Content by tag "Musea Parallele"

Rigel Michelena: Bartok's Room

By AAJ STAFF

Take yer fav ball o' silly putty and roll it over a sound/style image of chops a la Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, Alex MacHacek, Joe Satriani, and snippets of Robert “the math-rock, monsieur Roboto” Fripp and squash out a nice distorto reprinted mosaic riffage picture of Michelena's multi-instrumentalist expertise and voicings . . . and you ...

Rigel Michelena: Bartok's Room

By AAJ STAFF

Take yer fav ball o' silly putty and roll it over a sound/style image of chops a la Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, Alex MacHacek, Joe Satriani, and snippets of Robert “the math-rock, monsieur Roboto” Fripp and squash out a nice distorto reprinted mosaic riffage picture of Michelena's multi-instrumentalist expertise and voicings . . . and you ...

Lunar Chateau: Beyond The Reach Of Dreams

By GLENN ASTARITA

With their second release, the three brothers known as “Lunar Chateau”, continue to incorporate synth textures with hard driving, predominately straight-four rhythms and vocals, yet here, the band surges onward with mixed results. The opener, “Olympus Mons” features keyboardist Novak Sekulovich’s regally pronounced lead synth lines, atop a simply stated and relatively catchy hook, whereas nondescript ...

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 ...

Lunar Chateau: Lunar Chateau

By GLENN ASTARITA

Recorded in 1994 and newly released on the French progressive rock label “Musea”, the American band “Lunar Chateau” have been garnering a noteworthy reputation throughout Europe, the US and South America for several years. A keyboard, drums and bass trio consisting of the Sekulovich brothers, lead vocalist and bassist Paul Sekulovich’s breezy incantations might appeal to ...

Yochk'o Seffer Big Band: YOG 3

By MICHAEL ASKOUNES

To say that Yochk'o Seffer's Big Band release YOG 3 is an acquired taste is an incredible understatement. This is Jazz in Opposition at its core - the musical landscapes used here most certainly have their roots in music other than the traditional Western composers. I'll be right up front about YOG 3 - with a ...

Samla Mammas Manna: Kaka

By MICHAEL ASKOUNES

70's Swedish avant-garde jazz-ers Samla Mammas Manna may not be accessible enough to tickle everyone's fancy. Some folks might think that they're too bizarre and unstructured. Some folks may be turned off by the off-key chanting and yelling that peppers their releases. Some people won't like the heavy use of uncongenial instruments such as the marimba, ...

Priam: 3 distances / irregular signs

By SCOTT ANDREWS

Priam, a French instrumental quartet named after the King of Troy in the Greek legend of that city's fall, plays melodic prog rock with ethereal synth breaks. The songs on 3 distances / irregular signs are arranged into three suites, each with three parts.

Soaring guitar melodies move seamlessly into melodic solos and back to composed ...

Kehell: Galileo

By AAJ STAFF

Kehell is Shigekazu Kamaki on guitars, guitar-synth, and pedal-synth with Yasuyuki Hirose on bass and Toru Hamada on drums. This is Japanese prog fusion with smooth jazz fuzak and guitar rock yearnings. What do I mean? Well, Kamaki seems to want to be a jazz rock fusion composer/musician but many times he breaks out into Beck/Montrose/Satriani ...

Kenso: In the West

By AAJ STAFF

In the West is a live, studio-ready recording from On the West, Tokyo performances of Kenso in Sep 1997. This excellent recording showcases a group that perfectly dances the knife-edge twixt progressive rock and jazz fusion. At times they remind me of Return to Forever and then The Dixie Dregs. Even hints of Happy the Man ...