CORVUS STONE UNSCREWED

I hesitate to call this a new studio album, as more than half of the tracks are either remixes, alternate versions, or expansions of songs from Corvus Stone's excellent first two releases. Nevertheless, I enjoy this group's releases so much that the chance to hear anything new from them entices me to rate them highly. And, as usual, the perfect performances of Tench, Koivu, Lindstrom and Wolff deserve such praise.

The remixes here are not special to me. I rarely buy remixes of album that I already own, unless the originals were not mixed well, or I feel new technology, or a specific producer can bring out something new in the performance. But alternate versions, and other differences, like adding vocals to an instrumental, can pique my interest. There is enough of the latter to keep me interested, but that is not why I love this release.

The new songs are great, as usual. Colin Tench's guitar always brightens my day. He mixes an offbeat avant fusion sound, similar to David Torn, with elegant Spanish guitar and smoky blues stylings. And, as usual, Koivu's keyboards, Lindstrom's bass, and Wolff's drums are every bit as good.

Standout tracks, to me are "Horizon" (one of the remixes), a dirge of a song, brought to like by some simply bizarre percussion effects, and "Scary Movie Too", which mostly reminds me of King Crimson's "Deception Of The Thrush" improvs.

I would not recommend this as a starting point for newcomers to Corvus Stone, but it is a fine album.