SEA SON

Another shot at this new Jazz-Rock Fusion thing from this supergroup of Danes, the material for the album was recorded July 4-7, 1974, and mixed September 16-19, 1974, all at Rosenberg Studios, Copenhagen, but then released from Holland on Cramps Records.

1. "Oysterjungle" (2:57) a very cool song that moves from jazz-rock to cool space funk to space prog and then back into fusion with the addition of orchestral elements. This reminds me a lot of the sound and mood of Klaus Doldinger music at this same time: the sound engineering is really excellent! (10/10)

2. "Mind Movie" (9:14) bluesy guitar over Bach-like electric piano and clavinet arpeggios and weird Moog and/or organ sounds. Definitely cinematic while also presenting a kind of Jimi Hendrix/Eric Clapton/George Harrison-like bluesy wah-wah electric guitar thing from Claus Bøhling as the lead (though it is cleverly mixed within the sonosphere). Cool music and great guitar play from Claus. Though Claus's guitar solo ends up being no more than a modernized rendition of George Harrison's "My Guitar Gently Weeps," this is still a song that could/should stand up beside anything in the pantheon of iconic blues-rock guitar songs. (18.875/20)

3. "Pijamamafia" (6:07) after a surprisingly long and meandering intro (two minutes), a song with whole-band form finally does emerge from the mass of molten Earth elements: one that gives us an interesting take of both funk and jazz. To me this sounds like a populated forest of small animals running crazily willy-nilly among the undergrowth as a few small predators (think foxes if you like) run amuck this way and that with the crazed sense of urgency governed by their hungry little bellies. (8.75/10)

4. "Black Mist" (3:40) another sophisticated and highly creative rock-leaning motif that supports some nice sax and guitar soloing but really presents a very team-focused expression of macho control. (9/10)

5. "Painforest" (5:40) another intricately constructed song that has serious cinematic potential--not unlike the music of German Kosmische Musikians POPOL VUH. Nice--I like the intricacies and subtleties--but, in the end, it's really nothing much to write home about. (8.875/10)

6. "Paella" (8:23) another foray across the border into the realm of the Krautrockers--even venturing to the mesmerizing walls of the Berlin School of Electronic Music--then veering off into the territory of early Vangelis. Interesting! (17.5/20)

Total Time 36:01

The music on this one, despite sounding incredible (great job Cramps Records and Rosenberg Studios!), turns out to move from solid, melodic Jazz-Rock Fusion into cinematic Krautrock.

A-/five stars; an excellent collection of well-constructed, performed, and engineered songs straddling a fence between Jazz-Rock Fusion and Kosmische Musik. (Taking in the songs of bonus material that was left off the original vinyl release one might be more inclined to place this album in the Krautrock bin.)

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