THE GARDEN

Andrew Robinson's Magus alternates between echoey Floydian acoustics and spacey Tangerine Dream electronics on this 4 track CD, with a few metallic references. Unfortunately this is not as good as it sounds. The bulk is taken up by the 12 part title suite. Ambitious though it is, the delivery and end product have an amateurish quality and a lack of finish, unless you count a synthetic sheen. The production is as crisp as the best morning bacon, but the only reminder of having indulged is an unpleasant aftertaste and a promise to self to limit consumption. Magus would do better to focus less on sound "quality" and processing and more on the composition itself and its development. Good passages occur here and there, especially in the middle parts of the suite, where some juicy bass accompaniment adds to the atmosphere, and in "The Stone Circle", but in general it's a bit too much about atmosphere, and the melodic creativity is lacking. This garden needs an infusion of organics to flourish.