LUNAR DUNES

Their classic fluid jamming style makes the music flow gently and offers a great variety of sounds and landscapes which are easy to enjoy despite the complexity of some passages.

Even when they basically keep the same lineup as in their debut (except for Julia Thorton, who plays harp on "Svalbard", "Free to Do", "Eastern Promise" & "Off World Beacon"), t they sound more mature than ever and seem to have completely found their own sound, departing from previous influences such an PINK FLOYD, and managed to create an original style despite the fact that they are playing one if the earliest forms of Prog Rock (Psychedelia).

My problem with modern bands embracing Psychedelic/Space Prog is that they get too close to Ambient music and they become predictable and boring after the first track, this is not the case of LUNAR DUNES, because they combine the haunting choirs and experimental sounds with a hard guitar, frantic drumming and Ian Blackaby who glues the band together with his competent bass.

Albums like "Galaxsea" are hard to review in a song by song style as I usually do, because they sound more like a full 56 minutes coherent work, rather than in separate songs placed together in one album, in other words they respect their style and fluidity of the music. This is more obvious when you notice that they have added all the songs with harp at the end of the album, so the transition is gradual.

If I had to choose favorite tracks I would go with the hallucinating "Oriental Pacific" and the haunting and mysterious epic "Svalbard", two different approaches to the same sound, but to be absolutely honest, they don't present us a weak track.

I also recommend special attention to the unique and delirious guitar sections in "Oh You Strange Tune", simply delightful.

In my opinion "Galaxsea"is a strongest album than the already excellent "From Above", but sadly this won't be reflected in the rating, being that our system doesn't allow the half stars, so I will have to rate this outstanding effort with 4 stars that should be 4.5/5.

I'm impatient for LUNAR DUNES next record, just wish they don't make us wait another four years.

Keep Proggin'

This CD starts innocent somehow, on Moon Bathing they say hello by providing some regular downbeat/lounge/nujazz impressions first, decorated with Krupa's charming voice. Usually I would assign this to a Cafe Del Mar compilation. Eh ... not bad at all, but not what I expected exactly. Well. that's all for now? By no means ... step by step they throw weird electronica gimmicks in, Adam Blake's psychedelic guitar appears expressive more and more ... and sooner or later it will be clear, that you're listening to a rather experimental blend of music styles, come what may.

Most of the songs are taking around five minutes, each possesses an unique atmosphere, for example a restrained dub groove featuring spacey guitar and synthesizer adds, oriental touches, an hallucinatory flow as implemented on Svalbard or just take the hypnotic krautrock feel given on Free To Do - absolutely flawless all over. Oh, I should not forget to mention both Pharaoh's Dream and Ayaz - especially the excellent drive due to Blackaby's funky bass and Lee's lively drum playing. And please don't miss to watch out for Larry Whelan's playful and emotive keyboard and electronic contributions.

Bravo, overall the nine songs combine a cool jamming attitude and entertaining variety at once. The positive vibe invites to relax. On the other hand you won't miss a bunch of challenging moments. Krupa's voice is experimentally distorted here and meandering out of this world there, similar to Anisa Romero of Sky Cries Mary. LUNAR DUNES are mixing mellow space rock with some groovy triphop appeal, to sum it up. No weakening in between - promised! 'Galaxsea' is a surprising discovery while presenting an impressing song collection according to my taste.

"From Above" kicks in with a pretty good rhythm right off the bat. Nice guitar too with prominant drums and bass. "As Below" has more of a prominant beat as the guitar plays over top. "Herzegovina" continues with that beat like the first two tracks but this one is even better. I like the guitar melody that comes and goes throughout as drums and bass lay the groundwork. Some female vocal melodies in this one too. "Loophole" features percussion throughout as other sounds come and go. "The Todal Gleeps" is a little spacey to open and quickly becomes the most dynamic and raw song so far. "Seaspray" is back to that more relaxed style with some good bass and guitar.

"Yaman" is a mellow, trippy tune with some excellent guitar 6 minutes in. "Rowing Boat" isn't as laid back as the last track but it's a relaxed tune nonetheless. Vibes 3 minutes in as it gets quite psychedelic. "When I Was On Horseback" opens with tampora an Indian instrument. A beat comes in and for me this one gets better as it plays out. "Scissorbell" is very psychedelic as sounds seem to echo. "My Lagan Love" is the longest song at 9 1/2 minutes. It's again a slow moving, mellow tune to begin with as cello comes in around 2 minutes.The tempo does pick up 5 1/2 minutes in and it sounds great. "Scatter" is more uptempo with distorted guitar. It does settle a little before a chaotic ending.

A good debut from this band and for me a solid 3 stars.

I've always been a fan of the late 60's, the Psyche and Proto Prog scenarios always captured me and made me wish I would had been born 10 years before so I was able to enjoy this creative era, so when I listened LUNAR DUNES From Above for the first time, it was almost a dream come true, but even better, because the production is excellent and the band incorporates several different elements that make a very rich blend.

The album is opened with From Above, a track that captures the complete spirit of the Psyche era, with long guitar jamming and a trippy atmosphere, but there's something that makes it different, maybe the cohesive interplay with the drums because all the other instruments take us back to Carnaby Street in 1967.

As Bellow follows the path of the opener, but now there's an early Space Rock sound, as if the band had evolved A la Pink Floyd in a couple of minutes, but strangely with no Pink Floyd reminiscences, it's just a the style, because the music is absolutely original.

Herzegovina (Interpolating Le Petit Chevalier) is a bit different, instead of placing the biggest emphasis in jamming and creating a spiritual atmosphere, the band provides a very solid melody with guttural female chorus that add a bit of mystery to the already odd track, this time the performance is less frantic and more......lets say spiritual and dreamy, with a surprising Post Rock finale that presents us an aggressive edge for the first time.

Loophole is simply fantastic, starts with an oriental taste created by Hami's percussion, while guitar and keyboards are in charge of creating atmospheres over that rhythmic base, I admit that for moment it becomes a bit repetitive, but hey, this is almost pure Psyche, so what else can we expect.

The Todal Gleeps is a radical change, even though the late 60's spirit is present, the band becomes totally aggressive again with a Post Rock edge that is welcomed, yes, dreamy is good but this surprising violence with some radical changes is a healthy change that shows a great dose of versatility. Special mention to Ian Blackaby and his impeccable bass work.

Seaspray starts more melodic than previous tracks, this time Adam Blake takes clearly the lead role with his Psychedelic guitar, providing different and rich sounds with his endless jamming, very powerful performance with a jazzy feeling. But there's a surprising change, while the band is obsessed with the 60's, the keyboards add a Symphonic feeling that reminds me of early Genesis, absolutely unique.

Yaman begins with a very strange guitar solo, somehow jazzy but at the same time like some sort of electric Flamenco, a change that I didn't expected at all, but adds an extra interest to an already fascinating album, the song flows gently from start to end carried at will by Adam Blake and his guitar.

Rowing Boat sounds more like a whole4 band effort, now they radically move to some sort of Jazz or Kraut Rock or God knows what, the spirit of the 60's is present but with a different sound that I would dare to call Space Jazz, this guys have heard Miles Davis, CAN and NEU, because this is a fantastic style sandwich influenced by almost everybody, but at the same time original enough.

Now it's time to move to India with When I Was On Horseback, seems as if Ravi Shankar was hired for some minutes, the oriental sound reminiscent of The End by THE DOORS, blended with string arrangements by John Paul Jones in Their Satanic Majesties Request, just delightful, my favorite song from start to the end (when the band hits us with all they have).

Scissorbell marks another 180ª degrees turn, this time they remind me of some Gothic (not Goth) bands like Dead Can Dance or Miranda Sex Garden with that combination of Oriental ethnic music and Post Rock, but in this case fused with early Pink Floyd (Watch the Pompeii DVD), something too complex and weird to be described with words alone

My Lagan Love well, is somebody of the late 60's hadn't been quoted until now is Carlos Santana, but this track is clearly reminiscent of his style, slow, paused,. colorful and rich in variations, but Caroline Lavelle adds a mysterious touch with her cello while the keyboards keep adding dreamy sections, a very interesting blend of Sound and influences.

The album is closed with the Jazzy Scatter, a good change, because if the album is mainly moody and dreamy, the band required a violent finale and this rack provides it, the distorted and aggressive guitar and a cacophonic but extremely strong finale where the LUNAR DUNES guys leave the last drop of sweat, simply breathtaking.

Excellent album for the Psyche, Space Rock, Kraut, and even Fusion fans, but for Psyche/Proto Prog nuts as me is invaluable, hope the band releases more of this stuff soon, I'll be waiting for it. Now I have to rate From Above, and as usual I won't give 5 starts to a debut album, because this would mean I believe they reached their peak, and I expect more of them, so will go with four solid stars.