Markus Reuter & Stefano Castagna - 2023 - Sea of Hopeless Angels

(41:48; Iapetus)






















I have been a fan of Markus Reuter’s experimental guitarwork for some years now, and while his releases with Stick Men will always be my favourite (please can you come to New Zealand?), I am also a huge fan of Anchor & Burden so when I realised this started life during the sessions for ‘Kosmonautik Pilgrimage’ I was quite intrigued. Apparently, that was a three-day session, and on the second day Markus was in the studio and decided to create a series of solos in a cleaner fashion than normal. Stefano Castagna was mixing that album, so of course had access to this raw material and felt he could so something with them in a different manner. He has been working with Markus since 2021’s ‘TRUCE 2’ album, both as a mixer and a collaborator, but is also known for a musician in his own right with his love being for where  1980’s art rock intertwines with jazz, Mediterranean music and experimental sound. He has taken the solos and then built layers of keyboards against them to create something which is quite unlike what I would normally expect from Reuter but is an absolute delight.

Play this album to anyone, and I can pretty much guarantee they will believe the keyboards were in place and then Markus was asked to play over the top to create a magical blending of the two, and never for once think it was the other way around. I am sure Stefano must have worked through many hours of raw guitar looking for inspiration on what to put against those melodies and experimentation to turn them into pieces which are seamless. It really does sound as if for the most part this was scored and directed with some improvisation over the top, never that Markus was in the studio in his own world creating music with little comprehension of what would happen to it in the end. Much of Reuter’s music is difficult to listen to, as he creates styles which are deliberately challenging, but here he is far more mainstream, and the keyboards have been utilised to push that feeling even further.  The result is an album which will be intriguing and interesting to already existing fans while it is a good introduction for those who have yet to investigate his somewhat unusual and often challenging musical world. I do hope there is enough interest for the guys to repeat this experiment as this is a delight.

Kev Rowland, July 2024

Links:
https://www.markusreuter.com/
https://www.facebook.com/iapetusstore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jay Graboski - 2023 - Authentic Fake

Image
(77:11; Oho Music) Track list: 1. In Dotage 3:55 2. Season of Extremes 3:54 3. 28721 3:38 4. Dot on Your Door 4:55 5. Die Before You Die 4:00 6. Hidden Agenda 4:43 7. Out on a Limb 3:58 8. Mired in Malaise? 3:00 9. Cosmos of the Soul 3:51 10. The Hours 5:32 11. Frog Legs 2:41 12. Metaphors 3:28 13. The Witness Watchers 3:41 14. Authentic Fake 3:05 15. Your Luck is Awake 4:43 16. The Crown 3:51 17. The Doomed Princess 4:01 18. St. Judas 4:12 19. Where Words Do Not Reach 3:28 20. Well, I'll Be 2:35 Line-up: Jay Graboski - vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, glockenspiel with: Dale German - guitars Ray Jozwiak - accordion, keyboards, bass, Moog Dave Kelly - guitars, programming, keyboards, percussion Julie Keough - backing vocals Harry Maben - drums Patrick McAvinue - fiddle Gene Meros - saxophones Bill Phelan - backing vocals, guitars, mandolin, recorder Bill Pratt - keyboards, backing vocals, horn arrangements David Reeve - drums, percussion, keyboards Gyro J. Scope - sequencing Prol
Read more

Thirteen of Everything - 2023 - Time and Other Delusions

Image
(68:22; Basement Avatar Records) Track list: 1. Timeline 8:57 2. Alternate Life 12:02 3. Where the Time Goes 5:32 4. The Penultimate Flight of Armando the Pigeon 7:11 5. The King of Istanbul 10:35 6. Warmth and Darkness 7:32 7. Count All the Days 16.33 Line-up: Brett Cosby - guitars Mick Peters - Chapman stick, bass, pedals, vocals Ted Thomas - drums, percussion, vocals Bob Villwock - keyboards with: Thad Miller - keyboards Prolusion. US band Thirteen of Everything has been a going concern for a bit over 20 years, releasing their initial demo back in 2002 with official albums following in 2005 and 2019 respectively. Following what has been a brief pause between albums for this band they are now preparing to launch their third studio album "Time and Other Delusions", which will be released on US label Basement Avatar Records. Analysis. In terms of the different variations one can find in the progressive rock universe, Thirteen of Everything resides safely inside the symphonic
Read more

Deaton Lemay Project - 2022 - The Fifth Element

Image
(63:04; Deaton Lemay Project) Track list: 1. The Great Awakening 5:32 2. A Different Place in Time 7:24 3. Dragonfly 3:35 4. The Nightmare 4:28 5. Exordium 6:24 - Elements of Life Suite 6. Overture 4:43 7. Fire 6:10 8. Water 6:11 9. Air 4:19 10. Earth 6:53 11. Music 7:25 Line-up: Roby Deaton - keyboards, guitars, vocals Craig LeMay - drums, percussion with: Hadi Kiani - vocals Ehsan Imani - guitars Josh Mark Raj - guitars John Haddad - bass Charles Berthoud - bass Liza Evans - violin Prolusion. US band DEATON LEMAY PROJECT started out officially back in 2018, following a 25 year long period of gestation. They released their debut album "Day After Yesterday" in 2019, and following what I suspect has been a rather busy planning and recording period during the years of the pandemic the creative twosome of Deaton and Lemay are back with their second album "The Fifth Element" at the start of 2022. Analysis. While the fifth element apparently used to be defined as aether
Read more