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The Maskit Chamber: Heaven Machine
by Michael Askounes
Djam Karet member Gayle Ellett's side project - The Maskit Chamber - has managed to release two CDs in 2001, the weak “one-track pony" The 4th Wave, and today's subject for review, Heaven Chamber. Consisting of some decent guitar work totally ruined by uninspired composition, clichéd keyboards, and some very poor drum programming, Heaven Chamber turns ...
Acoustic Tales: The Archaic Revival
by Michael Askounes
OK, we're going to start today's review off with a riddle. Here goes:What do you get when you mix blues guitar, Indian percussion, and new age violin?A. A tasteful and delicate mesh of disparate world styles. B. A brain-splitting headache. C. Acoustic Tales' airey release The Archaic Revival D. McDonald's new “McScrapple" ...
Sonus Umbra: Snapshots from Limbo
by Michael Askounes
“Sonas Umbras" means something like “Shadow Sounds" in Latin (Just for the record, I think it means “Julio Scissors" in Swahili as well), and I must say that I couldn't think of a more fitting name for this Latin-tinged neo-prog outfit. Why does the name match the band? Well, it's simple... I still can't figure out ...
The Maskit Chamber: The 4th Wave
by Michael Askounes
Ambient music. As a rule either you dig it, or you just don't get it. However, I've managed to find myself in the odd position of straddling the fence on this issue - I've heard some very cool ambient CDs such as Fayman/Fripp's Temple in the Clouds, and I've heard some stuff that quite frankly just ...
KBB: Lost and Found
by Michael Askounes
So... you say you like wacky time signatures? Like lots of keyboard runs and some serious musical virtuosity? Like CDs where all the songs clock in at over six minutes? Well, that's good because there's a hot item from Musea Records that should be on your “to buy" list courtesy of four incredibly talented musicians from ...
Tyro: Crudo
by Michael Askounes
Chile is probably known more for its grapes and dictators than for its contributions to the progressive rock scene, but Chilean trio Tryo tries to change all that with its live release Crudo. Crudo not only succeeds on pretty much every level as a progressive rock CD, it also adds something that is not often seen ...
Andre LaFosse: Disruption Theory
by Michael Askounes
Take one part Joe Satriani, one part frantically programmed percussion, and throw in a dash of Mellotron and you've pretty much got yourself Andre LaFosse's latest genre-busting CD, Disruption Theory. This guitar-heavy release is not much more than a showcase for LaFosse's mastery over the electric guitar, with Andrew seemingly squeezing every texture out of the ...
Yulara: Future Tribe
by Michael Askounes
Smooth jazz. I must admit as a reviewer the smooth jazz genre has been the most difficult to break down because to my ear, it pretty much all sounds the same. You start off with a built-in Casio beat from your programmed drum machine, add some “smooth" jazzy light keyboards, the occasional sultry Sade-ish female voice, ...
Pesniary: Gusliar
by Michael Askounes
Eerie, cheesy, emotional, embarrassing - these are all words that accurately describe former Byelorussian folk outfit Pesniary's attempt to bring the epic poem Gusliar to the progressive rock arena. Unfortunately for the folks from the land of balalaikas, the bad outweighs the good in this attempt due to musical passages that are simply outdated. In the ...
Epos Group: Ilia
by Michael Askounes
Mixing traditional Russian folk tales with modern musical structures, Boheme Music's release “Ilia" by the Epos Group is an excellent presentation on how properly composed music and vocals can transcend languages, and deliver interesting and emotional content to even those who can't understand a word the singer is singing. “Ilia" is the musical re-telling of an ...
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