DANCE OF THE GOODBYES

This is the time to celebrate the emergence of such a lovely progressive dance in the key of 21st century Canterbury ? from Spain's Northeastern coast, Amoeba Split has delivered a beautiful album in which jazzy vibrations and melodic colorfulness fuse in an appealing dynamics. Four years was the time that Amoeba Split took to complete this album's repertoire little by little, and now "Dance Of The Goodbyes" is a brilliant reality. In the meantime, the band lost its permanent guitarist, hence becoming a quintet where the bassist adds the guitar parts on studio, except for track no. 3 that features a guest guitarist. All lyrics in the sung tracks are in English: I guess the band feels comfortable doing that. 'Dedicated to us, but we weren't listening' opens up the album with obvious softmachinesque reference in its title, but the track's actual sonic scheme is more related to Matching Mole's agile density as exhibited in the "Little Red Record": one way or another, it is an effective opener that provides good progressive hope for big pleasure in the short run to the listener. 'Perfumed garden', the first sung piece, bears a calmer mood in the beginning, full of dreamy melodic developments, but eventually things get more intense dominated by a vibrant swing and a few cosmic passages. Right before the 5 minute mark, a duet of piano and mellotron-flute signals the reprise of the last sung portion, this time augmented with flute flourishes and mellotron-cello orchestrations. With a 10 ¾ minute span, 'Turbulent matrix' develops the jazz factor more deeply, with dominant airs a-la Weather Report in many of the piano and sax interventions that occur in the interlude section. For a while, during the second half, the band indulges in a sort of homage to "Volume Two"-era SM, but finally the coda states a reshaping of the initial motif. This is a highlight of the album, no doubt about it, as is 'Blessed water' as well. This one, the second sung track, brings an overall romantic vibe to a tale of moral disappointment and desperation for faith. This track's compositional development benefits from gradual crescendos of colorfulness that are properly fuelled by the alternated guitar and woodwind solos. Picture a Robert Wyatt ballad rearranged and performed by a combo of Caravan and Catapilla musicians and you might get the picture about this song's structure. 'Qwerty' is a brief instrumental based on a few letters on old typewriter's panels: it isn't even one minute long but it clearly delivers exciting moods that are heavily inspired by the Hatfield & The North mold. Mostly, 'Qwerty' is a preamble to the epic 23+ minute long 'Flight to nowhere'. After a brief psychedelic intro theme, the first sung section is a melodic expression of serene simplicity, soon followed by a Caravan-style jam (featuring an excellent flute solo by Miss Toro). With the next jam, things get much more vivacious with a featured position of the guitar and sax solos. Then, a softer section, very symphonic in itself, brings pastoral nuances that stand closer to PFM than, say, National Health. Later on, after a reasonable time for development of this new found symphonic groove, the jazz-prog orientation is retaken in full swing in order to elaborate a partial climax that serves as the anticipation to the following sung section. The stage is set for yet another climatic moment, with the whole instrumental framework focused on the powerfully stated organ layers and rhythmic dynamics. At the 21 ½ minute mark, the music stops drastically for the eerie emergence of soft heartbeats and lifeline machinery? and then, silence. The last thing of this suite and this album is not such silence, but an unsettling piano solo that somehow brings a variation of the same intensity with which the music had stopped earlier. A very clever ending for a very good closure to a great album: Amoeba Split nailed it big time with this debut album, the first dance.

What is it with Spain these days ? It's purely coincidence but i've been listening to this Canterbury Spanish band AMOEBA SPLIT and the Jazz / Fusion Spanish band PLANETA IMAGINERO this past week and both have impressed me to no end. I must admit that I get a real charge out of new bands who play in the Zeuhl or Canterbury style these days because you know they are doing it out of love for the music. We get female vocals and plenty of sax and flute here.

"Dedicated To Us, But We Weren't Listening" is an obvious nod to the SOFT MACHINE track "Listening To You, But You Weren't Listening" and perhaps MATCHING MOLE's "Listening To Hugh, But You Weren't Listening". Apparently they are big fans of both bands.This one is led by organ early before guitar then keyboards lead. Great opening track. "Perfumed Garden" has these reserved vocals with pastoral music early on then it turns fuller a minute in and picks up. A calm before 3 minutes as the music stops and spoken words can be heard. Organ, bass and drums then take over and the guitar arrives before 4 minutes followed by sax. It settles and the vocals are back before 5 1/2 minutes with bass and piano. It's jazzy late to end it. "Turbulent Matrix" has some fuzzed organ leads with bass and drums before it settles into a jazzy mode. Flute and bass lead then guitar replaces the flute. Flute is back then sax before 4 1/2 minutes. Great sound when it picks up 8 1/2 minutes in,then it settles back a minute later.

"Blessed Water" opens with piano before some mellotron joins in.Yes I said mellotron ! Vocals and bass as it stays releaxed. It picks up some after 4 1/2 minutes and tasteful guitar arrives a minute later. Sax arrives then we get vocals once again before 8 1/2 minutes as it settles. It picks back up and we get more sax, organ and mellotron. "Qwerty" is a short uptempo jazzy piece. "Flight To Nowhere" is the over 23 minute closer. It kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes. Excellent sound ! Piano, bass and drums with sax playing over top is so impressive.Vocals follow. Flute and guitar then come to the fore when the vocals stop. Piano, drums and vocals are back 4 1/2 minutes in. Sax before 6 minutes leads the way.These guys just continue to rip it up instrumentally. I love when it turns heavy before 17 minutes and we get mellotron too. Great sound ! This continues until about 21 1/2 minutes then avant piano comes in to end it.

A must for Canterbury fans out there. A very solid 4 stars.

NOBODY expects The Spanish Inquisition!!!!!

There´s been an ongoing thread about styles of music that are slowly dying out, and sure enough the whimsical shading of jazz - also known as Canterbury has been mentioned too. In listening to this album by Spanish group Amoeba Split, it sounds rather ludicrous and ill-informed, and it is certainly hard to see any sort of justification behind such a claim. -And yes you read it right - they´re from Spain!

This has to be the first album I´ve ever heard out of Spain, that plays this style of music. When I started out listening to the likes of Caravan, Gong, Hatfield & the North and Matching Mole, the sounds of Canterbury appeared to be a very English take on fusion, - meaning that sentences like "Tea my dear?" and "Top of the morning to you ol´ boy!" in some weird and slightly complex manner got transformed into chords and music. There´s a lot of Monty Python in it, at least according to this slightly mad listener, - and I certainly hear the mad piss-taking and demented nonsense tongue-in-cheek-humour conveyed in the music. -Especially in those English bands...

Then, what happens when we are met by Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian - and in this case Spanish acts, who venture out in these Limey board walks? Generally we get introduced to some inherent endemic musical trades from said country elegantly weaved together with the English madness, and alakazoo!: a genuine bastard in drag is born! But not on this album as it turns out...

Amoeba Split sounds very much like the good old English Canterbury bands, and could easily be mistaken for being one - except for the crucial moment, when you read those credits and you find names like Pablo and Alberto listed. When I say that they sound like the Canterbury acts of yesteryear, I mean that as the biggest compliment conceivable, as this band truly has found a sound of their own. Somewhere between pastoral symphonic folk tinged fusion to jaw breaking bone crunching whimsical jazz with all that we could ever ask of the wind instruments regarding maniacal bird modes and jumping tirades of beautiful melody laden flute whistling.

The female vocals here done by Maria Toro remind me a bit of a more tender version of COS siren Pascal Son. She can be everything from your cool, slick and laid-back jazz singer doing her best to entice you with a tiny crackling in her voice that slips into the words from time to time, but then again she can also sound dangerous and dark like some Russian mistress from your local House of Pain - delivering her goods with pointy snake-tongue and fire in her eyes - like a beautiful demon with a forceful trait to her voice that exudes that certain feminine devilish power, that imprisons and stupefies the weaker sex.

Beyond those characteristic vocals, Dance of the Goodbyes is packed full of piano, organ and saxophone -and it´s here we get introduced to those old school Canterbury conquistadors. Without ripping them off in an insincere and blatantly brown nose approach - keys man Ricardo Castro Varela certainly utilizes some of the same sonic pastures as Dave Stewart and David Sinclair - and especially in those organ leads, I find myself going back into those images of the pinkish mountains of In the Land of Grey and Pink. It´s done in a very convincing way, and I can certainly appreciate the skill of this guy, as he just like Sinclair frequently chooses to play more conservatively in the leads - and rather sticks to those notes that really flies like the wind, instead of complicating things with unnecessary fondling. I hear the Dave Stewart link in the way he plays the piano, and it gives off that extra bouncy feel to the music - like had it been equipped with go-go gadget boots and a pogo-stilt with an unnatural feel for notes and interplay.

This is music for the rainy days, when you need some cheering up and you just need tunes that hug you like an old friend wearing a big woolly sweater. On the other hand it may just work played at a ridiculously high level down at the beach, the day you´ve decided to share your love of neon yellow g-strings to the world - and all you want back is sand between your toes and frisky breezes in your hair to go together with the colourful music.

This is certainly recommended to all you Canterbury heads out there, and to those of you who would like to travel a bit outside the normal barriers of the fusion world, and get a little taste of some rather original and deliciously played Canterbury that sports a love of the gentleness of symphonic folk and ethereal foggy jazz - all wrapped up in a neat package with vocals from a woman who knows about the weight of the world and will turn against you when you´re not looking, for then to cradle you in her arms and whisper soft bitter-sweet melodies in your ear.

The whimsical, jazz-influenced brand of progressive rock known as Canterbury scene is not a genre that features a large amount of newer bands, but every now and again an excellent act proves that the genre is still alive and well. Hailing from Spain (a place that rarely produces Canterbury music) is Amoeba Split, a group that delivers this style of music with serious class. Although the band was originally formed as early as 2001 and released an EP in 2003, it wasn't until 2010 that the world got to hear Amoeba Split's debut full-length release entitled Dance of the Goodbyes. A very solid observation from all fronts, Dance of the Goodbyes has a lot in common with the classic Canterbury bands, but still manages to bring plenty of new ideas to the table.

Amoeba Split's sound primarily borrows from acts like Caravan, The Soft Machine, and Gong, which means that the listener should expect a mix of sophisticated psychedelic rock and jazz music with a quirky British twist. Amoeba Split borrows ideas from other styles - there are pastoral segments, wild sax solos that would fit on a Van Der Graaf Generator record, and tight fusion jams in the vein of Weather Report - but this release should mostly appeal to Canterbury fans. All of the instrumentation sounds very retro, with the instruments limited to organic tones and the production sounding warm and earthy. I particularly dig the selection of keyboard tones used by Ricardo Castro Varela, as I think they flesh out the compositions to their fullest potential. María Toro's vocals have a loose and jazzy approach that differs significantly from many other progressive rock singers; though I initially found her shrill delivery to be a bit off-putting, her vocals grew on me over repeated listens and I now think they suit the music perfectly.

Dance of the Goodbyes also features some stunning instrumental displays (the improvisational "Turbulent Matrix" especially stands out), and overall I'd say this is a very successful debut from Amoeba Split. It may perhaps wear its influences too proudly for some listeners, but Canterbury enthusiasts will undoubtedly have a blast with this release. I'll be very much looking forward to see what this band has to offer in the future, and, in the meantime, fans of the Canterbury scene should check this one out without hesitation.

Spanish band AMOEBA SPLIT was formed back in 2001, and released an initial demo in 2003. Seven years later they returned with their debut album "Dance of the Goodbyes", a production which gained the band a lot of attention and a sold out initial run of the CD. The album was reissued in 2014 through Azafran Media and Musea Records.

The Canterbury scene isn't one explored by too many other bands with a contemporary history, so just about any additions to that scene is met with interest by those with a fascination for that particular style of progressive rock. Amoeba Split is a quality addition to the list of bands active in this field, and especially those with a strong affection for the more jazz-oriented bands exploring this style of music should enjoy just about all aspects of this production. A highly recommended album, and then especially to those who have a taste for the bands generally described as belonging to the Canterbury scene within the progressive rock realm.

Whilst it was never quite the cohesive, unified scene the music press sometimes made it out to be, there is some truth to the idea that the whole "Canterbury" style was perpetuated by a particular group of collaborators, with particular names - Dave Stewart, Robert Wyatt, Pip Pyle, Richard Hastings, Barbara Gaskin, and so on ad infinitum - appearing on a wide swathe of albums from the era. As a result of the inevitable ravages of time, the prolific stalwarts of the scene have slowed down their pace of releases over time (and indeed some cornerstones like Hugh Hopper or Daevid Allen are no longer with us), so the Canterbury output of late has been diminishing, and what has existed consists of a fair swathe of archival releases and reunion projects and other vehicles for old hands.

Nonetheless, there's nothing inherently stopping anyone from keeping the sound going and developing it further - various European acts did it back in the 1970s without any of the key Canterbury personalities being involved, after all, and in more modern times with have the exceptionally capable Amoeba Split, who on this debut album have cooked up a modern sound centred on the style of Hatfield & the North or National Health but with regular excursions to other musical territory, from the mellow and peaceful to hard-cooking fusion. Perhaps in time we will see more of a revival of this musical style; if so, you can bet Amoeba Split will be at the forefront of it.

They're not from County Kent, they're not even English, but the Canterbury forms and sounds here, often subtle or slightly adapted, are undeniable and quite enjoyable. Someone in the band is even caring enough to provide many of the Daevid Allen pixiness with talking diatribes beneath the music and backwards or otherwise effected guitar tracks beneath the other music as Allen and Steve Hillage were fond of doing.

1. "Dedicated to us, but we weren't listening" (3:50) opening with some GONG-like effects and then adding some melodic ALLAN GOWEN- or STEVE MILLER-like keys, smooth RICHARD SINCLAIR-like bass, and PYE HASTINGS- or PHIL MILLER-like guitar and you've got yourself a melange of Canterbury Scene musicians making . . . quirky Bohemian Canterbury jazz!? (8.75/10)

2. "Perfumed garden" (9:43) opening with the breathy voice of María Toro is, I must admit, a bit of a surprise--a welcomed one, as it turns out. The closest thing I can come up with this music is today's INNER EAR BRIGADE or REGAL WORM. There is SANTANA-ness to the instrumental section in the fourth and fifth minutes, but then the music breaks down into a slow, smokey torch singer lounge jazz not unlike ANNE PIGALLE or KOOP. But the flute-led instrumental section following María's vocal is Canterbury, pure and sublime. However you categorize the music of this song, let's all agree on one thing: it's gorgeous! (19.5/20)

3. "Turbulent matrix" (10:47) the superlative music that all artists Canterbury would be making today if they were to do it all over again. This is a gorgeous piece of fun, melodic, quirky, even flawless jazz. Incredible arrangements, tight cohesion, and fantastic drumming, all built over two piano chords! (20/20)

4. "Blessed water" (12:26) opens with sensitive, plaintive solo piano before Mellotron, bass, and the delicate voice of María Toro enter, continuing the same emotive pattern and theme, the music has a bit of ANNIE HASLAM-JON CAMP RENAISSANCE feel to it, even into the slightly built up instrumental section--which quiets down for the arrival of the alto sax--who lays down a beautiful solo. María gets the next turn, this time with flute, over some psychedelic guitar play and JOHN TOUT-like piano. A slightly heavier force enters as ELIANA VALENZEULA-like vocal passage of María's plays out. There follows a nice medium-yet-insistently-paced section over which electric guitar and saxophone perform very nice solos. The bass, drums, and piano are so smooth, so together! Everybody starts pushing the intensity up one notch at a time so that in the eighth minute things are peaking just before a ninth minute lull in which María returns to a sensitive SARA ALIANI (LAGARTIJA)-like voice, but hen she finishes the band launches immediately into a full-on blues-rock exposition in support of the electric guitar. Remember THE DOORS?! Big 'tron choir supports the next section as the song plays out over the final two minutes much like CARAVAN does in the orchestra-supported second half of "L'auberge du Sanglier/A hunting we shall go/Pengola/Backwards/A hunting we shall go (reprise)." Brilliant! Brings me to tears! (24/25)

5. "Qwerty" (0:49) did we mention that María plays a mean flute? Fun uptempo Canterburified jazz. (5/5)

6. "Flight to nowhere" (23:39) (44/50) - I. Endless magic spell -- those could be considered GONG-like sounds and effects in the opening section with a similar STEVE HILLAGE guitar effect to the lead guitar as the music falls into step, but as soon as María begins singing I am once again brought back into the realm of torch singer lounge jazz. Magic spell indeed! - II. A bleeding mind -- I don't really know where one section begins or ends but suffice it to say that a musical passage with crazed multi-languaged or clipped vocal dispersals lying beneath the music begin and continue over a span that I'm guessing might be representative of "a bleeding mind." - III. A walk along the tightrope - IV. Bubbles of dellirium

Total time 61:14

Five stars; one of the best Canterbury style albums I've ever heard or reviewed, old or new; a true masterpiece of joyful, creative, amazingly well composed, performed, and recorded music.

Out of all the sub-genres of progressive rock that have emerged it seems that the Canterbury Scene has been the least productive as it has tended to exist within a small tightly woven network of musicians who were all in one way or another involved in the style's nascent developments and explorative extensions throughout the 70s heyday, however there have been a handful of artists who have found more affinity to this English anomaly and have preferred it over their more local regionalized music scenes. From France there was the Moving Gelatine Plates, from Italy there was Picchio dal Pozzo, Zyma from Germany and from the US, The Muffins but once the 80s hit and the prog rock scene waned and was limited to a few underground artists and the neo-prog endeavors of bands like Marillion. The Canterbury Scene seemed to fizzle out and the bands that were still active resorted to cranking out watered down pop caricatures of their former selves.

While the 21st century has seen a revival of the genre, most of the new releases have been from the classic artists like Soft Machine, Gong, Caravan and Robert Wyatt but a scant few younger bands have also gravitated to this unique jazz-rock style that sounds like no other. Emerging from the most unlikely setting of A Coruña in the northeastern province of Galicia in Spain, the band AMOEBA SPLIT took a liking to the whimsical jazz-rock brand of progressive rock. While the band formed in 2001 and released the first EP in 2003, AMOEBA SPLIT wouldn't see a full-length release until 2010's DANCE OF THE GOODBYES which took the three tracks presented on the EP ("Blessed Water," "Turbulent Matrix" and "Perfumed Garden") and added three additional tracks including the highlight of the album, the near 24 minute monstrosity of "Flight To Nowhere" which takes a journey through four distinct sequences.

AMOEBA SPLIT pretty much borrows from the Canterbury greats of yesteryear meaning the lush jazz-rock passages of Caravan and Soft Machine, the psychedelic transcendental qualities of Gong along with other English expressions from folk, rock and jazz. What you won't find whatsoever in AMOEBA SPLIT's sound is anything remotely Latin influenced thus eschewing all Spanish homegrown genres such as flamenco and Italian derived symphonic prog. Likewise all lyrics are in English sung by María Toro whose voice is a bit on the shrill side and one of the weakest links in the band's overall approach but she is also the flautists and delivers some delicious emotive outbursts on the wind instrument. The six compositions are mostly vocally dominated with instrumental passages but the outstanding "Turbulent Mix" is where the true virtuosic prowess of the instrumental interplay is allowed to soar.

In the end, DANCE OF THE GOODBYES is a rather mellow and tender affair and rarely percolates past the mid-tempo range. It's resonates as a sort of standard vocal style of jazz with the technical delivery of the Canterbury flavors that served the classic artists of the scene so well however for my money AMOEBA SPLIT plays it rather safe perhaps fearing to tread too heavily on this genre that is a sacred cow to most hardened proggers and much like a cow in India which is allowed to park itself wherever it desires, this band seems to feel that it has to tread lightly around the English sensibilities and never adds much to the style in terms of unbridled creativity. Nevertheless, AMOEBA SPLIT displays a passion for the Canterbury that few have had since the 70s except for a scant few of dedicated artists. While i appreciate the respect for the style, i was hoping to hear some interpolations of flamenco, Spanish classical guitar or even some zarzuela elements but as it is, this band managed to create a rather compelling debut release.

Canterbury Sound out of Spain? It fits the bill!

And from the get-go, Amoeba Split has the quirk and the knack and tenacity to fit the mold of my personal favorite Prog idiom. "Dedicated to Us But We Weren't Listening" is a great introduction indeed. Happy start for maximalismo. They fill every nook and cranny in your headphones, most notably driven by synth and organ (rightly so, I'd suggest).

Soft female vocals head off in the quieted "Perfumed Garden" performed by flautist María Toro. Very modern feel, despite the majority of the classic instrumentation. It should be noted that not only are keys the dominant force, but the guitar specifically is mixed surprisingly low throughout, in my opinion. Regardless, everything is working together, again, to fill your headphones totally. It will keep your attention, in the least. All picks up in the middle section of this track, not unreminiscent of middle-era Soft Machine (i.e. post-Wyatt, pre-true-blue-Fusion). The latter half is soft but optimistic.

"Turbulent Matrix" is a much welcomed shift, the beginning of which is very jazzy [the whole song is jazzy haha], like a cool Post-Bop. And around the 2-minute mark we finally hear some guitar in nice soloing. Certainly still in a sort of Canterbury style. Most notable is the muddy and fuzzy bass playing here, of course reminiscent of Mr. Hugh Hopper. Around the midpoint is this very lovely synth solo. And the build at the end should appease (it does fall into something that reminded me of "Stolen Moments" which was lovely).

"Blessed Water" didn't immediately impress, but around 8 minutes, there is a slight shift, but only for a moment. And then *wham!*, 10 minutes in and we get a huge burst. Enough to yank me over to the side of the track? No, but [the part was] satisfactory in and of itself.

A Hatfield-style sub-minute interlude is found in "Qwerty"! Well done! The synth and organ is once again the driving force, but in Miller-meets-Stewart fashion the guitar is thankfully riding right alongside. Wonderful. And that opens immediately into the 23.5-minute epic "Flight to Nowhere", starting with psychedelic wavering then nice, simple guitar lead atop dancing piano arpeggiation. The saxophone section around 5:30 is excellent and the section it introduces is very nice. Complex rhythmic something going on here, too. Definitely picked things up. Good track.