Lanes - Disengaged 2013 Live Set

Lanes – Disengaged 2013 (live set)
2013, Andrei Lanes

Andrei Lanes is a Brooklyn-based EDM musician who has played live sets in and around Williamsburg.  With an expanded live set coming for shows this fall, Lanes is building a library of unique and lively original EDM compositions.  The tracks reviewed here are not officially released, and Lanes has no plans for formal album releases, preferring the give and take atmosphere of the stage.

“Hysterical Sobriety” is driven by a killer beat and ethereal counter melody.  Lanes structures this around a series of riffs that are certainly dance worthy, and this tune has its own gravity that is difficult to escape.    Lanes makes an effort to explore the theme he’s concocted here, making “Hysterical Sobriety” more involved than your typical EDM track.  “Noctilucent”, inspired by Liz Nielsen’s “Egg Galaxy”, once again blends the ethereal with the primal.  The net effect this time around is more subdued, but Lanes manages a mellow groove.  With “Disengaged”, Lanes moves into more surreal territory, bringing Eastern sounds into the ether over a double-timed clockwork rhythm.  The result is infectious and driven, but with a measured feel that is not urgent, yet feels inevitable.  “East Coast” captures the frenetic pace of New York City’s West Side Highway, or perhaps any stretch of open road on the I-95 corridor.  The construction is coherent, but Lanes suggests between the lines that chaos is never more that a hair’s breadth away.  “RTT” has an incessant feel, like the onrushing of time in an urban landscape, where nothing changes but everything is always moving, circling, building…  Lanes constructs primary in 4/4 time here, but manages to build a techno/musical march that will get under your skin.

Lanes surprises and captivates with an unusually lively set of electronic compositions in his Disengaged 2013 live set.  Ethereal themes and energetic compositions are the rule of the day here, with Lanes showing no fear as a composer.  His tracks delve deep into thematic exploration without ever losing their EDM credentials.  If all EDM music were this original and energetic it could go main stream.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.lanespro.com. 

Portico Quartet - Isla

Portico Quartet - Isla
2010, Real World Records

Four lads from England leap miles beyond their peers with a sound so fresh and new it turns heads. The Beatles? The Stones? Wrong genre. The band that sparks such interest amongst musical cognoscenti these days is Portico Quartet. Staying mostly acoustic in an era of electronic excess, Portico Quartet creates somewhere in the seams between pop, classical, world, new age and jazz. Portico Quartet started out busking on London's South Bank, but quickly rose to prominence, earning a Mercury Music Prize nomination in 2008. Much of their distinctive sound can be attributed to the Hang, a melodic percussion instrument similar to the gamelan. Portico Quartet returns on today with Isla, produced by John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, Spiritualized).

Isla opens with "Paper Scissors Stone", a driven jazz breakdown with something of a progressive rock attitude. Jack Wyllie leads the way on saxophone, but Nick Mulvey builds ambience with the Hang; the sound is complete with a swirl of flutes and percussion. It's an intriguing opening that's a bit like Kenny G with machismo. "The Visitor" is wrapped in a veil of mystery; giving a sense of paths traveled and decisions made that is both familiar and foreign. "Dawn Patrol" features a vibrant bass line from Mike Fitzpatrick that drives the piece like a heartbeat. All of the other instrumentation here, while vital, is simply playing off the rhythms Fitzpatrick creates.

"Line" finds Portico Quartet branching out into more ethereal ground with a meandering and ambient exploration of muse. Obscure and melodic, "Line" has the rambling new age sensibility that suggests not so much a complete melody as Portico Quartet's capturing a few minutes in a timeline that may well go on forever. "Clipper" paints an aural picture of bouncing over waves; falling out of form in a breakdown that explores pure sonic exploration over structure. "Life Mask" is seven-plus minutes of melodic contemplation in a sparse yet pretty arrangement. The presentation here perhaps overstays a bit, but is no less welcome. "Isla" is full of an urgent energy, blurring the lines between jazz, world, pop and classical in a tuneful dance that runs deep in inner tension. "Shed Song (Improv No. 1)" is an eight-plus minute exploration in ambient jazz and rhythmic experimentation. Pro-forma structure leads to extensive noodling over the mirror-glass surface of water-like instrumental swells in a performance that will delight those with more avant-garde tastes. Portico Quartet closes with the somewhat more channeled "Su-Bo's Mental Meltdown", a bonus track that sticks to the same boundless exploration but does so over a vibrant and vaguely funky bass line. The boys from East London are more aggressive in their pursuit of a serious groove that could lead to a dynamic and commercially successful remix in the hands of the right DJ.

Portico Quartet is a refined musical taste; a band that will attract musicians, dreamers, experimenters and the sort of electronic music fans who always wondered what it would sound like if Pete Namlook worked in an acoustic environment. Portico Quartet goes where they wilt on Isla, leaving no question as to their talent, and no answers as to their motivation; meandering through styles like a butterfly crossing yards. If you can keep up it's a rewarding listen.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about the Portico Quartet at http://www.porticoquartet.com/ or www.myspace.com/porticoquartet.  Isla is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.

Review: Troum - Eald-Ge-Streon

Troum - Eald-Ge-Streon
2009, Beta-Lactam Ring Records

Troum is the old German word for Dream, and the name fits the band. GlitH and Barak[H] have been together since 1997 as Troum, but worked together previously in Ambient/Industrial mavens Maeror Tri. Based in Bremen, Germany, Troum has played all over the world with acts such as Spear, Tarkatak, Ultrasound, Bad Sector and Vance Orchestra. Troum is conspicuous for their blending of Ambient and Industrial styles, and their latest album, Eald-Ge-Streon is a protypical album for the band.

Eald-Ge-Streon might as well be titled Ambient Music for the Mortally Wounded and Chronically Depressed. The offerings here feature heavy accents within ambient structures that are reminiscent of things you might hear on an old Pink Floyd album or in a movie sequence featuring strange and wonderful spaceships floating majestically in the air. Elation opens the set with heavy ambience and a constant tension that fluctuates but never resolves. Ecstatic Forlorness takes aboriginal rhythms and blends them into an almost Ambient/Industrial mix (if that's possible). The result is something that sounds like something you might hear in a blighted future industrial landscape. The rest of the album essentially follows this ambient structure, seeming to be more about sound than any sort of structure or musical communication.

Eald-Ge-Streon is an album for those who wish to meditate on the wonders of the universe; fans of Ambient Music, Pink Floyd fans and others who might want more experience and less song from their music. Troum is quite good at what they do, although I generally found the album to lack a real creative spark.

Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Troum at http://www.troum.com/ or www.myspace.com/troum. You can purchase a copy of Eald-Ge-Streon at Amazon.com.

Review: Fractal - Sequitur

Fractal - Sequitur
2009, Fractal

Fractal is an original Progressive Rock quartet based out of San Jose and the San Francisco Bay area of California, beginning as a trio in 2000 and expanding to their current lineup in 2004. Their second album, Sequitur, moves mostly away from the improvisational approach of its predecessor, Continuum, while containing some of the most stylish and artful Progressive Rock of the decade. Fans of King Crimson, Yes, Rush, Radiohead, Pink Floyd and even Dream Theater take note; Fractal may just be the second coming of Prog.

Sequitur opens with Ellipsis, a busy instrumental that reminds me of some of Rush's later instrumental work (perhaps a wayward cousin of the Where's My Thing trilogy). Aftermath is the band's response to the events of September 11, 2001 and the loss of personal and cultural innocence. At over nine minutes, Aftermath covers a lot of musical ground, churning through musical mourning, anger and fluctuations of fear before a soaring guitar solo lifts your hopes heavenward. Mantra: Eternal Spring Of Life was perhaps not intentionally written as an epilogue to Aftermath, but does seem to capture the resilience of human spirit springing back to health even after the tragedy and burgeoning recovery of Aftermath. Soft, legato guitar solos capture the fragile first steps of confidence inside the tougher shell formed by guitar, bass and drums.

Coriolis is one of only two pure improvisations on Sequitur, taking on an ethereal, Pete Namlook/Fax type feel, particularly when the keyboards are in full force. Coriolis is somber and serious and other-worldly. Fractal slips into an almost Radiohead-like transcendentalism on A Fraction Of One, imbuing a quiet sense of urgency on an almost supernatural soundscape. Pataphysics, the other improv on Sequitur is an angry and impetulant rage on musical canvas that neither progresses nor devolves, but simply sits as a sonic mass to be passed through on the way to Mauve and The Great Pain. Influenced by a Jimi Hendrix blues feel and Fripp/Belew guitar stylings, Fractal takes us on a 13/8 time odyssey of sound that is closer to improv than pure composition. The Monkey's Paw is a jumbled mass of musical styles that persists in its chaotic state rather than evolving into something new. Imagine if Rush jammed with Gibby Haynes and you might have an idea of how this one will go, except that it's a lot more pure Prog than you might expect.

The epic Churn opens with a classical style overture that leads into the three movements or parts. Part I is eerily reminiscent of classic Yes, with Steve Howe-style guitar chops highlighting a highly rhythmic piece. Part II goes more for a Floydian disposition with an incredibly funky bass line adding musical commentary to randomly dubbed voiceovers; all played against a varying sonic landscape of dark intent. Part III brings a sonic resolution of acoustic guitar and keys that plays like an outro to one of the classic Styx albums of the 1970's. Closing things out is Bellerophon, a bit of musical sleight of hand that is like aural vertigo compared to the rest of the album. Bellerophon is an electronic composition that the band describes as a non-sequitur.

Sequitur is far and away the most exciting and original pure Prog album of the decade. There is a vibrancy and sense of creativity running through the work of Fractal that you have to go back to the early days of Prog to duplicate. It's easy to picture Fractal sharing a stage with groups like Yes, Rush or King Crimson in their heyday. If you have an ear for Progressive Rock then this album is definitely for you. if you're not familiar with Prog but love classical music, musical with unusual time structures or even some of the more experimental electronica then you would do well to give Sequitur a listen. Fractal got it right.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Fractal at http://www.fractal-continuum.com/ or www.myspace.com/fractalcontinuum. You can purchase a copy of Sequitur at www.cdbaby.com/cd/fractal3.