Reviews

Weekly Reviews For July 31, 2005

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I am also Assistant Editor & reviewer at MetalUK.

I also contribute reviews to getreadytorock

You will also find some reviews at spacerock.co.uk

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The Mars Volta – L'via L'viaquez

Maybe I was out on the day the Emperors New Clothes were handed out, but what is so remarkable about The Mars Volta?

I suppose if you’re under 35, you won’t remember the artrock of the seventies, when Van der Graaf Generator were changing the way that people thought about music. And the Mars Volta are simply rehashing the works of their elders and (usually) betters. But we’re wacky and different as well, which is why the lead track appears second with ‘The Bible and the Breathalyzer‘ taking first spot on the CD.

Which is a shame as bad poetry is bad poetry, no matter how you disguise it with free jazz backing and the sound of someone accidentally leaning on the mixing desk console. It’s odd how the mainstream press pick on one act to allow to be old fashioned prog whilst deriding the many other young bands working in similar fields.

The actual lead track, ‘L’Via L’Viaquez’ is better, actually bearing a passing resemblance to a performance that required some effort and thought, rather just some really strong weed. If you can blank out another dreadful performance by the worlds most overrated guitarist, John Frusciante, it’s a powerful and commanding track that will return to your record decks over and over again. Switching from prog to fusion to latin to soul and back again, it’s almost worth the price of admission.

The Streamers - This Is Not Material World


Streamers mainman Sean Yoxovic grew up in war torn Serbia, leaving Belgrade for New York in 2000, after pwinning the green card lottery. He released a solo album, ‘Eastern Spirit’ in 2003, but now he’s put a band together for band debut, ‘This Is Not Material World’.

At first listen it seems like a fairly generic post British Invasion sixties rock, crossed with some New York new wave from the late 80s. So far, so sub New York Dolls minus the make up. But once you get on to subsequent playings, the depth and simplicity of the lyrics and the music starts to ingratiate itself.

It’s unfortunate that, with the garage rock revival, so 2003 that this could slip through the cracks, because there is far more substance here than anything The Strokes or their ilk have managed to conjure up. Sometimes, Sean Yoxovic seems to have an extremely unhealthy Ray Davies fixation, but when he reins himself in, there are some delightful moments as on ‘Again on the Road’ and ‘God Save the Radio’, the band show just how good they could become.

Steve Morse – Prime Cuts

Another in the series of Magna Carta retrospectives, this rounds up 9 tracks that have appeared on various of their Steve Morse related releases, plus a bonus 11 minute video interview with the Deep Purple guitarist. However, you do get to hear him playing alongside the likes of Billy Sheehan, Jordan Rudess, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Dave LaRue and Terry Bozzio, which makes this a bit of a muso wet dream..

Now you have to assume that most Steve Morse fans will already have his solo and band albums which cover 5 of the 9 tracks, so they’ll probably only be interested in the odds and sods round up which encompass his version of ‘La Villa Strangiato’ from a Rush tribute album, ‘The Clap’ from a Yes tribute, a track recorded with Dream Theater bloke Jordan Rudess and a Vapourspace remix of ‘Led On’. Nothing rare, but nice to have all in one place.

Of the tracks on offer ‘Heightened Awareness’ from the Steve Morse Band album, ‘Split’ is 4 minutes of pure genius, showing everything that makes Morse so highly regarded and why he has been such a valued player in Kansas, Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple. Of the covers, ‘La Villa Strangiato’ from ‘Working Man – Tribute To Rush’ is well worth a visit, as he takes the Alex Lifeson tour de force and makes it his own over 9 minutes. However, ‘The Clap’ from ‘Tales From Yesterday – Tribute To Yes’ is dull in the extreme, the only track on the CD that you can skip over.

I’m still not sure who this is aimed at, but if you want to begin exploring his world away from his day job in Deep Purple, this is the place to start.

Fighting Catz - same

“Fighting Catz is a jam band”. There, they said it, not me, so no-one will be pointing an accusatory finger this time. Because what you are getting here are five tracks of pure improvisation, with no overdubs, apart form on the remix of ‘Big-Bang’.

I received this CD from sax, clarinettist and percussionist Keven Brennan, who’s solo albums I have gushed over in slightly embarrassing manner elsewhere. I once described his music as “Funkadelic having sex with Frank Zappa”, and that mixed in with seventies fusion is wht he’s up to with his cohorts in this project.

There’s some delightful fuzz bass driving things along in a slightly skewed funk way, while the other instruments including guitars, synths and turntable head off on their merry way, only to be dragged back into the stew by the aforementioned bass. ‘Visionary Influence’ being the finest example of just how that works.

If you’re looking for your spacerock kick, go no further than album highlight, ‘Chromatic Candlelight Opera’ which, unusually, sounds just like it should from the title. Lots of patented Hawkwind type swooshes, Lemmy style bass runs, but coupled with a Killing Joke riff and some crazed gothic background. Absolutely fabulous.

The band say “it is our belief that as the music unfolds, it is nurtured by the mystery of the moment and the fire within.” And for once that’s not claptrap. Do yourself a favour and check this out if you still retain that sense of wonder and delight that only discovering new music can bring.

Øresund Space Collective – same

Now more bands ought to do what the Øresund Space Collective have done. Conveniently group and label their tracks into genres, thus making the life of the tired reviewer so much easier. So, here we the tracks grouped as funky, jazzy, reggae, spacey and ambient! Genius. You can just swoop into the section you want, depending on what mood you’re in, and off you go.

Of course, you run the danger of missing out on certain delights if you’re a prescriptive type of listener. After all, a space rock fan might miss out on the funky gem, ‘The Space Funk Begins’, although the name alone should be enough to drag you in.

A self proclaimed “improvised electro-jazz-spacerock outfit, the Øresund Space Collective was formed in April 2004 and is a group of Danish, Swedish and American musicians that get together as often as possible for free form improvised space rock music. The core of the collective features current and former members of the Danish bands Mantric Muse and Gas Giant as well as the Swedish bands Bland Bladen. Occasionally other musicians join as well from other Swedish band like the Carpet Knights and Sgt. Sunshine.

Despite the existence of the CD in my hand (or rather CD player), the collective have put all their jams on to their website for your free listening pleasure. At some pointm they plan to release some of these sessions as limited edition CDs, similar to the Quarkspace Spacefold series, but for the moment you can go download crazy, with over 5 hours of material available.

Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised to learn that it was the jazzy section that drew me in with both ‘Jazzy Thing’ and ‘Jazz Envelope’ being absolute delights, especially the soaring guitar lead on the former track. Of the spacey numbers, ‘Space Flight’ is a near 12 minute epic delight that covers all the required space rock essentials, with some particularly fine percussive work.
It’s a joy to hear music being performed for the sake of the music, and I would urge you to partake immediately!

The Gak Omek – Return Of The All-Powerful Light Beings / Alien Eye

‘Return of the All-Powerful Light Beings’ is the latest release from The Gak Omek (nope, me neither) with ‘Alien Eye’ its predecessor. They arrived here simultaneously, hence the dual review.

Now, I could just use the word “blimey” and be done, but rational thinking dictates that you might want a few more words to describe the wonders on offer here. Led by multi-instrumentalist Robert Burger, these releases document an incredible journey through the world of space rock with nods to classic progressive rock, with some elements of fusion. That’s the summary, but words cannot do justice the breadth of wonderful music that’s been produced.

Both all instrumental offerings, ‘Return of the All-Powerful Light Beings’ is the place to start with the 15 minute title track is an absolute barnstormer of a number that will have you reeling and salivating (not a mental image I intend to return to in a hurry), with ‘Apparitions Of Departed Human Personalities’ running it a close second in terms of adventurous, disturbing and hypnotic vibes.

Back on planet ‘Alien Eye’, you can hear Robert Burger developing his ideas across eight immense soundscapes, with ‘Tourniquette Of Roses’ being the highlight. It soesn;t flow as well as ‘…Light Beings’, more a series of thoughts and ideas, rather than a continuous force, but it’s commanding, nonetheless. Elsewhere, opening track ‘Black Holes Colliding’ almost invents a new genre – gothic spacerock! The guitar work on both releases is vaguely reminiscent of early Steve Hillage, but The Gak Omek are slaves to no-one in their attempt to take progressive rock onwards and upwards.

A couple of rare treats in a backward looking world, these are essentials for your shopping list. Head off to the website to have a listen, then get your credit cards chapping!