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Review:
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This is the second "tryptych" from The Music
Fellowship. I really liked the
first one a lot, so when this came out i snatched up a copy,
despite never having really heard anything by any of the bands
before.
This is another lovely disc of mellowish music. If New
Found Land was ambient, then Crickets and
Fireflies is psychedelic. The two genres are closely
related, but psychedelia has more energy, more frenetic motion,
than ambient. Of course, i enjoy both genres.
Crickets and Fireflies starts off with the awesomely
titled Keep Clear of Me, I Am Maneuvering With Difficulty
by Kinski. This is a 20 minute opus of guitar histrionics. The
song progresses through several movements, but overall it is
dominated by guitarwork played through distortion. On the whole,
it's enjoyable in a retro-70's kind of way. I feel as if the
Kinski guitarist(s) attempted to channel the spirit of Hendrix
here, and in all honesty they suceeded fairly well. However,
well, i know that several Minions would be very annoyed by this
song. This type of guitarwork and wandering rhythms really piss
some folks off, so be forewarned.
The next two tracks are by Paik, who i thought were merely
"okay" after i saw them open
for Windy and Carl. However, well, maybe they just paled
by comparision to Windy and Carl's live drones. On this release,
they turn in two amazing songs. The guitarwork here is great,
and the bassist and drummer provide tight rhythms to back up
the heavily distorted guitar. The first of their two tracks,
Spanish Holiday is a great contemporary psychedelic piece.
Their second number, Eva is more ambient. It doesn't
have the crazy rhythm of Spanish Holiday but does proceed
along under an intense, washed out guitar drone. Very nice.
In fact, i really like these 2 Paik tracks, and now i wished
i had paid more attention to them in concert!
The two Paik songs total just around 20 minutes in length,
which leaves almost 30 minutes for the final band to fill. And
Surface of Eceyon certainly rise to the task with their epic
Concert of Stars. Surface of Eceyon is a band whose orbit
i have been circling for a while. Meaning that i want to listen
to them, but have been unable to find their albums. You see,
they are made up of Dick Baldwin (guitar), Daron Gardner (bass),
and Aaron Snow (guitar) from Landing
with Phil Jenkins (drums), and Yume
Bitsu’s Adam Forkner (guitar). Landing plus Yume Bitsu.
Wow, talk about long drawn out guitar musings....
Well, i am pleased to report that Surface of Eceyon are all
of that plus a cup of tea. This is one amazingly complex tune
of guitar ambience, at the same time relaxing and energizing.
Meditative i guess is the word i am looking for here.
Overall this track sounds a lot like Landing, which means that
one guitar tinkles away a sparse melody, while the others wander
through feedback-land, skipping along merrily in fields drenched
with reverb. Specifically i guess this sounds more like Landing
in their "guitar freakout" mode and than in their "mellow pop
band" mode. If you like that sort of stuff, you will enjoy this.
One word of warning -- when given 29 minutes to work with, the
song builds really really slowly. So be patient.
Overall, this was a worthwhile purchase and i am very pleased
with it. I suspect that fans of psychedelic guitar rock will
likewise be impressed.
I wonder what The Music Fellowship have in store for us on
their next tryptych? |
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