NOOKS

4.5 stars. This music is as lush as the New Zealand countryside where these guys are from. Two of the band members play synths, with another playing synth-guitar. Not only that,this is drenched with mellotron. By the way all four of these guys sing so we do get some layered vocals as well.

"Five New Years" is such a laid back,dreamy tune. Very melodic with calming vocals. Loads of synths with drums and bass in the background. Check out the mellotron 3 minutes in.The vocal arrangements that follow are very cool. "Waterfall-Capt.Fagg" is really two songs,although the "Capt.Fagg" section near the end is only a couple of minutes long. The song opens with synth-guitar as vocals and a storm of mellotron follow. I'm in love. Haha. This is so uplifting and beautiful. Amazing sound. We get some bottom end 1 1/2 minutes in before mellotron waves return. Multi-vocals with a more uptempo section including guitar. Mellotron is back and i'm just drifting in a sea of bliss right now. Incredible. Back to the vocals and that catchy drum led section.The song changes completely to "Capt.Fagg" 4 1/2 minutes in. This is silly with bizarre lyrics. It's fun though with some raw guitar. Back to the floating soundscape before 6 minutes with mellotron to end it. "Fourteenth Knock" is an instrumental that opens with sounds from outerspace. Or so it would seem. These sounds swirl as a drum and bass rhythm slowly builds out of this cosmic soundscape that continues. The synths become prominant 3 minutes in. The song ends with the sound of a plane diving at a high speed, then broken glass, then the toilet flushing. Haha.

"Paths Of Reminiscence" is the only song without mellotron. It's a folk song with acoustic guitar and reserved multi-vocals. It ends with spacey sounds. The Volsung opens with the sound of a boat creaking,seagulls and waves. Acoustic guitar and vocals come in with synths. Drums and very deep vocal melodies follow. Vocals come back and everything sounds fuller. The vocals are so good. Mellotron before 5 minutes as the guitar tastefully plays. "Semolina" really sounds like a mellow 60's song with lots of mellotron in the background. "Nooks" is the longest song and the second instrumental featured on this album. Spacey synths with mellotron lead the way as light drums come in. The drums get louder 2 minutes in as the song just keeps getting better. The spacey waves end 2 1/2 minutes in. Some aggressive guitar with drums(which are all over the place) dominate 4 minutes in. It lightens 5 minutes in with lots of synths to the end.

After 2 spins I felt this was very overated and didn't really like it. Well after 7 listens I absolutely love it. Highly recommended by yours truly.