17 PYGMIES

I understand that the music here is about creating a mood. The dreamy quality of the music and almost-entirely slow pace of the album put the listener in a certain headspace. It's very easy to zone out and start ignoring the music. Maybe that's what they intended - to send the listener on their own little trip.

With the exception of the track Celestina VIII, this entire album is pretty much a quiet, slow, two chord excursion. Time signatures remain in 4/4 throughout. Don't expect anything complex or jarring. Someone once described progressive rock as "music where you don't know what's coming next" and by that definition, this fails, unless you're like me and *expect* more than two chords to the song.

There are some instrumentals and some vocal tunes. Somehow having two lines of vocals per song repeated over and over is supposed to tell the story outlined in the liner notes. Maybe that's why it took three albums to tell the story?

The aforementioned track Celestina VIII is a bit different - it's faster and loud and noisy, but still just two chords.

Let's be clear - it's not bad. The performances are just fine - musicians know it's HARD to play that slow without rushing the tempo - and the vocals have a nice sound to them. Some variety wouldn't kill it, particularly how the keyboard player found a few synth patches they liked and used them the entire album. But is this progressive? No. This may be right up your alley and it isn't bad to put on in the background while doing something else, but I personally don't have the desire to listen to it ever again.

US band 17 PYGMIES started out back in 1982, and at least in the initial phase of their career, which lasted into sometime in the '90s, they were regarded as a post-punk band. The band revived in 2007, and has since then released a handful of conceptual albums, exploring a style much closer to what many would describe as progressive rock. "Isabel II: Abaddon Rising" is their most recent outing, released towards the end of 2015through the US label Trakwerx.

Those fond of dream-laden, subtle moods and atmospheres and the elegance of beauty explored and delivered in a more subtle and careful manner should delight in the material found on this CD, as well as with most, if not all, of the other productions that have come courtesy of this US band. Those who feel intrigued by music that is actually described as celestial in such a context should take note of this CD for further inspection.

US band 17 PYGMIES started out back in 1982, and until they went on hiatus in the 1990's established themselves as a post-punk band. 2007 saw the band revive again, now with a desire to explore music closer related to progressive rock. Seven studio albums have seen the light since then, of which "Isabel" from 2013 is the most recent.

The gentle art of beauty is probably a good manner in which to summarize "Isabel". From delicate chamber rock inspired compositions to those with a more purebred symphonic orientation, these compositions revolve around the gentle, careful and tranquil touch through and through. If this sounds intriguing in general, and a description such as frail symphonic rock is something that intrigues your curiosity, this is a production that merits a check.

17 Pygmies is not really a newbie when it comes to music. They came into being more than 30 years ago in the USA. They released their first album in 1983 and they were active till 1990. Under heavy changes in both lineup and music 17 Pygmies were reborn in late 00's with the only original member of the band Jackson Del Rey (synths, guitars, bass and vocals) plus Meg Maryatt (vocals, guitars, synths), Jeff Brenneman (guitars, synths), Dirk Doucette (drums, bass, guitars, synths).

5 years ago they released an album called Celestina (2008), which was an ambitious project that would be completed 2 albums later. The trilogy was about a feminine robot, in a sci-fi story. After the trilogy the band decided to continue the project and that lead us to the CD I'm reviewing today: Isabel (2013).

I'm not sure how the others 17 Pygmies CDs look like, but Isabel (2013) is a gorgeous handmade package that makes you want it in your collection. I put a video together for you to understand what I'm talking about (youtu.be/AXsBIpiuVD8).

Isabel (2013) has an odd concept, just like everything in 17 Pygmies. It's a record, but it has a 36 pages booklet where you can actually read' a book. Or perhaps the word tale would be more accurate. The music doesn't fit the book in my opinion, but it's a VERY interesting piece of text that makes you read more. The author of the story is Jackson Del Rey.

When it comes to the music, Isabel (2013) is quite unique too, just like its packaging. It's far away from an average Prog Rock album. Isabel (2013) is divided into 11 parts and a 12th song. Chamber music is the most accurate term to their music, at least in general. Their music is based on violins and violas, but accompanied by acoustic guitars and synths, all over.

Five songs on the album have lyrics and, consequently, vocals. Wonderful vocals by Meg Maryatt. Through the rest of the album what we have is a wonderful and unique piece that combines chamber music with acoustic guitars (like in 'Isabel I'), layers and layers of synthesizers and a bit of electronic music (like in 'Isabel II', 'Isabel III'), trip hop feeling (like in 'Isabel III'), Indian music (like in 'Isabel IX') and a Progressive Electronic (like in the Mike Oldfield meets Tangerine Dream moment in 'Isabel VII').

Although the instrumental pieces are quite wonderful, it is the vocal moments that hold the most intense moments of Isabel (2013). 'Isabel I', 'Isabel III', 'Isabel VI', 'Isabel XI' and the last track 'Kyrie are the vocal ones. All of them are pretty pieces of music with dreamy pictures and beautiful layers of vocals.

17 Pygmies have built one superb record of Isabel (2013). Perhaps even more, a beautiful piece of art if you gather all the components together (including the amazing artwork). Isabel (2013) is all about flow, motion, mood. It's quite incredible that so much polished work was independently released. I guess we still have some bands that really care. We can wait for more 2 parts when it comes to Isabel (2013), just like in Celestina (2008). Isabel (2013) was one of the strongest and prettiest albums I've heard so far in 2013. My real rate is 4.5 stars, but as PA doesn't allow it, I cannot just give them 4 stars. It goes on 5.

17 Pygmies did something very hard in today's music. They created something very unique, pretty and quite original. Highly recommended!

(Originally posted on progshine.net)

A folkish post-punk album. Not a masterpiece into progressive music, but into post-punk, this would be put together with Joy Division and The Cure. Jedda by the Sea is the debut piece from the american band 17 Pygmies. The keyboards background are very intense on the album and when you find vocals, they are pretty catchy. The conqueror opening track brings a sweet female voice and a good feeling. Waiting to Arrive is the second track, maybe my favorite here. Great melody. The album flees from the pure post-punk with exotic and folk passages always present, most remarkable at the instrumental tracks Moment in Ceylon, Jerusalem and the wonderful Lazarus. The presence of violins contributes greatly to this. A great album from the 80s.

Los Angeles-based act 17 Pygmies were a unique band back in early-80's, when multi-instrumentalist Philip Drucker (aka Jackson Del Rey) formed the group, that released four full-length albums until 1991, combining elements from Post-Punk, Proto-Alternative Rock and Pop.A fifteen year hiatus followed until Drucker reformed the group as the 17th Pygmy in 2006 with guitarist Jeff Brenneman, drummer Dirk Doucette and female singer/multi-instrumentalist Meg Maryatt.The original 17 Pygmies name returned in 2008 with the album ''Celestina'', released on Drucker's Trakwerx label.

''Celestina'' is a concept sci-fi album, based on the story of some astronauts getting high as they were exposed on pure oxygen, while exploring a giant gas nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia.Reasonably the album seems destined to include lots of spacey soundscapes, sonic textures and cosmic atmospheres, but this reputedly quite proggy release has only a flavor of pure Ambient Music, supported by some FLOYD-ian passages (when the sporadic guitars appear), psychedelic mannerisms and light Classical-influenced themes.The music is not bad as a result, the real problem is that this an extremely hypnotic work with hardly any memorable moment.One also wonders why two long tracks like the 12-min. ''V'' and the almost 10-min. ''VIII'' were composed at first place, containing little to no variations with only some notable guitar work on the second one.The monotonous motive is strongly present to all the pieces of the album, which are mainly built around spacey but weak synthesizers with little instrumental variety.Very dreamy, ethereal and calm music overall, that actually does exactly that to the listener, setting him into sleep and into his own world of dreams.

Again, this particular concept and the music supporting it are not neccesarilly a failure.But the listening becomes a non-listening with such relaxed textures and total abscence of diversity.Not recommended.

US outfit 17 PYGMIES was formed back in 1982, and in their first spout, lasting until the early 90's, they established themselves as a post punk band. Since they reformed with a new line-up in 2007 they have deliberately sought out progressive rock however, first and foremost through the theme album series Celestina. "CIII: Even Celestina Gets the Blues" is the third instalment in the series, and was released in January 2012.

Beauty is a key word for 17 Pygmies most recent production "CIII: Even Celestina Gets the Blues": from the exquisite packaging to the gentle, cosmic flavored and richly layered symphonic oriented compositions themselves, as well as mix, production and performance. An album that merits a check by those who find such a description tantalizing, and one that deserves a far wider audience than what a limited edition, numbered CD apparently has prepared for.