Thing of the Day
A big box of assorted instrumental flavours...
March 26th 2011
A
whole lot of instrumental things have landed here in the Organ bunker
in recent times, here are a selection worthy of investigation. A whole
set of space kraut math jazz heavy rock ‘n prog flavours on the Organ
menu today for you to peruse and select from…
First on the menu the space rock of The Oscillation
THE OSCILLATION – Veils
(All Time Low) – Healthy blend of 70’s flavoured psychedelic space rock
and keyboard oscillation that now and again touches on Stone Roses
before retreating back to the lands of Hawkwind, Zombi and such.
Nothing too heavy, all rather laid back in an almost progressive way.
No sense of standing on any runway waiting to take off, more a feel of
slow moving, psychedelic levitation, slightly indie flavoured notions
of slow building space rock crescendos, stripped back grooves and
motorik rhythms. Psych driven darkness, a touch of easy listening
lounging around in there, some bleeps and pulses and if you feel like
taking the relaxed space rock ride then, here you go, set the controls
for the heart of the sun…
The album is out now, they play a London album launch show at Madam JoJo’s, Soho, London April 12th
www.alltimelowproductions.com
A taste of things to come from Tom James Parmiter..
TOM JAMES PARMITER – Kyoto Dreams (self
release) - Instrumental single from the multi-instrumentalist’s latest
album, who says he considers himself a composer first, rather than a
musician. Kyoto Dreams is a
refreshing electronic tune, very much a coherently modern three minute
tune of a clean-cut Plaid, Jaga Jazzist nature. These bright gleaming
(slightly glitchy) three minutes and eleven seconds don’t tell us that
much, have us curious about the forthcoming Man of The Mountain
EP that this track is part of (forthcoming? The press release that came
in with this minimally packaged CDr says the EP is forthcoming but
isn’t that clear, meanwhile Tom James Parmiter’s not very informative
websites hint that the EP may already have come out in February...?).
We’re told there’s a fourteen track album called Cascades that’s also due sometime soon. Kyoto Dreams
sounds
like some kind of clean cut soundtrack to a a very arty TV advert for a
slick new expensive new age energy saving yet mysteriously sporty and
fast car from some big corporation or something. Nice layers of
different rythmns playing off each other, bit of a Robert Fripp feel to
the composition, fine blend of orchestral electronica, good melody,
need to hear more, appetites whetted …
There’s a free download of this track via Soundcloud
SOUNDCLOUD - soundcloud.com/tom-james-parmiter
FACEBOOK - facebook.com/tjparmiter
BANDCAMP - tomjamesparmiter.bandcamp.com/
The new age stylings of Hatchback….
HATCHBACK – Zeus & Apollo
(Lo Recordings) – Really not sure when this album came out, or, indeed
if it is actually out yet? Date on the back says 2010, it turned up
here in the post recently and well, does anyone care that much about
tying in reviews with release dates and such these days?
Hatchback is Sam Grawe and this, his latest CD or double vinyl
album set, is more of that gentle electronic wash. Zeus & Apollo
is so gently mellow and laid back in a soothing cleanse everything away
in an aural massage kind of way, makes a Tangerine Dream experience
seem like being locked on a room with a rabid slice of Slayer blasting
at you. I guess we could talk about new age ambiance and drop names
like Michael Rother or Klaus Schulze, shall we just say this is quietly
intricate, delicately warm, gorgeously simple, melodious tones,
unassuming arpeggios. Find yourself a piece of empty blue sky, find
your headphones, lie back and let Hatchback gently float you away - he
does his self proclaimed “new age of new age” thing rather impressively
well – www.lorecordings.com 
WORLD SERVICE PROJECT – Relentless
(Brooke) – A lean ride on the good ship jazz from London’s rather
impressive World Service Project. Driving instrumental grooves that
kind of operates in the same areas of jazz ‘tradition’ as the equally
enjoyable Led Bib. Mellow flavours that sometimes bite back with
progressive dexterity, with unexpected warmth, with, at times, an
almost frantic twist. Relentless
is just that, in a rather positive way: relentlessly good jazz that
flow through many paces of colourful light and shade, of sunny day
states of mind, ofr bar-room smoke, of progressive parp and saxophone
twist. Played with a flowing freedom, it's not free jazz, not avant
experimentalism or formless improv, no, this is well rounded
composition, always revolving around impressive tunesmithery and to
these untrained ears (untrained when it comes to the who, what or where
of jazz), an extremely enjoyable, rewarding, accessible yet challenging
set of impressive instrumental tunes. Classic jazz for the here and
now, that rocks when it needs to and knows when to keep it pure
and balanced enough to satisfy those who don’t always want it to rock.
Just really really enjoyable top quality jazz. Seems like Led Bib
aren’t the only ones out there, World Service Project deserve some
attention as well. Recommended.
www.worldserviceproject.co.uk
A demo recording and some instrumental metal-driven neo-prog guitar 
SHADOW VENGER
appears to be the name of a decent enough technical metal type solo
guitarist. Now let me say right here, widdle-diddle show-off technical
metal electric guitar masturbation is really not anything that does
much for anybody around here. Really haven’t got time for all that
technical guitar-shop look at me and how fast I can play bullshit,
neither do we have much time for the very un-progressive notions of
modern neo-prog and the things bands like Porcupine Tree, Spock’s Beard
or the dreadfully awful things the vastly overrated Dream Theater do
these days. We tell you all this because these areas are pretty much
where Shadow Venger does his thing. Melodic neo-prog flavoured
technical metal guitar instrumentals and actually, if you like this
kind of thing then Mr Venger, once you get past the very well played
widdle-diddle high speed first track, has a rather good understanding
of light and shade and the notions of less sometimes being more. He
isn’t all about technique, he plays with feeling, with modern colour,
he indeed might well add a bit of depth to one of those neo-prog bands…
Really not our thing, but hey, respect is due and our time writing this
deserved and if you like melodic, neo-prog-flavoured technical metal
guitar composition, then the one time Empyreal Destroyer man’s four
track download demo EP is well worth checking out.
www.myspace.com/shadowvenger
www.facebook.com/shadowvenger1
A light serving of refreshing Kraut rock…
EAT LIGHTS BECOME LIGHTS – Autopia
(Enraptured) – Autopia is more autobahn cruising instrumental
kraut pop, more easy on the ear Germanic influenced 70’s electronica.
All very clean cut, all very poppy, all delivered with a nicely paced,
sensibly driven, healthy flowing feel, a light touch, a refreshing
kraut pop glow. Titles like Musik For Motorways, Test Drive and Machine Language
will tell you that we’ve been here quite a few times before, their
sleekt modern synthetic edge, their harmonious melodies played to a
driving motorik throb, gives the London band a little something of
their own. One for you fans of bands like Kraftwerk, Hawkwind and the
clean cut kosmische spirit of the age.
Out now on limited edition clear green vinyl or as a digital download
www.myspace.com/eatlightsbecomelights
Something a little more guitar flavoured and just a little dirty around the edges… 
THE FORKS – The Forks
(Maximum Douglas) – Guess the fact that the press release is written in
French tells us they’re maybe from France? The Forks are yet another
mathy instrumental band; they could be called the F**king Forks in the
way that they sound like one of those That F’ing Tank of maybe The
F**king Champs type bands, they could be any one of those Flipping
post-hardcore mathy instrumental bands.
The Forks have a
math rock churn, a stew that needs a heavy duty eating implement to
lift it all up and digest. The Forks have an instrumental chewiness,
they aren’t that complex and most of the maths is basic in terms of
time signature or structure, their texture tends to be a little one
dimensional - but it is a gritty dimension, and it is rather enjoyably
listenable.They do play around with the pacing nicely, there is some
power in their restraint, some thought in their quietness and some bite
in their faster almost metallic moments. The Champs are far more about
the taking of metal riffs and doing something (awkwardly) different
with them, The Forks aren’t really doing that, The Forks aren’t trying
to mess with metal, they just touch on it with their slightly dirty
riff-based guitar sound... the Forks are relaxed and flowing in their
slightly edgy way, whereas the Champs are hardboiled and almost
deliberately difficult.
This is a likeable
album, a relaxed edge to their dirty churn and their grungy
post-hardcore guitar momentum. Nothing radically different and there is
a lot of these kind of things flowing around that maybe has a bit more
cutting edge challenge to it but The Forks are satisfying, this is
good, their churn leaves a satisfying aftertaste, their flow leaves an
uplifting feel and yes this will more than do until the next French
instrumental post hardcore guitar band’s album lands (we expect it
sometime next week, France is on a roll right now…) Rather like The
Forks.
www.theforks.bandcamp.com
www.myspace.com/theforksgroup
www.maximumdouglas.com
And last but not least on today’s menu of instrumental rock-based earfood…
BRIAN ELLIS – Quipu (Parallax
Sounds) – San Diego based multi instrumentalist, perhaps best known as
lead guitarist in progressive rock outfit Astra. This is a collection
of very 70’s flavoured, acid drenched, forward moving, psychedelic
instrumentals. Sounds like a large band jamming together rather than a
one man studio project, when it really gets in the zone we’re getting
near Van Der Graaf Generator style instrumental passages, very much on
their psychedelic acid side, though, and all very very retro. Long
passages of relentlessly forward driving acid rock and Mahavishnu
Orchestra moves - trumpets, saxophones, funky bass lines, dissonance,
hints of free jazz, always within the formula and the frame though,
nothing too far out there when you really want him to take just the
hint of a risk or two… Xylophones, synths, meaty keyboards, Brian Ellis
does it all rather well – 70’s sounding jazz flavoured progressive
fusion and space rock flavoured psychedelic instrumentals…
www.brianellismusic.com
www.parallaxsounds.com
Out in the UK on April 4th via Cargo distribution – www.cargorecords.co.uk
Right then, enough of all this, can someone sing me a song now please….
