FROM HERE YOU'LL WATCH THE WORLD GO BY

This album reminds me of the early days of Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett because of the weird poppy song mixed with some very spacy and psychedelical moments. Plus, the lyrics are always strange. Enough with comparisons and on with the actual review.

The musicianship in this album is not exceptional but as in most space rock bands, the emphasis is not on the musicians skills but on the atmosphere that the music creates. The band succeeds in creating a great trippy atmosphere in quite a few songs and more importantly on A Velvet Resurrection, Kollusim and 1001 commandments. However, the whole album is not as spacy as it could be. Some songs are long and are consisting of almost nothing. Another little downside of the album is that the created atmospheres are mostly dark and haunting. Though their haunting mood is really well done, there might be a lack of diversity. Anyhow, the shorter poppier (?) and often accoustic songs like Friend are all lighter and mostly great.

I gotta give credit to Edward Ka-Spel though. His voice doesn't sound like anything I've heard before. His singing is great. His voice is really original and just weird. It's a shame that in some of the songs, he doesn't really sing. He talks. The lyrics are always great too. Some of them are really funny (Friend), some are haunting (1001 Commandments) and some are plain weird (This one-eyed man is king). They always match the songs perfectly.

Lovers of early Pink Floyd will like this album. I like about 3/4 of it. Some songs are excellent but some are pretty weak. I give this album a 3 star rating because it is a fine achievement indeed although not my type of music.

-Bern

4.5 stars. On the back cover it says "Recorded at Chez Niels and Pascale under a blazing sun by a dirty river." This is one of my favourite LPD albums released in 1995 and this one is a little different. Even the title of the album doesn't sound like a title they would use given all the album titles before it. And the music? Well first spin of song one had me scrambling for the cd case thinking I put in the wrong band. Nope! The sax and flute are more prominent but it was that warm sound and Edward singing these wordless melodies, stuff I hadn't heard from them before that had me scratching my head but thoroughly enjoying it at the same time. I understand there was some battles during these sessions among the band members so it would be interesting to know how that process went. Lots of variety as usual as they mix the experimental stuff with psychedelic tunes. This one just hits the spot. So much so that I have a top five to focus on.

The opener "Clockwise" that I've already commented on with that warm sound and those vocal melodies plus we get sax and plenty of atmosphere. A beautiful track. "Citadel" opens with what sounds like someone walking as percussion joins in along with synths and experimental sounds. Laid back vocals before a minute along with piano. It gets a little crazy around 5 1/2 minutes. "Velvet Resurrection" opens with this gorgeous atmosphere that expands and retracts. Sequencers kick in, percussion too. Drums after a minutes as we get this amazing sound. Edward then speaks his beliefs beginning each sentence with "I want to believe...".

"This One-Eyed Man Is King" opens with an interesting soundscape of atmosphere and more. Synths and a horn can be heard then it settles with vocals before 1 1/2 minutes almost whispering. Tempo picks up and man check out the vocals as he screams out those lyrics. Great track! Last top five is "Straight On 'Til Morning" the longest at over 8 1/2 minutes. The previous song I just commented on blends into this one as atmosphere continues. Powerful stuff and we can hear vocal outbursts that will come and go throughout along with percussion. Just a cool sounding tune. This one gets dark and haunting in fact this track is a slice of beautiful psychedelia.

A very consistent album for my tastes and again this band's body of work in the 90's is very impressive.