THE PRIME MOVING LUMPS

The Prime Ultimate opens up with Japanese talking from a show of some kind? There is then some ol timey orchestra playing then boom, The Prime Ultimate. Fluid Canterbury Scene playing for five minutes of excellence. One thing I really love about this album is that unlike on the debut sections of songs change without awkwardness, it's just so fluid. Screaming organ over fast rhythms, fantastic opener.

Jean Frazier kicks off with familiar Avant Garde spasms that for once don't drag on for an eternity. This song maintains an ominous vibe for its entire duration and like Idyllcrity on the debut shows the range of emotions Stubbs can create. Definitely one of the darkest track on the album due to the presence of the Canterbury Scenes trademark fuzz organ that achieves the shrieking of a distorted guitar (might actually be guitar at some points).

The Land Of Yellow Leaves is a departure from the dark atmosphere of the previous track. Here one can retreat to a land of yellow leaves, a land full of gentle rhythms and crystalline keyboard bubbling about. Here one can digest a wonderful bass solo given enough time/space to actually be mentioned, unlike the treatment of Bass solos by some as nothing more then lil fills.

Ponders De Ete starts off innocuously enough just pretty guitar. Then you get the non stop tribal drumming paired with janky fuzz Organ playing. I love the drumming on this song as it doesn't stop and lose energy, not even when the organ changes. A short song jam packed with power.

Under Pebble Wood takes the upbeat sound of track 1/3 but done justice and rendered also in a long song. Opening with gentle guitar and bits of watery keyboard that are subsumed by the keyboard swelling until a boiling point is reached. Exploding into the scene is Under Pebble Wood. One after another the listener is greeted by profoundly beautiful sections. Gentle yet engaging the song does everything right, developing and changing just like a long song should. Wrapping up the 9~ minutes of magnificent instrumental work is unpaired guitar to provide a pulchritudinous conclusion.

Eternity Is Infinity takes the more avant- edge of tracks 2/4 and expands upon them like track 5. Opening with the albums only vocals Eternity Is Infinity begins with airy female vocals, absolutely in the Canterbury Scene tradition. The you get an absolutely disgusting (in a good way) diminished riffing section. This is smoothly replaced after a brief pause by quiet organ playing below very modern drum work (reminds me of hip hop beats). Anyways what follows is the most Japanese riff I've ever heard, very quirky and one hundred percent delicious, especially as the keyboardist rips it up above. Then the organ squelchs to introduce a janky section that some might consider circus music. Bass takes the lead here for a bit then trades of with the keyboard. The song gets quiet for a bit after the climax and from here out the music is pretty gentle but no less majestic or powerful.

Overall this is an excellent album. I love the papery snare, tom abuse and the rest of the drummers kit which is used to great effect. The guitarist understands the proper place for a guitar in music is as the keyboards back up. The keyboardist fires off superlative lines 24/7 and achieves an absolutely astounding sound from their instruments. The bassist thumps away driving compositions should they need that bombastic bass or holding down an infectious bass line. Highly recommend to everyone.

Ps it sounds nothing like Can. The experimental components of this album are absolutely in the Canterbury Scene tradition founded by icons like oh idk, Egg or Soft Machine? (Egg debuted as Arzachel in 1969, same as Can and if you count Delay 1968 which was released years later then I'll count Soft Machine 1967 recordings that were also released years later and clearly showcase their style on the longest track) Anyways the Avante Garde sections of this album are much much much closer to those of Egg on songs like Symphony No 2 than the style of Can This bothers me because Can is a band that set out to achieve their experimental sound through very hypnotic rhythms and otherworldly effects to colour their music which in my eyes is at odds with the constantly changing style of Stubbs. This really upsets me, the work of Dave Stewart is what the band was named after ffs, they literally sent him their tape yet a certain someone ascertains it was not the man the band clearly was inspired by but some others without even mentioning Egg in regards to the experimental moments, sad.

Complaining complete

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