BLEEDING

The eclectic nature of some music can certainly be a turn-off for some people. Others, however, revel in that sort of thing. I believe multi-instrumentalist Hamlet Transportinae of the progressive project Transport Aerian to be the latter. "Bleeding" isn't Hamlet's first foray into music, and I'm sure it won't be his last. However, it is certainly my introduction to his attempts at creating new and original music, and I believe he succeeds. I also believe everyone needs to give his music a chance.

Yes, Transport Aerian is quite unique. You will find all sorts of styles therein, from strong riffing to ambient to experimental. You will find really odd time signatures that take time for your brain to unravel (especially on "Inspire"), but you will also find incredibly catchy portions, too. You will hear synthy goodness, but also very raw passages. Lastly, you will hear Hamlet himself, and his admittedly odd vocal style. His accent is somewhat thick, though that never bothers me. He just has a way of putting together vocal lines that somehow fit the melody, but you can never be sure how.

Hamlet seems very passionate about his music. It is music created without any inhibitions concerning others' opinions. He does whatever he wants. And he does it well. One thing I've especially noticed is his deft hand at creating wonderful over-arching song structures, as can be seen on the pensive "Triangle Town" or on the climactic "Winter". Heck, he even throws in long dramatic silences on "Inspire". Yes, this is music with personality, something that is definitely missing from much music today. "Bleeding" is also about mood. You can feel the darkness. The emotion is palpable.

Hamlet also seems quite passionate about his topics of choice. I think it comes through in his really emotive style of singing, which his accent emphasizes even more. His themes of loneliness, fear of being forgotten, and passionate longing are truly felt by the listener. It takes skill and real emotion to portray this, and so I salute Hamlet for his maturity (as cheesy as that might sound).

I wasn't sure what I thought about this album, at first. Suddenly, one day the music connected with my mind. It's genius stuff, really. Hamlet's Transport Aerian needs more exposure, and I really hope he gets it. Though, I'm not sure if he really wants that.

Transport Aerian's 'Bleeding' is the solo project of a young belgian multi-instrumentalist, known as Hamlet. Just like in the cult fantastic movie of 1962 "Carnival Of Souls", where the main character wanders from the world of the living to the world of the dead, we have the feeling, when listening to the album, to step from a reassuring universe to another one that sounds much more frigthening. The first owes a lot to a beautiful clean voice akin to the "Less Is More" style of Mariusz Duda (on "Score" for example). At times, the timbre is more unexpectedly closer to Scorpions' Klaus Meine (it is blatant on "Nightsky" for example). This "first world" is also embodied by cozy ambiances borne by a somewhat light piano, a vaporous flute ("Inspire"), aquatic guitar licks ("Score", "Nightsky" and "Winter"), some lazy cymbals (weaving the canvas for the spacey world of "Triangle Town"), and last but not least the always appropriately brought in silences. The second world is represented by a chant either angry in a hardcore vein ("Mortals") or haunting in the spirit of Nick Cave ("Fog Vision", "Edges"). Drums are slow in this other world, guitars sound threatening, distorted or weeping ("Love") and keyboards (be it piano, or Rhodes, or Dulcimer samples) quite frightening. On a musical level, we are close to the dark world of Nick Cave or Diamanda Galas, with hints of Neurosis-like post-hardcore here and there. Notes of dry "tribal-ambient" jazz in the line of Torn Karn Bozzio project, and echoes of movie soundtracks, from the piano notes of Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" to the haunting musical landscapes of David Lynch's movies, also spangle the album. Guitars, on the other side, can be dyed with the colors of Arto Lindsay's no- wave, or wander in the meditative and weeping garden of Robert Fripp, or even burst into the excessive "wah wah" whirlwind of The Cure's "The Kiss" ("Mortals" and the closing section of "Edges"). Very personal and highly original work, "Bleeding" should satisfy all music-lovers looking for versatility and unusual atmospheres. Noteworthy, the band was recently signed to the Melodic Revolution Records label and a remastered version of the album is now available.