INDUSTRIAL SABOTAGE

This is one of the most unique albums that I've ever heard. Heck when you see it tagged as Electronic, Space Rock, Free Jazz and Avant Jazz you know your in going into uncharted territory. Once I heard these guys played and hung out with THE MUFFINS around the Washington, DC area where they are from it explained a lot(haha). Some of THE MUFFINS even appear on this album as Dave Newhouse engineered a couple of these songs while Tom Scott plays bassoon on one song. We get three live tunes on here while the rest are studio tracks and this was released in 1980.

There are a ton of electronics and synths on this album along with clarinet, trumpet, sequencers, drums, bass and guitar. Love the pictures of the band members in black and white with their instruments, especially Greg who is blowing his trumpet with a bass guitar strapped around his shoulder while he uses his free hand to turn knobs on the electronics as it were. I do appreciate the guitar on this one along with the upfront bass.

"The Enchanted Domain" is the 12 1/2 minute opener. Spacey and experimental to start with distant sounds. Some percussion and guitar arrive around 2 1/2 minutes and it's spacey. This is good. Some brief trumpet after 6 1/2 minutes in a sparse setting once again. It's really spacey before 8 minutes then suddenly a drum line signals the start of a guitar led section that lasts to the end. Nice.

"Steady State Theory" opens with what sounds like pulses of electronics until it becomes steady(haha) as the drums join in. Some random drum patterns here as the bass kicks in and it sounds amazing. Kind of a Free Jazz vibe here with some strange sounds thrown in. I'm really enjoying this when the guitar comes in lighting it up after 3 minutes. Spacey synths 4 minutes in will come and go while the bass really stands out becoming Jazz-like eventually. Cool. Not for long though as it turns very spacey once again. What an impressive track though, so many good ideas here and throughout this album.

"Mare Chromium" was recorded live at Georgetown University in December of 1978. Man this is one of my favourites with the crazy clarinet expressions and trippy sound with bass and drums. Spacey too of course and the guitar brings Richard Pinhas to mind when it arrives. Great track! "Industrial Sabotage" was recorded live at the American University Auditorium in September of 1979. Very spacey and experimental. Difficult is the word but this sounds cool.

"Zoln" is 10 1/2 minutes long and my favourite. Spacey and ominous as slowly spoken words arrive. Creepy stuff and the vocals stop after a minute as that dark and spacey sound continues. A bass line kicks in after 2 1/2 minutes then the drums join in. Oh man! Spacey synths over top as the tempo picks up as we get some killer Space Rock. Love the bass here. The bass and drums stop before 5 minutes as it turns incredibly spacey. So good! The bass is back then the guitar starts to soar. Pulsating keys as well and check out the guitar after 7 1/2 minutes. A spacey calm after 8 minutes and it's experimental as well to the end.

"Attack Of The Giant Squid" was recorded live at D.C. Space in June of 1979. Applause to begin then some banter with the audience and more before electronics takes over and synths along with some horn blasts. Difficult stuff here. "Zone Of Twilight" features spacey and experimental sounds once again. This is so impressive though with all of these sounds mixed together, an Electronic fan's dream right here. Is that guitar 3 1/2 minutes in? The synths sound like they are screaming at one point then it all calms down late to end it.

This is most certainly a recording that doesn't work as background music like a lot of Avant music doesn't. Unique is the word that kept coming to my mind while spending all week with it. And it's hard to find "unique" anymore but MARS EVERYWHERE really did something creative and innovative here and yes this needs to be heard.