Aural Innovations Issue #1 — Album Reviews

Porcupine Tree — Signify

(Delerium 1996, CS8533-2)

Jerry Kranitz

From one release to the next, Porcupine Tree never fails to offer something new. Though primarily a vehicle for musician/producer Steven Wilson, the core band lineup is the same as on 1995's Sky Moves Sideways: Wilson on guitars, keyboards, and effects, Richard Barbieri on various keyboards and synths, Colin Edwin on bass, and Chris Maitland on drums.

Each release seems to be a progression for the band (I'm familiar with the last three). Up The Downstair was the most overtly psychedelic. The Sky Moves Sideways was heavily Pink Floyd influenced with mostly instrumental space adventures in the 15-20 minute range. And now we have Signify, the most accessibly song-oriented release yet. Despite this accessibility, Wilson excels at backing songs with great music.

The disc opens with Bornlivedie, a short segment of voices, turning radio dials, and various other sounds that serves as a lead in to the title track. "Signify" takes a basic hard driving rock beat made interesting by the accompaniment of flowing synths.

Among the vocal numbers on the disc is Sleep Of No Dreaming, which features dreamy verses that blast into a heavy space chorus. Sever layers superb guitar, synth, and vocals over a basic beat. Every Home Is Wired seems to be an indictment against the internet with the lyrics, "Modem load and failsafe; Electric teenage dust; Hit the solvent keypad; Start the neural rust".

Pagan is a short soundscape that again serves as an intro, this time to Waiting Phase I and Waiting Phase Two. Phase One is the song portion and features vocals harmonizing with some incredibly tasteful guitar playing. Phase Two is the instrumental part. Subtle guitar and synth passages play over an ethnic percussion beat which slowly builds in intensity. The band seems to like this beat as Idiot Prayer opens with dreamy atmospherics, but then launches into a tribal rock beat with cosmic voices and effects.

Intermediate Jesus is one of the more psychedelic tracks with its acidic guitars, piano, and effects. The song is neither fast paced nor hard driving, but nevertheless manages to be intense. Light Mass Prayer is a simple Tangerine Dream-sounding piece that would serve well as an intro, but at over four minutes is way too long.

Coincidentally, this is the only song Wilson had no hand in writing. But the band finishes with grace on Dark Matter. The disc's longest trace, the song grandly alternates between hard driving space jams with subtle atmospherics carrying the listener along on a smooth easy going rock beat. Signify was a welcome new release proving Porcupine Tree to be a band who always finds new ways to express themselves.

For more info, there is of course the Porcupine Tree website.

Alien Planetscapes — Life On Earth

(Galactus 1997, G/AP 107)

Jerry Kranitz

New York's Alien Planetscapes plays a heavy style of space rock that is sometimes jazzy á la Gong and Soft Machine, often soundscape experimental, and sometimes kick ass rockin'. On this release the band consists of Matthew Block on drums, Chris Altenhoff on bass, Blais Siwula on saxophones, Rob Alfonso on guitar, and Doug Walker on keyboards, synths, reeds, and flutes. All members contribute to some degree on electronics and effects.

The disc opens with Radiation King, a high energy, almost punkish cosmic rocker that made me think of Happy Family on an acid trip. This is the heaviest tune on the disc and jars the listener to full attention for the songs to come.

Chris In Space is a somewhat Chrome-like layering of electronics and heavy guitar with manic sax playing throughout. Symphonic keys and mellotron sounding washes pop up as the song develops providing an interesting contrast. This is very busy music. I was into the sax playing and was treated to more in Gravel as wailing sax and flute supplied an intro that lead into a light cosmic jazz jam. Just as I was settling into the groove a heavy grunge guitar came in while the sax and flute continued merrily in the background.

I'm willing to bet that Soft Martian is named as a tribute considering the song is clearly influenced by Soft Machine circa Third. The band cranks out some rockin', psychedelic free jazz that Soft Machine and Gong fans should love. And at eleven minutes all the musicians have plenty of room to stretch out.

Birds Of St.Albans is a wild, somewhat avant garde collage of electronic effects. At twelve minutes its also the longest tune on the disc. Imagine Jodie Foster in the movie Contact listening through the alien tracking headphones with all the accompanying sounds and radio waves. These guys are not afraid to explore. Lucky 13, the last tune on the disc, starts off very much like Birds, but then launches into a heavy, rockin' Hawkindish jam. With its acid-tinged guitar licks, it's almost as rockin' as Radiation Kings but without the manic punk tendencies.

My favorite tunes on the disc were Radiation Kings and Soft Martian. I think the band does equally well with heavy, manic material, and cosmic jazz explorations. According to the liner notes the band is just now releasing their first recording after being together for 17 years. This must just be the tip of the iceberg.

For more info, see the Alien Planetscapes website.

Architectural Metaphor — Creature Of The Velvet Void

(Black Widow 1997, BWRCD 019-2)

Jerry Kranitz

Massachusetts-based Architectural Metaphor plays pure cosmic space rock. The band consists of Deb Young on vocals and percussion, Paul Eggleston on keyboards and electronics, and Greg Kozlowski on guitars. The actual equipment list is too long to list here, but constitutes a virtual arsenal of instruments and effects. After repeated listens to this CD it is clear that none of these devices are collecting dust in some corner. Arch Met's brand of space rock is rarely fast paced. Rather, the focus seems to be on utilizing and experimenting with their storehouse of sonic tools to produce a wide range of sounds.

The disc opens with Creature, a heavy, droning Hawkind-ish tune. All kinds of electronics are layered over a repeating two note keyboard line. Deb Young's vocals have a trippy 60's psychedelic quality to them that really fits the music. On the dreamier Holographic Caves, a showcase of sound textures, the vocals soar along more like an instrument than a voice.

Kairos and March Of The Wooden Potatoes both sound like Tangerine Dream-influenced space trips. Kairos evolves into a heavier psych jam, while March shows how awesome just a few guitar notes can be when each is fully stretched, bent, and then set free to soar into the cosmos.

One of my favorites on the disc is Holy Ground. One of the more acidic tunes, I like the vocal effects as Deb's voice is efx'd with eerie results. The song would make a great theme to a dark sci-fi flick.

The CD also features two cover tunes. Arch Met does a trippy treatment of The Velvet Underground's All Tomorrow's Parties. They also do Hawkwind's Golden Void. While it features less sound experimentation than the other songs, Golden Void is a twelve minute jamming rocker of a tune. Greg Kozlowski's guitar stretches out like nowhere else on the disc. Architectural Metaphor is clearly at their best when utilizing the various devices at their disposal. If you like creative, spacey, psychedelic sound explorations you should check them out.

For more information, visit the Architectural Metaphor website.

DarXtar — Sju

(SBM 1996, SBMCDA 002)

Jerry Kranitz

From Sweden, DarXtar are a band that should easily appeal to fans of Hawkwind and early spacey Pink Floyd. The band consists of K.Soren Bengtsson on vocals, guitars, and keyboards, Patric Danielsson on vocals, harp, sax, and keyboards, Soren Martensson on vocals and keyboards, and Marcus Pehrsson on vocals and bass. With three members sharing the keyboard duties you can tell there's going to be a good bit of cosmic exploration.

The disc opens with Obstakel, a heavy guitar and keyboard piece that really serves as an intro to the 16 minute 7. 7 has become a personal space classic for me. Unlike a lot of good space bands who like to experiment with various sounds and effects, DarXtar is comfortable with a recognizable identity. 7 is a dreamy, Pink Floyd influenced piece that carries me away with its gorgeous keyboards and tasteful guitar licks. This disc would be worth the price for this tune alone.

The last three songs on the CD features the rockin' Hawkwind-influenced side of the band. This Alien Nation is a real rocker with an array of swirling electronics. Eastern Wind has a more 60's psych edge to it. And, finally, It's Enough is a super heavy rocker with crunching guitars and moaning vocals. If 7 eased you into a relaxed meditative state this song will make short work of that.

I haven't heard any of DarXtar's other releases, but Sju should certainly appeal to fans of both the dreamy and the heavier side of space rock. But man, I do love that 7!

Holy River Family Band — Haida Deities

(The Wild Places 1996, Wild 003)

Jerry Kranitz

Sweden's Holy River Family was born as an offshoot of The Spacious Mind. The band consists of Jens Unosson on electric piano, organ, and synths, Mathias on flutes, pipes, tablas, and congos, and Arne on guitars, bass, violin, hurdy gurdy, as well as saz, oud, and surna.

I guess the four songs on this disc (at 15, 12, 4, and 30 minutes) could best be described as Middle Eastern psychedelia. The percussion rhythms, horns, slowly improvising guitars, and chanting all come together to make some pretty trippy music.

The first three songs are separate parts of a single work. The disc opens with Fragrance Of Flowers And Herbs, which sets the tone for the rest of the journey with its Middle Eastern percussion beat, various sounds, and jamming guitar. The next song, Eztetl, takes a basic drum beat which provides a background for some interesting synth sounds and a heavier, acidic guitar that becomes increasingly more furious as the song progresses. Where Eztetl ends, Green Corn Dance abruptly begins. The shortest tune on the disc, it winds down this three parter with an up-front bass line and liquidy pulsating synths.

The 30 minute Vision Quest Of The Sanpoil starts with what we can now consider a Holy River trademark of Middle Eastern percussion and various odd horn sounds. As in Fragrance, the guitar jams smoothly over the tablas. The band uses the song's length to introduce chanting, various acoustic instruments, electric piano, and horns, all emanating (rather than assaulting) from every direction. The tune stirred up some rather demented images of belly dancers in tie-dyed saris... quite a sight indeed!

In summary, exploration seems to be the ultimate objective of this music and in this it succeeds. When I first heard this CD I thought the theme became a bit monotonous over the course of an hour, but I kept being drawn back to it and now after several listens I enjoy it for its atmosphere of ethnic psychedelia. I'll be interested to hear what the next release brings.

Lynne — The Void

(Cyclops 1997)

Jerry Kranitz

Lynne is a one-man instrumental effort by keyboardist and electronics maestro Bjorn Lynne. An interesting mix of Alan Parsons, Wish You Were Here era Pink Floyd, and Tangerine Dream, Lynne creates a symphonic landscape that should appeal to both fans of electronic spaciness and flowing keyboard-oriented progressive.

The ten songs on this disc are mostly in the 5 to 15 minute range, the longer works being the strongest as music like this requires more time to develop.

Tunes like Into The Void and All Life Is One, Part 3 are highly Parsons influenced, and even have a bit of a dance beat to them. Songs like Electroglow, On The Edge, Relentless and The Nothing are pretty strong in the Wish You Were Here department.

Listening to the disc in it's entirety the music succeeds in stirring up images and lulling the listener along through a series of mood changes (all good).

However, though I enjoyed the music I didn't find it particularly fresh or exciting. Lynne has a catalog of four previous releases, though I'm not sure how, or if, The Void differs from those efforts. Still, this is a solid, 70's influenced electronic work.

You can visit Bjorn Lynne at his Bandcamp site.

Dark Sun — Feed Your Mind

(Metamorphos 1997, META-010CD)

Jerry Kranitz

Dark Sun is a seven piece pop-space-psych-metal band from Finland. Instrumentation includes guitars, bass, percussion, sax, violin, loads of keyboards and synths, and.... space whispers! Totally psychedelic lyrics are in English.

At the time of this writing I've had Dark Sun's disc less than a week and I can't seem to get it off my CD player. The band combines Porcupine Tree's cool psych-pop sensibility, with Hawkwind's balls to the wall, crunch 'n munch space rock.

Three of the songs, "Tiny The Man", "Feed Your Mind", and "Our Man Inside" are very pop-oriented tunes. But these are wonderfully crafted songs featuring great music and synths tripping in every direction. Finally, pop music that rewards the attentive listener.

At the other end of the spectrum is the heavier side of the band. "Astral Magic" is a full-blown Hawkwind space cruncher with blazing guitars and flowing synths. In fact, the first time I heard the opening of this tune I thought it was going to be a cover of "You Shouldn't Do That". "Black Spires" and "Abduction Files" are also great examples of the heavier rockers. The closing number, "The Next Step" is a beautifully trippy instrumental finale that combines Porcupine Tree's Sky Moves Sideways with Wish You Were Here.

Overall, this is a great disc that should appeal to a variety of space/psych fans. It manages to cover lots of stylistic ground while maintaining a clear identity. Recommended.

You can visit Dark Sun at their web page.