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Djam Karet - Recollection Harvest CD (album) cover

RECOLLECTION HARVEST

Djam Karet

 

Eclectic Prog

3.74 | 58 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
4 stars This album is really made up of two seperate recordings, namely Recollection Harvest and Indian Summer. The first half sees the band almost going retro as they have added vintage keys, analog synths, mellotron and organ to their sound. This side is my favourite because the guitar and instruments I just mentioned really dominate along with some great drumming. The second side is more reflective and meditative. Funny but they really compliment each other. DJAM KARET has always had this gift of contrasting and combining spacey passages with heavy guitar led sections, so I shouldn't be surprised. I would highly recommend you read Dan Bobrowski's review. He has some of the same thoughts and similar experiences as I did. In fact on my long drive home from work today I took a country road I have never been on before just because I was getting such a buzz off this music. It was sunny and about 20 celsius when I left work at 3 pm today. As I took that road which had so many trees on it, I enjoyed the sun shining on them as I could see dark shades and light reflecting off the leaves, all while I listened to the perfect soundtrack for this experience.

"The March To The Sea Of Tranquility" opens with ominous mellotron as drums come pounding in. The guitar cries out as the drums pound. Organ comes in. The drums are quite heavy throughout. The organ sounds great 3 1/2 minutes in, synths come in a minute later. Love the guitar 6 minutes in. We get a haunting ending. "Dr.Money" just sounds so amazing with the vintage keyboard sounds with guitar. Nice bass lines as synths come in. Meanwhile the drums pound away. Amazing sound 2 minutes in as the organ and guitar dominate before the synths return. Very PINK FLOYD-like after 3 1/2 minutes with the spacey organ. The tempo picks up after 6 minutes. "The Packing House" is the longest track on here at over 11 minutes. A pastoral intro as sounds come and go leisurely until it kicks into gear 2 minutes in. Organ runs,pounding drums and guitar lead the way and then synths arrive. Soaring angular guitar 4 1/2 minutes in as drums and organ continue. Nice. Some keys follow before the guitar comes ripping in before 6 minutes. It's back a minute later followed by organ and some grinding guitar. Bravo ! "The Gypsy And the Hegemon" opens with mellotron and bazuki before a fuller sound arrives of drums and guitar. It turns dark before 4 minutes as the bass digs deep. Organ, keys then synths as drums pound away. Impressive ! It calms down again with chunky bass. Synths are back dominating as the bass joins in until the song is almost over. "Recollection Harvest" is fairly laid back to open and then grinding guitar and organ join forces until a calm before 2 minutes. Deep bass lines break that though as drums and grinding guitar join in. Variations on these themes are heard (and some spacey sections) until it gets heavy 8 1/2 minutes in. Scorching guitar ends the first half of the recording.

"Indian Summer" starts off the second half. You would think you were listening to TANGERINE DREAM at first. Lots of keys throughout and synths. Mellotron after 1 1/2 minutes. Cool song. "Open Roads" features a collage of sounds including acoustic guitar, percussion, bass, synths etc. Angular electric guitar sounds 2 1/2 minutes in and a minute later to end it. "The Great Plains Of North Dakota" opens with acoustic guitar as organ and percussion help out. Mellotron follows. Drums 2 minutes in. "Dark Oranges" is dark with electronics and mellotron. Haunting track. "Twilight In The Canyon" is one of my favs. Acoustic and electric guitar with spacey synths. Drums come in at 1 1/2 minutes as the sound becomes fuller. "Requiem" ends the album in fine style. Melodic synth leads with spacey FLOYD-like organ is both powerful and moving. Mellotron before 3 1/2 minutes. This is pure bliss.

I'm such a huge fan of this band it's hard to pick my favourite three albums by them. In no particular order I would say my top 5 are "Burning The Hard City", "Recollection Harvest", "Still No Commercial Potential", "The Devouring" and "Reflections From the Firepool". Crap ! "New Dark Age" should somehow be in there as well. Please check this band out.

Mellotron Storm | 4/5 |

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