BLACKOUTS

I'm more disappointed in myself rather than at Manuel Gottsching for initially really liking BLACKOUTS and having all of the amazement just drain after a few listens. The Cliff Notes version of this review would be as follows: nice spacey electronics but nothing too special. For the longer version...

BLACKOUTS is a good album to put on in the background when you need to work on something important or you're hosting a party and want to play some cool background music with some prog points. These are long pieces that rarely change in ground structure with some keyboard melody or teaser guitar solo over the top. If you like the beat/theme/riff/drone, you're good for seven or so minutes; else, hit skip (''Shuttlecock'' is the only one I would skip). It's as good as I can get with the descriptions without mentioning the actual tracks.

The long ''Lotus'' is done well for being seventeen minutes as its parts are kind-of well-defined, but the second part is the most interesting as the structure just destabilizes until the third part suddenly comes in and melody is back. Not bad, but my mind would drift too easily here. ''Don't Trust the Kids/Blackouts'' sounds close to poppy thanks to the big bass synth riff, but it begs to be covered by a rock band, not that these songs are bad but I'm just curious. ''Midnight on Mars'' actually sounds like it could be used on Mars (maybe Young Justice could use this if Miss Martian was to return home...anyone?).

BLACKOUTS is overall pleasant, but I find Tangerine Dream to be generally far more engaging and vibrant despite the cold electronic futuristics.