Zolder Ellipsis - 2024 - Il Libro dei Tropi

 (59:31; Lizard Records)

Track list:
1. Sketch A 6:14
2. Night Crossing 4:55
3. Passed the Storm 3:46
4. Feel Like a Man 3:11
5. BIP 3:07
6. Brunette 7:12
7. Lydian Riff 3:38
8. Undertow 5:15
9. The Purge 3:27
10. Grid and Meridian 4:17
11. Sketch C (Quell) 14:29

Line-up:
Sean Moran - guitars
Tom Aldrich - keyboards, piano, organ
Chad Langford - bass, voice
Ivo Bol - synthesizers, samples
Pierre Aeternus - drums
with:
Esther Mugambi, vocals


Prolusion.
Netherlands based project Zolder Ellipsis is the creative vehicle of US barn composer and musician Tom Aldrich, and the first album to be released under this name appeared back in 2019, with a subsequent reissue a few years later through Italian label Lizard Records. Fast forward to the fall of 2024, and we get a new album by this venture. The album is called "Il LIbro dei Tropi", and with Lizard Records again being the chosen label by the artist.

Analysis.
While defining which round hole this square peg should be forced into is a topic for discussion among genre enthusiasts, what is crystal clear from the onset is that this is a progressive rock album. It'll literally take seconds to establish that as a plausible expectation, and that expectation is upheld rather vigorously by the kind of landscapes explored on this production.

This is a mainly instrumental affair, and with music by a composer that is rather fond of creating material that follow a more quirky and off kilter pattern. Many of the core features appear to drawn in a log of elements from the jazz tradition though, with the rhythm department in particular being steady suppliers of expressive and wandering patterns while also retaining a tight control throughout. The various type of keyboards in use will often alternate between being a core and often dominant element of the groove patterns that so often are established and having more of a free role, while the guitar alternate between being a more subtle supportive presence and having a free and often dominant role as a defining and chaotic presence in a landscape that will have set phases of otherwise tight control. In many cases with a selection and use of tones and timbres from one or more instruments that can be a tad on the unusual side of matters.

Avantgarde and jazzrock are the main keywords for me when attempting to describe this album, with a little boit of a scattered presence of elements I associate with classical music and folk music respectively. Sometimes explored and executed in a more challenging manner, with more elaborate movements or the aforementioned unusual tonalities, but also with a more care ful and elegant display that have a more atmospheric laden expression where minor left turns or otherwise brief displays of uncommon elements adds an unusual character to the song. With songs like 'Brunette' and 'The Purge' very different sounding examples of the latter. That we get some blues-tinged and psychedelic flavoring in some of the songs elsewhere on this album probably merits a mention too, as for me at least this is an album that revolves around breaking conventions in an elegant manner to a greater degree than merely creating music that is challenging.

On an album that comes across as rock solid throughout, with some moments of sheer and brilliant musical joy, I'd have to go for the concluding epic 'Sketch C (Quell)' as my chosen pick from this album. A song that, as I experience it, comes across as a glorious celebration of just how intriguing a song that appear to revolve around improvised elements can become. With a quickly established groove that decomposes but retains its core characteristics, while the more free moving elements gets a gradually more dominant position in the landscapes explored. Quite the enthralling experience that one, at least for someone with my taste in music.

Conclusion.
Zolder Ellipsis as of 2024 strikes me as a venture with a lot of heart and soul set inside of an experimental and avantgarde tradition, but with a stronger focus on breaking down conventions and to explore interesting ideas in their own right rather than trying to create challenging music for the sake of it. This is music with a clear creative direction and intent if you like, at least those are the associations I get when listening through this album. Those who find such a description interesting, and who enjoy instrumental jazzrock just as much as instrumental progressive rock of the avantgarde variety, should probably find this album to be one well worth spending some time with.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, September 2024

Links:
https://tomaldrich.bandcamp.com/
http://www.lizardrecords.it/