SOUNDTRACK FOR PLACES I'VE NEVER BEEN, VOL. 1

1. "Trampoline Overdrive" (5:03) great melodies and sounds--as if early TONY BANKS and modern day (2000s) ANDREW MARSHALL collaborated on another WILLOWGLASS piece--only with a more demonstrative (and modern) drummer. (9/10)

2. "Antigravity Lagoon" (12:53) starts out as a Terry Riley-like multi-track conversation between several programs of Tom's Moog Matriarch. At the two-minute mark drums and "bass" and a few other sequenced lines join in giving this a more ANTHONY PHILLIPS or perhaps Mike Oldfield feel (though, to my ears, more ARNAUD BUKWALDian). Nice melodies coming out of several instruments, including the "bass" and "fairy synths," not just the lead "Stagnation" sound. It starts to drag a little as it auto-descends (and, perhaps, unravels and dampens) in the tenth minute and beyond. (22.25/25)

3. "Diving Bell" (2:27) an étude for an artist experimenting/getting to know a single instrument or sound. (4/5)

4. "Stamping Factory" (5:31) A little more funky like some late 70s or early 80s prog keyboardist's experimentation (very much like Ant Phillips' solo work in those years). Tom is really developing as a musician and composer! (8.75/10)

5. "Flight of an Amphibious Airship" (12:11) Another lovely piece of multi-layered synthesizer experimentation (some of it quite mathematical) has Tom weaving together no less than six tracks from his Moog, each with its own separate melodic journey, and yet they all work magically well together--almost in a dreamy, New Age kind of way (though for much of the song I find myself luxuriating in the beauty of the opening of GLASS HAMMER's contribution to Colossus Magazine/Musea Records' 2005 masterpiece, Odyssey: The Greatest Tale, called "At the Court of Akinoos"). A wonderful piece if obviously an étude toward greater knowledge and proficiency. Tom sure gets the full use out of his 88 keys! (22.5/25)

Total time: 38:05

Tom's drumming (and sound reproduction of such) has a little way to go to reach the impressive levels of his 2024 release, but the rest of the music is very engaging and enjoyable--in very much the same way that Ant Phillips' 1984 has been for me for the past 43 years.

B/four stars; an excellent collection of Moog experiments from an up-and-coming prog talent. An album that I think every self-professed prog lover would absolutely love--especially if you love the work of Andrew Marshall's WILLOWGLASS and ANTHONY PHILLIPS keyboard work in the late 1970s and early 1980s.