THE EXPLODING MEET:Birds Of Grey DBL CD
An astounding 140+ mins of music dominated by one man and his massed ranks of guitars but also featuring drums and percussion, urban samples, lots of treatments and processing plus various use of electronics, but it is the guitars which tower over the proceedings and around which the compositions are based. Musically, the range of stuff on offer is just mind blowing with tracks reminiscent of classic Gunther Schickert, a 16 min track that sounds like something from Aphrodite's Child '666' album with narration over a sea of storming blues-based electric guitars and subtle percussion, tranquil melodic electric guitar excursions, huge dense wedges of scorching electric guitars over mid-tempo rhythms from drums and percussion more powerful than anything done by Guru Guru, early Durutti Column style layers of guitars with more cohesion and an edge not present in Vinni's work, passages that sound like Oldfield's millions of guitars on sonic overload, Tibbetts-style electric blow-outs, fuzzed up waves of soaring, scorching guitar heaven, all nearly always backed by various non-intrusive but fluid drum/perc rhythms, all making for absolutely stunning listening without a bad second in sight....and that's only the first disc!!!!! Disc 2 is equally amazing with so much great guitar work you won't come down for a week if you do it all in one sitting. One of the best electric guitar CD's I've ever stumbled across and at this price for this quality,
depth and range of music you simply can't go wrong. Essential and then some!!!!
THE EXPLODING MEET:Circus Of Disharmony CD
Opens with the sound of sampled laughter and synth backdrop for just a few seconds which abruptly dies down and in steams a scorching electric guitar riff which then splits and the bass undertow thunders along while what seems to be 3 separate guitar solos spiral outwards in true psychedelic fashion as the drums and bass guitar drive the piece along with a Santana-feel to the percussion section. Over the course of 5 mins the guitars just soar out of sight and solo until they burn while the bass guitar undulates to floor-shaking effect and the percussion holds it all together on what is an incredibly full sounding track and what an opener. Track 2 opens with more sampled voices before delicate bass guitar and drums patter away underneath and then the voices are accelerated and decelerated as a pleasant guitar spreads its sound over the mix in great waves of sustain and feedback as the track flows assuredly along threatening to intensify all the time and then, at the 3 min point, the bass guitar suddenly breaks loose, proceeds to positively roar along setting up a massive foundation over which the suddenly emerging electric guitar begins to solo once more in classic psych fashion with the controls set on stun as the drums and percussion are kept to a distant rumble and an up-front blend of toms while the track goes through a maze of atmospheres and regions of uncharted space as the feedback-drenched guitar player and the spiralling solo take off on an interstellar voyage that threatens to engulf everything in its path as the whole conglomeration of drums, massive bass, guitars and sample undercurrents hurtle skywards in a veritable cauldron of sonic bliss that cannot fail to have you leaping about like an idiot or sitting there open-mouthed at the sheer splendour of the 12 mins that are unfolding before you as rd-hot guitar work takes over leading to a storming finale that travels seamlessly into track 3, a short one featuring 2 mins of spacey Fripp-like guitar soaring in and around layers of voices samples, delicate percussion and a flowing river of synth or very delicate feedback guitar, creating a beautiful atmosphere and going straight into track 4 led by another booming bass line on top of which various lead guitar lines swoop and fly to marvellously sustained and scorching effect, while the sound of a female voice is heard to recite a short lyric, slightly buried in the mix for maximum effect. Normally I wouldn't like this sort of things on a psychedelic guitar album but here it fits like a glove and you just have to marvel at the way this track, and indeed the whole CD, has been so carefully layered and constructed. The track spends the last 2 of its near 6 mins length on a guitar section that just blows you away as the layers of guitars plus the accelerating bass and drums steamroller over you to amazing effect.
Track 5 features just under 3 mins of guitar layers and undulating bass guitar in an almost space-industrial fashion, very moody stuff and a neat break from the mayhem going right into the 9 min track 6 on a layer of steaming guitars, throbbing, undulating bass guitar and superbly sounding drums/percussion as the guitars splinter, spiral, soar and solo to breathtaking effect, all around you this massive wall of guitars begins the journey and carries you right up there with them on a psychedelic ride of epic proportions yet without any overblown or bombastic characteristics that often constitute this music as carefully layered and immaculately produced guitar weave a heady trip though the airwaves as the bass fires up in the mix and the multi-layers of bass and guitar burn holes in your skull for 9 mins of sheer guitar heaven.
Track 7 is spacier music with acres of guitars and gentle bass/percussion but still with an intensity to which you will be transfixed. Tracks 8 through 13 feature over 31 mins of amazing music from a line-up of dual electric guitars, dual percussionists, bass guitarist and sax although the latter takes a similar role to that of Nik Turner in Hawkwind, used as much to embellish and enhance the soundscapes being created rather than actual solos although the sax line on track 8 is absolutely mind-blowing with the mood and paces very much those of the legendary 'In Search Of Space' album although sonically it does not actually sound like Hawkwind but you'll see what I mean. Track 9 is a short spacey soundscape before the group roll headlong into the 5 min title track and the guitars scorch in majestic fashion as the sax briefly joins the fray until the guitars spiral out above thunderous layer of percussion and rumbling electric bass. For the final min the sax and guitars duel to a roaring crescendo, then another short sound collage in the outer reaches of their musical galaxy with sax spiralling all over the place, briefly dying away to lead abruptly into the 10+ mins track 12 which sees the guitars climb ever higher over a rolling sea of rhythmic thunder as the guitars duel and solo to jaw-dropping effect and the sax wanders in and out of the mix at odd intervals. The CD ends with a weird sound collage and a strangely tranquil climax.
Overall, a truly incredible CD, totally unique but with elements of synth-less early '70's space-rock in places as stated.
EXPLODING MEET: 4 AM East Asiatic Flatmelon Society CD
The second track, '4AM Spiritual' is akin to Sandy Bull playing the Grateful Dead's 'Dark Star' and even though it only lasts 7 minutes, is just one of THE most heavenly sounding guitar pieces, and although recorded in 1989, leaves with an overwhelming feeling of classic seventies - pure class and simply sensational with this gorgeous sonorous electric guitar lead, guitar overlays and deep rivers of lilting bass. Of the ten other instrumental, guitars-dominated tracks, every one is a gem - but many of them so varied. There are the four parts of 'District' where serene acoustic guitar with slow but thunderous drums and a 5 minute track like 'Thunderfern' that is awesomely intense with two basses, rattling drums and a searing electric guitar that could drill holes in solid metal at twenty paces. Then two minutes of the multi-tracked Gunther Schickert-like guitar swirls on 'Simultania', followed by the simply sensational 7 minutes of 'Mutatnts Prototype', starting with a wonderful female voice narration - so atmospheric - as first distant guitar, then throbbing electric bass, then clouds of cosmic guitars are added to the mix over echoed percussion either side, as the almost Patti Smith-like narration is just so perfect, and the piece builds to just over 3 minutes when the narration drops, the path changes and the track just takes off in a squall of dual electric guitar leads, feedback, overlays and steaming soloing, all backed by the rock solid bass and drums, and this final 4 minutes will blow you away for sure. With two other fantastic tracks of burning lead guitar-dominated splendour, this is one of THE most sensational albums from one of the most underrated guitarists, composers and musical pioneers of contemporary guitar music on the planet today - you have to hear this - and his other CD's - they could change your life!!!
EXPLODING MEET: Gank Photo Lebanon CD
Just five tracks and nearly an hour of solo electric guitar and analog tape system, with one track featuring added percussion, and what you hear is a swirling, flowing, drifting, thickly textured sea of electric guitar loops, feedback, bass rumbles, guitar squalls and layers of electric guitar soundscapes, all quite dense but with a decidedly hypnotic sound and feel to proceedings as you allow the emerging rivers of sounds to wash over you in an almost ritualistic manner. Influences are hard to pin down but there is a definite early seventies feel to the sheer adventurousness of the music allied to the fact that it works a treat, hearkening back to the "good old days" when an album was an adventure to be discovered. Not a tune, melody or rhythm as you'd normally know them, in sight, this is a towering sea of sonic delights that just has to be heard to be experienced to be enjoyed. An amazing album from a master of the craft.
EXPLODING MEET: Nightshade: 30 Year Smoke CD
The partner to the above album and this time, still just under an hour long, but with eleven tracks instead of five. As a result, there is a lot more variation inherent in the album as a whole, with more layers and textures courtesy of electronic and layered percussion, but it's the electric guitars that dominate once again. This time there are tracks of supreme delicacy, in many ways reminding me of early seventies French artists such as Pinhas, Renaud & Verto, while at the other end of the scale, a veritable storm of guitars-driven soundpools are unleashed. The sonic and dynamic range throughout is much more varied than 'Gank' and, as a whole, the album is a lot more accessible to the novice, but no less riveting than its partner. The tracks are magical, the construction impeccable, the playing and producing quite superb and the execution positively perfect. The age of the guitar pioneer who can produce guitar music that is original, contemporary, adventurous, accessible and full of feeling, is far from over, at least in the hnds of this musician.
Back to Review Highlights Intro Page
Dead Earnest
Reviews Home Page
