OPEN CAGE

3.5 stars. I really like it but don't love it. BANDHADA has been around since 1983 as they formed that year in Santiago, Chile. What a beautiful city! I had a fascination with adventerous music coming out of this country many years ago, fond memories. I also remember listening to samples of this their followup, released some 15 years later in 2009 called "Open Cage". This is a nice album. A five piece with sax and yes I love to bash sax don't I. Anyway it's actually not bad except for those smooth moments which are a negative for sure. Guitar is really good along with the bass and drums. Keyboardist adds some variety here including synths, piano and electric piano. That closer is so good and different from the rest. It's the only track with vocals and they sound fragile, so this along with the music brings a Canterbury flavour. Anyway I just love this one, wished they'd tried more of this. The rest is all instrumental and pleasant is a word that comes to mind a lot but it's all so well played and they sound great. The keyboardist composed half the tracks on here including the closer called "Timecatcher". Kind of a cool album cover as well. Check them out, classy stuff.