The multi-faceted PAT!i is a mystery. The faceless musician, said to have worked within various genres ranging from hardcore to hip hop, brings a variety of sounds to ‘Sahara شع ةينامثو ةئام’. Although not a true smorgasbord of his talents, the music he presents on the album is never dull. It takes in various different influences, always suggesting the work of a man who isn’t short of ideas.
Tag Archives: experimental
IF NOT IF – Forgiveness EP
Like a lot of people, multi instrumentalist Graeme Ginsburg found himself with a lot of spare time during the pandemic lockdown. He used that time wisely to compose and create new music, which resulted in a pair of instrumental EPs where various electronica based moods and influences collided with a prog-ish mindset. Released under the name If Not If in December 2021, the second of those releases, ‘Forgiveness’, showcases pretty much the whole of the composer’s musical spectrum in a very short space of time. For those looking for new music, it’s the perfect way to get the measure of Ginsburg’s self-made musical world, bouncing between moods and pulling bits from different genres, yet sounding like a complete package in itself.
VINCENT CARR’S SUMIC – Jupiter Wrens: Fantasias
It’s likely that you’ve never heard of Vincent Carr, but the multi-instrumentalist began releasing very interesting, largely instrumental work under the SUMIC name in 2014. Although easily labelled as “prog” due to its indulgent approach and complexity, the one-man project takes in a broad range of sounds and influences. On the very pastoral “Rekindled” (2016), the musical pieces drew heavily from folk and even hinted at influence from Freddie Phillips. On 2019’s more complex ‘New Paeans’, Carr wasn’t shy in sharing a love for Mike Oldfield, Steve Hillage and Gong, and the more recent ‘Strolling Early Morning’ did a fine job of blending all of those influences on a record that managed to be a little more accessible, yet no more commercial.
ASYMMETRIC UNIVERSE – The Sun Would Disappear As I Imagined All The Stars
The last thing you’d probably expect from a something touted as an “experimental prog release” is an intro featuring an easy jazz piano melody, but that’s exactly how experimentalists Asymmetric Universe kick off their 2023 EP ‘The Sun Would Disappear As I Imagined All The Stars’. Fact is, this release isn’t so much an “experimental prog” release, as a weird concoction of jazz fusion and metal riffs that often centre around some very busy melodies. It’s jazz fusion at its most aggressive; a world where the funkier elements of The Brecker Brothers meet the flowing grooves of Weather Report, only to be roughed up by the heavy mechanics of Cynic and Animals As Leaders.
BLACKLAB – In A Bizarre Dream
Blacklab’s debut album ‘Under The Strawberry Moons’ was – and remains – a brilliantly intense listen. By taking classic stoner and doom riffs and layering them with distortion, the noise making duo hit upon a sound that fused elements of Acid King and Boris with the ugly sonic textures of Melvins. By then layering that with extra distortion and adding a semi-detached, distinctly Japanese vocal, the album became bigger than the sum of its parts; a sludgy yet strangely alluring listen that really raised the bar for massive, dark – and sometimes ugly – riffs.
Their follow up, 2020’s ‘Abyss’, flaunted a slightly different guitar tone in places, but didn’t skim on the intensity. In toning down the bass in more than a few places, it actually made Blacklab seem even more uncompromising as they continued to wheel out their massive slabs of distortion. Also by cranking the speed in a couple of places (as with ‘Forked Road’, one of the record’s stand out tracks), it showed the band as being capable of tackling some seriously intense garage punk, which provided a superb counterpart to their doom laden core.