The Machine – Dire

I previously reviewed their previous double LP that was released by Nasoni records by this very Colour Haze inspired band from Holland. They are back with their 2^nd double LP that has about 70mins of music.

The opening track is great with some very Hendrix-like guitar and a very funky track. I love this song and he has a nice effect on his guitar as well. This young kid can really rip it up.

Sunbow is next and a long track at over 9 mins. It starts with only guitar before bass and drums kick in and the Colour Haze guitar riff begins. It is funny in the old days you would say a band like this sounded like Kyuss but then Colour Haze, altered that Kyuss sound to make it their own and now the bands get compared to Colour Haze and not Kyuss? Strange. Anyway, this one will remind you of both in its slow stoney groove that slowly picks up as the track evolves and they get more laid back and he plays some nice Koglek like guitar. It is not until the last minute that they pick things up. This track is really like a Colour Haze cover song.

Medulla is a more uptempo stoner rock track with some melodic singing and a bit more catchy and it has a nice psychedelic guitar section with some layers and a ripping solo.

Aurora is only 3 mins and an acoustic guitar track with some spacey sounds in the background.

This leads into the 3 part 15 minute instrumental suite called Tsiolkovsky’s Budget. It starts off with a guitar that sounds like it was stolen from Stefan Koglek’s apartment. This is a sound that Stefan owns and this guy can only borrow and use. Anyway, this track starts slow and builds like many classic Colour Haze tracks. The stoner riffing kicks in at 6½ minutes as they get it going now. He kicks in with a great wah guitar around 9½ minutes. The last 4 mins (part 3) they come back to the riff that kicked in at 6½ minutes and then start to take it down and out around 12 minutes.

Paradox is a short 2 min piece that leads into the masterpiece on this double vinyl (or 79 min CD), called First Unique Prime, which is an amazing 17min psychedelic rock guitar work out with amazing solos, riffs and grooves. Wow…

The last track is called Jam no.y, which is only listed as 10:21 on the CD but the track is over 19 and it starts off sounding like Robin Trower, stepping a bit aside of the Colour Haze sound, which is nice. Again, David rips it up on the guitar and he has a very solid band as well with Hans on bass and Davy on drums.

Overall, a very good record and even better than the last one but they still need to grow out of the Color Haze sound and into their own as they have the talent. I have seen them live twice and they are great so check them out when they come to your town.

TenMidnight – The City of Angels

Italy and its progressive rock scene never ceases to surprise us, now since the first time I listened to this album I felt absolutely please, and happy with the music my ears were listening to.

Ten Midnight was an unknown band to me, now I know they were formed back in 2003 and so far have released three studio albums. The one I am reviewing is called “The City of Angels”, an ambitious project who saw the light the last year (2010), and an album that made it to my top ten albums of the year. It was really a positive surprise.

The album released under Mellow Records features twelve compositions and more than an hour of great progressive rock music. The band’s members (or as the booklet says, “The Angels”) are Robby Bovini on vocals and drums, Matteo Giaculli on guitars, Titti Bolzoni on bass and Bob Ranzi on keyboards. This album was inspired by John Crowley’s novel entitled “Engine Summer”; once again, music and literature go together.

Now the music. It kicks off with “Waking up”, a short but interesting introduction with synths creating a spacey feeling. It leads to “Early Memory” which happens to be the longest composition, an eleven-minute track that offers exciting and complex music. It starts with some robotic noises, then it totally changes, flute appears and makes a gently and beautiful sound. A minute later the vocals appear, and then the band begin to build up a pretty interesting structure. During the whole song, you will find cool musical elements, maybe some catchy moments where you will feel like singing, and overall a pretty strong song with good changes on it.

“Running in the Wind” is a fascinating track, with a great keyboard introduction that reminds me to some older bands such as ELP or Le Orme, the atmosphere is intense and will make you feel interested. Then the mood and rhythm changes and becomes calmer, though there are some heavy-like guitars. However, the vocals sound so melodic and create a gently relationship between music and listener.

“Over the Horizon” starts with a cool guitar sound that accompanied by bass and drums create a friendly harmony. That instrumental intro ends after one minute when vocals appear and the rhythm turns softer. Anyway, we can appreciate some nice changes during those seven minutes.
In “Life Valley” we listen again to a kind and charming sound, the keyboard work is great, the rhythm is so cool and enjoyable. I like the voice a lot, very Italian, hope you get what I mean. There is a nice violin contributing in this track, (they have some guest musicians as well). The words “I am free” will be stuck on your head; and there is a great guitar solo. This is one of my favorite tracks.

“The Bread Tree” has again some spacey atmosphere created by synthesizers. The instrumental passage is pretty nice, then when the vocals appear the direction of the music changes drastically. I liked the order of the tracks, I can link the previous ones with this, and enjoy the music and some parts of the lyrics (I can understand a little bit of Italian) so that helps. This song is another great one, full of elements, colors and nuances.

A thing I don’t really liked, was the decision of one song completely in English. The title track has that, I adore when the bands sing with their mother language, and here, the change is evident, though that may not be a thing that important, it is to me, actually it makes me not paying the deserved attention to the song, which is in fact a nice piece of music with a combination of both, acoustic and electric guitars.

“Syntax error” is a peculiar piece with vocoder speaking all the time the title of the track. This is the shortest composition. “Cats” has an attractive sound, the drums and guitars speak of themselves. Seconds later a minor changes happens when guitars appear and gives an enthusiastic and warm rhythm. There are nice bass lines on this instrumental track.

“Memories” catches our attention with the flute introduction; later vocals and keyboards appear. There are some parts where the music is soft and in moments I lose interesnt (just in few moments), but minutes later a great change with flute and the other instruments returned my interest, though it ends very soft and calm.

“Revelation” is a short track with piano and vocals creating a gently atmosphere. There is a vocal game that sounds pretty nice. “Rewind” sounds like the opener song, this is just a one minute closer.

Again, I say I was surprised by this album which I really like. I invite RPI lovers (and prog lovers in general) to listen to it. My final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

Tracklist:

1.Waking Up (2:52)
2.Early Memory (11:52)
3.Running In The Wind (5:14)
4.Over The Horizon (7:05)
5.Life Valley (5:20)
6.The Bread Tree (8:10)
7.The City Of Angels (5:44)
8.Syntax Error (1:28)
9.Cats (4:31)
10.Memories (6:32)
11.Revelation (2:02)
12. Rewind (1:00)

Line-up:

* Robby Bovini – voice, drums, additional synth
* Bob Ranzi – keyboards, samplers, vocoder
* Tiziano Bolzoni – bass
* Matteo Giaculli – guitars

Guest Musicians
* Gabriele Carboni – flute (2)
* Silvia Manca – violin (5)
* Carlo Perri – flute (10)
* Fabio Zara – words creator

Riza Arshad of simakDialog

Dan: Hey Riza, how are you doing? Preparing for your NEARFest show in June? Don’t worry, we’ll ask you more about that later. Let me ask you something about each of your albums, starting with Lukisan. What does the name mean, and what are some of the track titles? What is the album about, if you could say it is about anything?

Riza: Lukisan means ‘picture’ or ‘painting’. It’s the first album of the Band which was recorded between 1994 – 1996. It was sort of telling what music the band was into during its early days. Presenting our music was just like an artist presents his painting. As the first debut in introducing our music, we were trying not to be too ‘difficult’ for listeners – where during mid 90s jazz base style of music was having hard times. Our purpose was clear to reintroduce and maintain the existence of alternative improvisational music – in our case mostly jazz-based music, but can also be others. We funded the project ourselves & distributed directly via one of major distributors. It was a bit unusual, at that time – every band and artist were supposedly distributed their albums through major record labels. What we did was sort of pioneering the early era of independent artist in National major music scene. I wrote 7 out of 9 songs in the album, amongst them are Zaman t’lah berganti (Time Has Changed), Tidak Mutlak (Inabsolute), Tak Berakhir (Never Endings), Kerinduan (Longing for you). While Tohpati wrote 2 songs – originally untitled, then I put title of the songs later on.

Dan: Tell us about the music on this album – it’s very light compared to stuff you would produce later. Very mellow, and some vocals in Indonesian, as far as I can tell.

Riza: We were heavily influenced by more European jazz style (all those ECM, new age), which was quite popular amongst my generation. The cross-over between classical/jazz with more electronic. The only song with vocal actually was not sung in Indonesian language, it was a Florenese language – a certain tribe language that comes from Flores island, eastern part of Indonesia. Since Indonesia has a very vast cultural diversity across the country, I think it was a good idea to put this as part of the album. A good friend of mine vocalist/guitarist Ivan Nestor wrote the lyric and sung the song.

Dan: I ask the same question about Baur that I did about Lukisan – what does it mean and what is it about? Also, why did you decide to include some English track titles here?

Riza: ‘Baur’ was the continuity of ‘Lukisan’. Baur literally means ‘Mixed’- we felt we had come to a period of maturity in presenting our music compared to ‘Lukisan’. The way we communicated as a band became more intense and solid – especially playing in this ‘regular’ jazz quartet format. I wrote 6 out of 10 compositions; 1 was done together with Tohpati (‘The Tramp’) and the other 1 was written by Indro Hardjodikoro (‘Australia’). ‘Du Wangka’ was written with Ivan Nestor and the title track ‘Baur’ was written by the band. The rest of the songs entitled ‘Getting Closer’, ‘Tak Dinyana’, ‘Mahesa’, ‘One Has to Be’, ‘No More Flirt’. My other collaboration with Ivan Nestor was continued in this album, we wrote an opening tune ‘Du Wangka’ which is Florenese language means ‘let’s start the session’. He helped me put some words on ‘The Tramp’ as well.

Dan: The music on this album is different as well. In fact, people who have only heard Demi Masa would probably be very surprised if they heard these two albums. This one is more similar to standard jazz, in my opinion. Tell us about it.

Riza: I guess, Baur clearly told what the band and its creative direction were all about. It was a standard quartet jazz format that was possible to expand itself in presenting the music, with no necessary to bring the 5th, 6th other person into the band formally. As much as possible we were able to do any performance only with 5 piece-band at the most. We treated it as an ensemble – a small orchestra as we love expanding sound & composition to unlimited zone. But later on I felt it did not represent what we actually had as we had grown up – there was a ‘disconnection’ kind of feeling that made the music was a little bit ‘dull’ in a sense of getting on the basic groove (or “spirit”) of the music.

Dan: The third album is titled Trance/Mission, but I must admit I haven’t been able to get my hands on it. Would you mind telling me (and the audience) what we’ve been missing?

Riza: This album marked the physical metamorphoses of the band – we started to bring more influences we had as an ensemble that grows in the place we live – Java island. It was the beginning of a cross culture process – where Sundanese instrument/percussion took major role as time keeper. Things shifted – the way we wrote and presented musical harmony and composition too. That what made this album sounds way different to the previous two. It’s a contemporary jazz group with Sundanese/Javanese flavor. I felt the band started to have a significant identity and gave compliments in the music scene. That’s how we titled this album ‘trance/mission’– which means a lot to us – to let ourselves in trance stage in this transition mission. There are 11 songs in this album. I wrote 10 out of it while one was written by Tohpati. Most of the songs tell about how we felt of being in transition spheres like ‘this Spirit’, ‘Throwing Words’, ‘All In a Day’’, ‘Promising Leads’, ‘Finding the Path’, ‘Unfaded Hopes’, ‘Sampan (Sailboat)’.

Dan: The next album, Patahan, is a rather standard jazz live album – meaning it’s huge and full of improvisations and expansions of themes you composed in other albums. Tell us about this album.

Riza: Patahan is continuation to trance/mission – the band was offered to held a sort of collaboration concert with Tjut Nyak Ina Raseuki a.k.a Ubiet, a most respectful Acehnese ornamentalist/vocalist. At that time we had prepared some materials for the next album and had thought of putting all tracks in the studio. Goethe Institut – the German cultural center came along the way and initiated an idea to commemorate & appreciate whom who had worked in restructuring Aceh province post tsunami. It was a beautiful project. I titled ‘Patahan’ in geological terms means ‘fault’ – a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement that caused tsunami. In a sense, we went in to a deeper musical understanding that generated such experiences we never had before. We thought that those certain feelings had put us into unusual yet great situation musically. This happened in my composition ‘Kemarau’, where we tried an alternative way in composing the music since the impact of blending this intensive Sundanese rhythm pattern began to blow our mind. This album also marked the beginning of no longer using regular drum in the band. The other tune ‘Wothseeing’ was inspired by the beautiful Nepal scenery as we performed there in 2004.

Dan: Finally, two years ago you released the wonderful Demi Masa – like Lukisan full of Indonesian, but unlike it (at least to untrained ears such as my own) full of native musical elements. Demi Masa seems to have garnered a great deal of praise from across the prog and jazz worlds – are you satisified with what has been said about it? I certainly think it deserves the praise it has garnered. Do you see it as a great work?

Riza: I’m so grateful to see those who have listened and got the message of the music so well. This is our main goal – addressing right message to the right people. simakDialog’s music has shifted through a quite long process to be accepted as contemporary music across the globe. Until today, we still gather doing weekly workshop to find what’s the next musically. Our three great Sundanese percussionists – Endang Ramdan (prime), Erlan Suwardana (2nd) and Cucu Kurnia (metal toys) reside in Bandung – 2 hours drive to our home base in Jakarta. We know and realize that it is not that much yet that we can do in doing regular concerts or tours due to our limited sponsor support. But after 18 yrs this year I hope things will change. We are keen in bringing and sharing what we have to everyone everywhere. That what sharing is all about.

Dan: It must be a great honor to have been asked to play at NEARFest 2011. What should I expect from simakDialog when I attend the show?

Riza: Thank you very much, the pleasure is ours. We are now preparing our 6th album. We will present a deeper concept from what we usually have done to the music, which is basically continuing what we have accomplished in the past. Just open your heart and ears.

Nick: I notice some elements of free jazz in your performing. I don’t know if it’s the way you use your Fender Rhodes that makes me feel that vibe. Is this intentional or am I crazy?

Riza: (laughs) No, we are the insanes I intentionally did that, I admit jazz is my musical roots despite of classic and rock. I’m so crazy and get inspired by its presence. The reason of putting Rhodes in the music is to mimic what we have in a gamelan orchestra which is the ‘cling’ sound of Rhodes presenting gamelan in a way – even though I love to play acoustic piano too for some reasons in the band. It’s soo jazz and exotic when the sound blends with these sundanese percussion section. Open improvisation on ‘Tak Jauh’ is intentionally done to marks the existence of jazz influence the band has.

Nick: What can you tell us about the history of Indonesian jazz?

Riza: It is not so clear of when jazz landed in Indonesia. Some says during the 30s and some on the 20s. As far as I know, since early 40s jazz has started its debut in Indonesia due to its big role on mainstream industry as any part around the globe. There were Indonesian musicians in that generation moved to Netherland and started their career there.

Nick: How much have you been influenced by Jack Lesmana or Bubi Chen?

Riza: I studied jazz music from Jack Lesmana. He’s sort of role model to me in educating, sharing and passing the music to the next generation. His role was so important in influencing new generation to jazz in Indonesia. Bubi is one of the most important piano player in Asia. Downbeat magazine once crowned him and aware of his presence. I pay great respect to him and admit him as one of my big influences in jazz. Glad that I had opportunity playing with them.

Nick: Also, what can you say about today’s Indonesian jazz scene?

Riza: Like in anywhere in the world, jazz never plays major role in the music industry however big in music scene since nowadays wehave 12 jazz festivals across the country. Everyone starts to adapt it as part of their life style, even though not necessary ‘real straight ahead’ kind of jazz. Sweet and light stuff that most people like it. Also, community based activity is the most popular thing to do across the country. Like in Java, some small cities have solid jazz community. Although the understanding of jazz terms varies in many places, this marks the openness of creative mind amongst its audience.

Nick: It seems like Tohpati and simakDialog do pretty well, but what about others?

Riza: We have other good players around in big cities in Java like Jakarta, Bandung, Jogja. Some good players who are just graduated from good school abroad help the music to spread. Unlike most musicians in my generation, these are promising talented musicians and they deserve to be exposed in the future, you watch.

Nick: How important is the Indonesian musical legacy when it comes to composing music for you?

Riza: Indonesia has a huge culture diversity, and each ethnic group has certain system of presenting their music. Most of them are ancient music. They have been around for more than 1000years. I have been a big fan of one them – the Sundanese music. I grew up in Sundanese environment that comes from my Mother side. I pay so much attention to the intriguing rhythm that are produced by Sundanese drum (kendang). Then adapted it naturally. It is so irresistible of not including this amazing instrument for a musician like me. They are so real and inspiring. We need the legacy to define from which point are you actually stand, come and start presenting your music – it’s become basic point of awareness to every creative worker who need significant character in their achievement. In order to be noticed this also important. Diversity (?) For most creative worker who are aware of environment where they live being inspired, absorbed and adopted thing they find out of it is the ultimate way of achieving their works. Their achievement must have inherited thing that belongs to where they come and grow from. This will define their identity as a complete artist. That’s natural and what supposedly happen. We are not living in a factory or in any environment that has an established system. For me passing what I have got as inspiration from other to other people is the most thing what creative people are to live for.

Dan: Tell us about some of the influences we haven’t covered yet in our previous questions.

Riza: Some well respected Indonesian contemporary musicians/composers – amongst them are Wayan Sadre, Tony Prabowo, Rahayu Supanggah, Rafly.

Nick: Do you see it as your mission to spread Indonesian jazz to the world?

Riza: Yeah, you and everybody may say that.

Dan: Since you’re sort of our window into this mysterious world we call Indonesian music, would you mind telling us what you know about this concept Robert Fripp of King Crimson calls “Gamelan”, and apparently included in his album Discipline?

Riza: I had listened to what he has done with KC more than 30 yrs ago, but haven’t heard particularly what he’s been done with gamelan. I can’t give any further comment, unfortunately. My guess is, he was intrigued by the way gamelan orchestra play its music with its interlocking system and harmony orchestration (with certain scale). That could make some listeners to know and dig more.

Dan: Can you tell us about the instruments/gear you use to record and play live? We would be very interested to hear about some of the “ethnic” instruments employed on Demi Masa.

Riza: We‘ve been using Rhodes mark I or II Or V, OB8 (not OB-Xa) or Roland Jupiter 8 or Mac computer equipped with Mainstage for soundscaping, midi-ed electric guitars with outboard efx, fretted electric bass, 2 sets of Sundanese kendang (or drum), metal toys (metal percussions that mostly comes from gamelan orchestra).

Dan: I think I’m done with my questions, is there anything you’d like to add before we finish?

Riza: Pass the inspiration you have got to others – that’s what I believe what we live for.

Exivious – Exivious

When Exivious’ self-titled debut album was released two years ago, followers of the more extreme fringes of progressive metal were not be surprised to learn that the band followed in Cynic’s footsteps – since both of the band’s founders, guitarist Tymon Kruidenier and bassist Robin Zielhorst used to be members of the ground-breaking ‘jazz-metal’ outfit. Unlike the US band, though, by writing vocals out of the equation Exivious removed one of the main hurdles for would-be listeners of this somewhat controversial subgenre. Indeed, no matter how intricate or proficient a band’s music may be, the use of growls (or any similar styles) can be a major turnoff for those accustomed to the more ‘mainstream’ varieties of progressive rock.

As is the case with most instrumental albums, Exivious requires careful listening in order to be fully appreciated. It is definitely not the kind of stuff you can put on as a soundtrack for other activities – complex music, full of twists and turns, yet not unnecessarily complicated, or weird for weirdness’ sake. In fact, the music has a beautiful, natural flow, a clarity and melodic quality that not many would associate with ‘extreme’ metal. Even though guitars make up a prominent part of the sound, they never get to the point of overwhelming the other instruments. As in most jazz-fusion, however, the foundation of  Exivious’ sound lies in the rhythm section, especially in the jaw-dropping drumming patterns provided by Stef Broks (also a member of Dutch prog-metal band Textures).

One of the plus points for Exivious is undoubtedly its short running time, which prevents music as intricate as this from turning into a mere exercise in technical prowess. Opener “Ripple of a Tear”, the longest track at 7:30 minutes, shows evident jazz-fusion influences, with clean, almost relaxed guitar licks alternating with heavy, sharp riffs, and an arrestingly beautiful guitar solo. The second longest item, “Waves of Thought”, shares in many ways the same ‘rollercoaster’ structure, shifting abruptly from aggressive riffing and soloing to an almost spacey mood, with keyboards echoing faintly in the background, sparse drumming and chime-like guitar sounds; while the heavily bass-led “Embrace The Unknown”, with its extended synth guitar solo and the contribution of Cynic’s guitarist and founder Paul Masvidal, comes across as an almost textbook-perfect example of ‘fusion-metal’. Some other tracks impress instead for their understated, laid-back mood  – namely both parts of “All That Surrounds”, featuring some distinctive, water-like effects in the second half; and “The Path”, with a beautifully atmospheric guitar solo in the middle, and very little trace of the band’s trademark hectic riffing.

Head-spinningly complex without being cold and sterile as other efforts in a similar vein, Exivious can easily be listed as one of the top releases of 2009. In fact, the band’s sterling musicianship, coupled with their admirable sense of restraint, focuses on creating cohesive, highly listenable tracks rather than pointless displays of technical skill. However,  it is also an album that will definitely not be everyone’s cup of tea. Strongly recommended to practising musicians and fans of intricate, challenging music, it may come across as daunting to those fans who prefer a higher measure of melody and accessibility, as well as a more conservative approach to progressive rock.

Fans of the band will be glad to learn that, after having briefly split up in the spring of 2010 due to conflicting schedules and commitments, at the end of last year Exivious got back together, and at the time of writing are preparing for a European tour.

Tracklist:

1. Ripple of a Tear (7:30)
2. Time And Its Changes (4:39)
3. Asurim (5:31)
4. All That Surrounds: Part 1 (3:38)
5. Waves of Thought (6:24)
6. The Path (5:45)
7. All That Surrounds: Part 2 (3:39)
8. Embrace The Unknown (4:44)
9. An Elusive Need (4:39)

Line-up:
Tymon Kruidenier – guitars
Michel Nienhuis – guitars
Robin Zielhorst – bass
Stef Broks – drums

With:
Paul Masvidal – guitar (8)

Links:

http://www.exivious.net/

http://www.myspace.com/exivious

Planeta Imaginario – Optical Delusions

Ah, Catalonia. I have fond memories of my time in Barcelona. I loved the pa amb tomaquet (toast with a tomato/garlic/olive oil spread) and paella, though I understand the latter to have originated in Valencia. Catalonia is a wonderful place, to be sure, but there are many facets of it that are not well-known. The wondrous beauty of Catalonian jazz fusion is what I will focus on in this review – but specifically the recent album of a band called Planeta Imaginario called Optical Delusions. But I guess you could figure that out from the title.

I’m not going to profess to be an authority on Catalonian jazz, and I am only aware of a few bands, but these certainly are wonderful. Two of my favorites from the 70’s are Iceberg and Companyia Electrica Dharma. The former’s first album was more traditional prog and the latter became sort of an annoying folk-rock band later on in its run (in my opinion), but at their height they were both wonderful jazz fusion bands with possible influence from Chick Corea heard in their amazing use of Fender Rhodes. The bands have their differences, but the human in me has the tendency to see connections where none may exist, so I feel like these two bands, as well as Planeta Imaginario, are tied together by some sort of Catalan musical tradition.

Planeta Imaginario has been around for about ten years, released their first album in 2004, their second in 2008, and their third just a month ago in 2011. They are a wonderful band and my favorite new find of the decade (I guess that’s not saying much yet). They seem to have six permanent members – keyboards, bass, trumpet, trombone, saxes, and drums, along with a few guests on different instruments (yay, flutes!). The lineup clearly shows the importance of the horn section, and it is used to great effect, but the keyboards dominate. This, for me, is a huge bonus.

The music of Optical Delusions is generally smooth and subtle (don’t think Kenny G, I’m not finished) like Hatfield and the North in their more pensive moments, and less like the funkiness of Billy Cobham or the energy of Mahavishnu Orchestra. It’s more on the fluid, astral spectrum of jazz fusion, like Return to Forever. That said, they don’t sound anything like RtF – the horn section and lack of guitars make a pretty clear distinction. The keyboardist (Marc Capel) does not usually display heavy influence from Corea, either, though it is bound to show up considering the genre.

I have seen the term “Canterbury” thrown around a lot in reference to this band. I am going to say right now that I don’t see Planeta Imaginario as being a Canterbury band. They don’t have the Stewart-esque Hammond organ usage or the heavily accented whimsical British vocals that so characterize Canterbury to me, but they do have a lot of similarities in rhythm. Parts of tracks just HAVE to be influenced by Canterbury bands, such as the beginning sections of the second track “El Jardin de las Vacas Alageres (Spanish readers will note that this is written in Catalan). Fans of Hatfield and the North and National Health (such as myself) will definitely have a lot to like here, but it’s not the same thing.

I guess that’s pretty great though, right? I hear aspects of Canterbury, but they don’t overpower or turn it derivative. I hear aspects of other Catalonian jazz fusion bands (if I’m right) but they don’t turn the band toward regressive Catalan introspection (I just invented a sociological term!). I even hear some Chick Corea, (but not much, I promised Nick I would shut up about Return to Forever if he shut up about Allan Holdsworth).

P.S. Buy this album along with their other two, ¿Qué Me Dices? and Biomasa.

P.P.S. They’re on Cuneiform records, so I guess that kind of derails my “not Canterbury” argument, huh?

The lineup for Optical Delusions is:

Marc Capel – Hammond Organ, Fender Rhodes Electric Piano, Challen Piano, Yamaha and Jen Synthesizers Dimitiris Bikos – Fretless Bass
Natsuko Sugao – Trumpet
The-Hien Trinh – Trombone
Alfonso Muñoz – Saxes, Percussion
Vasco Trilla Gomes dos Santos – drums, percussion

Guests:
Sisu Corominas – Saxes
Pablo Selnik – Flute
Guillem Serra Llorenc – French Horn
Liba Villavecchia – Tenor Sax

Tracklist:

1. Acciò Col-lectiva (10:16)
2. El jardì de las Vaques Alegres (9:40)
3. Xarramandusca (11:36)
4. Bona Sort, Amic Meu (1:45)
5. Angioma (3:50)
6. Bisturí (0:45)
7. Hemangioma (3:09)
8. Introducció de Llepavoreres (2:37)
9. Llevaporeres (8:00)
10. Element de la Puresa Imperfecte (4:15)
11. Element del Art pur i Imperfect (6:21)
12. Element de la Persuasió Imperfecte (2:40)
13. El Mar, i Llavors Sortí el Sol. i el Reflexe (13:18)

You may find them here:

http://www.myspace.com/planetaimaginario

http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/planeta.html

Sehnsucht – Wachstum

Sehnsucht is a relatively new name on the Russian rock scene, the band formed in 2008 in Saint Petersburg. Sehnsucht is a German word that roughly means “longing, yearning, craving”, but in a much more concise meaning “sehnsucht” describes a deep emotional state. That was the band’s idea while writing music for their debut album Wachstum (“growth” in German). Why would a Russian band use so much German, you ask? The answer lies in their music, as Wachstum is a on opus that blend krautrock with psychedelia and space rock, thus there are evident touches of bands such as Guru Guru, Agitation Free, Can, Ash Ra Tempel, but also in equal measure you can hear the presence of cult English space rock gurus, Hawkwind.

Wachstum is a 7-track album with a total duration of 47 minutes. It was recorded live in studio, so we get a beautiful energy from the band. The band has succeeded in building a strong structure out of every song and manages to avoid simplicity. They show this through their complicated arrangements presented through hypnotic beats, heavy guitar riffs, vigorous rhythm section and wailing processed synthesizers.

The opening, titled Wachstrum, starts with a repetitive calm chord that plays until the moment an exploding riff breaks this hypnotic sound-wall. The guitars are roughly distorted, with the addition of spacey synths and picnic soloing. After the introductory sleepiness, the song picks up speed and improvisational freedom that leads to heavy psyche/space rock insanity driven by piercing drums. The second half of the song saves a bit of the rocky impression from the beginning.

Thus follows Verstehen, which is down in its core more improv-oriented than its predecessor. The dynamic rhythm section is the best part of this track in particular. The guitars feel a bit more tamed on this one, the drums (especially in the beginning) remind me of Can’s, with its clocky cymbal sounds. There’s a surprising interlude in the middle of the song dominated by some sort of Oriental ringing, which gives off a deep emotional resonation that I mentioned at the beginning of this review.

Cosmic Drugstore is a track that’s somehow halfway between krautrock and electronic yet still far away from both labels. It’s like a cosmic fuzz with plenty of synthesizers, while looping guitars contribute to the final image of this piece.

Kosmiche Meerbrandung starts with an ambient passage that leads into droning parts that again pull space rock back onto the surface while guitars solo all over again. After a short wave of synths break, the riff explodes and song gets faster. Classic drumwork, wonderful synths and a guitar that plays an extended solo build up this one.

Cosmic Testpilots, another cosmic track, the overall feeling in this one is not however space rock, but hard rock. The track is adorned with an interesting guitar solo played through something I would describe as a spacey wah-wah.

Langsamer Tanz is a good sample of a krautrock/psychedelic/space rock mixture (don’t even dare to say it’s all the same!). Hypnotizing in its structure, which is achieved via synth interplay and echoing guitars –that all breaks in the closing part of the song when it starts to be much more messy and insane. Simply drains my brain out!

At the end comes Meat of the White Cosmic Geishas, which sounds more like an outtake than something that came from the same studio session. The song is totally disastrous fuzzy nightmare. There’s a feeling like the every of members has waited till the final 5 minutes to express all the anger, frustration or whatever that is through this piece of music. And this song shows that pretty well. Personally this one is my favorite, it’s gonna knock you down with a single shot!

All in all, Wachstum is a very good album that has what to offer to all of the krautrock, psychedelic and space rock fans out there, and considering its being the first one of these Russian newcomers, you can expect this band grows further. Kudos, pals!

Tracklist:

01. Wachstum

02. Verstehen

03. Cosmic Drugstore

04. Kosmiche Meerbrandung

05. Cosmic Testpilots

06. Langsamer Tanz

07. Meat of the White Cosmic Geishas

Line-up:

* Michael Linov – bass

* Timur Samatov – guitar

* Boris Popov – drums

* Catherine Lutsevich – keyboards

Links:

Sehnsucht @ MySpace

Azure Agony – Beyond Belief

Beyond Belief, the debut album by obscure Italian band Azure Agony, is the best example I’ve heard recently of how diverse the genre of Progressive Metal is. It encompasses a wide range of musical styles, from frantic and heavy to light and symphonic. I guarantee that you won’t ever be bored listening to the album, as the music is varied enough to stay fresh throughout its entirety. I find myself enjoying the album more and more each time I listen to it – the band has a great blend of creativity and skill, and Beyond Belief is both unique and impressive.

Azure Agony’s musical style can be split into two distinct categories: metallic and melodic. Each is present in every song, and each song switches fairly frequently between the two. It’s not uncommon for any song to dive suddenly from a light piano melody into a heavy guitar riff. Unfortunately, while the wide range of genres is one of the album’s best qualities, it also acts as its largest flaw. The biggest problem I have with Beyond Belief is that the transitions simply don’t work very well. I’m reminded of Opeth in some ways – anyone who has listened to Opeth is familiar with the quick switches between melodic singing and death metal. The problem is that Opeth executes these transitions with a certain finesse that Azure Agony lacks. The sudden switches between heavy and melodic come off as indecisive sometimes, which is a shame because both are very good. Both sides of Beyond Belief’s music are performed incredibly, but they don’t merge together as well as they should. I’m hopeful, however, that the idiosyncrasies in style are due to the fact that Beyond Belief is the band’s first album, and will be smoothed out for their next release. In my recent interview with Gabriele Pala (Azure Agony’s guitarist), he stated that on their upcoming album the “atmosphere changes… will be less… quick,” so it seems that they are aware of the issue and it won’t be a problem in the future.

As I stated before, each of the album’s styles is executed well in its own right. The musicians are all very capable of adapting to different genres. Most notable among the instruments are the keyboards, played by Marco Sgubin. Beyond Belief contains a wide array of synthesizers, and Sgubin often drives the melody in a way is not very common in Prog Metal. There’s a notable keyboard presence throughout the album that is nothing short of excellent. The guitar, as well, is excellent – played by Gabriele Pala, the guitar parts are incredibly varied, and, as I said before, will never leave you bored. I feel bad for not having much to say about Carlo Simeoni, the drummer. The drum part is very, very good, but I’m not much of a drum person and can’t really tell you anything further than that. Marco Firman, the bassist, is also very skilled. Unfortunately, the bass doesn’t come through as often as I’d like. This is, I’m sure, an incredibly nitpicky complaint – as a bassist myself, I felt that the bass was a little too low in the mix. Firman is, however, fantastic when he comes through, and there are a few melodic bass riffs throughout the album that I enjoyed immensely.

I’ve said pretty much all there is to say – Beyond Belief is fantastic, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Progressive Metal. It has some flaws, but most of them can be attributed to the fact that it is Azure Agony’s first album. I’m looking forward to seeing their future work, and hoping for the best.

Tracklist:

1. Awareness – O:52

2. Mystic Interiors – 5:11

3. Terror Haza – 7:10

4. The Temple of Vandora – 7:31

5. Ante Tentora – 5:31

6. Across Elysian Fields – 4:36

7. The Fall of the Vector – 4:36

8. Secret Getaway – 7:38

9. The Last City – 7:01

Lineup:

*Marco Sgubin – keyboards

*Gabriele Pala – guitar

*Marco Firman – bass

*Carlo Simeoni – drums

Azure Agony’s first CD, Beyond Belief, is available on CDBaby, Masterpiece Distribution and The Omega Order.

White Cowbell Oklahoma – Viva Live Locos: Alive at the Burg Herzberg Festival

As the title suggests this Canadian big band of southern rock inspired rock and roll was recorded live at the amazing Burg Herzberg Festival in 2006. The CD features a lot of fun, mostly high energy tracks in 72 minutes. The CD starts off with three uptempo party rock and roll numbers with a lot of humor, especially the track, Put the south in your Mouth. Despite the band having many guitar players, there are very few guitar solos at the beginning but they warm up a bit and start to include some solos with Tear you a new one. Ole Glory, they try to get a sort of southern religious thing going. Faster than Sin, is a quick 3 min song. Fly Away they introduce as a country number but it really is not much of a country track. Monster Railroad is a high speed rocker with this crazy chainsaw guy making some spaced out sounds as the band keeps a steady rocking groove going with some nice duelling guitars. Do me so Wrong is a pretty damn cool boogie rock track that starts pretty slowly but really rock picks up with a lot of guitar solos at the end. I should say there is quite a bit of cool organ playing on the early tracks and then I guess he switches to guitar as he is not playing on most of these last many tracks. Now they go into a boogie rock thing that lasts 13 mins and includes two tracks, Shot a Gamblin Man and Magic Fingers and now the organ returns. They end this pretty cool concert with the classic, I just want to make love to you. It is not as good as the Foghat version though…..

Vibravoid – Burg Herzberg Festival 2010

The amazing psychedelic rock band from Germany Vibravoid have released this very special concert they played at Berg Herzburg with special guest Sky Saxon in one of his last ever appearances. The band starts the show off with their version of Tomorrow never knows (The Beatles) and a cool but short version compared to some they are known to play. Their single Doris Delay is next and pretty much like the record. Playing with Beuys is next and another short psych rocker but then they launch into the 18 min long Ballspeaker from their first record with Christian playing some monster guitar and some really spaced out parts with his guitar effects. Incense and Peppermints (Strawberry Alarm Clock) was a surprise as I had never heard them play this one live. Your mind at Ease is another long spaced out track lasting 12 minutes. It has some lovely guitar playing at the beginning, very laid back and spacey. The 2^nd CD starts off with three short tracks that they just sort of blast through in 9 mins before the real space out begins. The Silver Apples track Oscillations is next and a very short 2 min version that runs into Christmas on Earth a track from one of the bands cool 7” releases from some years back. Vivid Vision is the 3^rd track, another very uptempo one. Now, the next 45mins is something very long and spaced out. It is really nice that the were able to capture the bands live sound at the festival and document the standard Vibravoid psychedelic rock set they have been playing for many years plus the special 45 min version of the CAN classic Mother Sky/Saxon Mantra dedicated to the recently deceased Sky Saxon from the Seeds. I just hope that the band will retire a lot of these songs and come up with a fresh new set as they have so many excellent numbers. An excellent 100 min show.

D.F.A. – 4th

Hailing from Shakespeare’s own ‘fair Verona’ (one of the most beautiful cities in Italy), where they formed in the mid-Nineties, D.F.A. (acronym of Duty Free Area) are living proof of the old Latin saying that a prophet has no honour in his own country. Hailed as one of the best progressive rock bands of the past decade, they took the NEARfest audience by storm in 2000, and offered a stunning repeat performance in 2009 – when I first saw them, and was floored right from the opening strains of  their set. However, as seems to happen all too frequently, they are barely known in their home country, where their extremely elegant yet punchy brand of Canterbury-tinged jazz-rock starkly contrasts with worship of all things Genesis that is still widespread in Italy. That historic first NEARfest performance was captured on the band’s 2001 live album, Work in Progress, which for over seven years remained the last testimony of the band’s activity.

D.F.A. are nothing but pure class. A quartet reproducing the configuration of bands such as Hatfield and the North and National Health – with both keyboards and guitar in a prominent role,  and the occasional contribution of other instruments – they are one of those rare outfits where each member’s contribution is essential to the band’s overall sound. Even if drummer Alberto De Grandis –  a drummer that, like Christian Vander or Daniel Denis, is much more than a simple timekeeper – gets most of the composing credits, all of the instruments get their chance to shine and create a tightly woven mesh of sound. Alberto Bonomi’s multilayered keyboards lay a lush tapestry for Silvio Minella’s brilliantly expressive guitar work; while Luca Baldassarri’s bass provides ever-reliable bottom end, adding fullness and texture to De Grandis’ propulsive drumming. D.F.A.’s music is effortlessly fluid, yet complex enough to please the most demanding jazz-rock fans – striking a perfect balance between technical skill and genuine emotion, breathless dynamics and captivating atmospheres.

Taking a leaf out of Soft Machine’s book, the album’s title is a simple numeral – not surprising, in the light of their affiliation with Leonardo Pavkovic’s far-sighted MoonJune label. Though it runs at almost 70 minutes, unlike the majority of albums running at over an hour it never outstays its welcome, and always manages to hold the listener’s attention. Most of the six tracks are instrumental, with one notable exception (on which more later). Interestingly, though D.F.A. do not sound as typically ‘Italian’ as those bands who opt for a more traditionally symphonic sound, they possess the inimitable flair for melody that seems to be ingrained in most Italian musicians. Their music is never harsh or needlessly convoluted, yet it also manages to eschew that somewhat overblown theatricality that can turn people off Italian progressive rock. It would be unfair to the band, however, to imply that they are mere Canterbury imitators. While D.F.A have a definitely international appeal (as proved by their choice of giving their composition titles both in Italian and in English), their Mediterranean inspiration – even if thankfully untainted by the overly sentimental excesses of Italian melodic pop – can be often keenly felt. This is one aspect that D.F.A. share with historic jazz-rock outfits such as Area, Il Baricentro and Napoli Centrale.

Chosen to accompany the opening images of the documentary film Romantic Warriors, “Baltasaurus” introduces the album in charmingly subdued mode, a feature shared by most of the tracks. Elegant guitar licks and flawless rhythm section lead the way for a splendid, mid-paced development, in which keyboards and guitar seamlessly interact, bolstered by De Grandis’ stunning drum work – never overwhelming, but very much a protagonist. Gently atmospheric sections alternate with more energetic ones, and the many tempo changes do not break up the smooth flow of the music. The following number, “Flying Trip”,  picks up the Canterbury references with a wistful mid-tempo spiced up by occasional jazzy, Latin-flavoured passages, and featuring some stunningly beautiful organ passages and delicate flute; while the barnstorming “Vietato Generalizzare” (It Is Forbidden to Generalize – the track with which D.F.A. opened their set at NEARfest 2009) barges in, propelled by a vertiginous synth riff and high-energy drumming. Very much guitar-driven, it allows Silvio Minella to display his considerable chops in an intense, expressive solo reminiscent of Gary Moore during his Colosseum II tenure. “The Mirror”, on the other hand, is a classic jazz-rock workout, with the instruments creating a keen, somewhat darker-hued sense of tension – though eased by snippets of muted singing at the beginning and in the middle of the track – and climaxing with an arresting, yet subtle drum ‘solo’.

That leaves the album’s epic, the almost 19-minute “Mosoq Runa” (Quechua for “new human being”), which, not surprisingly, displays a definitely more symphonic bent – thanks also to the presence of strings, as well as a recurring main theme. The amazing interplay between the instruments is nowhere more evident than here, and – in spite of its running time – the track never once feels overlong or overdone; as usual, both the guitar and the keyboards get their chance to shine, with Minella’s soloing at its most soulful. However, 4^th’s most distinctive track is strategically placed at the close of the disc. Sung entirely in the ancient Sardinian language (the most archaic of Romance languages) by the heavenly voices of the folk trio Andhira, “La Ballata de s’Isposa ‘e Mannorri” (The Ballad of the Bride of Mannorri) is a tale of love, betrayal and vengeance that would be perfectly at home on a Pentangle album – in spite of the frequent comparisons between Andhira and Canterbury’s own trio of female vocalists, The Northettes. The three Sardinian vocalists, though, are less operatic and more emotional; the resonant contralto timbre of one of them lends even more depth to their performance. The minimalistic instrumental accompaniment does not divert the attention from the sheer beauty of the vocal interplay – though the bridge features a lovely, touching guitar solo that seems to echo the profound sadness of the story.

At the time of writing, D.F.A. are reported to be on indefinite hiatus, due to the all too familiar pressures of ‘real life’ (i.e. family and work) on any non-professional musician. It may even be that the band has reached the end of the road – which would obviously result in a great loss for the whole progressive rock scene. However, even if they indeed decide to call it a day, they will have left a lasting legacy in the history of progressive rock, both for the beauty and power of their music and their genuinely down-to-earth attitude – as captured in the aforementioned Romantic Warriors.. Needless to say, 4^th is a must-listen for devotees of the Canterbury scene and classic jazz-rock, and very highly recommended to prog fans of every persuasion. This is one of the landmark albums of the first decade of the 21^st century, and one of the very best productions to ever come out of the Italian progressive music scene.

Tracklist:

1. Baltasaurus

2. Flying Trip

3. Vietato Generalizzare

4. Mosoq Runa

5. The Mirror

6. La Ballata de S’isposa ‘e Mannorri

Line-up:

* Alberto De Gandis – drums, percussion, vocals

* Alberto Bonomi – Hammond A-100 organ with Leslie 760, Fender Rhodes electric piano, synth, Steinway acoustic piano, Flute

* Silvio Minella – Electric guitars

* Luca Baldassari – bass guitar

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/dutyfreearea

http://www.moonjune.com/MJR021.htm

http://www.andhira.com

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