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Archive for November 7th, 2010

Afroskull – To Obscurity and Beyond (2009)

Posted in Funk, Hard Rock, Jazz-Rock, Progressive, Review, tagged , , , , , , on November 7, 2010| 1 Comment »

TRACKLISTING:
1. …The Launch (0:19)
2. Spyplane (6:19)
3. Waste Management (6:20)
4. Me & My TV (5:52)
5. Dance of the Wild Koba (7:26)
6. The Curse  (7:38)
7. Interlude  (0:40)
8. Redemption (5:55)
9. Everything  (5:52)
10. Zero Hour (6:22)
11. Escape from Rome  (8:05)

LINEUP:
Joe Scatassa – guitar
Dan Asher – bass
Jason Isaac – drums
Seth Moutal – percussion
Matt Iselin – organ, clavinet, el. piano, vocals (3)

With:
Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Justin Flynn – tenor saxophone
Rafi Malkiel – trombone
Jeff Pierce – trumpets
Rick Trolsen – trombone solo (6)
Mark Teofilo – orchestral percussion (11)
Michael Taylor – vocals (9)

Before I start my review in earnest, a word of warning is needed for the hardcore proggers among my readers:  To Obscurity and Beyond is quite a different beast from what might be conventionally seen as prog. Described by its creators – the New York-by way of-New Orleans outfit Afroskull – as a ‘sonic gumbo’ with ingredients such as Black Sabbath, Funkadelic, Zappa and a generous pinch of jazz influences, this is an album that is exciting, exhilarating and musically impeccable as any canonical progressive rock offering.

To Obscurity and Beyond, released about one year ago after a number of line-up changes and a brief hiatus, follows Afroskull’s 2000 excellent recording debut, Monster for the Masses. A mostly instrumental effort, with only two out of 11 tracks featuring vocals, it possesses enough energy and swing to make you want to dance to it, coupled with the kind of musicianship that makes you want to listen. It is, in some ways, an old-school album, where the accessibility quotient does not come across as contrived in many modern releases, and the technical skill is not used to bludgeon the listener on the head, but rather to convey the musical message in the clearest terms available. The band’s inspiration is rooted in the past – albeit with a thoroughly modern flavour – with influences such as Chicago Transit Authority, Blood Sweat and Tears, Colosseum, and, of course Funkadelic and Zappa’s more fusion-oriented output. This is the kind of disc that a band like the Red Hot Chili Peppers might have produced if they had not turned to more lucrative pursuits.

A quintet augmented by a horn section (brilliantly dubbed “The Horns of Doom”), plus a number of guest musicians, Afroskull sound like a mini-orchestra, their music well-rounded and multi-dimensional. Going very much against the grain of this age where programmed drums and all kinds of digital equipment seem to hold sway, the band employ real instruments, in the finest rock tradition, which results in a genuinely warm, expressive sound. Next to the chilly though formally impeccable mood evidenced by so many current releases, listening to  To Obscurity and Beyond might be compared to the sheer comfort offered by an old-fashioned, home-cooked meal.

Muscular and compelling, Afroskull’s music is also capable of subtlety. Though, at a superficial glance, it may sound like a good-time, shake-your-butt album, there is a lot of variation on To Obscurity and Beyond, as a careful listen of individual tracks will reveal. While the album opens with the funky pyrotechnics of  “Spyplane”, the band show their more restrained side in tracks like the aptly-titled, slow-burning “Redemption”, with the pace slowing down to an almost Sabbathian plod in the ominous “The Curse”.  Gritty guitar riffs and scintillating solos, courtesy of mainman Joe Scatassa, spar with the powerful blaring of the horns and the smooth yet understated presence of the keyboards, powered by Jason Isaac’s and Seth Moutal’s stellar percussive work and Dan Asher’s relentless bass lines. “Waste Management” and “Everything”, the only two vocal tracks, blend bluesy, soulful vocal performances  – respectively by keyboardist Matt Iselin (somewhat reminiscent of a less histrionic Chris Farlowe) and guest singer Michael Taylor – with irresistible funky rhythms, fiery guitar licks and triumphant horns. The album ends with a bang, with the highly cinematic “Escape from Rome” – an 8-minute tour-de-force veering from the almost free-jazz opening to the intense, martial pace of the main body of the track, in which all the instruments take their turn in creating a hypnotic, powerful texture.

A stunning collection of flawlessly penned tunes, supported by incredible musicianship and a sense of genuine enjoyment, To Obscurity and Beyond definitely deserves to be tagged as one of the outstanding releases of the past year, and possibly of the whole decade. This is an album the likes of which is all too rarely seen in the current music world, and one that will appeal to most self-respecting fans of great rock music – especially those who do not believe that great grooves and interesting musical structures are mutually exclusive. Even if prog purists may find the album a bit too funky for comfort, many discerning listeners are bound to appreciate the marriage of boundless energy and disciplined musicianship featured on To Obscurity and Beyond – as well as its ebullient, unabashedly crossover appeal. Hopefully Afroskull  will not make its many fans wait another nine years for their next release, even if this one was definitely worth the wait.

 

Links:
http://www.afroskull.com

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From the Vault: Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound (1985)

Posted in Art Rock, Classic Rock, Crossover, Progressive Rock, Review, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 7, 2010|

TRACKLISTING:
1. Cannonball (7:40)
2. Still in Love (4:28)
3. No Inbetween (4:41)
4. Better Days (6:12)
5. Brother Where You Bound (16:34)
6. Every Open Door (3:05)

LINEUP:
Rick Davies – keyboards, vocals
John Helliwell – saxophone, vocals
Bob Siebenberg – drums
Dougie Thompson – bass, Cha Cha, background vocals (2)

With:
David Gilmour – guitar solos (5)
Scott Gorham –  guitar (5)
Scott Page – flute (4, 5)
Marty Walsh – guitar (1, 2, 4, 5)
Doug Wintz – trombone (1)

When Roger Hodgson left the band in 1983, many were ready to write Supertramp off for good. After all, the interplay between his distinctive high-pitched vocals and Rick Davies’ gruff, bluesy tones, as well as their differing songwriting styles, had always been one of the main points of attraction for the many fans of the band. It was therefore quite a shock for the sceptics to be confronted with such a strong release as 1985’s Brother Where You Bound – a still relatively underappreciated album that, however, can easily be put on a par with the band’s renowned Seventies output.

Starting from the elegantly minimalistic cover, depicting the stages of man’s evolution in five different colours on a pristine white background, Brother Where You Bound simply oozes class. Supertramp always had the uncanny knack of marrying catchy hooks with interesting, thought-provoking lyrics, and this album is no exception. Rick Davies, left alone to cope with vocal duties, unleashes a performance that is nothing short of awesome, especially on the album’s pièce de resistance, the 16-minute title-track. Add a couple of prestigious guest musicians to the mix, and you have a near-masterpiece on your hands.

In the best tradition of a band known for strong opening tracks, “Cannonball” does not disappoint the listener. Backed by a steady, almost danceable beat, and introduced by Davies’ scintillating piano, it is one of the vocalist/keyboardist’s many songs about a broken relationship, where you can positively hear the anger in his voice, belying the mock-cheerfulness of the sudden bursts of horns and the almost singalong coda. However, while the horn-heavy “Still in Love” seems to reprise the apparently carefree mood of Breakfast in America, on the whole the songs come across as definitely more somber and less accessible. Both the slow, understated “No Inbetween” (featuring great keyboards and sax) and the relentless “Better Days”, with its frantic pace and splendid flute solo, convey an aura of almost claustrophobic pessimism and disillusion

Interestingly, it is mainly Davies’ voice that makes Brother Where You Bound a markedly darker, less upbeat offering than Supertramp’s 1979 mega-hit, Breakfast in America.The title-track, in particular, is anything but an easy, radio-friendly listen, made up as it is of various parts interspersed by recorded voices, odd noises and sudden silences, underpinning the oppressive atmosphere conjured up by lyrics imbued with all the paranoia of the Cold War years. Davies’ stunning, highly dramatic vocal performance and David Gilmour’s trademark, crystal-clear guitar tones link all the pieces together to create what is possibly the band’s best epic. In comparison with such a wild, exhilarating ride, album closer “Every Open Door”, a slow, moody piece, is a tad anticlimactic, also on account of its decidedly more optimistic message.

If you only know Supertramp for the likes of “Dreamer” and “The Logical Song” (which is as perfect a pop song as they come), you will probably be inclined to dismiss them as little more than ‘prog-lite’ for those who hesitate to delve into the more demanding examples of the genre. Although it is true that the band possess a great feel for melody and memorable hooks, they are also outstanding musicians, and purveyors of above-average lyrics.  While they may represent the ‘easier’ side of prog, they do so with inimitable style and class, displaying songwriting skills that are far from average. Brother Where You Bound is a prime example of ‘crossover’  prog at its very best, and as such highly recommended to anyone but those prog fans who think that ‘pop’ is inevitably a bad word.

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