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Time Strings Travellers: Still Songs
ByOn “Storyteller with New Vibration” I heard Material and RIO but all done over some traditional Japanese music structures. The sax was predominant but mean guitars also emerged. An extended trancerock, sitarlike(Kwengarri?)-drone added an Indian feel. Pass the water-pipe. This band spaces out and jams in a Zeuhlian/lounge jazz fashion. On “part II [Eternal Song]” there is a bevy of avant-garde/RIO/free jazz as the extended intro. It eventually resolves into more Zeuhlian-traditional psyche-fusion.
“Moments of Suspence”, [sic], was more of a jazz fusion/free jazz piece. Plenty of raucous sax and guitar offered. The bass work is Magmaoid-surging and relentless. Fans of Kazumi Watanabe might enjoy this. “Evening Wind” is Pekka Pohjola or Passport mellow keys and sax-driven jazz. “Discover Rhythm~Our March” intros a long percussive meander with bass burps, ivory tinkling, distant sax swoons, in a barely structured amble of free jazz noodlings. As before things eventually build to a monster-sized explosion of Japanese-sounding folk-rock. Synths and bass pump it all to max overdrive. Fuzzed guitar wails away the final minutes.
“[Kashin]” is radio-ready jazzy rock with Japanese vox, this tune seemingly inserted to get Top-40 rotation in Japan. Not too interesting. We outro with “[Ruby]” a reprise of track one with a spacey synth and bass interplay. Occasional percussives make me think Kitaro. A near-ambient dirge to end this very wild ride. Whew.
Reprinted with the permission of John Collinge and Progression Magazine .
Personnel
Album information
Title: Still Songs | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: Chitei Records
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