LOST HORIZON

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Talented act from Kemijarvi, Finland, formed in 2005.Originally Tai Shan were a guitar/bass/drums trio, but with the arrival of Markus Jakola on keyboards they expanded their music styles.The fact they exclusively performed around the Kemijarvi area prevented them from becoming more well-known, however the band produced a first CD in 2011, entitled ''Lost horizon'', with Janne Sarkela on guitar, Janne Jakola on bass and Jorma Tabel on drums, besides the aforementioned keyboardist.

The majority of Tai Shan's debut is a pleasant and enjoyable Prog Fusion with complex time signatures being followed by more melodious textures and well-executed solos.The sound kind of reminds of DAVE KULJU, RARE BLEND or even NATHAN MAHL with a touch of more guitar-friendly grooves in the vein of RUSH.There are tons of smooth interplays and furious grooves included in the tracks, while a couple of them have slight Reggae, Funk and Latin overtones, cleverly thrown in among the jazzier and proggy tunes.The overall playing is very energetic with an optimistic point of view, maybe a bit too slick at times, but the interesting guitar work, the variations on keyboards, like organ waves, electric piano solos and synth flashes, and the accomplished rhythm section guarantee a nice listening experience.The more melodic and sensitive passages with the balanced use of keyboards and guitars do have a slight CAMEL atmosphere and the playing style of Janne Sarkela is quite close to that of MARIO MILLO's.The best tracks are saved for last, where the band tries a great mix of fiery Fusion with more dominant synths and plenty of Heavy Prog vibes.

There is some great potential hidden behind the music in ''Lost horizon''.An album, that rarely gets tiring, having a balanced guitar/keyboard style, warmly recommended to all Prog fans, especially to those, who love the Fusion flavor.

First offer of this talented band from Finland is from 2011 and is named Lost horizon. I already knew their second album Ice flower and I was more then pleasent surprised so I decided to check also their debut. To me, Tai Shan is unfairly unknown and underreated progressive/ jazz rock band from today scene, they have very strong and tight musicinship and overall more then intresting ideas. For a debut album this is almost a magic one, really, there are some kick ass tunes here like superb Bombay, nice shifting moods, lots of tempo changes, the arrangements flow like a river. Another highlight is definetly the title track, impressive pieces where the band shines, where the keybords and guiatar are well balanced and alternated in great manner. I like thet they play with an amazing ease, they go from jazz rock to prog rock in few seconds, the combination between those two style works perfectly. All album is instrumental, it has a scandinavian feel to it and is damn great. So, Losdt horizon is not overly complex to get bored, is not simple to be almost mainstream, is fairly decent with plenty of memorable and colorful soundscapes. For me easy 3 stars, 3.5 in places. And as a bonus notice, Janne Jakola the bass player is the son of the keybordist Markus Jakola, both making an excellent performance here. Very underrated band.