FOYERS OF THE FUTURE

The second album of Finnish group Moonwagon introduces a more organic and acoustic oriented soundrealms than was heard on their versatile debut record, which shimmered colder vastness of interstellar visions with credible force and talent. Beautiful album covers support descripting this transition process neatly, showing group members exploring the surface of new world found after cosmic travelling. After seeing the band performing live on stage here in Helsinki, I first felt that the earlier bit heavier material worked better, but there are certainly merits on this disc with a new angle to the music, and I think the album works as a fully composed entity very well. The acoustic guitars and pianos give more relaxed overall feeling to the music, and allow more dominant role to bass guitar and emphasize arrangement details. The synthesizers are also very strongly present, and work as a melodic lead instrument on the opener "Elsewhere". Their sound brings some pleasant associations of Camel's classic tunes to my mind, and the more hypnotic aural ambiences carry the compositions towards guitar and drums emphasized lounging. Following "New World Warrior" has pleasant vintage heavy rock kick in it, resembling from sound perspective slightly late 70's Uriah Heep with touches of Hawkwind's spacey magic. The group also continues with personal line of mixing more modern and heavier elements to the first presented older themes, staying in touch with their time and reaching more personality than through purist style mimicking. "Dawnwind" was one of the song highlights of the album for me, built from quite simple but well working elements of rhythmic pulse and synth themes, creating a sensation of voyaging in space, and visiting fine guitar solo licks and riff constructions.

"Endless Collision" is a shorter visitation to the acoustic vantage points of this album, and a great place for melodic bass guitar drive also. I wonder if Joni's commitment on folk duo act Vellamo is an effect or a cause to this acoustic direction; Whatever the truth is, the end result sounds sincere and convincing. Both "Through The Veil of Rain" and "Shadows Whisper Fire" are quite relaxed and longer showers of the group's musical kindness, in some parts creating associations to Anekdoten's later songs due union of Mellotron sounds, acoustic guitars and fluidly vibrating audio effect treatments. These compositions also use patiently their duration to morph carefully to several interesting directions. "Saturn Summer" follow is them as quite short but very pleasant piece, basking on the shine of keyboards and calmed by the gusts of refreshing guitar solo weaves. There are also certain proves that some Caribbean culture has been spread beyond the asteroid belt also.

The album starts to close with minor motives of "Past Moves", a song which will find later more upright feelings, slightly resembling the joyful moments from "Machine Messiah" of Yes. This set of maneuvers concludes to "Tranceport", which seems to be the most crystallized compositional effort on the album. From sounds the end result could be compared to early 80's Hawkwind records, the acoustic guitars and more relaxed feelings crafting the visions then towards more personal own sound territories. The dramatic curve flows from open synth space to steadier guitar riff passage, slowly gaining power for a warp drive jump of uncertain future. I hope this transition leap would reveal later more pleasant music on a form of third album from this sympathetic group appearing from hyperspace.

I admit I slightly miss lead vocals from the music, though there are some distant chanting and choirs here and there. This desire rises just from my own personal taste preferences, as I would love to experience stronger human presence from singing. On the other hand, it is better to play instrumentally than ruin a band though bad vocal performance - a demise I feel witnessed much too often. Also the musicians use plenty of energy to compensate the melodics of the missing vocal lines with their full instrument repertoire. If you like instrumental music and enjoy good quality cosmic space rock with classic progressive rock influences, this album is certainly a worthy target of inspecting.

Attention to all space prog cadets, there is a new interstellar voyager that is scouring the farthest reaches of the cosmos, boldly going where some have gone before but with a warp-speed twist that is most exhilarating. From Finland comes Moonwagon, a quartet of fine aural sculptors who have the audacity, the seasoned chops and celestial doses of imagination. The usual crew configuration mans the flight deck but there is little doubt in my mind that the ship Captain is the nasty little bass player, Janne Ylikorpi who leads the others by propulsive inspiration. His monstrous, fluid and devastating bass playing is front and center, mixed high and loud. For a Federation bass fetishist like yours truly, this is something I would "Kling-on", a rambling adventure of the highest order. Some may wonder whether there are strong Pink Floyd, Hawkwind or classic Gong vibes, maybe a little Ozric Tentacles thrown in, but the answer is, not really. Moonwagon have a harder edge, less soporific, perhaps even chaotic at times, they like to log into a specific warp speed, hold onto the groove and let the splashy synths and the gritty guitar shoot off some photon torpedoes, the bombs bursting in deep space air! In fact, there may be a closer association to a more melodic Anekdoten than anything, so it does have that icy Scandinavian vibe we all adore. I strongly advise fans to heed the bass' call and follow it through the entire journey. Janne is a reptilian fast player who has amazing depth and staying power to his playing. Every track is a pure gem, a revelation of style and sound that is universally appealing. The relentless Lemmy-like pounding only enhances contributions from keyboardist Ami Hassinen, whose preference is for extended liquid laser synthesizer runs, as well as bringing that elusive electric piano to the party, while guitarist Joni Tiala carves some creative lines, unafraid to go acoustic when need be, which is becoming such a rarity in the Psychedelic/Space realm. His electric leads are never reliant on effects, he keeps it pretty clean and technical. Drummer Jani Korpi keeps things tight and crisp, as befitting the genre's needs.

There are some scintillating tracks here, such as the opener "Elsewhere" setting the journey's tone, the battering ram effect of "New World Warrior" but none better than "Shadows Whisper Fire", a smoldering meteor of bass-lava fire, if you cannot smile in awe at hearing this, you need medical help! It's almost beyond description, a bass performance for the ages, a mix of Howlett, Wetton and Reeves. "Dawnwind" is simply splendid, a brooding astro-cruise that really hits the mark, as well as the delirious 11 minute+ "Through the Veil of Rain", where the first hints of classic-era Hawkwind appear, laced with some serious and intense Romulan space boogie. "Saturn Summer" will weave rings around your head, a breezy , asteroid-laden affair that has a bright summery feel, led again by you know who , whistling synths on one orbit and raging guitar on the second pass. Some island beats, a percussive samba, man, these lads have a strange universe to evoke and it's just so refreshing. "Past Moves" has a massive organ intro, a classic blues rock based guitar secondo, a shuffling beat a la 70s and you would thing like Booker T and the MGs, 2012 version! Tremendous quality and memorable playing.

To finish off with the extravagant "Tranceport", a title that says it all, is the proverbial Vulkan nerve neck pinch. The band has no qualms about strangeness or charm, laying down a shining cosmic highway to the stars, keeping the pace sprightly and honed to a high level of sharpness. Clanging e-piano, whirling synths, that confounded rambling bass, slick guitar licks and a two-fisted drum attack are what you get as a docking prize.What a brilliant finale ! Amazing slice of astral adventure, fans need to get this ASAP, especially the modern and demanding space traveller. Oh, and anyone who enjoys following the bass .

5 tomorrow's fireplaces

There is one fabulous thing about reviewing. You never know what's gonna come to your mail box! And that's a delight for me. A while ago, I received a pack from the Finnish label Running Moose and one of the CDs was this one, Foyers Of The Future (2012), the second album of the band Moonwagon (also Finnish).

Moonwagon is a Space Rock instrumental band formed in 2008 by Ami Hassinen (keyboards), Jani Korpi (drums and percussion), Joni Tiala (electric & acoustic guitars) and Janne Ylikorpi (bass). Foyers Of The Future (2012) is the follow up of Night Dust (2011). The album was recorded and mixed between February and June 2012 in Finland and produced by the band itself. Running Moose has been releasing several interesting albums in the Space Rock/Psychedelic field and Foyers Of The Future (2012) is definitely one of them!

Before anything else, it is good to know that some bands still care about their CDs. Foyers Of The Future (2012) is presented in a nice digipack with a wonderful and enigmatic gatefold kind of cover. Not just that, the booklet of the album is basically a poster with a psychedelic image showing the band posing as a mini crowd.

It is quite hard to describe track-by-track kind of details in Foyers Of The Future (2012) because the songs are tied together and you hardly notice the changing of the tracks. Moonwagon's music is pretty much dominated by the keyboards and synths of Ami Hassinen with the Joni Tiala guitars playing a big and clever role. But for them to be able to freely walk with their instruments you need a tight and precise 'kitchen', Moonwagon has it with Jani Korpi drums and the amazing bass playing of Janne Ylikorpi.

Foyers Of The Future (2012) is pretty much divided into A and B sides, like an LP. The first set of songs, 'Elsewhere' and 'New World Warrior' starts slow and gains power within the songs. The third track 'Dawnwind' is a big highlight of the album. 'Endless Collision' is a short, acoustic piece with a an interesting fretless bass and closing the first part we have the longest track on the album with a jam feeling, 'Through The Veil Of Rain'. Interesting to notice that besides being an instrumental band, the songs that Moonwagon compose are pretty much melody oriented, you can listen the melody and even imagine a singer in them.

The second set of songs contains songs a bit larger when it comes to the time and it kicks in with 'Shadows Whisper Fire' that is commanded by Janne Ylikorpi bass, great track! Then we have 'Saturn Summer' that is another amazing track. 'Past Moves' starts a bit Symphonic but it turns out that it is almost a romantic song, Eric Clapton style. 'Tranceport' is a long Space Rock trip and ends Foyers Of The Future (2012) perfectly.

Moonwagon is a pretty new band and Foyers Of The Future (2012) is just their second album. But, it turned out that if Space Rock is your cup of tea you should go for this guys without hesitation. The band recorded a solid and interesting album that I can highly recommend!

(Originally posted on progshine.net)

Moonwagon's 'Foyers of the Future' is an instrumental space prog album with some blazing guitars and soaring synths over very rhythmic bass and drums, along with Hawkwind space effects and atmospherics.

Spacey ambient textures on 'Elsewhere' are followed by the rhythmic heavy fuzz guitar rock on 'New World Warrior'. The icy space winds howl and then the warm synths of 'Dawnwind' emanate. The Hawkwind like rhythms are terrific and break out into some off beat passages. Overall this is a melodic slice of psych prog with grandiose keyboards and scorching guitars. The track locks into a strong figure and has hypnotic sounds that crank along and draw in the listener, and of course ther is a ton of spacey guitar breaks and swirling synths; a real masterclass instrumental highlighting the album clocking 6:43.

Next up is 'Endless Collision' driven by twin acoustic guitar vibrations, in short graceful weeps and some inspired finger picking prowess. 'Through the Veil of Rain' is more acoustic but a strong drum tempo, though has a crossover sound, not that much different than Tommy Emmanuel's style. It is very long at over 11 minutes, but builds over the main melody in an extended synth solo that goes on for an eternity. It is very psychedelic and locks into a rollicking heavy guitar groove.

'Shadows Whisper Fire' moves along on a simple spaced out rock riff but has a tremendous bass solo buried within. It does have some cosmic synth sounds to indulge in towards the end. 'Saturn Summer' is another heavy track with a great bassline, and swathes of synths over a driving clanging guitar chord progression. 'Past Moves' is more steady tempo beats and overdoses on guitar and synths. 'Tranceport' is a dramatic change with a very strong rhythm and bass to die for. The synths sparkle and shine over a building string synth motif. The guitars are heavier and distorted with some wah wah effects and delay thrown in. I really like this track as it kicks along like a race car hurtling down a track.

Overall this is atmospheric music you can throw on when studying, kicking back after a long day or reading a novel; it is intense enough and spacey to hold its own but I rate it as highly spaced up background music to revel in.

This second album is my recent introduction to the Finnish instrumental band Moonwagon. Better late... My first impression is very positive. The 8-minute opener 'Elsewhere' starts interestingly in a way that doesn't immediately reveal the nature of the music. First you hear just drums, then the others join in turns: acoustic guitar, bass, piano. If you listened to this in a blindfold test, you could expect a vocalist enter too and think that it's either a singer-songwriter or [mainstream] pop album. Litte by little the music grows and some space rock elements come closer, but the track avoids categorization and is just generally enjoyable mid-tempo instrumental art rock. 'New World Warrior' is more hectic, and is actually in a constant progress. Soundscape does have a psychedelic edge, but for the most part it feels closer to an instrumental section on some Flower Kings epic than e.g. Hawkwind. I say this in a positive sense. 'Dawnwnd' soars even more effectively.

At this point I'm already impressed by the band's wide range in playing. For example Ami Hassinen's keyboards use influences from vintage prog such as Genesis as well as from the so called space rock tradition. Further tracks only make this feeling stronger, concerning the whole quartet. Joni Tiala is equally many-sided as guitarist, and the rhythm section of Janne Ylikorpi and Jani Korpi keeps everything in good balance. I wouldn't only call this excellent space rock, this is (at least nearly) excellent prog, period. The band have a voice of their own, and the spacey and earthly elements are in nice harmony. When the tracks grow longer, they are not extended just for the sake of it, but because there is a lot of happening in the music.

There's no any lack of coherence or creative team spirit, I mean that each single musical ingredient, no matter how virtuotic, works perfectly for the whole, which remains quite interesting all the way. (For progressive rock with vocals it is no doubt easier to keep the listener excited, not to mention forming album concepts.) It wasn't very far for me to give five stars, but maybe there are no absolutely special, cathartic mindblowers full of magic. Instead we have here a strong 62-minute album with no fillers around. Warmly recommended!

Excellent instrumental progressive spacerock.

All the elements are present for a full hour off tripping progmusic.

Nice, melodic keyboards, aswell as guitarwork, thundering drums, constant changing rhythmpatterns and good compositions.

The bass is really loud and takes a leading role in a lot of songs. It reminds me of Anekdoten and Hawkwind. The music itself sounds like Ozrics and Hidria Spacefolk but Moonwagon rocks harder.

Extra flavours are added via use of accordeon, acoustic guitar, organ, percussion. Moonwagon is a real adventurous musical group and takes the listener on a journey through a strange planet.

I don't know about other albums by this band, but I will definately search for them.