CROSSOVER ALBUMS:
SIMON HOUSE:Yassassim CD
A magnificent instrumental album featuring 62 mins of violins and synths with an immense range of textures, paces and dynamics as the multi-layered soundscapes weave intricate and melodic webs of sound throughout the album and very often the violins and synths blend in and around each other to such a wondrous effect that it is difficult to separate one from the other. The title track features swirling violins and synths over an electronic percussion cascading rhythm alternating with brief more orchestral but quieter pasages for over 7 mins while 'Orion' starts off with a gorgeous set of flowing electronic textures and layers conjuring a vast open sound that goes on for miles but constantly changes its soundscape centre as the piece progresses and you are drawn ever forward into its magnificent musical world. 'Northlands' is a mix of the more orchestral multi-layers and some powerful rhythmic passages, almost the opposite to track one. 'Omedlor Rides Again' is centred more around the synths and percussion with some exquisite melodies and some amazing phased violin, conjuring images of some of the best work from that great and long-ignored musician, Nash The Slash. 'Laithwaite Star Drive' is altogether more powerful in a similar vein tot heopener but more crystalline and somehow with the same intensity of sound layers at the same time leading to a most magical effect with an almost electric guitar feel to the mid-section passages. 'Neuroscape' starts with spacey synth sounds before sequenced synth and electronic percussion rhythms come in, the violins and synths go up a notch and the whole swirling and surging melodic mass cruises effortlessly through the airwaves making for one astoundingly brilliant track. '|Sherwood' is very grandiose with a soundtrack feel to it but very much with the synth feel and sound of vintage Tangerine Dream or Vangelis on a splendid piece of music with a huge synth sound and a synth melody line that will leave not a dry eye in the house to any synth music fans. 'Oldayze' ends a stunning album on a note of dyanmic and powerful beauty as the synths swell up and rise like a phoenix from the depths of the track creating a breathtaking effect as banks of synths stretch out for miles in all directions. Truly a most creative and luscious album of beautiful instrumental textures.
SIMON HOUSE: Spiral Galaxy Revisited CD
Now this is good - very good. There are 4 Hawkwind covers, notably 'Spiral Galaxy', 'Forge Of Vulcan', 'Hall Of The Mountain Grill' and 'Chronoglide Skyway', which should intrigue and delight you before you even put it on. But, musically, this is a really chilled-out, blissful but solid sounding set of instrumental music with loads of flowing synth layers and some neat violin textures. The synths are the clear winners when it comes to musical space time, but the whole feel of the pieces is a good deal more organic than on the 'Yasassim' album with much more cohesion and flow as the tracks soar and glide. It's just an album that you put on at any time of the day when you want something that's going to provide the right amount of ambience and interest without being 'wallpaper' music at one end, or too symphonic at the other. Excellently produced and played, it's highly recommended to synth fans, space-rock and ambient music fans alike.
KC: Les Chants De Maldoror CD
Six instrumental tracks averaging 12 minutes a-piece, from a band featuring blazing electric guitars, thunderous electric bass and drums, only denser, more intense, complex, heavy, huge-sounding and a simply awesome musical force. We're talking '90's King Crimson and beyond as the reference points, but this group manage to equal and even beat the sheer unadulterated power that the '90's Crimso conjured out of their similar line-up. There's plenty of spiralling, Fripp-esque introductions before the band emerge to deliver an immediate killer blow or let things smoulder before lighting the beacon. Track after track bathes you in a total of 70 minutes of genuinely killer music, music to which you are absolutely riveted for the duration. The band composes so well, allowing nothing to stand still or become boring, putting new ingredients into the melting pot all the time, the presence of a band set on kill on the first track or the scorching electric guitar lead on the second, but everything with this awesomely heavy and utterly superb production bringing out he best in the band and the compositions. As a mighty statement of intent, this actually knocks seven bells out of even the great Crimso themselves and if you want nuclear force prog-rock-fusion as only Crimso, and maybe the very best Mahavishnu at a push, can play it, then you simply have to own this album - it will blow you away.
STEVE LOFKIN: Guitarist For Sale CD
A seventy-five minute album, culminating in an eighteen minute track that is just out of this world, from a guitarist playing what is essentially spacey music-described as "shimmering and glissening guitar works" - and the effect is to die for, as you hear guitars that sound like guitars and guitars that sound like synthesizers, plus glissando guitar and more, on an album that is simply sublime. The eighteen minute track, 'Apogee', oozes gorgeousness as its layers shimmer and sparkle, guitars slowly flowing as a mass of string-like and cosmic synth-like soundscapes fill the musical arena with a sound that is so expansive and so beautiful, you are transfixed to its qualities for the duration, But this is so much more than space music - the layers are varied, the guitar sounds flow while sustained lines soar and glide. Overall, a track that has all the qualities you want from slowly unfolding, varied, enjoyable, atmospheric cosmic music played with passion and purpose. Elsewhere, the opener, 'The Sky At Night', has an altogether simpler sound, with just a single guitar layer (or a bit more) sounding altogether even more ethereal and light, music that relaxes and yet holds your attention, music that has a feel to it as the guitar line soars ever onwards, sounding like a guitar, but with an electronic texture. 'Soleil Noir', as its name suggests, is a darker affair, this time almost entirely dark, deep and haunting space soundscapes that sound completely electronic and conjure images of Stearns' 'Lyra', at four minutes, could have done with more. 'All Swell That End Swell' returns to the simplicity of the opener, with tasty cosmic guitar lines just hanging in the ether, slowly fading, the occasional hint of backdrop barely noticeable as the sustains swell and fade, glissandos come and go. 'Cycles' is the most "synthesizer"-sounding piece on the album with all sorts of layers and textures giving the music real depth, but above all, just a fantastic soundscape as the string-like passages mix with the distant guitar chords to produce a track of sheer overwhelming beauty, nearly nine minutes of bliss. On the eleven minute 'Traffic', the album's only real rhythm, a buried, thudding heartbeat of one, is introduced while, above that, a sea of seriously swarming guitars, conjures visions of Fripp & Eno only way harsher sounding, although still with some of the trademark Fripp sound dives as the squall of textures, drives and drones, charting a seriously intense yet deceptively angelic sea of electric guitar layers, and all the while the robotic rhythm at the very bottom of the mix, continues unabated. Another simpler, more guitar-sounding track in 'On First Sight Of The Red Cross', had me recalling the solo guitar track from Floyd's 'Zabriskie Point' with a Gilmour-like feel to its six minute solo splendours. Then the eighteen minute piece, and finally, 'Cycles (guitar version)' where the gorgeous track takes on a wholly different but no less splendid shape, as the "synth" lines give way to guitar sustains, glissandos and bass undercurrents, a view of magnificent proportions seen from a different angle. Overall, this is phenomenal stuff, beautifully played and created, full of warmth, depth and feeling and original too - relaxing but substantial, engaging and guaranteed hours of joy on repeat listening.
MOKSHA: Moksha DBLCD
The synth music project from Ozric Tentacles' synths man, Seaweed, and a guy named Quiller. The result is a CD that is nothing short of sensational. Owing much to the likes of Zorch & Tim Blake, there is not one track on here that is less than engaging, most of it absolutely riveting. Take the track 'Trans Synpase Express' as an example - in this superb composition you will hear 'Crystal Machine'-style Tim Blake, 'On The Run' style Pink Floyd, and first album-era Jean-Philippe Rykiel, as heady and full-sounding a combination of psychedelic synths music as you'll hear as eleven minutes of magical music fills the air on what is a simply fantastic track. Elsewhere the album is full of flowing melodies, loads and loads of synth swoops and space effects in a space-rock/psych style, and the whole thing wreaks of seventies from start to finish, and that's a point in its favour that means it's sure to find a place in your heart. Like the aforementioned artists, it's not overly complex or layered, but the heady combination of rhythms, melodies and space synths just SOUNDS wonderful as the album unfolds, taking you right back to the "glory days" once more. Across the two CD's, you'll hear a consistent musical stew that cooks and simmers to perfection, full-sounding with plenty of emotion, feel and atmosphere, space synth swoops to die for, the "spirit and sound" of Basil Brooks & Tim Blake always watching over you, and a sea of superbly flowing music that you'll treasure for a long time to come.
MYTHOS: Edgar Allen Poe DBLCD
A near two hour instrumental album inspired by and dedicated to the works of the legendary author. It's a huge-sounding work that is, by and large, firmly in the "synth" music mould of things, but it's also got a commanding "symphonic" quality to it so that you could well imagine it having quite an appeal to anyone into the more symphonic, keyboards-led side of prog-rock. With tracks from four to over ten minutes long, the album is a rich blend of strings, synths, choirs, keyboards and programmed rhythms that provide a strong, almost orchestral feel, to many of the tracks, while sparingly used but so effective lead electric guitar, provides an additional, solid, prog-rock feel to the tracks concerned. The overall flavour is very majestic and it's one of those albums that, turned up loud, becomes a huge work of symphonic, melodic grandeur. The longest track that ends the first CD is a largely synths-only track, rhythm-free, but full- sounding cosmic music that has a really rich flavour to it as the rolling layers of melodic space music spiral upwards to end the CD on a climax that, despite being without the programmed or sequenced rhythms, works perfectly. This thematic and similar sounding synth realm continues on CD2 in the opening track where the sequencers, strings, electric guitars, melodic synths and electronic drums all combine to kick things off with a simple but full-sounding slice of solid electronic-symphonic-prog. After this it's back into the more orchestral-meets-synth styled compositions with massive expansive soundscapes and towering melodies, the proggy flavours creeping in on occasion. Overall, as a synth work of grand proportions in terms of its style, it's nothing that's going to break any new ground, but it well done and a very satisfying listen.
SPIRAL REALMS: Crystal Jungles of Eos DOUBLE CD
SPIRAL REALMS: Trip To G9 DOUBLE CD
For those that don't know, this project is the brainchild of ex - High Tide / Hawkwind / Bowie violinist Simon House.
'G9', the first, is predominantly synths based with a mile wide and varied set of sound textures. The opening track has a huge wall of thick sonic landscapes that are incredibly powerful as various melodic bits rise up from the maelstrom and synths thunder, cascade and swoop all over the place with an incredibly resonant sound that booms all around the room. This leads in to more thunderous space effects, like the inner workings of some huge interstellar craft. Then a mass siren of synths heralds the arrival of track 3 which builds and builds into a symphonic introduction with electronics flying all around as a soaring melody line trips along the top of the powerful undercurrent and a scorching violin line sizzles away carrying the whole piece into a beautiful but still powerful new landscape, then comes a welcome relief from the intensity in the form of a grandiose synth line. An electronic rhythm begins and the melody line plus another huge set of synth layers takes off for destinations unknown. From there on the remaining tracks develop and carry on the variation and range so far heard. This is mighty good stuff. 'Eos' is more structured with the same level of power but with more obvious melodic and rhythmic content taking the concept a stage further and into what is, I suppose, a more accessible musical area. Nevertheless, it's still a gem of a CD and if you like one you will definitely like the other!
Both CD's are now reissued as double CD's - on each album, the bonus disc will consist of each album as it was originally presented to Cleopatra by Simon House, before Len Del Rio added extra music to the albums, essentially being solo versions of each album as they were originally played. In the case of the one I've heard so far - 'Trip To G9' - the core tracks are obviously similar to what you already know but it's so easy to see how Del Rio added so much to the music that House delivered, and at least you now get the chance to hear what it was all meant to sound like from House's point of view.
Now updated, I've also heard the second disc for the 'Eos' album and it seems to me that what it's all about is a matter of musical purity, by which I mean that you realise that, House's feel for the music resulted in compositions of extreme warmth and a wondrous mix of synths and strings, electronics allied to occasional rhythms and huge panoramas of synthesized soundscapes. The "extras" inputted by del Rio, you realise, are really largely superfluous to the original music and, if anything, in the light of hearing the original versions (assuming that IS what they are - they're called remixes on the covers and no clues are provided but I'm only going on what House told me on the 'phone), actually detract from what it was originally meant to be - so, marginally it has to be said, worth buying if you do have the original albums.
U I BLUE: Songbird's Cry CD
Wow - this one's got more influences running through it than you can shake a stick at. For a start it inhabits a musical territory where the lead singer from the Cranberries has turned into Enya, where the quiet melodic calm of new-age electro-acoustic splendours are turned into progressive heaven, where the mellotron seas wash on the shores, where the compositions rise and soar in celestial fashion yet are infused with solid arrangements and melodies and where the atmospheres are rich and heady as the songs unfold, the heavenly female vocal spreads her wings above arrangements that are solid enough to be prog-rock but actually sound more "ambient" than that term implies. It's a bit like a cross between All About Eve & White Willow in many ways, as the lead instruments are, in the main, synths, piano and acoustic guitars, but there's a decidedly exotic quality to the arrangements, all delivered with a strong rhythmic backbone from the bass and drums. Occasional male vocal merely serves as an added extra dimension, a welcome one at that, but by and large this is a blend of light and dark, delicacy and strength, acoustic and symphonic, that, over fifteen tracks, works a treat.
V/A: Drum Nation Vol 2 CD
Just the sort of title to scare the willies out of most of you as you run out screaming "noooooo…..not a drum album!!!!" Well, come back now because it's NOT A DRUM ALBUM - well, not what you're thinking anyway. For, dear reader, 'tis an album that focuses on some of the most powerful, dynamic and jaw-dropping drummers around to day, all set within the context of the bands and projects on which they play. As a result, all tracks revolve around a prog-rock or fusion line-up of drums, electric bass and synths/keys, the majority, but not all, also having an electric guitarist or two in there somewhere. So, is it prog-rock? Definitely - the opening trilogy of tracks could almost be Emerson, Lake & Palmer set in some instrumental, alternative universe - oh, that reminds me - it's a completely instrumental CD. Is it fusion? Hell, yeh - there's some inspirational playing throughout this album? But is it any good? Is the pope Catholic? Of course it's good - jeez, it's actually red hot and on fire as track after amazing track unleashes an assault on your ears from which you won't come down for a week. Much of the albumcan rightfully be heralded as explosive, with some of the most fiery and smouldering work you'll hear coming from a variety of groups and players. Drummers include Portnoy, Mastelotto, Bozzio, Donati, Morgenstein, Philips and more, while other players include Mike Keneally, Peter Banks, Trent Gardner, Billy Sheehan, Phil Upchurch, Derek Sherinian, Brett Garsed, Alex Skolnick, Michael Manring, Andy West, Robert Berry, Igor Khoroshev, Michael Lee Firkins and more. Trust me, this si a stunning album without a less than amazing track on it and an absolute treat for anyone into ultra powerful prog and red hot fusion.
AMBIENT/TRANCE/TECHNO, etc:
ARTHUR LOVES PLASTIC: Love Or Perish CD
Latest studio offering into 2005 for leading DJ and musical pioneer Bev Stanton whose one-woman crusade (plus assorted guest vocalists) into the chunky ambient, techno and houseworlds of what is essentially commercial dance music with original twists, continues to take the listener into an ever higher state of euphoria, on this set of thirteen compositions that last between just two and five minutes each. The majority of tracks segue into each other to give the feel and sound of what is essentially a down-tempo, blessed out chill-out groove that never lets go until you reach the end. With a wealth of musical ideas, some of the finest, crunchiest and crystal clear sounding rhythmic bases of great range and variation, that I've heard in ages, nearly every track is a rhythmic tour-de-force of solid ambient grooves. She manages to take economy of time into a whole new realm, with nothing outstaying its welcome - just the opposite if anything - while the outpourings of swirling synths, space synth swoops, deep synth backdrops, keyboard distances and, on the songs, some superb female vocals to add the icing on the cake. It's a big, beefy sound and production, bringing out just a glimpse of what may well be in store right around the corner, as the short-ish tracks move effortlessly through moods, feelings and atmospheres, to produce some truly crunching rhythms and hugely expansive instrumentation. Singling out highlights would be pointless as the album sails from one high to the next with not a less than riveting second on the whole, rhythmic-led trip. The arrangement and production are top notch, so much so that a "busy sounding" track such as the three and a half minute 'I Am A Clone works perfectly as every component of the mix is revealed to quite awesome extent. Overall, it's a bona-fide, rhythmic, full-sounding, spellbinding winner of an album that I could just go and play again right now, if I didn't have to move on. Stunning!!
V/A: Futurexiter CD
Brand new offering from the label and organisation behind the excellent Sunfish and N-Tropic albums released just over a year ago. This is a new collection with all tracks exclusive to this CD and it features a wide variety of ambient/chill-out trance music, with vari-speed rhythms courtesy of an arsenal of synths, sequencers, electronic drums and programmed beats, while above all that each band produces a wealth of invention whether melodies, blissed-out chillscapes, anthemic songs or languid but solid ambient dub territories. The album opens in spectacular fashion with an eight minute live workout from Sunfish, with a sea of rhythms from synths, bass synths, sequencers and electronic drums, all driving along a seriously addictive slice of acid trance, but with the added extra special ingredient of guitar, or what sounds like a guitar, roaring away alongside the huge expanse of synths that are flying, swooping, soaring and driving all around the polyrhythmic foundations, a sampled female voice whispering a single line that just adds to the mesmerising effect of the whole thing - a truly stunning track and worth the price of the album on its own. Following this, UV React, N-tropic and The Dumnoni all provide tracks in a similar musical vein, all equally as consistent, while the Spatialize track is a pure slice of liquid ambient dub that is perfectly positioned to provide a smoking break from the waves of rhythms that have just passed by. Trimorphus have six minutes of ''Theory Of The State' set in languid, deep ambient mode as the track rolls by, while Rexy Music give us five minutes of booming electronic drum rhythms, echoed sound effect backdrops, a wicked bassline and sampled ethnic chanting, all very hypnotic in an almost shamanic vein. Neuro System & The Collectiv provide the album's only songs, one with female vocal, one with male vocal, but you have to take your hat off to the fact that, as anthemic ambient-trance songs, they both sound just so addictive, it'd be hard not to get caught up in their infectious rhythms and driving melodies. The album ends with a five minute slice of spacey electronic ambience that finishes things off in quite blissful, almost amorphous, but warm and mesmerising, waves of slowly unfolding cosmic ambience. Overall, thoroughly consistent on every level, mostly addictive and highly recommended.
CANTERBURY/FUSION:
DAEVID ALLEN: Self Initiation CD
Largely instrumental, hour-long album of three lengthy and one shorter tracks that are the sort of heavenly, blissful, rhythm-free cosmic excursions that this brilliant musician has created through the years. Using effectively just synths, glissando guitars and "sounds", with the addition of Gilli Smyth's space-whispers and Allen's chanting as part of the overall musical texture in certain passages, the album is in no way a collection of drones, as is particularly evidenced by the sixteen minute 'Past Lives' where a soaring, echoed electric guitar lead flies above the backdrop of expansive glissando guitars, deep rivers of gliding bass and synth textures to give even greater density to the sound while at the same time, the whole thing remaining positively inspirational and uplifting in the most warm-feeling, ambient of ways. As what is essentially, a space music album, it's one of his finest works,
DAEVID ALLEN: Live In 1988 - The Return DBLCD
Excellent sound quality, this is composed of tracks from two concerts in London and Toulon, and showcases an extraordinary set of what is essentially live and acoustic songs and instrumentals from a somewhat novel line-up of glissando & acoustic guitars, saxes and flutes courtesy of the, for the first time in nearly 14 years, reunited Didier Malherbe, plus tables, violin, harmonium and percussion, with all of them on chanting and Allen on lead vocals. As a set of songs goes, it's classic Allen, firmly in story-telling role, firmly in spiritual guidance, firmly in vintage Allen mode, hypnotising the audience with his lyrical wit
and wisdom, with a joy and zeal that is quite infectious, if this is a side of the multi-faceted musician, singer and all round eccentric, that you enjoy.
BRIAN HOPPER: If Ever I Am CD
With guest appearances from fellow Soft Machinists Hugh Hopper & Robert Wyatt, this is the sound of a somewhat superb Canterbury-music styled solo album, opening in fine style with a languid, typically seventies Soft Machine rhythm courtesy of gentle bass, solid drums and haunting electric piano, while the lead work from Brian Hopper's sax is nothing short of sublime, and when it fades at just short of four minutes, you wish it could have gone on for three times that length. The six minute 'Pieman Cometh' features Wyatt's unique vocals and, yet again, you melt as you hear that wonderful voice come sailing in on top of the track, the musical arrangement sounding like something more akin to Hugh Hopper's 'Hoppertunity Box' than anything as flow goes into shooting off at all angles then back to flow, At a shade under nine minutes, 'Two To Tutu Too' is a slice of chunky fusion, with full-bodied saxes taking the lion's share of the leads over Gong-like percussion and bass, similarly paced, a backdrop of space electronics and a jazzy electric guitar lead entering on occasion - a sublime track that, like the rest so far, is so addictive, all you want to do is play it again when it's over. The four minute 'Sometimes It Is' is just sax, bass and piano and is absolutely GORGEOUS while the six minute 'Akamalaka' that follows, sounds like the sort of Canterbury fusion track that would have been so at home on albums by Soft Machine such as 'Seven' or 'Bundles'. 'Hope For Happiness' revolves around soaring waves of cornet (I think) while the whole sound takes on a distinctly Asian feel with chanting, sitars and bongos to name but three, the sound gradually filling with more and more layers as the piece continues, becoming very hypnotic and almost mantra-like. The eight minute 'Tarzapark Rarka' is more electronic sounding with the lead work mainly from a sea of droning synths and saxes where it's hard to tell what's what, while some sparing cosmic synth string-like backdrop provides the atmosphere over a chunky drum rhythm, another track that really works a treat. Four further tracks, all of equally consistent quality and playing, complete the picture on this 95% instrumental album, and one that is a winner for anyone into old Soft Machine in particular, and Canterbury Fusion in general.
EURO-ROCK/CONTEMPORARY:
EMBRYO: Steig'aus _ Remaster CD
An album from the Krautrock archives whose release has largely gone unnoticed which is sad, because it is one of the finest, essentially proggy jazz-rock albums to come out of the German '70's revolution. Featuring a line-up that concentrated on mellotrons,. kybds, guitars, bass and percussion, this opens with the brilliant 'Radio Marrakesch/Orient Express' with some fantastic playing of great emotional quality from the musicians, conjuring a train ride across open, sunny, hot Indian plains, with some great melodic passages from the band as a whole and some wondrous mellotron colorations along the way. Then comes the relaxed beauty of the kybds dominated 'Dreaming Girls' with its gorgeous piano and violin work. Finally the 'Call' suite which gives space to all the musicians without any actual solo showcasing, but a flowing set of melodies and rhythms with sterling work from the kybds, perc, violin and bass. Overall, one of the best melodic fusion albums with proggy overtones, to emanate from the '70's and guaranteed to find a place in the heart of most fusion fans who want their music to be less guitar-based and highly spiced.
ESKATON: Fiction CD
After the awesome sounds of the debut vinyl album, 'Ardeur', their second album appeared on the scene with the rawness replaced by an altogether smoother sound, something that made the Magma fans at the time, see this as a lesser album. Well, now it's been released on CD as a remastered production, the track list has been changed to give a much more dynamic flow to the music and, with the addition of five tracks and twenty-six minutes of previously unreleased tracks, now comes across as every bit as essential listening to any Magma fan. The opening six and a half minute instrumental, 'FX' immediately showcases the instrumental prowesses of the band as a compositional and playing force with which to be reckoned, the pounding electric bass thundering under the lead keys and synths work while crunchy drums power it all forward and the guitar chording completes the picture. Following this, it's onto the four minutes of 'Les Deux Trucs' and here we're solidly into classic mid-late seventies Magma territory with the trademark growling electric bass, electric piano chords that ring out, drums that are so solid, while a combination of dual female and lead male vocals provide the icing on the cake, as the lead guitar scythes its way through as main instrumental soloist over what is a full, powerful and dynamic sound. Just short of five minutes long, 'Automute', previously sounding a touch weak, now comes alive with a vengeance, as the remaster reveals a sound that is crystal clear and SO powerful, as the high-flying female vocals from Paule Kleynnaert & Amara Tahir propel the song above a backing that is simply sensational as the rhythm section fires up and the synths and keys and guitar provide a triple threat attack that will have the hairs standing on the back of your neck - heaven with a difference for Magma fans. From there on in, the main album reveals track after track that, while heavily Magma influenced, has elements of an almost 'Canterbury' nature to the music with plenty of soaring lead work from electric piano, synths and electric guitar, all the while with the rhythm section flying underneath and providing the rock solid foundations the music exudes. What I had forgotten about this album was just how much instrumental space there was devoted to the band, with the vocalists working a treat in flying Magma fashion but used, to a degree, more sparingly for maximum effect. Of the five previously unreleased tracks, the four minute 'Le Musicien' from a year later than the main album, features some fantastic electric bass and guitar work over crisp sounding rhythms and magical harmony vocals, that trademark mid-paced Magma-esque rhythm pushing it forward. The final four tracks, taken from an album recorded in '85 but never issued, are all excellent and give the female vocalists a lot more presence, which comes as a most welcome addition to the earlier more instrumental main album. With keys, synths and guitars leading the way, a tremendous production throughout and heavenly vocals, this is a must for fans of Magma and similarly styled bands.
GUITAR MUSIC/GREAT GUITARISTS:
CONFUSION: Genesis CD
Instrumental fusion music outfit's second album, and it has to be said that it's really strong stuff. A trio of electric guitar, bass and drums, occasionally aided by synths, this is a nine track album which proudly wears its influences on its sleeve, predominantly Holdsworth, with bits of Gary Boyle, Pat Metheny and more I could not just figure or recall. But, either way, it's got some soaring, melodic compositions running through it, with variation and consistency being maintained throughout. From slowly atmospheric fusion through rolling rides to attack and bite, this is a class jazz-rock album and one to delight all fans of the genre who love passionately played guitar work, a rhythm section that can fit any mood with ease and dexterity, and ensemble playing that works a treat.
CONFUSION: Enter Alone CD
Brand new studio album and it's a whole lot more powerful than before - here is a band on fire and proud of the fact. In addition to the marked Holdsworth-isms, you'll now hear things that remind you variously of Return To Forever, Brand X and Isotope, with some outstanding electric guitar leads, synth and keys textures, occasional acoustic moments for clarity of mind and soul, and a rhythm section mixed and recorded to jaw-dropping degree as the bassist sounds like he's playing the thing right next to you and even the drums sound crisp, sharp and crunchy. Overall, as electric guitar dominated fusion music goes, this is outstanding jazz-rock in every sense of the term.
NEIL ZAZA: Melodica CD
Been a while since we heard from this guitarist, but he's come back with a vengeance - a fifteen track, seventy-three minute studio album that, right from the start, lets you know that this is going to be a very special instrumental rock guitar-based offering. You only have to hear the magical melodies allied to some stunning riffs over a sea of synths and electric guitars, all given the thunder that rock deserves, but with the passion of quality writing and the drive of a well arranged and produced red-hot rhythm section, as the guitar work soars and solos to ever greater heights on a track from which it's hard, never mind the fact that you don't want, to come down, five and a half minutes of heaven. But, amazingly, it just gets better - the next track, 'All My Life' climbs even higher from the start before suddenly dropping down to choppy rhythms, sequencing and acoustic guitars as this searing, fluid electric lead just cruises in and the moment is electric. But then the track gathers more guitars and slowly starts to rise, before falling down once more and this process continues apace on a track that will have you so captivated it's untrue. This, then, with odd moments of symphonic flavours or rousing rocking along the way, is the way the album is, representing a thing of absolute eloquence in a much overcrowded field, a guitarist who can write some of the most stunning instrumental music and fill it with warmth, passion and pleasure, without at any point sacrificing the rock element along the way, even when the melodies pour out like molasses, and when you get to his cover of Dan Reed Network's 'Forgot To make You Mine', the piece just thunders like never before, a mix of bluesy, rocky and funky flying from the speakers as an instrumental rendition sounds positively organic. Overall, a stunning album by any rock guitar instrumental music standards.
