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Since their formation back in 2002 Swedish act POCKETFUL have recorded and released one full length album and 4 EPs if I have noted down their history correctly. The latter are all EPs, digital only productions if I recall correctly, and the latest of these is "Late Night Call". As with all their other EPs it was issued through independent Swedish label Ovanbeck Records.
The music I have heard so far by Pocketful can generally be described in this manner: Compositions blending pop sensibilities with experimental features, the latter mostly in the arrangements and the former in compositional structure, melody, easy to like lead vocals and lyrics. And much the same is the case this time around. Music at the very border between progressive rock and mainstream pop if you like. And they are superbly good at exploring this particular territory I might add.
Title track Late Night Call and the following Professional are the best of the lot this time around as I regard it, the former sporting effective as-through-the-telephone-vocals, swirling electronic textures and dampened guitar riffs to emphasize the overall bleak context of this song to perfection, the latter adding dampened but effective brass, guitar licks and symphonic textures to a song that opens as a simplistic vocals and rhythms creation of the ballad orientation.
The other numbers are almost as engaging, with a particular mention to Sorry, a brief energetic display that to my ears appears as a neat and nifty blend of Tangerine Dream and Pet Shop Boys, with careful additions to the arrangements resulting in a song whose arrangements are both rich and sophisticated towards the end but still dominated by steady rhythms filled with strong pop sensibilities.
"Late Night Call" is a 6 track EP that clocks in at just over 25 minutes, and should be regarded as essential to explore if you have a soft spot for art rock with strong pop sensibilities and vice versa. In particular if you enjoy slightly bleak, melancholic moods explored musically.
My rating: 83/100Track list:
1. I Don't - 4:08
2. Late Night Call - 4:40
3. Professional - 4:58
4. Sorry - 3:11
5. Extract - 3:52
6. Words - 5:54
Ireland-based US composer and musician Jeff Green has been an active performer since the mid 80's or thereabouts, first and foremost as a member of various tribute bands. "Jessica" is his first solo production to my knowledge, and was self-released in 2008 I understand.
Music is an intriguing concept. Historically regarded as one of the finer arts, but in modern times and especially in more recent times it has lost stature. A form of entertainment is a common description, and many talk about music consumption. But even those who disregard the artistic credibilities of music, at least the more popular varieties of it, it is still a vital part of most people's lives. Some enjoy listening to music intently and with concentration, others prefer to have unobtrusive noise in the background while busy with something else. It is a part of everyday life for most, and a part of life that means something special for some. To a certain degree one might describe the art of music creation in similar terms. Some do it as an occupation because they are good at it, the creation of music their chosen 9 to 5 occupation. To others it is a hobby, and to some it is a vital part of life. For the latter a needed aspect of reality, a way to overcome too many creative impulses or deal with emotions good or bad. Or all of these combined. It would appear that for Jeff Green, at least to some extent, might best fit into this latter category.
This due to the very nature of his first album. A concept album more than a decade in the making, dealing with thoughts, emotions and reflections on a subject personal and painful: The birth of his daughter Jessica, who was, as doctors so neutrally describe it, stillborn. A human life that flickered out before it had even begun. But rather than a harrowing, highly personal catharsis this album appears, at least to my ears, to be one dealing with the second phase of the aftermath of such a traumatic experience: Reconciliation. The music presented mostly stay clear of the melodramatic, intense emotional excursions as I experience it. But is filled with dampened, bitter melancholy and introspective moods. Reflections if you like, given the shape and sound of music.
By and large "Jessica" is very much a guitarists album as seen from a purely musical perspective. Wandering guitar licks and the occasional riff constructions underscoring a dominating guitar solo a central and recurring approach, the latter either blues-tinged in a manner not too different from the likes of David Gilmour or melodic but more intense of a more generic rock or hard rock variety. Nothing fanciful or innovative, but good, old fashioned melodic guitar soloing as they made them back in the 70's and early 80's. But an additional trait is the extensive use of keyboards, and more often than not in a style that most would describe as symphonic. Gentle, dreamladen textures close to the brand of this music that made Camel a career, but also with some nifty organ and guitar interactions that should satisfy fans of good, old Genesis. With occasional flirts in the direction of Pink Floyd. The keyboards generally have more of a subservient role however, and only occasionally will they take charge to dominate in a more expressive manner. As such I'd suspect that those who commonly enjoy bands described as Neo-Prog might enjoy this album to a grater extent than those whose heart and soul of musical enjoyment is stuck amidst the giants of 4 decades ago.
As far as quality goes, "Jessica" is a well produced and well performed affair. Mostly instrumental, and it is the compositions of that nature which are the most compelling creations too in my opinion. At best the combination of underscoring guitars, the motif explored by the guitar solo and the symphonic textures blend into intriguing and even occasionally energetic numbers. Still a few sizes shy of true perfection as far as my personal taste buds go, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. Other efforts tend to be more of the pleasant variety for me, nice songs and generally enjoyable but without managing to make a grand impact. Which is the case for most of the compositions that contain a lyrical message too, the emotional impact of these creations being a textual one to a much greater extent than musical.
As I always make my thoughts on an album based on the musical content alone, existing fans of this production might be slightly disappointed with my overall score for this disc. But when that is said, I'd recommend "Jessica" as a fine acquisition for those who generally enjoy Neo-Progressive rock, with those who enjoy vintage symphonic rock just as much as guitar-based instrumental hard rock a crowd also likely to find this production to be an enticing one.
My rating: 67/100Track list:
1. For the Future
2. Vision
3. On This Night
4. Willing the Clouds Away
5. Pride
6. Essence
7. Woman With Child
8. Being
9. Jessie’s Theme
10. Tomorrow Never Came
11. Prittlewell Chase
12. Live Forever
Swedish band HILLS has been around for 5 years now, and they released their self-titled debut album back in 2009. "Master Sleeps" is their sophomore effort, and was issued by Swedish specialist label Transubstans Records in early spring of 2011.
Those familiar with Transubstans Records will most likely already suspect what's in store when they sign a new band. They specialize in 70's oriented rock of various kinds, with heavy psychedelic and hard prog among their specialities. Hills is a representative for a rather different flavour of music however, one most commonly described as space rock. In this case sporting quite a few heavy psych details one might add.
When that is said, there is a fair bit of variety to the proceedings in this, by modern standards, short production. In the span of less than 40 minutes we're treated to a laidback tune sporting an echoing child's voice beneath a dampened organ motif, the latter reminding quite a lot of the exploits of the late Bo Hansson (Claras Vaggvisa), title track Master Sleeps sports wandering, clean laidback psychedelic guitars as it's main component, while final track Death Shall Come opens with a dark electronic drone and layered vocals, with wandering psychedelic guitar motifs and rhythms added at the halfway point. All of them backed by hypnotic, circulating drum and bass patterns, from slow and subtle to quirky and sophisticated constructions.
And while this trio of improvised psychedelic excursions are compelling experiences, the remaining trio - consisting of Rise Again, Bring Me Sand and The Vessel respectively, are the high points of this disc. Pace-filled, hypnotic circulating rhythms is the backbone of these improvised journeys too, but here they are supplemented with compact, fluctuating droning textures. Which works extremely well to create intense, groove-laden and highly compelling psychedelic pieces of the space rock variety. Songs that take you along into inner and outer space, and in the case of Bring Me Sand with a bit more variation and even some Raga motifs towards the end.
Arguably not the most sophisticated and challenging type of music, but if you generally enjoy improvised music of the psychedelic variety and in particular droning effects and the 70's space rock mood, Hills have produced an album that will have a strong appeal to most space cadets. A highly recommended production, and a strong contender in my list of best albums of 2011.
My rating: 90/100Track list:
1. Rise Again - 7:07
2. Bring Me Sand - 6:33
3. Claras Vaggvisa - 3:21
4. The Vessel - 4:02
5. Master Sleeps - 9:01
6. Death Shall Come - 6:09
Swedish band THE GRAND TRICK was formed back in 2003, and they released their debut album two years later in the shape of "The Decadent Session", issued on Swedish label Transubstans Records. "Reminence Boulevard" is their second effort, initially planned for a 2008 release but due to various circumstances this never came to be. Three more years would pass before this production was launched, and then as a digital release only from what I understand.
Musically we're dealing with one more Swedish act exploring the vintage parts of the hard rock realm in this case. If I were to name three bands that might be regarded as definitive providers of musical palette for this band Black Sabbath, Molly Hatchett and Deep Purple would top my list, and for the first and last of this trio specified as from their early 70's respective catalogues.
Downtuned, circulating riff patterns is a rather constant part of the proceedings, and alongside the steady rhythm section the most defining part of the sound explored. It's next to impossible not to think of Iommi and company when listening to these constructions, and when the dampened organ backing the proceedings is in the expressive mode it's hard to imagine that these boys haven't drawn inspirations from Jon Lord and Deep Purple Mk. II. But occasionally The Grand Trick veers out in a slightly different direction however, sometimes with lighter toned riffs and hovering organ less expressive and more supporting, and from time to time wandering light-toned guitar licks with blues-tinged soloing and the piano replacing the organ is the expression of choice for inserts, verse parts of the chorus. And on these occasions there's much more of a southern drawl to this band. And as with most bands utilizing several different expressions in their sound, these tend to blend just as much as being explored each on their own, which at best makes for a highly rewarding experience.
But for this fine band, there's one slight Achilles heel, namely vocalist Cunningham. He's got one of those gruffy voices, which initially will make you think of Lemmy or Algy Ward of Tank. He's also got a slightly higher capacity for melodic delivery, which he does try to capitalize on. And it's when doing this that the Achilles heel appears, his gentler vocal style coming across as something of a blend between aforementioned Lemmy and Sabbath icon Ozzy Osbourne, sharing the peculiarities of both but the strengths of neither. That is, as long as the song requires the vocalist to carry the tune in part or in whole. But when the band hits the most southern oriented parts of their repertoire this slightly drawling vocal presence comes to it's right, accompanied by light melodic guitars and piano it does work fairly well. As it also does in full gruff mode I might add, even if it does sound slightly weird listening to a Lemmy type vocalist beltering out tunes Sabbath could have crafted back in 1970 or thereabouts.
It all adds up to a slightly uneven creation, intriguing and compelling at best and ever so slightly annoying at worst. Fans of this type of material should find a fair few tunes that will be of interest, and at their best they are just as good as the other bands active in what some have coined the retro scene in Sweden. The moments of pure brilliance doesn't appear on this occasion however, and as such I'd describe this as a production that won't have much of an appeal beyond the established fanbase of this style of music.
My rating: 62/100
Track list:
1. Hitman Blues
2. Frequent Flyer
3. Face in the Moon
4. Rollercoaster Ride
5. Eraserhead
6. Daddy Mc the Knife
7. The River Queen
8. When Is Your Hell
9. Dog on a Leash
10. Reminence Boulevard
Italian band IFSOUNDS have been around a couple of decades now, initially starting out under the moniker If and releasing 4 studio productions under that name. "Morpho Nestira" the most recent of these, a CD that appeared in 2009. Since then a new drummer and vocalist have joined the folds, and this revised version of If decided that a new name was in order at this point. "Apeirophobia" is the first studio production they released as Ifsounds, and was issued by US label Melodic Revolution Records in 2010.
Musically we're dealing with a fairly ambitious outfit, and on this occasion they explore a sound that mainly stays within a framework whose outer boundaries are formed by Pink Floyd and Rush respectively. Relatively gentle excursions sporting symphonic backdrops with additional sounds and textures of a kind inspired by science fiction and space complement dampened guitar riffs and blues-tinged careful soloing David Gilmour style for the former, while the latter sports energetic riff patterns and keyboards with a more dampened and subservient role. The occasional majestic passage with rich and compact guitar and keyboard constructions is also a part of the package, and by and large this band produce pleasant pieces of progressive rock of the accessible variety.
Their new vocalist Elena Ricci is a fine addition to this band. She's got a good and pleasant voice, and while my impression is that she's far from fully developed yet she has the talent and capability to be able to lift a song by her input alone at best. The main example of this on this production to be found in the epic title track that takes up the final slot on this disc, where her voice really makes a grand impression in a sequence sporting more of a jazz-oriented expression. The one where the piano takes the lead, if anyone familiar with this CD should be curious.
The title track an experience worth a paragraph of it's own, clocking in at just under half an hour and exploring a great variety of moods and expressions. Opening as a gentle, warm and rich affair that sounds like a piece of music residing in the exact middle between late 70's Pink Floyd and early 80's Vangelis, a theme later revisited incidentally, and later on visiting shamanistic folk-inspired territories, taking on an expression with closer links to Flamenco, the aforementio0ned jazzy insert also a part of the proceedings alongside a pacier AOR-tinged one and sequences with more of a distinct Floydian feel as well. Great variety, many compelling parts but not at the level that makes this one any more rewarding than your average epic length creation. A good construction with moments of brilliance.
The most intriguing composition as far as I'm concerned is the second to last one actually. A piece very much different from the rest of this production, sporting a careful piano motif supplemented by strings. A warm, rich, sad and distinctly melancholic instrumental, and an impressive one at that. It is difficult to write and perform such pieces in a manner that does make an impression, but this one succeeded quite nicely at that.
If you enjoy late 70's Pink Floyd and bands like aforementioned Rush, Ifsounds latest creation Apeirophobia is a CD you might want to lend an ear too. A nice and pleasant album in general, and if you have an interest in productions of a conceptual nature you'll get those cravings catered fore quite nicely too. Including the use of cinematic lead-ins and lead outs to emphasize the nature of the story told.
My rating: 64/100
Track list:
1. Anima Mundi - 7:20
2. Summer Breeze - 6:06
3. Last Minutes - 6:17
4. Aprile - 2:22
5. Apeirophobia - 27:49
Swedish trio THREE SEASONS was formed not too long ago, consisting of members from Siena Root and Mouth of Clay. Life's Road is their debut album, and was released on Swedish label Transubstans Records in February 2011.
The band themselves describe their music as "in a 70's kind of mood, heavy blues rock is mixed up with more jam-oriented, experimental and psychedelic parts...", which is a good as description as any. As one wanders through this production a plethora of names will pop up, and the better you know your harder edged and psychedelic rock of the 70's the more of them there will be. Black Sabbath, Mountain, Led Zeppelin, Robin Trower and to some extent good old Pink Floyd are strong candidates as far as sound and possible influences go, others might pull up a totally different set of names. The most important part of it is that these guys doesn't sound like they are copying or replicating specific sounds or bands. They manage to sound fresh and new, despite sporting a distinctly retro-oriented expression firmly rooted in the early 70's.
Guitar and organ combinations are used extensively throughout, be it as lighter-toned, reverberating heavy psych riffs combining with the pipes or as heavier-set riffs and organ in majestic constellations closer to Deep Purple or even Atomic Rooster in expression. Occasionally the keys will be out of the picture in part or in whole while the band takes a scorching run through territories closer to Mountain's spirited brand of hard rock or the slower, thundering vintage stoner rock of Tony Iommi and his compatriots, and on one occasion we're even treated to a gritty and elongated jazz-laden improvisation. Gentler passages closing in on the pastoral sporting violin and flute details combined with gentle vocals and light wandering guitar is another part of this trio's repertoire, and if I'm not much mistaken those who love the Mellotron will find the odd theme here and there where this vintage instrument is preferred over the organ or the occasional vintage keyboard textures. With twists and turns aplenty, to the point of inspiring a touch of vertigo at times, but always excellently and compellingly performed. Flow and momentum are upheld quite nicely, and the compositions have a strong nerve throughout.
"LIfe's Road" is a veritable smorgasbord for those who love harder edged rock of the early 70's variety, the happiest marriage of heavy prog and heavy psych I've encountered in quite some time. Sophisticated, rather innovative and most certainly with a fair few moment of originality. And as such, a highly recommended production for anyone with an affection for music of this kind that initially gained popularity some 40 years ago.My rating: 87/100Track List:
1. Too Many Choices - 5:00
2. Cold to the Bone - 4:33
3. Down to the Bottom - 5:31
4. Each to Their Own - 11:06
5. Feel Alive - 5:10
6. An Endless Delusion - 10:04
7. Since Our First Day - 10:34
8. Moving On - 5:28
9. Life's Road - 6:50
Swedish band GINGER TREES was formed back in 2006 or thereabouts, and issued their debut album in 2008 in the shape of "Came the Morning". Following this production the band signed with Swedish label Transubstans Records, who released their second disc "Along With the Tide" in February 2011. A few months after the band went into hiatus however, a state they are still in at the time of writing.
Artists associated with Transubstans Records tends to be of the kind commonly described as retro-oriented rock, most often inspired by acts such as Black Sabbath, Mountain, The Doors and Jethro Tull. Vintage hard rock, frequently sporting a few bells and whistles. From the sound they explore this time around, it would appear that Ginger Trees is at least slightly an exception as far as that description goes. Yes they do have the odd compositions sporting a riff halfway borrowed from Tony Iommis repertoire, but on this occasion this element isn't a defining aspect of their chosen style, nor is it dominant in any manner whatsoever. Indeed, by and large the few creations of this ilk are among the least interesting.
Where this band and this disc are at their most interesting, it is when exploring the gentler, delicate landscapes. Relatively speaking however, as sticksman Johan opts for a hectic and energetic display throughout, often with what I'd think of as a slightly jazz-oriented style. In a subtle manner that is. But the bass and guitar have more of a laidback style, slow-paced for the former, light in tone and slightly fragmented for the latter. Serving as a carefully crafted foundation for the powerful pipes of Rasmus. He's got a strong voice, able to handle the delicate, dampened moments with the same ease as the emotionally laden and powerful ones, and his input alongside the relatively careful stylistic expression explored often made me associate this act with now defunct Norwegian band Madrugada. In particular the sound that band pursued on their initial effort "Industrial Silence".
Ginger Trees does venture in more of an alternate universe to that band though, as their sound has more of a distinct blues tinge, while the chorus sections tends to stretch towards 70's hard rock to a greater degree with the powerful guitar and organ blend commonly utilized for those passages. Alongside a more distinct and powerful lead vocal. An additional trait for Ginger Trees is the inclusion of subtle details with more of a folk rock origin, and in the case of final track Kurukshetra ones with more of a psychedelic character to them are inserted as well.
"Along With the Tide" is a CD with a curious blend of gentle rock of the timeless variety and harder edged 70's art rock details, with occasional inclusions of vintage stoner rock elements. By and large a pleasant creation, where the most intriguing creations tends to be the ones exploring the calmer sides of their repertoire. Strong lead vocals manage to make these ever so slightly more interesting than what one might expect, while the careful instrumental foundation often manage to add in some nice and slightly unexpected details. As far as recommendations go, I'd think that quite a few of those who like Madrugada's debut album would find this album to be of interest too. This due to the similarities in approach and overall dynamics, even if the stylistic expression as such has it's fair share of differences.
My rating: 67/100Track list:
1. Forever This Longing - 4:55
2. Ghost of Another Age - 4:33
3. Along With the Tide - 4:00
4. Poseidon - 7:33
5. Shadow of the Mountain - 3:17
6. New Day - 4:39
7. Breathe - 6:38
8. The Swirl - 4:40
9. Kurukshetra - 5:56
Since their formation back in 2002 Swedish act POCKETFUL have recorded and released one full length album and 4 EPs if I have noted down their history correctly. The latter are all EPs, digital only productions if I recall correctly, and the latest of these is "Late Night Call". As with all their other EPs it was issued through independent Swedish label Ovanbeck Records.
