ABDUCTION

The description of this album made it sound like music I'd really enjoy but the enjoyment level wasn't as high as I'd hoped. YOJO are a Russian band and this particular album is mellow almost to a fault in my opinion. Besides the usual instruments we also get bass clarinet and violin although there are also five guests helping out and they all play horns.

"Weather Report" opens with relaxed electric piano and drums as the bass joins in as well. This is so mellow then it picks up a notch with horns 30 seconds in but it's still laid back as other sounds join in. It settles back again as contrasts continue. Some welcomed insanity before 4 1/2 minutes then it calms right down again. "Contact" is one of my favourites. Electric piano, bass and a beat as horns join in. Mellow is the word. It's fuller before 1 1/2 minutes. I like this! The horns then start to blast before 3 minutes. Nice. It settles again as contrasts continue. "5 AM" opens with percussion and horns as the bass and electric piano join in. Guitar too as it builds somewhat. It settles again 2 1/2 minutes in with horns, drums and guitar. "Cold Case" is my other favourite. When this picks up some a minute in I'm quite impressed. I really like the sound of the bass here, then the guitar joins in as it stays laid back. The sax replaces the guitar for a while then it builds after 4 1/2 minutes with dissonant horns helping out.

"Wipers" is slow and minimalistic but I like the bass when it picks up some after 2 1/2 minutes. I like the tone of the picked guitar as well. It settles back before 4 1/2 minutes. "Tourist" is the one track I don't like at all. Sounds like they took their cue from some traditional Russian dance tune or something. Not good. "Swell" is another slow and mellow tune with mostly a beat, electric piano and sax that comes and goes. It does start to build before 3 1/2 minutes and soon the horns are blasting. The tension releases a minute later. "Jump In The Mirror" has some guitar I like and violin too but I'm not so into that. It's catchy after 2 1/2 minutes with an almost determined beat, but not really. "Hazebook" ends it with another relaxed song with a beat, guitar and some electric piano. So mellow though. It does turn fuller with horns but then it settles back again.

There's so much to like here but it's just too mellow for my tastes. There's so much space for the instruments to breathe but in my opinion there's too much of it. Well worth checking out though as the reviews from some of the other collaborators will reveal, just not my scene.