ABDUCTION

Not much different from the debut album and equally good. I don't know why the St.Petersburg scene is so full of excellent artists. Iamthemorning and Roz Vitalis are from that city. It has to be something magic.

Yojo's music is a slow, atmospheric and quite sophisticated jazz-rock. I remember to have associated the first album to the atmosphere of Blade Runner (the Movie). This album is still "grey", but it has something more. Trumpet and guitar in particular give the music a special appeal.

It's strange the I personally hear a Floydian vibe even though the guitar doesn't have anything similar with David Gilmour and brass and violins haven't been used much by Floyds after Atom Heart Mother. As I was saying before, it's a question of atmosphere. 5AM reminds me also to the late Soft Machine, but let's go track by track.

I don't know if the the opener's title, "Weather Report", has to do with the band. It's perfect for a rainy day thanks mainly to the trumpet, but also the electric piano makes its part. It changes in the middle when the mood becomes darker just transorming the main sequence of major chords into minor, including a short chaotic noisy interlude.

The mood is similar on "Contact" but the tempo is faster and the full brass section is active. Piano and drums make it sound like if you are in a smokey pub.

"5AM" is the track for which I have mentioned the Soft Machine. It's based on a repetitive sequence of notes and flows like fresh water for half of the track, then it enters a little darker realm. Like two different phases of the same dream.

"Cold Case" brings us back to a sort of newyorkese night. It would be perfect for a "Noir" movie. After the intro the guitar makes it brighter until the trumpet is back. It's a great track.

"Wipers" has a slow start. Here is a sax playing the main role. The sound of the guitar has made me remember an obscure late 70s band: the Felt. Only for the clean guitar sound. Yojo are on a very different technical level.

I'm not expert so I can be wrong. "Tourist" seems to me a "Tango". It has the sound and the melancholy of many works by Astor Piazzolla, but it may be not tango at all. Again, it's more question of atmosphere. A very remarkable track.

Back to the North with "Swell". Here it's the piano that drives. The track is based mainly on only two chords, but the many variations and the brasses in the second half of the track make a very good crescendo before returning to the initial theme closed by the trumpet.

"Jump in the Mirror" could be easily hidden in a Carla Bley album but has also a sort of ethnic touch and an unusual guitar feedback in the background. As with other album tracks, it suddenly changes at half track, going to diferent soundscapes, moving from major to minor sequences of chords.

Last, the closer. "Hazebook" is a return to the dreamy grey soundscape, with the brass section still reminding of Carla Bley. This is the most progressive song of the album in my opinion. The arrangement is very original and the general mood of the track is sad and grey, with a slight crescendo and a return to the slow beginning. A circular track.

As usual, when I mention other artists is just a personal impression. I don't even know if any band member has ever listened to Carla Bley or any of the artists that I've cited in this review.

A solid 4 stars jazz-rock album.