TRANCEPORTATION - VOLUME 1 (WITH DAVID TORN)

The union of Switzerland's Math Rock masters, Sonar, with David Torn was so successful, so meaningful to all involved, that they did it again--one year after releasing the stunning, ground-breaking, Vortex.

1. "Labyrinth" (14:26) the tension presented in this song is sublime! The low bass-dominated primary weave is incredibly engaging (engulfing!) In the fifth, eighth, eleventh, and thirteeth-into-fourteenth minutes David Torn reaches new heights with his guitar's creative, primal, animalistic screams. And the other guitarists take a more aggressive, attention-grabbing approach than is typical of their performances (they usually stay in the underground, hidden within the foundational weaves that David solos over). Even the drumming somehow reaches out to grab you and suck you in. Probably my favorite Sonar song ever. (28.5/30)

2. "Partitions" (5:37) opening with a wonderful spacey aural field--one that stays in the song's bottom end throughout. The star-spangling guitar interplay is absolutely wonderful--both with individual notes and, later, beneath David Torn's swooning guitar play, with staccato chord strums and then ascending chord arpeggi. (10/10)

3. "Red Sky" (11:14) percussion noises from the drum coupled with spacey guitar loops are soon joined with the lead blues-bending notes of David Torn's southern-infused guitar. Very cool. At 1:53 another guitar approach is introduced. Christian Kuntner's thick, heavy, low-end dominating bass does not enter until 2:19, over which David's bayou-bluesy guitar returns--all over some intricately-played quick note staccato guitar interplay. The rolling bass line only contributes further to the bayou-bluesy feel of this one. I'm not usually into bluesy rock soundscapes but this one is intriguing, at times mesmerizing. An interesting rhythmic shift occurs at the end of the sixth minute--one that ushers in a change in the expression of all the band members--as if all are suddenly pointed in a march toward a fixed point on the horizon. The progress they make--both as individuals and a collective unit--is quite exciting--especially in the drums' and David Torn's contributions. I like the second half much more than the first. (17.5/20)

4. "Tunnel Drive" (7:42) the band very quickly establish a very unusual, syncopated rhythm over which to create their weave. David Torn's indvidualistic contributions really don't begin to emerge to the forefront until the second half, making this much more of an "old" Sonar Math Rock song than the others. (13/15)

Total Time 38:59

A-/five stars; a masterpiece of spacey Math Rock and an essential addition to any prog lover's music collection.

SONAR invited David Torn back for the second straight studio album after the success of 2018's "Vortex". Here we are a year later with "Tranceportation-Volume 1" but this time the music has been composed with David Torn in mind. Despite this fact I still prefer "Vortex" to this one. I was really hoping this album might crack my top three SONAR related albums, but no. A solid 4 stars but this one doesn't move out of it's comfort zone, being quite uniform sounding throughout, to the point each track sounds very similar.

I still have "Vortex" and "Three Movements" as my favourite SONAR records then add Stephan Thelen's "Fractal Guitar" and you have my top three. Love the tritone guitars and bass on this one. A five piece lineup including Torn as we have three guitarists with both Stephan Thelen and Bernhard Wagner playing tritone guitars. Torn doesn't. He has his electric plus adds live looping. Christian Kuntner on bass is a big improvement with his tritone bass to the FRACTAL SEXTET bass sound. And I found that band to be too minimalistic.

It is pretty cool the atmosphere and spacey sounds that are created through the guitars. No keyboards here. Manuel Pasquinelli is like a Swiss clock on drums and percussion. This album sounds amazing clocking in at a tidy 39 minutes over four tracks. I won't describe the tracks as I will be repeating myself constantly. A top ten for 2019 but I will take Stephan Thelen's "Fractal Guitar" also from 2019 over this in a heartbeat. This music is incredible to listen to when driving I might add.