BATELESS EDGE

Frogg Café is more than just a rock or prog rock band, it is a musical force encapsulated simultaneously in the minds and souls of a host of talented musicians blessed with A-level musicianship and indefatigable creativity, and all this glory is once more confirmed by the reality of "Bateless Edge", the band's most recent effort. It is, indeed, a mandatory member of any Top 5 or Top 3 list of 2010's outstanding prog releases worldwide. I am so glad that the devotion I have been feeling for Frogg Café has currently met a perfect reassurance. As in their previous release, the double album "The Safenzee Dieries", the younger Lieto on trombone acts as an official member, and unlike the last two releases, founding guitarist Frank Camiola is back in the line-up. The presence of an important number of guest performers helps the band to achieve a solid, fully expanded sonority for each track: not that this is a Baroque-oriented or overdone repertoire, but it is evident that the textures and harmonic schemes of each track are craftily benefited from the presence of more musicians than the very band itself. Well, this is after all, a major album. As a major album, it starts on a major note right away with the exotic tambora and acoustic guitar prelude of 'Terra Sancta'. The exquisite jamming and the tasteful orchestrations delivered on brass, violin and tonal percussion bring a delicious journey that sounds a little like some sort of "Echolynized" Dave Matthews band, or to put it in a less complicated form, like the "Fortunate Observer" era. Right before the 6'30 mark, the alternating guitar and piano solos develop a deeper jazzy ambience until the guitar alone gets pretty psychedelic, which makes the whole mood turn a bit denser (just a bit). The last sung section completes the song's concept in full circle, and then the closing acoustic guitar chords segue into the next track, 'Move Over, I'm Driving'. Here we witness yet another exercise in Zappa-meets-Happy The Man, the kind of exercise that we have found in previous album and that the FC handled with their usual mastery and never ending sensibility. This track incarnates the very essences of elegance and vivacity: the captivating beauty of the horn arrangements help the listener to forget the transit of the track's 8 minute span. 'Pasta Fazeuhl' shifts toward grayish tension while preserving the current doses of energy and musicality intact. Despite the allusion to the zeuhl genre in the title, it is mostly chamber-rock that champions this piece's direction: there is so much Univers Zero influence in the passage that goes from 5'00' to 8'30"? so much, really? but since FC is an American band (yeah, like Grand Funk Railroad), one can notice a more playful approach to RIO as instigated by older bands from the USA like Pocket Orchestra or Cartoon. So far, here we have 34 minutes of progressive grandiosity, and there is still more for the listener to enjoy avidly and bravely. The three sections of 'Under Wuhu Son' are a real treat. The first section, 'In the Bright Light', bears a melancholic aura developed consistently by a varied set of arrangements that comprises bucolic acoustic moods and constrained string and horn arrangements inundated with delicate elegance. 'Left For Dead', the second section, elaborates yet another example of chamber-rock, only this time it is more muscular and vibrant, almost Present-like at times: weirdly beautiful, beautifully weird, great one way or another. Section # 3 is 'Brace Against The Fall', which tones down the chamber-rock element quite noticeably and aims for a more straightforward approach to jazz-rock. I can't avoid the feeling that a rebirth of the "Creatures" days is emerging whenever I listen to this one ? and hats off to Camiola for his spectacular guitar solo!! 'From The Fence' is the most accessible piece in the album, but since it lasts 12 minutes it is hardly your condescending pop song full of radio interplaying and massive consumption potential. This track's basis is a sort of jazzy ballad on ¾, kind and gentle, somewhat romantic, bearing good vibes with an extroverted accent. It is from these extroverted undertones that the instrumental journey delivered by the FC guys delivers a typically progressive emphasis. The album's last 10 ½ minutes are occupied by 'Belgian Boogie Board', a full-frontal RIO piece whose colorful dynamics and challenging set of tricks and twists create a genuine adventure for the unafraid listener. Anyway, the playful overtones (no doubt a Zappa thing) provide a joyful element that remains relevant and defining all through the bizarreness that operates from beginning to end. This is such a terrific closure for such a bateless musical work: Frogg Café manages to gain yet another artistic triumph in their résumé. It is hard to imagine to have someone listening to this album twice in a road, but indeed, listening to it once has got to be one of the most exciting aesthetical experiences in 2010. One of mine, for sure, and I gladly put this one in my personal Prog Top 3 without having to wait until next January.