On their 2022 release ‘Polar Night’, instrumentalists In The Ponds crammed a variety of musical moods into a very short playing time. Ranging from spooky, almost prog rock inspired echo driven guitar (‘Lonesome George’) to an atmospheric, David Lynch inflected ambience (‘Someone’s Always Watching’), and even supplying a nod to the distorted blues of The Groundhogs (‘Haruki On The Sand’), it was the kind of EP that created a great musical CV.
Tag Archives: instrumental
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.
SCARLATAMUSIC – Skatepunk EP
John Scarlata began his journey as a guitarist in the 90s as a young man who wanted to “jam along with his favourite metal songs”. His talents grew, and eventually he’d mastered the art of fretboard manipulation, but any musical success was slow in presenting itself. Eventually, he self-released a debut track, ‘Metal-Baby’, via Bandcamp, which showed him to be someone capable of wielding a really big musical tone. The track’s multi-layered guitar sound and influences from old thrash tracks were a classic metal fan’s dream. Unfortunately, Scarlata’s vocal did the recording no favours. At odds with some great riffs and shredding elements, he sounded like a man shouting on a mobile phone’s answering machine.
LILIUM SOVA – Tunnel Du Soir
Throughout their career of making alternative instrumental sounds, Swiss quartet Lilium Sova have never become musically stagnant. With each record, their art rock meets post metal has dug deeply into a world of musical freedoms. Whether working a grinding bass riff and atonal woodwind on a number worthy of Mike Patton’s Ipecac label (2012’s ‘2.00 AM Insomnia’), indulging in a sound that feels like a Mask of Bees demo reworked by Al Jourgensen (2008’s ‘Moose’) or even delving into the murky musical waters of sludge metal tempered by a strange blackgaze sheen (2016’s ‘Ofkaeling (Valley 6/6)’, their world of noise is never less than fascinating.
GIA G – Cosmic Wave EP
Following a string of self-released singles, the ‘Cosmic Wave’ EP is guitarist Gia G’s first outing for Sliptrick Records, sometime home for groove metallers Bless The Dead and Canadian prog metal titans Red Cain. Perhaps more importantly, her move to the European metal label places her alongside fellow fretboard melters Dr. Schafausen and Age of Fire, giving her a step up.
The three tracks that make up ‘Cosmic Wave’ often value melody over showboating, as you’d expect from someone whose chief influences include the legendary Jeff Beck. With Eddie Van Halen squarely in the frame as her other major love, her material still offers plenty for listeners who love a busier approach. With each of the EP’s tunes taking on a very distinctly different identity, it creates a very effective musical CV, despite being rather short.