FUSING YOUR SYNAPSES

Two ancient space/psychedelic junkies gathering forces in Portugal for this their 12th album collaboration. (All since 2019!) Much of the album has an almost-continuous flow to it, each song dumping its palette into the next where it is picked up and transmogrified into the next celestial substance.

1. "Intro" (4:00) an entertaining and modernized version of a Tangerine Dream/Pink Floyd "nuclear alarm" song. This MicroFreak combination analog and digital synthesizer is amazing! It leads into: (8.875/10)

2. "Fusing your Synapses" (8:46) enter programmed "future Ibiza" electronic dance rhythms into the virtual space-laser sonosphere and you've got a visit to the video game arcade circa 2079! I really like this, as Blade Runner dated as it might sound (instrumentally): it really satisfies the teenage sci-fi Matrix Reloaded rage/dance orgy geek in me. (18.667/20)

3. "Doomstar" (15:58) reminds me of a combination of Robin Trower and Craig Safan's guitar sound and a bit of EEF ALBERS' Focus Con Proby playing style on the amazing "Final Confrontation" from the 1981 film Thief's OST. Great mood and ambiance to keep the psychedelic trip flowing. This would make ideal music for your lava-lamp-lit, bead- curtained basement hippy den. (28/30)

4. "Down the Ferret Hole you Go" (7:11) I can see where the title came from: the repeating "hammer blows" as well as the mind-numbing hypnotic effect of the seemingly-endless dance pattern loop. It's not always pretty, and is sometimes on the verge of downright annoying, but it is definitely entertaining (and creative)! (13.5/15)

5. "No More Bombs (only Bongs!)" (12:54) more of the HAWKWIND/ELOY like heavy, two-chord psychedelia as "Doomstar" only pervaded by another track, one of modulating analog synthesizer nob-turning, that is equal to or even more attention-grabbing than the awesome ubiquitous and usually-fairly-steady lead guitar shredding. I can't say that we've never heard anything like it but I can say that it still feels deeply engaging and hypnotic with Dr. Space's crazy synth work feeling quite manic and fun. (23/25)

6. "Pinned Codes" (8:31) opens with severely-morphed waves and Edgar Winter "Frankenstein"-like backwards synth mud bubbles and before Star Wars light sabers and laser tracer sounds join in (along with a playful and almost cute/pleasant computer chatter-speak beneath). This latter soon rises to supremacy over all the other sounds that have preceded it before a drastic shift--like walking into a different game arena--occurs at 3:30. Now we're in a lush tropical where swirling synth runs and washes support guitar and, later, Hammond chords--the guitar playing three totally different styles (due to the different parts of the guitar Martin is playing). The weave is continually morphing, each instrument doing their own spacey thing, but mixing together quite congenially, as if taking us down the River Lethe (or Styx). Weird to feel as if the bass line is the only thing keeping us aware of forward movement, and yet, even its strange rhythm is slightly eccentric to everybody else's. Interesting. And definitely entertaining. (17.5/20)

7. "Chickshit Burger Boy" (12:46) starting out with a New Age drum program that sounds as if it came from the album or studio that spawned A-HA's monster hit, "Take on Me," Dr. Space's bubbly radio space noises and extraterrestrial language transmissions float around over the top while synth bass and fairly normal and un-sustained/delayed fuzz guitar note play and off-time keyboard chord bounces wax and wane, calm and swell within and around. Not quite as engaging as the other two mesmerics. (21.75/25)

8. "Outro" (2:22) more sub-space, radioactive/nuclear wind. (4.375/5)

Total time: 75:32

A fairly odd mix of song themes, the variety of engineering feats perhaps betraying the varied dates of existence of the individual songs, but, in the grand scheme of things, does, in fact, present a very interesting, highly engaging, and, ultimately satisfying listening experience. The effectiveness of the MicroFreak combo analog + digital synth seems to be quite innovative and liberating as I hear solo activity on this album that is more dynamic and akin to Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk dial twisting and the permutational manipulations of a Prophet 5.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of highly creative sound manipulations served up over some somewhat innovative structures and variations on known forms. Highly recommended.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to BrufordFreak
• Report this review (#3210494)
• Buy DOCTORS OF SPACE music online with PA partners
• Show all DOCTORS OF SPACE MP3/Stream
• Go to DOCTORS OF SPACE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Fusing your Synapses page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DOCTORS OF SPACE related discussions