DJAM KARET

Hi,

Djam Karet -- The Trip (47.08) (2013)

There was a time and place, when I thought that taking a trip required ... something ... to get you going, to get you excited, to allow yourself a moment of madness, of insanity, of ... sometimes there are no words for it ... moments when your inner self, simply goes away with some magickal enchantment, that none of us can properly define, but we love to spend time on it. I can tell you in my mind, how many times I sat down and listened to two very long pieces by Pink Floyd, Amon Duul 2 and others, in 1972 and 1973, and how much I enjoyed them under many conditions.

One of the things I learned was to simply close your eyes, and just let the movie happen ... let it pass by you ... and I did. For several years, I listened intently, quietly and introvertedly to these things ... until one day, I knew what the reflections from this firepool of a body were making suggestions that you were all about! The music, happened to be the enzyme that carries you there ... the actual train, as the notes on the flyer suggest, or the virtual rocket that takes you into the stratosphere, where you are ever the camera looking at ... the sky opens once, twice, three times ... and you groom your own psychosis now and then, wondering what all this ritual continuing is all about! Some of us love all that, though some are afraid of it.

I had never called, any of these a "trip", surprisingly enough, and I still do not look at them as a "trip", as I consider that "inner" side as important as the outer side, and thus I have always looked at my experience as a city with two tales, or a person with a mind awake and one asleep! And that is reversed during the night when your dream portal awakens!

I may have, over the years, lost (something or other), but not forgotten what all this felt like, and the river of no return is really what it all became for me ... the salmon might return, but we never did ... we could "remember" that moment, but we could not re-live it. It became a sacred land arose from the ashes ... a hungry ghost that still gathered your attention now and then ... swimming in a big sky, that never ended, seemed to have some dark clouds, but no rain ... always beautiful if we could take a screenshot of it all ... the ultimate dream portal in one's life.

So, it was quite a nice surprise, when I set about listening to "The Trip" ... and found that I was not going to have a single break, and that I was just going to have to close my eyes, and arise from the ashes of my inner slumber, and go camping with my friends in a new land, a sort of no man's land for those that are afraid ... but a visual treat that asks for a new sign, that might even say ... "for mad persons only".

So it is, with this piece of music. It's hard to believe that you just about do not hear the drums for at least 15 minutes, but it tells you that we're not in a hurry, that the band does not have to show off its musical prowess to impress you with the music! This is not about the music per se ... it's about the ability to enjoy a ... well ... a trip ... from here to ... and if you have the patience to enjoy and appreciate a continuity of sounds telling you a story that you can create similar to the one I just told you, then this is for you and then some.

It's too easy to say that this is just like those old days 40 years ago, when you had Pink Floyd doing these long things, you had Krautrock doing some eye-popping live experimentations, and of course, you had some reviewers telling you that something sounded like a washing machine, too, but they never bothered to go listen to their wives' washing machine doing their laundry ... later Faust in Germany made sure we knew the difference!

It might be suggested that during these 47 minutes or so, that a lot of different moods and styles come and go, and have your head go all Michelangelo, but in the end, amidst all the parts, that I refuse to call "solos" ... to me they are NOT, they are a visual illustration of the music's own story! ... there are many moments where you can hear many different areas of this band ... I can hear "Collaborator" once or twice, I can hear "Burning the Hard City" once or twice, I can hear ... many different parts, but ... what I'm hearing is not even related to those early parts ... this has a life of its own.

If there is a favorite part of this, for me, is the "No Commercial Potential" idea ... this is a complete piece that starts and comes to an end 48 minutes later ... if you are used to a more commercial concept and idea of music, you will not likely enjoy this at all, and the total dedication to the continuity of this piece until it's time is up, is excellent, and mature, and only shows that you have a band that is capable of defining and designing its music to be something ... that most of us will rarely listen to, hear, or look for.

This is DJam Karet at its best. Scary isn't it? 25 years of great music ... and still the light shines!

Of special note here, and one of the great things about this group, is the way that the guitars compliment each other. You are not likely to hear two more different guitars do so much and alternate parts so strongly as they do here, together, or separately! As I used to say, this is a welcome to the church of the electric guitar ... but now I have to update the statement to "welcome to the church of the inner language courtesy of Djam Karet!"

On the press release, there were some notes that give you a better idea of how "progressive" this band is, and how they did this work which has almost always been a throwback to the 1970's and the energy that those folks had when they did their work. You'll be glad to know that never has it sounded so good, and that "progressive" is alive and well in the hands of a group that knows what it means ... and makes sure they can take you there!

That name? Djam Karet. The album? "The Trip".

Sometimes, listening to music is an experience ... for which there are not enough words, there are not enough paints, and there are not enough notes ... with which to describe it. All you can do is ... sit ... and listen ... and then listen some more ... and then listen some more ... and this is what all the best trips always do you to and I, isn't it?

Perhaps the reason Suspension and Displacement is my favourite Djam Karet album is that whilst I like what they do on the ambient transitions and intros on their albums - such as the opening of Night of the Mexican Goat-Sucker on this album - the Crimsonian guitar jams which actually make up the bulk of their music on their usual albums leave me rather cold. It's technically impressive stuff and if you're really fond of instrumental guitar jams with a prog sensitivity it's worth giving it a go - you might enjoy it more than me - but I wouldn't say it particularly cries out for wider attention or acclaim.

Djam Karet's Suspension and Displacement is a long way away from being a typical release for the group, which might explain why it seems rather underrated here. It's the brother album to Burning the Hard City, which showcased the band's more energetic and rock-oriented side; Suspension and Displacement, then, is the precise opposite, a collection of languid ambient soundscapes intended to highlight the more laid-back and contemplative aspects of the group's sound. Occupying the same sort of sonic universe as group hero Robert Fripp's own work in Frippertronics, those hoping for yet another dark Crimsonian riff-fest will be disappointed, but approach it as an ambient album and there's lots to enjoy in the dark corners of these tracks.

Just did the Diagonal review and remembered there was another eclectic band and album that was waiting for a review being this Recollection Harvest from Djam Karet. I know this band for quite some time now thanks to a former stream track from another album called Heads of Ni-oh. I always liked that one and caused the purchase of this release from 2005.

If I compare Djam Karet to Diagonal (after all they are from the same subgenre) the biggest difference is the obvious preference of fine and memorable melodies within DK's music which were almost completely absent with Diagonal's debut. So it will be no surprise that I as melody lover go for this band and album. Especially the first section of 5 songs that are in fact the main part of Recollection Harvest appeal to me big time. To me this is eclectic prog at its best with a well balanced proportion of complexity and melody combined with originallity and variation. Also an interesting mix of both accessiblity and inaccessibilty. I mean this is not for everyone but I feel most proggers should be able to comprehend this.

Whether they like it is a different thing of course. There's also a touch of jazz (The Packing House !) to be found on this and it's the cream on the cake for me. Recollection Harvest is an excellent album and it makes me long for more from Djam Karet. Four stars is not overdone for me though slightly rounded up (3,8).

Djam Karet has been around since the late 80's, conceived in a period of psychedelic rock rebirth that also spawned better-known bands such as Porcupine Tree and Ozric Tentacles. Fans of the instrumental side of Porcupine Tree's 90s albums should definitely check this band out, and so should Tentacles heads that want something less bouncy for a change. However, contrary to most opinions I wouldn't recommend the "Devouring".

The album is one of the longest and most varied in DK's career and it gives an ample demonstration of what this band is all about, and that's mixing King Crimson guitar parts with a Floydian spaceyness, lots of jamming, ambient experimentations. My disagreement with this albums comes from the band's attempt to focus on composition rather then freely flowing improvisations. It all starts very well with "Night of the Mexican Goat Sucker" and "Forbidden by Rule", also ambient pieces such as "Myth of a White Jesus" are up to their usual standard. However, it generally sounds as if the band wanted to do an instrumental symphonic prog album, which is IMO not their strength. It results in rather fluffy and cheesy material such as "Lost but not Forgotten", "The River of No Return", "Room 40" and "Old Soldier's Disease". Also the use of cliché bee-buzzing prog synths is very prominent on this material. Not a good thing.

I can imagine this album could be a good introduction to Djam Karet for symphonic prog oriented listeners. After all it's very diverse, light-hearted, well-played and dynamic. But I simply don't like it much, actually it's the only Djam Karet album I'm not much enthused about. I would rather recommend "Burning The Hard City", "Suspension & Displacement", "NDA" or "Heavy Soul Sessions". 5/10

Djam Karet, live in the studio, offering intense and matured versions of some previously released material. Knowing all of that previous material quite well I have completely re-discovered those tracks through this release. And even if it's not without a flair for dramatics and exaggeration I don't hesitate a second to declare this their best effort so far. That's how strongly I feel for it.

Djam Karet shouldn't need an introduction and the band should be a well established and loved name amongst fans of instrumental progressive rock and jazz rock. But that's a lot of "shoulds" and unfortunately they've managed to remain fairly obscure and unknown in their about 25 years existence.

Just as on previous albums, Djam Karet combine the spacey feel of Floyd with slightly dissonant harmonics and the grave feel of King Crimson. With two guitar players the music is obviously very guitar-oriented, but never flashy or virtuoso, feeling and composition always prevail. And that's probably why this album is so strong, I've put a playlist together with the exact same tracks from the original releases and it's striking how intensified they have become, much tighter and a bit darker also. At times they sound like something between Anekdoten and early PT, keeping in mind of course that Djam Karet have been around a bit longer then those two.

There's only one track here that was previously unreleased, but all other tracks are interpreted very differently and make for a very fresh and revealing listen. Also, kudos to the brilliantly clear and lively production. 4.5 stars. Highly recommended.

4.5 stars. It was Assaf's insightful review that moved me to purchase this cd. I am a big fan of this band but when I heard they were covering their own songs with this one I was going to pass.That would have been a big mistake on my part. I would dare say that every song is an improvement over the original.They also cover a Richard Pinhas track. In the liner notes they say "All music played by hand, and recorded live-in-studio without any overdubs or computer manipulation. In order to re-create a more lively and dynamic sound, no compression or limiting was used during the making of this cd". This cd sounds amazing ! These guys are such pros, and hey they use mellotron on this album too so what's not to like.

"Hungry Ghost" has a good heavy intro as the guitar and organ bring it.The bass is prominant throughout. It does settle 4 minutes in but there's even heavier outbursts.The guitar rips it up before 5 minutes as it still stays heavy duty. I don't think i've ever heard this band so heavy before. "The Red Threaded Sexy Beast" is again heavy to start including organ as the guitar comes and goes over top. Synths replace the guitar 3 minutes in but the guitar is back a minute later with organ. It then settles with atmosphere. A beat before 6 1/2 minutes rises out of the mist as sounds start to come and go. Cool section.The tempo picks up before 9 minutes as the guitar lights it up. "Consider Figure Three" is a nice contrast to the first two tracks as we get this spacey atmosphere then these faint female vocals can be heard 1 1/2 minutes in. Sampled male spoken words before 3 1/2 minutes.This is great ! It really reminds me of early PORCUPINE TREE. Very spacey and psychedelic.

"The Packing House" is mellow with gentle guitar and keys then the guitar starts to soar over top in a laid back manner. Drums join in as it builds. A silent calm 3 1/2 minutes in then it kicks in with a much fuller sound.The tempo and mood continue to change and we get some great sounding mellotron as well. "Dedicted To K.C." is the Richard Pinhas cover. Sounds build with the drums and guitar standing out.The organ floats along as well. It picks up then the guitar lights it up before 3 1/2 minutes as the organ pulsates. It settles a minute later with chunky bass and mellotron.More tempo shifts follow. "The Gypsy And The Hangman" kicks in with organ around a minute then the guitar soars. Flute-like sounds come in as it turns dreamy. It changes after 4 minutes. It turns heavy as the guitar comes to the fore before 8 minutes. I like the way themes are repeated on this one.

Without a doubt one of my favourite releases from the band and a top 10 for me in 2010.

Djam Karet are an instrumental band from California, formed in the mid-1980s. They take their name from an Indonesian term loosely translated as "elastic time." This was the band's first album for Cuneiform records. I heard this years ago but recently had a chance to listen to it again about 5-7 times before typing this review. On this album at least, there is a strong Pink Floyd and King Crimson influence, from both the '70s and '80s. DK's sound is often split betwwen a more rocking side and a more ambient side. The Devouring fits mostly in the former.

Some of the song titles here are pretty good. "Night Of The Mexican Goat Sucker" starts out almost blues-rock with atmospheric keyboards. Nice riff during this part. Changes to a different riff, now with organ doubling. Changing again with slap bass and soaring, harmonized guitars. Nice synth playing here and there. "Forbidden By Rule" has lots of start/stop dynamics and some Mellotron. Later harmonized guitars as the tempo slows down. Music stops briefly, then a different section with repeated guitar lines. The bass here reminds me of '80s Zappa. Then a guitar solo. Drumming gets more varied and interesting with some synth squiggles. Goes back to the slower tempoed part, now with some nice chorused guitar and Mellotron.

"Lost, But Not Forgotten" is a highlight. It opens with symphonic Mellotron and jazzy organ. Then the rhythm section plays a mid-tempo groove while the guitar sounds like a cross between a harmonica and a saxophone. Drums stop and some cool synth sounds. Returns to the groove but it is now slightly faster. Later atmospheric keyboards and David Gilmour style guitar. Then some great organ, drums and bass come in sounding almost like Santana; especially when the percussion gets added. Song mellows out at the end. "Myth Of A White Jesus" sounds like a cross between David Gilmour solo and Robert Fripp solo.

"The River Of No Return" opens with atmospheric and spacey synth sounds. You briefly hear a woman talking. Then some Fripp style guitar. Almost halfway changes to an almost New Wave sounding part. The drumming gets more interesting. Later some congas or something along with keyboards and melodic bass playing. "The Pinzler Method" sounds like Fripp & Eno at first, then the bass and drums come in and it sounds like Peter Gabriel's "Exposure." That song of course was produced by Fripp, who also played on it.

"Old Soldier's Disease" starts out almost like '80s Floyd. Then switches to an almost waltz style with great Mellotron and synth playing. Then some organ. Just overdubbed Mellotrons for awhile. Bass and drums come back and then harmonized guitar. A bass solo. Later on another bass solo. Then a guitar solo. About halfway starts the best part with a repeated guitar figure and fast hi-hat. Tempo slows down and another guitar solo. This track is another highlight.

This being the only album I've heard from Djam Karet, I'm quite impressed. They don't win any points for originality, but make great use of their influences. Great instrumental prog music. Highly recommended to those who enjoy other guitar and keyboard based instrumental rock groups. I will give this 4 stars.

Despite having a musical style that on paper should appeal to my tastes, being a widely critically acclaimed group and having an extensive discography spread out over 3 decades, I've only checked out so far two releases from California-based instrumental progressive rock act, Djam Karet: 1991's Burning the Hard City and 2003's A Night for Baku. While I find the music on these albums to be good and very well played and produced, it didn't grab me and made me have repeated listening, though I know that these albums have their fans, so I'm not writing them off.

In 2010 comes their newest studio offering, the 15th in number called The Heavy Soul Sessions, 5 years after the well-received and acclaimed Recollection Harvest which I have yet to hear, but definitely intend to after listening to this album.

The Heavy Soul Sessions was born as a result of live shows in which they played tracks spanning their 26 years of existence. They proceeded to record these tracks live-in-the- studio with no overdubbing. They have also included a cover song, Dedicated To K.C. by Richard Pinhas from his 1982 album, L'Ethique. Indeed this album sounds great, fresh and crisp both sound-wise and music-wise. In fact it has inspired me to go back and re-listen to the two albums I have of theirs and get some others I don't have. So what you get here is a taste of the variety of flavours of the band's output. You get a taste of space-rock, ambient and electronic music as well as a balanced portion of aggressive rock, warm analog synths and mellotron, spacey guitar solos and dreamy-eerie slow and pensive sections.

The opening track, Hungry Ghost is an intense guitar-lead piece with stunning synth, bass and drums work. There are also marvelous effects incorporated adding an additional richness layer. I have to say it sounds better than the original recording on A Night For Baku.

The Red Threaded Sexy Beast is an amalgam of two tracks, The Red Thread and Sexy Beast from A Night For Baku. Again, they just sound different here, and in my opinion much better, less raw, more refined, subtler, yet as fierce as the original. The band is "space- rocking" here veering at times to more ambient territories and in others they ruffle their musical feathers violently. The sound is lush and enveloping, warm and inviting. I like how they mingled these two tracks into one. Listen to the two originals to appreciate how well it is done. These two opening tracks have made me see A Night For Baku in a different light now and I'll return to it with "fresh ears" now to see how I'll digest it with this newly acquired appreciation.

Consider Figure Three is taken from the 1991 companion album to Burning The Hard City, Suspension & Displacement, which is contains ambient music. Indeed this track provides a respite from the intensity of it surrounding pieces and showcases Djam Karet's abilities in creating strange and peculiar atmosphere. If anything this has made curious to listen to their electronic music side project Ukab Maerd (which is a name of a track from A Night For Baku). This is a very subtle piece in which not much goes on in terms of movement and melody, but it's texture-wise focused and reveals only a small fragment of what they're capable of doing with such an approach.

The Packing House is originally from their previous album Recollection Harvest. The last song, The Gypsy & The Hegemon is from there as well and if anything these two tracks only intensified my desire to listen to that album. The Packing House (as well as The Gypsy & The Hegemon) shows a more "progressive" facet of the band, if you will, as this piece is comprised of various themes as well as an introduction segment. The guitar pierces effectively through all the layers of sound with excellent thumping pacing by the bass and gorgeous keyboards playing in the background.

As for the Richard Pinhas cover song, Dedicated To K.C., I had to pull out my copy of L'Ethique as I haven't heard it in ages to remind myself of this piece. Obviously it sounds completely different, much more alive and with a fuller body. However, the original piece is a spectacular composition in itself with very intricate playing and compositional structure; in fact it's a progressive rock landmark composition in my opinion. And so I would reckon covering it would be a daunting task. And so along come Djam Karet and give this gorgeous piece renewed life starting with the production values this piece merits and continuing with extending its length and giving it their interpretation with their unique style and sound, making it sounds as if this is a Djam Karet song.

The Gypsy & The Hegemon, which closes the album, has a more forefront presence of keyboards than the rest of the tracks and provides for a very warm and comforting vibe as the melancholic melody sings its end-of-album farewell. The main theme gives way to the second part midway through the piece to a more bass and guitar dominated aggressive approach. As I mentioned with regards to The Packing House, the composition is more daring and explorative.

As I mentioned above, this album has lead me to re-evaluate my impressions of Djam Karet as well as to be able to fully appreciate their musicianship skills as well as compositional skills and attention to details. I'll be checking out the albums from which these tracks originate. A recommended listen for folks who would like to get to know the band, as well for fans who'd like to listen to these re-interpret and enhanced compositions.

After a quick succession of albums in the early 90's, Djam Karet hadn't been releasing much. New Dark Age was only the second album in 10 years. Luckily, they've since increased their productivity again and continued to release particularly inspired instrumental music.

New Dark Age is a very long album packed with instrumental improvisations. Djam Karet occupies a territory in between Pink Floyd's fluid harmonious playing and King Crimson's chromatics. They are often compared to Ozric Tentacles, but the similarities aren't always strong. They're also instrumental and boast liquid guitar solos, but they only have sparse funky moment and do not share the spacey frills of the Tentacles. There's less gloss, more edge, and much more diversity.

The album is an excellent starting point for newcomers to the band because if goes through all the known Djam Karet motions, such as upbeat rocking tracks with ripping guitars solos (No Man's Land), ambient experimentations (Exclipse of Faith), frippertronics (Kali's Indifference), hard-edged jazz-rock (All Clear) and reflective atmospheric pieces (Alone With The River Man).

This album comes recommended for everybody that can appreciate fluent instrumental music in the vein of the Ozrics, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd or Robert Fripp. Especially fans of tuneful guitar solos won't be disappointed. One of their most diverse and strongest albums.