IMMEASURABLE CURRENTS

Stranger in a strange land

There are those albums that upon listening to I feel I've stumbled into a different dimension, a foreign land. This doesn't imply estrangement; on the contrary, I feel at ease, and am curious to investigate this new and uncharted place. Immeasurable Currents is such an album; one that despite its slightly weird and odd sounds, is inviting with its magic and charm, and while appearing at first listen as cold and somewhat off-putting, is a glimpse into a warm and comforting place.

This album is (or was) facing a problem. Given that this is a Dave Willey's album and that luminaries such as Hugh Hopper, Elaine Di Falco, Deborah Perry and Mike Johnson play on it, expectations of some people were to hear an album of complex or otherworldly sounding avant-rock (or the so-called RIO). Well, if those are your expectations, either abandon those at the door or go look for another album of that ilk. This beautiful album is a rather calm and relaxed collection of 12 songs, composed by, as the title suggests, Dave Willey and friends. You will hear resemblances to these fine musician's other work in Hamster Theatre, Thinking Plague et al. but those are hints, much like one tastes hints of fruit while tasting wine. Indeed, like a good wine, this album takes time to "open" and bloom, revealing its flavours slowly and gradually, requiring recurring tastings. It is a mostly minimalist and restrained album, but one that holds in its "guts" great strength and powerful emotions. As much as it is different from what you usually hear from this bunch of musicians, it is as remarkable and potent in its emotional impact. What it "lacks" in its musical complexity compared to Hamster Theatre and Thinking Plague, it more than makes up for in beauty, elegance and charm.

The intimacy of the music matches very well how personal the lyrics are, giving the songs that timid ambiance and tenderness that doesn't overshadow the lyrics. The person responsible for the lyrics is Dale Willey, Dave's father, now deceased. These poems were taken from the book "The Tin Box Papers and Other Poems". The music suits the lyrics very well, whether its simplistic and beautiful, slightly erratic and faster, or eerie and melancholic (enhanced by the wonderful vocals of Elaine di Falco and Deborah Perry).

If subtlety and otherworldliness are attributes you'd like to experience in music, intimacy and calmness, beauty and eeriness, immerse yourself in the currents of the 12 songs by Dave Willey and his friends.

Dave Willey is the leader of HAMSTER THEATRE and he's also been a part of THINKING PLAGUE since the "In Extremis" record playing mostly bass and accordion. This is a very special album for Dave as the lyrics were all taken from his dad's book "The Tin Box Papers And Other Poems". His father is no longer with us sadly but man would he be proud of this recording. What also makes this significant is Hugh Hopper's involvement. Dave related to me that he met Hugh as well as Elaine Di Falco (who sings and plays on here and was part of Hugh's band back then) at the Progman Cometh festival in Seattle in 2003. Hugh's HUGHSCORE band and Dave's HAMSTER THEATRE group shared the stage. Dave and Hugh exchanged addresses and sent each other tracks through the mail. Dave said that for a project such as this he could only work on it when it felt "right". He gives Udi Koomran a lot of credit for rescuing Hugh's music from his computer.

So the "& Friends" of this project include Deborah Perry, Elaine Di Falco, Wally Scharold, Hugh Hopper, Mike Johnson, Dave Kerman, Farrell Lowe and more. The first time I heard this it felt like a combination of THINKING PLAGUE and ART BEARS. Again the lyrics play a major role and they sort of grab you by the heart. The combination of these words with this style of music is a very powerful experience.

"Too Much Light (Lonesco's Theme)" hits the ground running with vocals (Deborah & Elaine) and some fairly heavy music. An accordion solo a minute in then the vocals return but not for long as we get a calm. Reserved vocals before 3 1/2 minutes to end it. Check out the lyrics though ! "The Old Woods" opens with the music sort of starting and stopping as this is repeated until the vocals (Deborah) arrive a minute in. Themes are repeated. It does turn experimental with water sounds 3 1/2 minutes in. Vocals return and they are psychedelic and dreamy. Hugh plays bass on the second half of this track. Again the lyrics are so good like "How can we tell what's human when these woods are gone ?" And you should read the words to the next song "If Two See A Unicorn". Prominant drums and vocals (Deborah) and it becomes catchy late before ending in a dark and chaotic manner. "What A Night" has this thick atmosphere with vocals (Deborah). Hugh on bass and Mike Johnson on guitar here. "The Conservatives" has a catchy beat with whistling as vocals come in quickly. Abrasive guitar follows then vocal melodies and more whistling. The lyrics are brilliant. "Winter" is an incredible piece of music composed by Elaine. We get bassoon, accordion, clarinet, viola, piano and cello. Vocals by Deborah and Elaine. It's so eeirie 1 1/2 minutes in when the vocals stop.

"I Could Eat You Up" kicks in quickly then the vocals (Deborah) join in in this uptempo barn- burner. Kerman is on the drums here. A calm before 2 minutes as haunting vocals join in. It kicks back in late. "Wordswords" is heavy and slow with vocals. Spoken words before 3 minutes in a dark soundscape. This is like UNIVERS ZERO meets COMUS. "Autumn" has reserved vocals (Elaine) with piano with dripping sounds. "Mitch" has Dave on vocals in this dark and deep soundscape. Check out the lyrics here. Harmonium too. "A Garland Of Miniatures" has emotionless vocals (Deborah) with accordion and harmonium. Music by Hugh Hopper. "Nightfall" is such a cool track with those loops from Hopper along with the vocal (HAMSTER THEATRE) loops that create a spacey and dreamy backdrop to the relaxed vocals.

Dave also mentioned that it was a very emotional experience to continue recording this with Elaine after Hugh's passing and that it was unfortunate that Hugh wasn't able to listen to this finished work. Fans of THINKING PLAGUE, ART BEARS, 5UUs and the like should not hesitate in seeking this out.