FLOWERMIX

No-Man is one of the side projects of Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame, the "band" consisting of just Wilson plus vocalist Tim Bowness. Do not however expect anything resembling Porcupine Tree here. Among those who also contribute are Mel Collins who plays soprano sax on "Angeldust" and some fine Flute on "Why the noise", and Robert Fripp who adds guitar on "Angeldust" and soundscapes to four tracks.

Wilson is well known for the diversity of his output, his No-Man projects representing the less structured, ambient end of his spectrum. "Flowermix" is a remix album of tracks originating from No Man's "Flowermouth" album and "other sources". Good reference points for similar projects are "Brain Salad Perjury" (ELP), and Yes' "Remixes album. "Flowermix" however predates both by some years.

The album consists of lengthy dance remixes by various "underground" remixers, who specialise mainly in trance and dub. Other terms used on the band's website to describe the music are "New electronica", "Progressive dance", "Symphonic trance", and "Womb music". One term which would be completely out of place though is "progressive rock"!

Much of the music has that annoying electronic drum rhythm supporting endless repetition of basic themes and extracts from the original tracks. "Natural neck" is slightly more symphonic, and while it is still over repetitive, it is largely devoid of the dance beat. "You grow more beautiful" is the most melodic track, and closest to something worth hearing. The vocals are allowed to develop a bit more, something the album as a whole would have benefited from greatly. "Born simple" is presumably the "Womb music", being a spacey drifting ambient piece, on a heartbeat backing track.

The best that can be said of "Flowermix" is that it does indicate that the source tracks on "Flowermouth" could be pretty good. All "Flowermix" does though is show that it doesn't take much effort to turn decent music into wandering drivel.

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