SENNA

I've been working my way through this western Canadian band's discography and it's been a joy to be honest. I'm still blown away at this band's setup as a four piece with all four being multi-instrumentalists they have tons of options when recording and playing. And it's so cool that two of the guys play the exact same thing in guitars, micromoog, farfisa organ, arp string ensemble, korg MS2000 and electric and acoustic pianos with the drummer adding electronics and the bass player organ. Nice! So this is my fifth review of this magical band and I have to rank "Senna" right at the top with "Vs Mabus". Two very different albums as "Vs Mabus" is nowhere as intense and powerful as "Senna" gets. Seems appropriate with the album being named after the great Brazilian Formula 1 driver. Notice the engine on the cover. Senna is considered one of the best drivers this world has seen battling Prost, Fullerton, Schumacher and others before his tragic death.

I have to mention the song titles, I mean this is an instrumental album but "Flossing With Budha" is one Guldbamsen would love and these guys sure have a sense of humour like many Canadians. Hey we've blessed the world with a ton of comedians. The previous album "Do5" is where they seemed to amp it up in a big way and that continues here but I feel this record is more uniform and melodic. Yes this is a band who crosses sub-genres in a way like I haven't heard before but man memorable melodies all over the place along with experimental, in your face power. Yes I would call this a keyboard album.

I'll just touch on the eight tracks briefly that are worth over 43 minutes because this is a very consistent record. We get started with "Houndstooth Part 1" with "Part 2" to follow. Cool hearing the fowl and water sounds to end "Part 2". The closest dog I've had to a Hound is a Doberman. He howled more than he barked. Such a nice intro before we get to that main melody. Again so much going on here and very melodic with plenty of organ. The second track is more powerful with the guitar having more to say. So uplifting before a minute. The pulsating sounds before 1 1/2 minutes sounds amazing then back to guitar led power.

"Expo '67" is something I remember as a kid as being a thing. Held in Quebec in 1967 is about all I knew at the time but it seemed to get referenced a lot in the media long after that. Powerful with distortion yet melodic. Best part is just before 2 minutes to the end. Exciting stuff. "Flossing With Budha" opens with the birds chirping as organ joins in. This is so good. Makes me smile as the drums join in then those disco synths briefly. At least it's not like the new MAJOR PARKINSON with disco raising it's ugly head throughout. A high energy piece. "Message From Uncle Stan: Grey Shirt" is the longest at 8 1/2 minutes. Distant sounds pulse quickly along with experimental noises. This is the Krautrock piece. Lots of atmosphere and it's quite powerful. Love that guitar after 4 minutes.

"Message From Uncle Stan: Green House" opens with depth, distortion and power. It's a green house. We do get a calm for over a minute but this is incredible to really listen to. I mean check it out just before a minute. "Saffron Myst" is brighter and slower with lots going on. A cool tune with beats, bass and keyboards. I like the sound starting just before 1 1/2 minutes the best(the farfisa!). "Aqua Love Ice Cream Delivery Service" ends it at almost 8 minutes. Sampled Beluga whales start it that turn into synths with the same tone which is pretty creative. It turns fairly heavy after a minute as drums rumble in and a full sound. Powerful! Check it out before 4 1/2 minutes. All distortion and noise. That lasts for about a minute then we get a calm with distant sounds.

My two favourite albums from this band are like ying and yang I suppose. What an incredibly talented band, so glad I discovered them.