ECHO STREET

I'm such a huge fan of this band and have been since hearing their 2004 debut back in the day. The complaint has always been that they're not proggy enough but I have no issues with that at all. They are a four piece with two guitarists, bass and drums playing a heavy brand of Psychedelia and Alternative music but they do mix things up beyond that. We get eight songs and an hour's worth of music. Top three please...

The opener "Matmos" at 8 minutes gets us off on the right foot. It's so quiet to start with spacey sounds for a minute then strummed guitar almost baritone sounding joins in with vocal melodies. Reserved vocals just before 2 minutes. How uplifting is this after 3 minutes as the sound changes including the vocals. Oh my! Check it out after 3 1/2 minutes. Back to the mellow sound after 4 minutes as contrasts continue. Man they hit such highs on this one. Drums to the fore after 7 minutes during a killer instrumental section then it ends like it began.

"Extra Vehicular" is top three number two. Twelve minutes long and the longest piece on here. Sounds build beautifully as reserved vocals join in. The sound is rich with plenty of depth as it moves along in a relaxed way. Vocals just before 2 minutes and it all gets kicked up a notch a minute later. A heavy instrumental section starts around 4 1/2 minutes with guitar over top. Themes are repeated and how good is this? How about the guitar after 7 minutes and later after 9 minutes. Final top three is "Echo Street" for being this unique sounding song with distant sounding vocals crying out the lyrics. So much atmosphere that we're drowning in it. Those vocals arrive after 2 minutes along with vocal melodies later. Check out the guitar very late.

Tracks 5 and 6 are my least favourites but this is still a very solid 4 star album in my world.