PERSIAN AMERICAN

It is always a pleasure to see new Mexican artists making some noise in the progressive rock realm, just like talented multi-tasking man Greco Basti'n, who recently has released a couple of albums in which he composes and plays all the instruments.

In our country (Mexico), though prog rock has gained so much popularity in the last years, thanks to some international icons such as Steven Wilson or Haken, we still find it difficult not only to support our local artists, but to discover them, which is why I thank Greco Basti'n who kindly share his music to me, music that goes more to the noisy, experimental side of prog, which is not popular between our friends.

The labels of zeuhl, avant-prog and noise may appear to your mind while listening to this man, and that is a thing, because nowadays we don't see so many Mexican people creating music like this, which is an effort that I would like to highlight, because he dares to create it and play that music no matter how narrow the local audience is.

In his bandcamp site he wrote: 'I'm a great magician!! I mean: a great musician, YES! But with no musicians, no band and no money in order to make my music sounds with real instruments and the minimal production so here I'll put some of my songs played by a cold Robot. Hope you enjoy it and SUPPORT me, please!'. As you can read, he is a one-man-band who started at the bottom and has been creating music with some boundaries, but it has not stopped him, so it is now time for us (the listeners) to contribute a little bit.

'Persian American' is the name of this album, a self-produced record that has 10 songs and a total time of 41 minutes. It opens with an ambitious 11-minute track entitled 'The Istambul Incident (Parts I-V), the longest composition here. There is an oriental flavor on it, the first epic song of his creation that could be liked by any prog rock fan. I like its changes, its different passages, the guitar solos, the piano and keyboards atmospheres. It is a very nice journey with some emotional moments such as the last 3 minutes that have a sound that reminded me of Marillion's 'Lavender'. This first track is great, but it does not actually reflect the musical style of his music. So wait for the next tracks.

The first zeuhl-esque slice comes with 'Aclowntren's'. With it, we can notice that bands and artists such as Ruins have been an influence to Basti'n's music. Instrumental passages full of power and energy, with an amazing use of keyboards and digital sounds; important to remark that he really knows how to manage digital devices. 'Oniontown' starts with a jazzy sound made by a piano, then drums join and start developing a rhythm, but some seconds later that avant-gardish sound appears with some Zappa-esque notes and very nice guitar moments. There is a pretty good change a couple of minutes later when the music fades and an acoustic guitar softly and deliciously appears, then piano and keyboards join and the sound drastically changes, becoming more emotional.

'Turkish Highway Revisited' has again that oriental flavor, I could say Greco Basti'n has also been inspired by Balkan culture and that can be appreciated in these kind of tracks. What he creates is worth sharing, because it seems his compositions might be easy to create, but I believe talent and creativity is needed to do so, which is why I repeat he is a master at digital devices. 'Homer Was Right, Flanders Was Left' is a loony and longer track that has a chaotic sound at first but as you can imagine, it changes some minutes later, so new structures are built and morphs into a different piece. The guitar appearances are quite good, always in good time, always remarkable; and in this track I would also like to point out the bass notes, because if you listen to this with nice headphones, you will find out how cool the bass sounds.

From track 6 to the end he gives us a bunch of short but dynamic tracks. Starrting with 'The Marx Volta', a 1:30 minute song that never stops and that has a fast rhythm that may reflect a restless personality, I mean, seems he is always willing to do something, willing to compose and share new sounds. 'Urwa Hiweusz (Violence Pulse)' has a heavier sound, not to say it would belong to the metal realm, but it is evidently heavier than the past songs.

The RIO and zeuhl sond comeback with 'Noszfeuhl Malawelekaahm (Endless Incantation)', once again the name of Ruins came to my mind, and of course the name of Magma must be present in Basti'n's scope of work. 'Folk Chloric' shows again that mid-eastern / oriental flavor that we previously listened. And last but not least, the album finishes with 'Keys Mayas', a short composition that even has some jazz-fusion nuances, but that keeps the avant- garde spirit on it.

It is evident that humor is an important thing on his life, seems he is a guy that takes life easy and always find the bright side, so while listening to it I can tell he really enjoys what he plays, it is transmitted, and I thank that. This album is something different, so if you want to escape a little bit from your musical daily basis, you should give it a shot.

Enjoy it!