BURU HAZE

The good thing with Kanoi is that the quality of compositions, execution and production is continuously improving. I liked a lot his live in Arnbach II and the Gemstone EP which features a very good cover of PINK FLOYD's The Embryo.

Exactly this song must be mentioned. In this last album, the first as artist signed with a label, Benjamin Kantschieder from Wien has brought the sounds of the early Floyds to a new life. This is mainly Krautrock, but the strong relationship that also the historical Kraut bands had with early Pink Floyd is known. Also TANGERINE DREAM are in debt with A Saucerful of Secrets as EDGAR FROESE once said.

The use of fade-in, especially in the last part of the conclusive track reminds clearly to that album with the acid and bluesy guitar emerging from the deep, just following the more relaxed and sung part which makes me think to the mood of Grantchester Meadows.

Ben himself mentions Meddle and Obscured by Clouds as source of inspiration for this album and for the last track in particular.

But I also appreciate the most "noisy" parts. Before this one, the last album that I've listened to today was "Liquid" by the Dutch band 35007. Who knows the track "Tsunami" from that album will have an idea of how those parts sound.

This is in my opinion the best Kanoi release up to now, but since last year he has started a very good phase of his production. Everything he has released since 2014 deserves to be heard, especially if you like the early Floyd.

Not a clone, anyway. The guy is original enough, and if you don't believe me, you can give a listen to his older releases which are more Krautrock oriented.

4 solid stars.

I'm not big on these one man projects that seem to be everywhere these days but I just had to check out Benjamin Kantschieder's latest record called "Buru Haze" simply because this Austrian is listed under Krautrock. Yes I was very curious to hear this album after reading the review from octupus-4, and i'm glad I picked it up even though it did leave me unfulfilled. The vocals are what i'd describe as "thin" almost weak sounding, which is fine when it comes to psychedelic music but I do wish a professional did the recording and mixing as I find that part of the album to be lacking a lot. Benjamin needs to find some like-minded musicians in my opinion and just go for it. Easy for me to say I know.

"Naeco II" opens with relaxed sounding guitar as mellotron-like sounds add some atmosphere. Relaxed vocals then drums add to the sound. That light mood is broken by some heavy guitar before 3 minutes. Nice opener. "Buru Haze" has a good heavy groove to it as the vocals join in. Not a fan of the vocals here or the lyrics but I love the guitar especially 4 1/2 minutes in to the end. "The Golden Country" is an instrumental with a spacey atmosphere and relaxed guitar expressions. "Windchild" does remind me of "Moonchild" by CRIMSON as far as the vocals go and sometimes with that mellow sound. Mellotron and picked guitar to start and it stays mellow and spacey throughout.

"Song Of Distance" opens with an excellent instrumental intro with prominent guitar. It does settle back before 2 minutes then the vocals arrive. Another calm piece. "By The Sunrise" opens with birds singing as mellow guitar and bass come in. Reserved vocals follow and I like the laid back guitar solo before 2 1/2 minutes. "Quokka" is a short instrumental that builds right away and it sounds really good. "A New Beginning" is the over 14 minute closer. Atmosphere is created by the organ as we get some relaxed guitar then vocals. Another chill-out tune until the guitar starts to light it up before 3 1/2 minutes. Another calm before 6 minutes and it's almost silent before 8 minutes but not for long.

Man this could be one of my favourite projects with some changes. I just really like his compositions and I did get glimpses of legends like GURU GURU and ASHRA TEMPEL but unfortunately "Buru Haze" is but a shadow right now of the incredible albums that those bands created, in my opinion of course.