FLIES ON ORANGES

Mute Albino is the moniker chosen by Belgian musician and composer Stip Vanstiphout for his musical escapades. In the summer of 2009 he released his debut effort Flies on Oranges, a venture made up of songs constructed over the last three decades.

What's served on the 11 tracks that make up this first effort are guitar-based and -dominated composition; featuring multiple layers of guitar patterns of various expressions, blended with melodic bass passages, slightly jazz-tinged programmed rhythms and toned down, subtle keyboard and synth layers in the back of the mix.

Fluent and melodic, yet also containing subtle dissonant elements, the tunes have just about the right amount of tension to stay intriguing. And despite the apparent light and melodic touch dominating these excursions, darker mostly underlying patterns sees to it that this effort isn't one to be regarded as an easy listening experience - even if the challenging aspects of the album is subtle and hidden rather than up front. All in all a good effort.