DO5

Canada's Mahogany Frog keep getting better all the time! Their latest album strangely titled "Do 5" is a highly imaginative album that soars with real deep conviction and a certain magical presence. IMHO this is their most complete and most compelling music yet combining some great melodies and huge progressive builds. This 4 piece band create a huge wall of sound that blend Psychedelic, Progressive , Jazz and Electronic genres. The music on "Do5" also covers a nice range of moods and tempos and moves from high testosterone pulsing vibes to serene pastel-like atmospheres. This very well might be best album I have heard from Canada in a long long time and I would highly recommend you find yourselves a copy of this album. If you are lucky enough to have them play near you I would strongly suggest you go see them live. !!

In fact 4.5

01. G.M.F.T.P.O.

This quartet of Canada begins the record surprisingly well. Double guitars, varied sounds and the weight of, let's say a modern KING CRIMSON. We ended up with some voices, like in the News. 

02. T-Tigers & Toasters 

Following the voice of News we have another voice, this time those generated by computer programs that help the mute people to communicate. Following, lost keyboards that show the 'great' sound that the band wanted to capture, they recorded the album in one of those large rooms, from those used to recording choirs and small ensembles. Another great detail is the electric piano here and there. It is an atmospheric track, surrounded by schedules J. P. Perron and his interesting synthesizers. Varied climates make the listener lose track of time, and the full 11 minutes pass quickly while its various parties to go on. Intensely creative and interesting.

03. Last Stand At Fisher Farm

A strange mix, is what this band is! At the same time the band is YES and TORTOISE. PINK FLOYD and HAWKWIND. In this track we have a kind of anthem adorned by various synthesizers, a space rock, worthy of a 'star cowboys ' movies, can you imagine that? (laughs)

04.You're Meshugah!

In the fourth track of DO5 the boss is J. P. Perron, the drummer, hitting hard in your drumkit. At the same time the group has a strong melodic base, although chaotic at first what we have is a series of catchy tunes that 'stick' and make you shake your head and sing along, even if the track (and band) being completely instrumental.

05. I Am Not Your Sugar

A natural continuation (and fantastic) of the previous track and a pun on the names too.  The band has a channel on Youtube and there is a great version of this track that is worth taking a look in the videos section of the band here in PA

06. Demon Jigging Spoon

Guitar and bass playing a simple riff (and kinda Japanese) together while the keyboard is in a series of sounds, sometimes enigmatic sometimes emotional. Add to the mix martial rhythms and a soundtrack from a B horror movie, great sound!

07. Medicine Missile

Atmospheric, even more than the others in the same style as 'Last Stand At Fisher Farm'. From the 2 minute song packs, get 'in stride' and speeds. Great bass lines from Scott Ellenberger. In general the whole band is great, great musicians, clever and know how to build melodies.

08. Lady X Oc & Shield Jaguar

the double Graham Epp and Jesse Warkentin is extremely competent, alternating all the time between keyboards, synthesizers and guitars. When composing neat melodies and harmonies. An ode to the ears, good to be numb and forget a little of everything, focus solely on music.What today in times of internet becomes a thing increasingly difficult.

09. Loveset

A kind of 'Serenade', a piece inspired by classical music. With the trumpets and electronics 'blips', but in a concise and cohesive, not just a strange mixture.

More than a simple 'mixture', a great album full of catchy tunes and oddities. Hearing highly recommended!

Another huge surprise from Canada.

To my knowledge, this is the fifth album from Mahogany Frog. A band I have never heard about before until I got this CD and read Raff's review of a festival they played in USA. Obviously, I have lost out on something really good here.

How should I describe the music on this album ? The music on this album has no vocals whatsoever. The nearest reference point is therefore fusion. But although there are clear references to both jazz and in particular fusion here, I am most of all getting King Crimson vibes here. That combined with a lot of space rock and Soft Machine vibes too and a dash of zeuhl and avant-garde (Present) too. The very dense sound is pretty much typical post-rock too. This is most certainly an album made this decade and not in the 1970s.

The music is mostly driven by jazz guitars and some vintage keyboards. The bass is also very much a melody driving instrument. The drums keeps the rhythm going. This combines into a wall of sound Phil Spector would had been proud of.

The music flows and ebbs in both majestic and bombastic soundscapes before it withdraws to a more pastoral retreat. Some of the melody lines are very heavy. Some are pastoral. But none of the melodies are dull or even remotely uninteresting. In short, all melodies are great and they flows into each other to create a truly great forty-seven minutes long piece of music. In this respect; this is a symphonic prog album, although the sound is nothing but symphonic prog.

In short, this is a great album which plays on many different levels. I am truly won over by this album and it has given me some great sonic experiences.

4 stars

This is album number five from Canada's best kept secret MAHOGANY FROG called "Do5". Still a four piece this 2008 release if anything is more powerful and heavy than what has gone before. I mean this is loud with layers of sound and feedback galore. They do contrast it with less in your face stuff but the heaviness is what stood out for me compared to the previous three albums I own. It helps that two of the members play pretty much the same instruments in guitar, trumpet, arp strings, korg, electric piano, farfisa organ, micromoog and more. Then the drummer adds synths and the bass player organ and percussion. They can actually play this amazing music in real time. The keyboards dominate this record. Love the picture in the liner notes of the farfisa and micromoog. This was recorded between October 2006 and May 2007. All of the music was apparently run through a collection of vintage tube amplifiers giving off this interesting in your face sound.

A top three would include the longest track "T-Tigers & Toasters" and post the album cover please. A sample of a conversation to start along with electronics then spacey synths take over. A beat before 1 1/2 minutes and sparse piano. An interesting soundscape that warms up at 2 1/2 minutes. How good does this sound. They start to amp it up after 4 minutes and this does turn powerful with heavy drums. It settles right down after 5 1/2 minutes but quickly they turn up the heat again and this is driving and hard music right here. So good! The final minute is a wall of sound.

I liked "Demon Jiggling Spoon" right from the first spin. Electronics swirl and pulse before what sounds like sequencers, maybe micromoog that create an electronic beat along with drums. A calm with guitar and atmosphere but not for long. Distorted keys before 3 minutes then drums come in booming. It kicks back in for the final minute. "Lady Xoc & Shield Jaguar" is my final top three and is the second longest at 9 minutes. Gentle guitar melodies to start and they begin to echo as drums and bass join in, synths too. Distorted organ as this plays out then some power at 2 1/2 minutes before it settles back again. The tempo shifts here often then an urgent rhythm after 4 minutes with organ over top. It settles with guitar before 7 minutes like earlier then some distorted organ again before 8 minutes and late.

I don't detect any Post Rock stuff here but some canterbury still because of the distorted organ. "Loveset" the closer features these cello-like sounds to open and close the song that are pretty cool. "Medicine Missle" is dark and experimental with some huge bass and guitar that lights it up later on. "I Am Not Your Sugar" is a drum show and powerful. "Your'e Meshugah!" opens with some great sounding organ, kind of nasty as active drums join in. Another solid album and this one is 4 stars in my books. Careful with that toaster Eugene.