Yochk'o Seffer - Adama

On Adama Yochk'o Seffer played all the instruments himself. On most of the tunes he plays all seven saxophones as designed by Adolphe Sax: sopranino to contrabass saxophones. This was recorded approximately in the mid-1980s and the record actually led to the creation of a saxophone septet to play these pieces in the live setting.

Adama is a worthwhile record, because it offers a chance to hear an otherwise soprano- and tenor-centric saxophonist Seffer to whip it out on the lower-toned saxophones. The title track showcases Seffer's mastery and finely honed improvisation on the bass saxophone. It's not a pure saxophone track as tranquil piano appears in the mix half-way in (followed by additional chords via seven soprano sax overdubs). "La danse des ferrailleurs" is, as the title indicates, a dance number written for low saxes. By contrast, "Lumiere Primitive" has lower saxes relegated to servile status compared to sopranino sax and these eventually drop out leaving the high-pitched sax unaccompanied. On "Polyglotte" the combined textures of all seven saxes sound oddly beautiful and so rich in their orchestral qualities, comparable to the sonic lushness of a string quartet. Dense composed harmonies alternate with unaccompanied baritone, soprano and tenor (in that order) solos.

There is one exception to the pure saxophone (with occasional piano) music of other tracks: "Trablair n°1" where Yochk'o goes for a dissonant avant-garde experiment where he plays six of his sonic sculptures (basically, self-invented, home-made reed instruments), while adding solo sopranino sax and his own voice to the mix. Musically the sound is akin to avant-garde sonic collage, even though it's hard to tell if Yochk'o merely multitracked his self-invented instruments or also went for some auxiliary tape editing. An earlier free-jazz band version was recorded on Perception's Mestari in 1973. A later reissue of this album is called "Adama Ima", with a 22 minute "Ima" added, which is yet again an avant-garde experiment consisting of sonic sculpture drones, sax and vocal harmonies, but more meditative. It was recorded at an entirely different time period, it actually combines the title tracks of Ima from 1977 and Ghilgoul from 1978.

Musically the album's overall style is generally some kind of a fusion of modern classical and avant-garde jazz combining elaborate multi-tracked harmonies and rhythms with free flowing solo improvisations. If Bartók would have composed Third Stream music for a saxophone ensemble, would this have been the result? While not as accessible as his more jazz rock oriented work with Zao and Neffesh Music, this record nonetheless confirms that Yochk'o Seffer is an instrumentalist and a composer with unique singular vision and a drive to do something different every time.

Gong - Angel's Egg

In 1973 Gong was possibly one of the few bands specializing in psychedelic rock that kept the psych flag flying, in the age of progressive rock and jazz fusion, both idioms that were becoming increasingly more virtuoso-centric while phasing out the mentally expansive idealism of the late sixties. Even though Gong also flirt with prog and jazz-fusion leanings here, it's less about instrumental show-offs or overbearing seriousness. If anything, the level of musicianship from musicians like drummer/percussionist Pierre Moerlen, highly inventive guitarist Steve Hillage and sax/woodwind master Didier Malherbe; enhances the druggy, surrealist and off-beat humorous vibe and elevates it on an entirely another level. Then again, wherever Daevid Allen went, a lot of deranged aura of weirdness would be present. As a result, Angels' Egg, the second album from the Radio Gnome Trilogy, is all over the place. It offers everything from odd tracks like the drunkenly sang "I'm giving all my loving to you" to deranged pop tunes like "Oily Way" and the lovely vibes-led "Love Is How Y make it", but also lengthy tantristic space-rock jams like the opening cut "Other side in the Sky". Daevid Allen, just like Syd Barrett (who influenced Allen) several years before, is a confirmatory example that the best kind of psychedelic rock comes from genuinely eccentric minds.

Can - Delay 1968

When Can was formed in 1968 by Stockhausen protégés Holger Czukay (bass), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), rock guitarist Michael Karoli and former jazz drummer Jaki Liebezeit, they were soon joined by the black American sculptor Malcolm Mooney. This lineup rendered Monster Movie in 1969 as well as parts of Soundtracks and Unlimited Edition, before Mooney left and was replaced with the legendary Damo Suzuki. However, Can (who was also known as Inner Space earlier on) recorded an even earlier session and the plan was to release it as their debut album titled Prepared To Meet Thy PNOOM. However, no record company was interested in releasing it. The session was shelved and only unleashed by the time Can had already disbanded, hence the title, Delay 1968.

The sound is very lo-fi, even for Can who did all of their recordings up to 1974 on the two-track stereo recorder. Captured with minimal miking, this is Can at their rawest. Rawness is evident in the music as well. Compared to the latter Can albums, the sound is heavily influenced by psychedelic rock and rhythm&blues, meaning that this album, along with Monster Movie, is Can at their most rock-oriented. While tracks like "Nineteenth Century Man", "A Man Named Joe" and "Little Star of Bethlehem" align closer with the American acid rock Michael Karoli was influenced by, tracks like "Butterfly" and "Uphill" already indicate the band's interest in repetitive trance-like jams and grooves, influenced heavily by Velvet Underground's brain-searing mantra-rock. Similar direction would be pursued on Monster Movie and subsequent albums would take the repetitive trance-rock direction to an entirely new level. Then there is "Thief", early Can at their most melancholic and emotional, this song was later covered by Radiohead as part of their live repertoire. An interesting early document, but not up to the standard of Can's later classics.

Beach House - Devotion

Beach House is a duo from Baltimore, formed by Alex Scally (guitar, keyboards, percussion) and Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) . Devotion is their second album. In the age of many bigger lineups striving for complexity and multi-layered sound, the duo's psychedelic and folk inspired indie pop sound comes off rather simple. Melodies and progressions sound mostly straightforwards, the rhythm is slow and minimalist, production is well done but modest. On the other hand the duo's sound possesses an alluring atmosphere: the main remarkable aspect is the presence of prominent electric organ, that often is even more on the fore than guitar. It is often propelled along by the pulsating primitive rhythm machine. And of course there is Legrand's enchanting velvety voice that radiates melancholy and sadness. This might sound like a cliché, but Devotion proves that sometimes there indeed is beauty and charm to the simplicity.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation

Soft Machine - Live at the Paradiso 1969

Live at the Paradiso 1969, an archival release from the Voiceprint Records released in 1996 is the closest thing to indicate how the pre-jazz fusion Soft Machine sounded live. There's not a single wind instrument in here, this is pure organ-bass-drums power trio sound. The material from their second album is treated with vengeance by the trio of Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper - cranking high-decibel walls of sound from fuzz-fed organ and bass - and Robert Wyatt who was a real hooligan on drums. Vocals-wise he sounds more like a tortured soul singer contrasting the jazzy subtleties of his vocal work on Volume Two. The music is played as a continuous 40 minute set, without a single break. The numbers with vocals come first, the medley from "Hulloder" to "As Long as he Lies perfectly Still" would soon be dropped from the band's set-list as both Ratledge and Hopper had more intricate compositions in mind than Wyatt's Dadaist rock leanings. The band sounds very heavy and rocking, without sounding like a clichéd rock outfit, especially given the lack of guitar. After some self-indulgent noodling of "Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging" mid-way into the set, the band takes on "Hibou Anemone and Bear", offering a lean, mean, rushed and distorted version of it, with Ratledge flashing his vicious chops to a great effect and Wyatt's voice towards the end struggling to be heard. The 20 minute medley, known as "Esther's Nosejob" (comprising the final pieces on Vol2) follows, and while not as elaborate as the original versions nor as academically jazzy as later live versions, they play with great energy although it's obvious that the trio line-up was limiting: "Pig" lacks the main melody as there is no saxophone to play it and any drummer who can also sing would be hard-pressed to carry out both obligations simultaneously. But the more rock-oriented and mean version of "A Door Opens and Closes" has some magic that makes the later live versions seem somewhat anemic. Wyatt gives us an interesting drum solo in the finale that is "10:30 Returns to the Bedroom" before the band states the final main theme and sizzles out. Even if it isn't musically as polished as Volume Two or as tight as the band's BBC recordings from the same era, it's a valuable testament to the live energy of Soft Machine's unique power trio formation.

Jim O'Rourke - Eureka

Eureka finds Chicago-based musician, composer and producer Jim O'Rourke exploring accessible and even pop-influenced idioms. Here O'Rourke blends various influences from folk and country to jazz and lounge, even exploring the glitchy electronica territory on the lengthy title track that combines folky guitars with electronic bleeps, shimmering organ drones and unhurried brass. This is the most experimental track on the record, but still fairly accessible and melodic compared to O'Rourke's other lengthy experimental compositions. Other long track, "Movie On the Way Down" evolves from quiet, moody jazz explorations with string bass, shakers, acoustic guitar and horns into a sort of a piano ballad with brass counterpoint and some lovely violins at the end. O'Rourke also opens the album with an 8 minute folky rendition of Ivor Cutler's "Women of the World", wherein the song's lyrics form a mantra repeated throughout, where various subtle elements are added one by one, the result of which is that harmonies and textures get denser throughout the repetition of the mantra. These lengthy pieces are contrasted with shorter numbers such as the folky vocal numbers "Ghost Ship In A Storm" and "Happy Holidays", as well as shorter instrumentals like "Through The Night Softly" and "Please Patronize Our Sponsors". The former sounds like the most arranged track on the record, it sounds like a curious mix between Brian Wilson's pocket orchestration and a bit of Dark Side of the Moon like bombast, especially when Ken Vandermark kicks in two minutes into the track with a tenor sax solo reminiscent of "Money" backed by a slow groove reminiscent of "Great Gig In the Sky". The latter evolves from upbeat jazz-based excursion into a languid piano ballad with strings. O'Rourke even does a rendition of Burt Bacharach's "Something Big" here, matching his own baritone voice in the verses against the female vocals in the chorus and offering a fine dose of brass and even a bit of strings as well. While some of the longer tracks seem a bit overindulgent and, paradoxically, some of the shorter tracks leave the listener wanting more; Eureka is an outstanding excursion into accessible territory from the eclectic and avant-garde luminary that is Jim O'Rourke.

Kraftwerk - Autobahn

Autobahn was Kraftwerk's breakthrough album, and also the revolutionary one. Although arguably Neu or even Can could be the first pioneers in the field of hypnotic motorik minimalist drive, Kraftwerk converted the style they had established to a more electronic and exclusively synthesizer-based robotic pulse. With this, the transition from rock and modern electronic pop was complete. Its infamous title track "Autobahn", lasting nearly 23 minutes, also differs from other classic 10-20 minute Krautrock epics that are very mantra-like in nature and run with repetition, by being very multi-sectioned but the sections are very similar in their mesmerizing quality. Two-part "Kometenmelodie", first part being slow and dark, the second one being more uptempo, is also an impeccable showcase for their classic sound.

All the same, Autobahn is still a transitional effort - from that point on their music became robotic and synthesizer-based, but a few spots still feature guitar, flute or even a little spooky dissonant violin freak-out on the sinister "Mitternacht". And the album closer, the serene "Morgenspaziergang" sounds surprisingly acoustic and human. It is also the closest thing to Kraftwerk's pre-Autobahn material, it would've fit perfectly on Ralf and Florian. Part of this record's appeal is that while their classic robotic style has reared its head here full blown, there are occasional elements and non-electronic instrumentation still harking back to Kraftwerk's initial art-rock phase. Autobahn is groundbreaking and innovative without being a demanding listen as was the case with 1970-73 albums, as well as presenting their trademark Teutonic android futurism that isn't as overtly cold or detached as on subsequent Kraftwerk discography.