ISLE OF BLACK

Another month, and another release by Robin Taylor. Not that he issues a release every month; but it is the third release he's behind in 2008, and one of two issued this summer. And it is remarkable how he manages to produce so much music, and still keep up the quality in composition and production.

Unlike any of his other releases from the last few years, but still with the unmistakable Robin Taylor sound; organs, keyboards and some synths as central elements in a warm and round mix that reveals all details of the music. And this time around Taylor has made an album with tunes very different in style, from old time swinging jazz to organ driven hard rock in the vein of bands like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.

The common denominator in the tunes seems to be experiments with dissonances and disharmonic, musical fragments. Some tunes start out fragmented and evolve towards normality, while others start out as regular sounding tunes and evolve towards dissonance and disharmony. And as always these are intriguing experiments; at least for open-minded fans of rock in general and progressive rock in particular.

Another very good release from this skillful Danish multi-instrumentalist and composer in other words.