passion and ooze quality out of every pore, making this one of the finest instrumental electric guitar-led, full-sounding albums you'll hear this year. It is every bit THAT good, and then some. Their finest album and an instrumental classic.

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