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Ratings:
The * rating (½-5) is my personal, entirely subjective and completely partisan rating of the music.
There is, of course, no 'Tron rating.
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Hagen Harmonic 33 I.E.M. |
In the Cage Jadis Kaipa |
Krux Kula Shaker |
Lands End Liquid Scarlet |
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Corridors of Time (2001, 59.08) ***½ |
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| A Summer Air For Kristina Sundown Mother Nature Questions The Northwinds Blow Mountain Song Nobody's Listening |
Sweet Tender Sofie For Ulf June Afraid Remember Dragonfly Dance |
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Hagen were formed in 1995 with a remit to meld Swedish folk and metal together; an actual fusion of the styles, rather than laying folk melodies over a rock backing. The end result is strange, but reasonably good, although the fusion doesn't always work. Opener A Summer Air is magnificent, but some of the faster material (at least to my ears) doesn't have quite the same punch, despite being heavier. One notable member of the band is Hans Lundin, from one of Sweden's best progressive bands of the '70s, Kaipa, who plays Hammond, 'Mellotron' and synths here, although I'm pretty sure the 'Tron's not real (Lundin never owned one in Kaipa days); the string chords at the beginning of The Northwinds Blow, for example, sound just a little too even to be genuine.
His 'Mellotron' use here is variable, with an upfront string part on A Summer Air and the previously-mentioned solo chords in The Northwinds Blow. The rest of it is more background string and choir chords, which leaves me unsure whether or not to recommend this. The music is a brave experiment, though I'm not convinced it's an entirely successful one, and two tracks aside, the 'Tron' use is less than overt, so the jury's still out, I'm afraid.
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Music for Film, Television & Radio Vol I (2005, 40.00) **** |
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| Optigan Space Interval 1 Marionette 59 Sec Sting Carousel Bossa Nova Supernova The Shapeshifter Funky Duck Marionette |
Departure Lounge The Dream Sequence Space Interval 2 Paranoia Space Interval 3 Shadow Marionette 29 Sec Sting Pianet 54 |
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Current availability:
Harmonic 33, a.k.a. Dave Brinkworth and Mark Pritchard, have produced an interesting little album in Music for Film, Television & Radio Vol I. I don't believe any of it has actually been used for those purposes, but all of it could have been, and still could be (and already is?). Online reviewers have pointed out similarities to the work of John Barry and Lalo Schifrin, and you barely need to close your eyes while listening to be transported to the set of a seedy '60s film, probably low-budget, probably British. Carousel and The Dream Sequence (squaring up nicely to a well-worn film music cliché), amongst others, conjure up precisely the images their titles suggest, making a straight run-through of the album akin to channel-hopping UK TV at three in the morning, catching snippets of long-forgotten films no-one watched in the first place.
The excellent liner-notes refer to the 'Mellotron' to be heard on, amusingly, opening track Optigan (is that a real Optigan?), but I have to say, it doesn't sound particularly authentic. Of course, I could be utterly wrong, but the flutes don't sound grungy enough to be real, although I suspect the choirs are (or are meant to be) from the titular optical disc-playing device. There are other moments on the album, mostly flutes and cellos, which could also be the real/fake 'Tron, but it's rather hard to tell. I suspect the analogue synths heard on several tracks (not least Departure Lounge) are genuine, although I could be wrong there, too.
Anyway, an excellent album of faux-soundtrack music, although I rather doubt that the 'Mellotron' is anything of the sort. I've heard this referred to as 'the best album on Warp', and it's certainly better than the Vincent Gallo CDs I've heard, and I expect Brinkworth and Pritchard are nicer people, too.
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I.E.M. (1998, 45.05) ****The Gospel According to the I.E.M.The Last Will and Testament of Emma Peel Fie Kesh Deafman Headphone Dust |
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I.E.M. Have Come for Your Children (2001, 72.37) ***½(untitled 1)(untitled 2) (untitled 3) (untitled 4) (untitled 5) (untitled 6) |
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Arcadia Son (2001, 46.00) ***WreckBeth Krasky We are Not Alone Circadian Haze Politician Arcadia Son Shadow of a Twisted Hand Across My House Goldilocks Age 4 |
Current availability:
A.k.a. the Incredible Expanding Mindfuck, if you like, or even if you don't. Basically a Porcupine Tree side-project, I.E.M. has no personnel credits (I believe it's mostly Steven Wilson), although it manages instrumental ones, first of which is 'Mellotron'. Indeed, within a minute of 12-minute opener The Gospel According To The I.E.M., pitch-bending 'Tron choirs enter the equation before the first of many spaced-out guitar solos over a driving rhythm section. A few minutes in, the piece quietens down as some string chords come out of nowhere, apparently played via a sampler, despite their wobbliness. Direct samples, rather than third-party efforts? The Last Will And Testament Of Emma Peel has some more strings, and there may be a little choir at the end of Fie Kesh, but that's about it on the fake 'Tron front. I'm led to believe that the title of closer Headphone Dust (recorded two years after the rest of the album) refers to a ratings system for music, of which 'dust' is the lowest possible score. It's actually a nice drifty acoustic track, with some of Wilson's trademark slide guitar laid over the acoustic, finishing the album off in a serene kind of way.
The 'band' have a rather convoluted discography, but the next album 'proper' after '99's An Escalator to Christmas EP was 2001's I.E.M. Have Come for Your Children, largely recorded in 1999, which takes the concept of their debut a stage further, not least by refusing to give any of the tracks a title. To add to the confusion, the double vinyl edition (allegedly only 90 copies pressed) is longer, with an extra eight-minute piece inserted between tracks 4 and 5, and with track 1 split into two (you can still hear the division on the CD version). Much of it isn't actually that difficult a listen, certainly compared to some of the more out-there work of, say, Julian Cope, although 'symph or die' progheads probably won't get much out of it. Track 1 dominates the hour-plus album with its 30-minute plus length, dwarfing even the lengthy Track 4, and is also the second-'easiest' listen on the record, after Track 6, recorded at a different session. In fact, Tracks 1 and 6 are the only two fake 'Tron tracks on the album, with track 1 containing several shortish bursts of choir, while track 6 is solely hammered dulcimer and choir, making it a minor sampled 'Tron classic.
I expected Arcadia Son, from later the same year, to be more 'normal', for some reason, but if anything, it's weirder, with more sampled cut-up stuff, including a hapless female American musician called Beth Krasky who makes herself look slightly silly on the track of the same name. The oddest part of the album, though, has to be a recording of (presumably) Wilson himself, aged four, reading in an extremely cute manner from 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' onto a hissy old tape. Not an awful lot of fake 'Tron here, although there's a string part towards the end of Circadian Haze and some choirs on the lengthy Shadow Of A Twisted Hand Across My House.
I.E.M.'s an excellent space-rock record with much whooshing synth and glissando guitar; definitely an exposition on one strand of Porcupine Tree's sound, which they now seem to have left behind them. The fake 'Tron stuff's not bad, but probably not worth buying for that alone. The other two are both harder work and less rewarding on the 'Tron sound front. Buy according to taste.
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Two Sides Live (2002, 62.12) ****Eleventh Earl of MarFountain of Salmacis A Trick of the Tail Carpet Crawl Follow You Follow Me Supper's Ready Duke's Travels/Duke's End |
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In the Cage are now probably Britain's second most popular Genesis tribute outfit, and still on the way up. Musically, they're pretty close, although vocalist Trevor Garrard doesn't particularly sound like any Genesis singer, although that isn't necessarily a problem. His approach to their stageshow is influenced by his theatrical background, so, as well as the expected costumes, he's come up with a few of his own, which would probably get him shot if he tried it in Québecois The Musical Box. In the Cage started by concentrating on the early Collins period, but have moved backwards into the Gabriel era, too, usually splitting gigs down the middle into later/earlier material.
Their Two Sides Live CDR (ho ho) mixes the eras up, and features several of the highlights from their (lengthy) live sets, including several pieces rarely heard on British stages, namely Eleventh Earl Of Mar, A Trick Of The Tail and Duke's Travels/Duke's End. Keyboard man Mark Rae (hi, Mark), uses a Roland with the vintage synth board (the same as their M-VS1 module) for his Mellotron sounds, getting as reasonable a likeness as you're likely to from samples. Eleventh Earl has most 'Tron parts present and correct, although the stupendous crescendo on the intro and outro are less 'in your face' than I'd have liked. Fountain Of Salmacis has all the right parts in all the right places, as does Supper's Ready (bit obligatory for Genesis tributes, this one...). In fact, most of Mark's sounds are pretty good, whether he's emulating an ARP Pro-Soloist or a 2600, although there's a couple of parts on Supper's Ready which could've been slightly smoother.
Anyway, as with the ReGenesis albums, if you want to hear a Genesis tribute on CD, this is worth the effort, but as with all the others, don't expect any real 'Tron. Incidentally, the song selection here has obviously been quite deliberately chosen so as not to cross over with ReGen more than it has to.
STOP PRESS: Mark has now left the band, and has been replaced by a guy who's hauling a genuine Hammond and M400 around, so the next album should feature the 'real thing'. Shame about the vocals, though...
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More Than Meets the Eye (1992, 46.58); ***½SleepwalkHiding in the Corner G.13 Wonderful World More Than Meets the Eye The Beginning and the End Holding Your Breath |
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You know, once upon a time (no pun intended), I was quite a Jadis fan. Followed 'em about all over the place (well, relatively speaking), must've seen 'em several dozen times. I missed their early 'two guitars, no keys' phase, but I saw their '87-'89 lineup loads, then after they split and reformed I saw them many more times. And now I sit here listening to their first widely-available album, More Than Meets the Eye again and thinking, "So what was all that about, eh?" Not that it's an intrinsically bad record, you understand; I think I've just moved on. Just to put the record straight, by the way, their first release was the Baboon Inquiries tape way back in '84, then the limited edition Jadis (***½) vinyl-only LP from '89, designed as a memento of the late-'80s version of the band, making this their third album, rather than their debut.
Jadis are often (doubtless to their irritation) referred to as an 'IQ offshoot' or similar, as there always seems to've been some sharing of musicians between the two bands. This came to a head with this lineup, as IQ's Martin Orford came in on keys, as did bassist John Jowitt (guesting here), replacing Nick May after some rather unfortunate skulduggery. The material is an intensely melodic and very British neo-prog, but lacks, shall we say, a certain energy. Gary Chandler's guitar playing tends to be pretty squeaky-clean, but I have to say, he has a way with a melody. The songs are mostly of quite unusual construction, often with several minutes of instrumental work before a short vocal section, then more instrumental stuff to the end.
The general feel of the album is very 'up', to be honest; I'm not sure who writes what in the band, but Martin has been known to say that he 'keeps his darker material for IQ'. The keyboards are mostly of the 'new at the time' variety, so much D50 et al. (but at least no bloody DX7), but to bolster up some of the crescendos, Martin brings in the odd bit of 'Tron choir here and there. I am, however, reliably informed that it's sampled, as on IQ's Ever, reviewed above.
It would appear I've been labouring under a misapprehension for some time, viz, their follow-up, Across the Water (***), also contained (sampled) Mellotron. Well, it doesn't; God knows what I was hearing, but there's not a trace of it on re-listening. The band had been gigging regularly for a couple of years by the time it came out, and I seem to remember a great atmosphere at gigs, but somewhere along the road it all rather tailed off for me. I think I realised after my third gig on the trot where I just stood at the back talking to people that maybe my brain was trying to tell me something. And that something was, "No more wussy neo-prog". After more lineup shuffles, I believe the current state of the band is back to that of the one that recorded these albums, but I no longer feel able to connect to their music as I once did. I suspect that after hearing Änglagård, nothing was ever quite the same for me again...
So; if you like your prog dark and moody, go somewhere else. If you like tons of Mellotron, go somewhere else. If you like bright, uplifting neo-prog, I think Jadis might just be your band.
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Notes From the Past (2002, 79.09) ***½ |
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| Notes From the Past - part I Night-Bike-Ride (on Lilac Street) Mirrors of Yesterday Leaving the Horizon In the Space of a Twinkle Folke's Final Decision The Name Belongs to You Second Journey Inside the Green Glass |
A Road in My Mind Morganism Notes From the Past - part II |
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Keyholder (2003, 78.29) ***½Lifetime of a JourneyA Complex Work of Art The Weed of All Mankind Sonic Pearls End of the Rope Across the Big Uncertain Distant Voices Otherworldly Brights |
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Mindrevolutions (2005, 79.21) *** |
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| The Dodger Electric Leaves Shadows of Time A Pair of Sunbeams Mindrevolutions Flowing Free Last Free Indian Our Deepest Inner Shore |
Timebomb Remains of the Day |
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After a 20-year layoff, Kaipa reformed around 2001, or at least, Lundin (fresh from his work with Hagen) and Stolt got back together to breathe fresh life into the name. As with Hagen, despite Lundin's 'Mellotron' credit, I'm pretty certain we're in Sample City here. The Flower Kings' occasional credit for the instrument is definitely bogus (I asked them), and Stolt's 'Mellotron' work on the Transatlantic albums is fake, too, so I reckon I'm onto a winner.
2002's Notes From the Past sounds rather like a cross between Kaipa of old and The Flower Kings, although Stolt apparently had no hand in the compositional process. It's a good album, but without the moments of greatness that the original band could conjure up occasionally, and at almost 80 minutes, it drags in places. The part-time female vocals are a bit unnecessary, too, giving the thing a slight MOR feel on some tracks. Yet again, just because you can fit 80 minutes of music on a CD... Maybe a few more plays will reveal the album's charms, but on first hearing it seems to lack something. After Stolt's semantics-juggling on his own albums, I'm somewhat suspicious of the huge slabs of Lundin's 'Mellotron' splattered all over the album; loads of great 'Tron' work on every track, anyway, with several unaccompanied sections dotted about, and much overdubbing of strings, flutes and choirs.
As with The Flower Kings, Kaipa followed Notes From the Past almost immediately with Keyholder, effectively more of the same, but possibly with slightly stronger songwriting. It's difficult to find anything much to say about this album that I haven't just said about its predecessor, to be quite honest; halfway between old Kaipa and the Flower Kings, with rather too much of the latter, especially in Stolt's guitar work, overlong, but overall perfectly pleasant, loads of 'Mellotron'... I think you get the general idea. You're just gonna have to hear it and decide for yourself...
Another two years on, and Mindrevolutions sounds more like a Flower Kings album than ever, to be honest, with a horrible 'funky' bit in the extremely lengthy title track that made me shudder. Once again, this could've been at least twenty minutes shorter and correspondingly more effective; what IS this obsession with length? (Fnar fnar). Anyway, more of the usual, although it's actually Stolt's last album with the band, leaving the reins firmly in Lundin's hands. 'Mellotron' on most tracks, although it takes a while to kick in, with some barely audible flutes at the end of Electric Leaves. From Mindrevolutions itself on, though, it's 'Tron-a-go-go, with flutes, strings and choirs all over, although looking at the credits on the band site for their 2007 opus, Lundin is credited with 'electric, acoustic and virtual instruments', so I really wouldn't put too much money on the 'Tron being real.
So; three reasonable albums, but to hear what Kaipa really sound like, buy The Decca Years box-set, containing all three of their original studio albums, plus one disc of demos and one of live material.
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Krux (2002, 50.04) ***½ |
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| Black Room Krux Nimis Sibiria Omfalos Enigma EZB Popocatepetl Evel Rifaz |
Lunochod Sputnik II Ural Space Nation Mother Russia Oceanus Procellarum Moon/Doom Sputnik Bring Me the Head of Nikita Chrusjtjov |
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Leif Edling from seminal Swede doomsters Candlemass put Krux together in 2002, producing a doom/trad metal crossover classic in their self-titled debut. I only hover on the edge of this world, to be honest, but the quality of the material is fairly evident; comparisons with the ever-improving Spiritual Beggars are decidedly valid. Basically, it's heavy as fuck, but with sensible vocals (from Mats Levén) and guest keys from Carl Westholm. Now, I've found various sources claiming that he plays 'Mellotron, organ and Moogs', but the whole lot sound decidedly suspect to me, so I'm sticking this in here until/if I find otherwise. Standout tracks? Evel Rifaz seems to be a fuzz bass solo (whether or not you consider that to 'stand out' is entirely up to you), while the seven-part twelve-minute epic Lunochod (about the Russian space programme) is probably the most focussed piece here.
Westholm's 'Mellotron' work consists of string parts added to most tracks, usually in a supporting role to the guitars. On Krux itself, the strings sustain at the end, displaying their sounds' deficiencies, although I was already somewhat suspicious as to their origin. As I said, I could be wrong - wouldn't be the first time... Anyway, if you're into that whole Sabbath/doom thing, you stand a good chance of loving Krux, and real or not, the keyboards lift the whole thing to another level.
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CDS (1997, 19.26) ***½ Hush Raagy One (Waiting for Tomorrow) Under the Hammer Govinda (live) |
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One of many singles released by Kula Shaker, or rather, their grasping record label, around the time of their excellent K debut, their cool version of Hush (Joe South via Deep Purple) featured a live b-side track that appeared to feature the mighty 'Tron. I've been informed, however, that Govinda is all samples, and they never used one live. Probably never owned one, thinking about it. They're good samples for the time - eMu Vintage Synth? Anyway, a good track, with a 'Mellotron' part not on the studio version, making it worth hearing, assuming you can track a copy down. Could've done without Crispian's cringe-inducing intro, though... Old CD singles are a bugger to trace, aren't they?
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Natural Selection (1997, 74.00) ***Strictly Speaking in Geographical TermsFrom the Ruins of a Fallen Empire Love Through the Winter and Blood in the Spring An Emptiness That's Never Filled... My Home Natural Selection Unraveling the Threads of a Waning Moon Meridians of Time The Theory And Practice Of Hell: Practice/Theory/Hell Awaiting Extinction |
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Cyclops: The Second Sampler (1995, 8.46) ***[Lands End contribute]Eyes of Venus |
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The Third Cyclops Sampler (1996, 9.43) ***[Lands End contribute]Breathing Deep |
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Lands End's second album, '95's Terra Serranum, apparently features a real Mellotron, though not one that's sounding particularly well, which probably prompted the band not to use it again. '97's Natural Selection features faux-'Tron on most tracks, with a string part towards the end of its closing 30-minute epic title track which exposes its fakeness for all the world to hear. The album itself is reasonable US neo-prog, better than the dullsville North Star, but not a patch on Echolyn or Spock's Beard, not that either band actually counts as 'neo-' at all, begging the question, "What exactly do you call something that's newer than new?"
Anyway, a passable effort, a statement which belies the enormous amounts of work I'm sure the band put into it; sorry, guys. Rather dodgy 'Tron samples, too, though fans of modern US prog may well like this. Incidentally, the band provided exclusive tracks for the second and third Cyclops Samplers, the neo-orientated British Cyclops label probably being their spiritual home. Both Eyes Of Venus and Breathing Deep are pretty typical Lands End fare; not bad, not that good, quite neo-. I'm sure the 'Tron strings on both tracks are sampled; they're far too smooth to be the broken-down relic they used on Terra Serranum...
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Liquid Scarlet (2004, 52.46) ****GreyroomHesitating in the Foyer Città Nuova Molok Talking in Ashes Comes Near, Lingers Far The Red Stairs One Last Masquerade |
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Liquid Scarlet II (2005, 56.16) **** |
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| Lines Are Drawn Again The Carafe (part II) The Marriage of Maria Braun Rhododendron Everywhere Just Like You Killer Couple Strikes Again There's Got to Be a Way to Leave |
The Thorn in Your Flesh Lines |
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There's been a bit of a fuss over Liquid Scarlet recently, though less so than for, say, Wobbler. Unjustly, it seems, as they're actually really good, with plenty of 'that Scandinavian sound' about them, without actually sounding like they're trying to rip Änglagård. Thinking about it, they're more like Anekdoten, actually, though with enough of themselves in there to deflect any major criticism.
Liquid Scarlet is a fine album, not too long, nice and varied (within the genre, obviously) and with good playing and writing throughout. It's going to take rather longer than I've got right now to extract its highlights for general consumption, but suffice to say, there's nothing here that's going to upset anyone into complex, symphonic progressive, with zero neo-prog influence, thankfully. On the fake 'Tron front (from Frida Lundström), Greyroom opens with strings blasting away over a jerky rhythm, and most tracks feature at least a little of the instrument, mostly strings and flutes, though the vibes on The Red Stairs could be 'Tron samples, too. Most accomplished, although it's a pity (of course) that they couldn't have sourced a real 'Tron, at least for the recording.
A whole year later, Liquid Scarlet II is a revelation, showing how dramatically a band can change in a short period of time. Far more 'progressive' than its predecessor, the album takes influences from a much broader palette, using a string section on several tracks, alongside the 'Tron samples. The nine-minute Rhododendron is one of the album's highlights, although the combination of Markus Fagervall's intimate vocal style and the band's original approach towards songwriting make pretty much every track a winner. In fact, I think it's fair to say that Liquid Scarlet II doesn't really sound like anybody much else, and it's not too often you can say that these days. Those 'Tron samples crop up on probably half the tracks, with new keyboard player Olle Sjögren clearly preferring to use Fender Rhodes or organ in preference.
So; two worthwhile albums, with the former being more for the symphonic fans, and the latter for those who actually want to hear something new. If you favour both approaches, you're laughing. Buy.
