CHAOS ISLANDS

French keyboard player Pierre Salkazanov released his first album as Zanov as long ago as 1976, releasing another the following year and another in 1982 before apparently retiring from the music scene altogether. However, in 2014 he released his fourth album after a gap of more than 30 years, another two years later, and now he has is back with the third from this period and the sixth overall. In many ways this feels quite different to modern electronic music, and a listener would not be surprised if they were informed that it had come out of the Seventies, more inspired by the likes of Tangerine Dream than the more ethereal works of composers such as Jean Michel Jarre.

It is far more electronic than symphonic, with a positive direction to the music with little of the meandering which can so often come when a keyboard player is left to his own devices. In some ways this feels more like modern classical than it does other forms, such is the variety and complexity that is taking place in the music. There is a real drive, and while there are times when one thinks of Kraftwerk with some of the directness, that is often soon taken away on music that is constantly shifting and moving, yet always with purpose. At times it is delicate, at others more forceful, as he switches and moves through different themes. Inspired by Chaos Theory, he describes this as a musical world where chaos and order combine to generate surprising beauty, and I certainly find it hard to disagree.

Never a fan of Zanov's stuff, I'm always open to trying anything/everything he's released because of the respect he's garnered from other reviewers/listeners. In the end, this one is no different than the others--highly derivative, simplistic, and bland for its lack of freshness. 1. "Edge of Chaos Island" (7:19) Berlin School takes over Blade Runner (13.25/15) 2. "Inception Island" (6:22) trying to usurp some themes/styles from Inception? Fail! (7.5/10) 3. "Strange Attractor Island" (6:57) slow and plodding; nothing new here. (11/15) 4. "Three Body Island" (6:48) (12.5/15) 5. "Phase Space Island" (8:15) so TD! (Dude: It's been done!) (17.5/20) 6. "Instability Island" (7:00) some cool parts. (12/15) 7. "Emergence Island" (6:20) so JARRE! (8/10)

C+/three stars; a fair contribution to Prog World, one that I would recommend that you try out for yourselves.