Dead Earnest's Choice Selection - Guitar Music (Instrumental)


J.D. BRADSHAW: Caught In The Act CD Single
Hey ………….it's not often you get a taster CD single for 3 instrumental and one vocal, metal guitar rock tracks, , but this is the first and it won't be on an album, so now's as good a time as any to break your rule about not buying singles or you will miss out on a seriously fine slice of guitar rock with a real drummer, too. 'Coolin' Out' opens with flying riffs, hot lead guitar and solid rhythm work as it drives ahead in a hail of guitars with even a melody line giving it that all-important sense of structure. 'Beltane' follows a similarly paced path, again with flying axework all over the place as it roars through, subsiding to a slowly melodic mid-section before gathering pace, this time even faster, with notes everywhere as one hot guitar solo blazes into life ove the rampaging rhythm section. 'All The Way' is less intense. The only song on the EP erupts into life for track three in similarly rocking style, while track four tips its hat to a more metallic Beck style initially, before moving onto wah-wah guitar overload as another molten solo is delivered over a, this time, slightly less intense, rhythm section, but no less solid - overall, a fine, fine debut for a really promising guitarist/multi- instrumentalist.

BARRY CLEVELAND: Memory And Imagination DBLCD
In many ways, Barry Cleveland was the forerunner of the "guitarist making waves in the synth music world" genre. The odd part about this, as opposed to the more recent guitarists such as Dwane, is that Cleveland made no attempt to let his work "sound" like a synth, and arranged any electronics to serve pretty much as textural filler, and yet he was a strong force in and loved by, the synth music fraternity. This CD is a tale of two halves. The first CD looks back on his work from the eighties, taking a gorgeous set of tracks from albums such as 'Voluntary Dreaming' and 'Mythos', and revealing that the real musical comparison, if you have to, is more someone like Steve Tibbetts than anything, only here, more celestial sounding in the main. The first couple of tracks are guitar chords, layers and textures set to rolling multi-instrument ethnic percussion that has resonance, feel and depth in the same way that someone like Steve Roach uses it. It's a full sound but one that has the effect of watching clouds pass by in a blue sky on a summer's day - magical. 'Visual Purple' is even slower but has flow as the drums and chords become a bit grander and stronger, while 'The Inward Spiral' is just Cleveland on piano, synth, guitar textures and samplers, all quite beautifully constructed and played to sound melodic, celestial and slightly eerie. 'Cleopatra's Needle' is similar, while the following track, 'Hawk Dreaming' sees the pace increased as an electric guitar soars away on top of the resonant bass synth-like and mulit-percussive rhythmic background, with a solo that is just superb and very much in classic Tibbetts mould, a fantastic track. Then come the three tracks from the 'Mythos' album, first a five minute slice of lazy elegance with drifting synths, lilting xylophones and gorgeous guitar clouds. Then comes a track, the seven minutes of 'Abrasax', that could almost be out of the Fripp way of doing things with 'Discipline' era styled searing guitar and lyricon lines that weave a thread across layers of the trademark cascading Fripp-esque guitar rhythms, but around all this a bass synth line resonate and that cyclical percussive backdrop adds extra depth, another fantastic piece of music. You get the whole 19 minutes of the 'Mythos' title track that starts very exotic with tinkling percussion, hushed flowing flute, almost violin-like sweeps and a high-register flute and distant textures in the background, as the piece evolves, flowing, drifting and flying with texture, atmosphere, melody and grace. With a constantly changing instrumental arrangement, it is this combination of guitars, lyricon, flutes and percussion that charts a full-sounding and largely essentially rhythm-free course through the track. Ending with a rather fine remix of the first track, this has to be seen as a wondrous CD.
CD2 is nearly all previously unreleased music, this time from the early nineties, three of them recorded with dobro/slide guitarist Carl Weingarten, who adds his extra soundscapes and melodies to the tracks, the album's title track being a mammoth 24 minute piece that features Weingarten on Dobro and Cleveland on guitar, bowed guitar, Ebow guitar and bowhammer guitar, one that starts in celestial mood then, over the course of its lenght, gradually intensifies, with ever more layers added, eventually a rhythm breaking out from the cyclical guitars towards the fifteen minute point as the track moves to Gunther Schickert territory for this finale of cyclical guitars and flowing warm backdrops. Elsewhere we hear the guitars, electronics and percussion at one end and the Fripp-meets-Tibbetts stuff at the other, the five minute guitar-only piece 'Echoes On Echoes' being the one in question to represent the latter style. But throughout the feel is one of warmth, space, multi-levelled soundscaping, melodic without being tune-laden and generally washing over you with a replenishing effect. Different, accessible and just under two hours of enjoyment.

CODE: Figli Di Baia CD
It's so refreshing to hear a jazz-rock band who've got the lot……….great guitar work, top notch ensemble work, stunning melodies, superb soloing, synths that fill the background and perform co-lead duties, a rhythm section that gives all that you'd ask and a set of compositions that are just superb. All this on an instrumental album that straddles the worlds of progressive rock (a bit) and fusion (a lot) with ease and achieves all that you'd expect from such a tasty album, where melodies are king and flash is absent. Essentially a quartet plus two percussionists, this is the second album, following the debut that sold so well here at CDS Towers, before the band went into temporary hiatus. Now, they are back with an album that is just pure joy from start to finish. Primarily on the fusion side, they stroll through a strong collection of original material letting the synths, electric guitar and keyboards share the lead roles although it is the guitar work that shines through constantly with melody lines and solos that are just SO fantastic you'll be wanting to play the album again and again. With echoes of some of the finest melodic jazz-rock albums of the past, this one concentrates on compositions, arrangements and a full, full sound to achieve its aim of producing a serious and highly engaging set of instrumentals that don't feel ,tired or worn, and breathe life back into a genre that is sometimes oversubscribed with also-rans. As fusion with prog-rock leanings goes, this is up there with the best of them and anyone into either genre who likes great guitar leads and expansive synths served with a muscular and steaming rhythm section, where dynamics and the sounds are the key to the overall enjoyment, will get such a buzz out of this album you really won't believe it. Essential listening.

JON DURANT:Silent Extinction Beyond The Zero CD
Yes, yes, yes.......this is wonderful. If you like Fripp and you like instrumental '90's King Crimson, but you want something not quite as extreme as either, something that is flowing and tranquil, full-sounding and beautiful one track, balanced with moments of ferocity where electic bass, drums and incendiary electric guitars soar to the skies and beyond, this instrumental album is a suer fire winner and just one killer set of music in its own right. Not a boring moment on the entire album, this ihas soundscapes that are melodic, scorching passages that are to the point with the band on fire. This has got it all for the lover of contemporary guitar music with a prog/celestial touch - sheer genius.

JON DURANT:Three If By Air CD
A more relaxed album than the later one we so raved about in the last catalogue or two, and a more reflective yet still cohesive set of instrumentals with mnay moods and several styles, sometimes within a composition, acrossm the album, as the music veers from the filmic and celestial to the forceful and dynamic. Throughout the album, the guitar work is electric and electrifying, with some soaring solos climbing well high, and the sound filed out with synth backdrops, as the textural piano and tasty rhythm section are produced crisply enough. Nearly all of the 7 tracks and 44 minutes of music are on the melodic side, all with a wide-open atmosphere, but all ambling along effortlessly.

JON DURANT: Brief Light CD
Fourth album if I remember rightly and it's wonderful The nine track have a production, arrangement, sound quality and structure that is just awesome, although musically, while it's very strong, it's also very spiritual and it's that combination of all those things that make this a truly timeless album. Opening with clattering drums and pounding bass, the music surges ahead at mid-pace as a sustained guitar texture is added and the whole thing travels forward in this glorious mixture of rhythms and texture. 'Rosemary' features a cascading keyboard figure under which a deep lilting bass moves it forward, while over it, a lead guitar and separate lead keyboard intertwine and unfold their shining melodies, a distant xylophone-like tinkle adding. that little extra touch to a deep and meaningful slice of languid but strong instrumental bliss. The six minute 'River' opens with another stirring electric bass layer/rhythm as clay pot percussion, eastern sounding drums, tablas, weaving synth backdrops and lead guitar foreground combine to create a truly exotic sounding piece of east-meets-west music, strong and dynamic yet at the same time warm and rich, the fantastic bass work giving the track a sense of deep strength as the guitars and percussion climb an ever higher melodic peak. Just fantastic. The nine minute 'Behind Stone Walls' is similarly structured only starts here with a more modern King Crimson-like feel as you could almost imagine that it was Fripp-Belew playing the leads over this incredibly dynamic sounding backing from electric bass, exotic drums/perc and sparkling synth backdrops. The track changes pace and texture as it goes, from corking contemporary progressive to more atmospheric realms, the sheer clarity of the sounds being quite eye-opening as you hear the percussion, bass, synth and guitars in all their travelling glory. 'Evidence' continues the thematic elegance with more melodies from the cascading percussion, resonant African-sounding drums, and a joyous combination of guitars and keyboards leading the way, all the time the, this time more lilting but no less powerful, bass guitar providing the depth and strength to the gorgeous motifs playing away on top, substantial, solid yet simply beautiful sounding music, three minutes giving all the enjoyment of a piece twice that length or more. 'In Her Memories She Floats' is a more relaxed but more symphonic-sounding composition, this time largely rhythm-free in the drum sense, as the assorted melodies from guitars, bass, synth and piano flow and soar in a fine combination of melody, depth and atmosphere. Three more tracks follow revealing at one end powerful music where the drums and guitars just pour out of the speakers, and at the other, ending with a track of pure melodic/cosmic-sounding bliss from synths and guitars with all sorts of exotic touches, while somewhere in the middle, 'The Wind At Night' occupies a ground that is equally spellbinding. Overall, a magical album, not easily classified or categorised, but simply one that can be called music of genuine quality, emotional depth that is composed, arranged and played to perfection.

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.

TODD GRUBBS: Combination
CD One of the best melodic metal albums to come out of the USA , this really captures the perfect blend of metal riffs, storming electric lead guitar, dynamic and excellently structured vari-paced tracks, a vast sound with massive layers of guitars, occasional synth and incredibly cohesive drum and bass work. Every track is a gem with purpose, emotion, thought, delicacy and all-out attack. 100% satisfying and a massively strong album of great quality and scorching guitar work.

MICHAEL KNIGHT: Dreamscapes
CD £ 9.95 Right from the start you know this is no ordinary rock/metal guitar dominated CD as the inventive rhythm section powers along allowing maximum space for the electric guitarist to soar andscorch, showcasing a wide range of burning solos, dynamic and well crafted, which give maximum enjoyment without being self-indulgent. At this point you realise that this guy can playguitar and compose, with a vengeance. Track 2 begins with a tastefully plucked guitar, calming the mood down from the previous powerhouse, before a ringing electric guitar soars over the top of this and the restrained rhythm section, with full-on sustain leading to what sounds like double-tracked and then red hot fuzz guitar leads into a mighty roar of electric guitars as the rhythms accelerate slightly and then comes a scorching solo.Phenomenal stuff and a classic track. Track 3 starts off with a similarly light feel as, very quickly, the on-fire electric guitars crash into the proceedings and produce a set of multi-layered, multi-textured guitar passages, carefully mixed to create an impression of guitars on all levels of the composition,from underlying rhythm, dual lead sections and storming solos that fly in and out of the main musical core, but again, it's carefully played and layered to give great dynamic qualities to the music with the, as ever, bass and drums perfectly complementing the mile-high layers of guitars. Track 4 returns to serious intensity overload as the thick guitar riffs storm their way through the piece. The important thing about these tracks is the way they are all proper compositions that are inventive, dynamic, powerful, varied, full of ideas, ever-changing, never over-indulgent, superbly produced and just incredibly good to hear, over and over again. In my book this is one of the top 3 rock guitar instrumental (subsection:metal) albums I have ever heard and walks over the likes of Vai,MacAlpine, Kotzen, etc. This guy should be huge and if you only ever buy one rock guitar instrumental CD, make it this one, you won't regret it. It's got light, shade, power, dynamics,incredible playing - the works!

MICHAEL KNIGHT: Mechanica Diablo CD£12.99
Here we go again - the two schools of thought inherent in this building. Phil, our resident guitarist, is not impressed, citing it as "eighties" styled guitar-rock and going on about technique and stuff that guitarists talk about. Myself, I listen to what it sounds like, to the feel it has on me and the effect the music induces, and I say that it's just phenomenal stuff. I mean to say, it's so powerful. Right from the off, molten riffs, muscular bass, drum rhythms and searing lead guitar work. After a brief intro we get right into the heart of the beast as the whole musical cauldron powers up and this massive sea of riffs and solos is unleashed to somewhat awesome extent, passages flying by and the whole thing twisting and turning effortlessly as the whole guitar panorama spirals upwards and onwards. Track after track reveals a set of vari-paced compositions that all possess melody as well as might, intensity and clarity, produced to perfection, with moments of delicacy standing next to moments of sheer strength. With Knight playing practically everything that you hear, save for a plethora of guest guitarists doing solo spot on 'Pandemonium In The Mausoleum', this is exciting stuff throughout and a superb follow-up to the excellent debut album. Instrumental guitar rock on fire and ready to burn.

TRAVIS LARSON BAND: Travis Larson Band CD£12.99
First album from a new name to me but definitely a name to watch as this is one seriously hot instrumental rock guitar trio. Fourteen tracks allow the musicians all the room they need to show you that they can definitely whip up a storm while still retaining that vital sense of melody to make the songs flow so well. That, allied to a fantastic set of arrangements where dynamics plays a crucial role, means that this is music that positively glows. The average track length is around four minutes and this is absolutely perfect, distilling the electric guitar-driven essence that is this red-hot trio into one fantastic composition after another, ensuring no self-indulgence, and plenty of expressive playing. Many of the tracks fly along on a wave of riffs and rhythms but rarely would you label it as "metal" although it decidedly rocks. Then you get a track like 'Nameless' that takes a more languid path yet remains strong but builds into a swirling storm of a track nevertheless, the guitar work so full of feeling while the rhythm section seem to hold it all together effortlessly. Special mention must be made of the production which is crisp, clear, sharp and crystal clear. But, above all, it si the lead guitar work that shines and it's all about feeling, which every track on this album has by the bucketload, as it largely drives a rock guitar path through some strong tunes and superior playing all round - a magnificent debut for sure

TRAVIS LARSON BAND: Suspension CD£12.99
The second album and a more varied rock guitar instrumental album with the guitar to the fore but more emphasis placed on a pace and building the tracks up to a height only to take it all down and start again. Also more emphasis is placed on the whole melodic feel and fullness of the tracks. As a result, you have an album featuring strong but mid-paced electric guitar work where time travels more slowly but the solid feel still exists. Occasionally even bluesy, this is still an album that rocks , but this time with melodies that are slightly more intricate and complex, yet losing none of the flowing elements that made so much of th first album such a cohesive success.- a strong set of tunes with excellent production qualities, so much so that even I noticed the bass and drums work along the way. This is more sensibly paced instrumental rock that mixes rock and fusion well, with some spiralling guitar soloing throughout. Solid, inventive, accessible, excellent playing and writing, this is mid-paced dynamic instrumental guitar-rock at its finest.

PROJECT 7:Lost For Words/Birthdeathinfinity Each CD£13.99
A new super trio hits the scene, super not because they are well known names, but because they have produced 2 absolutely storming albums of instrumental guitar-bass-drums music. 'Lost' is the first album and opens in fine full-on fashion with some scorching electric guitar work that positively goes stellar in the heat as the thunderous electric bass and superbly produced drums sound real tight, driving this 6 min instro as a hail of riffs and solos fly past. It's not cliched heavy metal and it sure as hell rocks. Track 2 features a slightly funkier rhythm but don't be put off by that because it's still absolutely solid and over this you'll find wave after wave of red hot electric guitar leads and wicked rhythm guitar backdrops as the firepower continues, never too fast, technical or flashy and always steaming; definitely essential listening for the Satriani/Macalpine/Goodsall legion of admirers. The compositions are soundly structured, excellently played and produced and always with an eye on the melody content, ensuring real tracks and not just aimless jams of flashy expertise with no feeling. Track 3 is slightly slower, bluesier and stretched out, with some superb drums work that ranges from quiet to crashing as the guitar layers vary from gorgeous slides through biting solo to spacious restraint, all with a sense of edge and building to excellent effect over the near 10 minute running time, going positively supernova around the 4 min mark but still at the same pace, although gathering intensity and firepower all the way. Track 4 rocks once more while the 8 min track 5 starts as a tender melodic tune that gradually builds and layers with some incendiary flowing lead guitar work cutting right through as the slow but perfectly placed rhythm section pours forth. Track 9, as inventive and consistent as all the rest, is another near 9 min rock workout where the guitar just shines like a star in the night sky as it burns its way through the airwaves over the ever dependable rhythm section. Overall, a mix of rock and fusion that never conforms to the excesses of either genre, is as good as the best past musicians in the field and a 100% excellent debut album.
The latest album is even more sensational, with the addition of keyboards and guitar synth filling out the sound even more. The album opens with an 11 min track of such fiery intensity recalling the best and most unforgettable dynamic power of the 'Inner M.Flame'Birds Of Fire' era Mahavishnu Orchestra only here we get some huge muscular riffs and spiralling solos substituting for the sheer speed of the M.O. and this is just incredible stuff as the guitars fly out in all directions over the solid rhythm bed and bass/synth undercurrents, the electric bass pounding away to skull-crunching effect as the guitars soar high above to breathtaking extent, a classic way to open any album and one of the best guitar tracks around -sheer class, quality pace and power as the guitar roars into life. for 11+ white hot minutes. After this, track 2 sensibly takes it down to gentle tune-like status as the soft drums, undulating bas, kybds and relaxed melodic guitar work weave a gorgeous musical spell, all very emotional and heartfelt. Track 3 rocks, track 4 builds to great effect as the guitar gathers fire on a more bluesy but still cutting composition allowing neat room for the guitar and bass, track 5 covers the Yardbirds classic 'For Your Love' over 7+ fiery minutes, largely retaining the structure of the song in melody terms but really making it work as an instrumental in this red-hot context as the guitar tears out the lead lines and the drums propel the song along; The 10+ min title track alternates between restrained, dynamic and full-on power in an almost Holdsworth way only dirtier, more effective and with great feeling as the track carves its vari-paced progress. Track 7 is a restrained ballad mixing acoustic and electric guitars for 3+ mins while the final track is like a nuclear force instrumental mix of all the great guitarists you could name as the piece has a rhythm section that stomps its lead lined boots all over you while the guitar is a positive tornado tearing out everything in its path with sizzling solos and crunching grungy molten riffing, threatening to destroy your speakers at any minute as the intensity builds and builds and you swear that everything is about to set on fire at any minute, ending the album as magnificently as it began and if the first was 100% excellent, this is 200% excellent and one of the all-time great guitar albums without any doubt whatsoever.

SH'MANTRA: Cornucopia CD
An all-time classic of psychedelic-progressive jamming style compositions from a newe Australasian band whose music will have you coming back for more, time and time again. I've played this at least 6 times fro pleasure before I even got down to thinking about the review - it really is that good. Musically ther are twin lead electric guitars, keyboards, used more as a textural role, bass and drums, with a very occasional vocal. It goes through territories that glimpse echoes of classic early '70's Pink Floyd, 'Spunk Rock' oriented Man, riffing and flying King Crimson guitars and structures, and no douct more that you will spot as you go along for the ride. The guitars ring, chime, riff and power their way through a remarkable, accessible, melodic, powerful and dynamic set of compositions with a huge sound but operating at areas from reflective to a full-on guitars-driven cauldron of sdrenaline-racing excitement that will have you leaping around the room at the sheer overwhelming enjoyment of this music, which is at its best turned way up loud and watch the walls shake. The bass work throughout is so muscular while the drums underpin and drive the tracks along. When the band really let loose, this is one of the finest sounds in the musical universe. Yet another new band creating a debut album that is just remarkable without a poor second on the album and one that you simply can't afford to miss.

SH-MAN-TRA: Sub_Floating CD
Third album and it's back to the quality of the first, with three instrumental compositions that, from five to over twenty minutes in length, are just superb examples of psychedelic electric guitar-led jamming and improvising at a fuzzed-out, acid-raddled best. The first couple of tracks build and brood, developing more strength on the thirteen minute 'Clam' but this is all to prepare you for the mind-bending excursion you're about to take through time and space on the twenty minute 'Head Hurts', where a volley of shots from the band surge and drive as the rock-laced jamming flies to the stars, only then to put the brakes on just before halfway for a reflective slice of space-travel shoegazing as lone guitars ring out and echo to the fifteen minute point when this hard phased percussive rhythm kicks in as the sonorous but distant guitar tones slide behind, more guitars and bass adding to the soundscapes as the piece builds and eventually fades to a slowly reflective end. Overall, substantial, enjoyable, nothing that's going to blow your head off, but as instrumental psychedelic jamming goes, creative, enjoyable and solidly delivered.

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