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Sonar

Live at Moods

Review by Gary Hill

This new live album is so cool. It's all instrumental and very much built on space rock type sounds. Probably the closest link would be to Øresund Space Collective, but there is plenty of King Crimson and early Pink Floyd here, too. All in all, this is a great musical adventure.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019  Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.

Track by Track Review
Twofold Covering
Deep sounds open this and hold it for a time. Gradually other elements rise up bringing sort of a modern prog take on a psychedelic sound as it grows outward. As this continues to work outward it takes on some definite space rock tendencies. I love the way the track seems to come in waves. It rises up and works through for a time, but then gradually drops back down to be held in mellower modes for a while, only to climb back upward again.
Waves & Particles
Coming in a bit mellower and more reflective, the space rock elements are more in charge of this one from the onset. This gets into some killer climbing rocking movements further down the road. There are some King Crimson-like elements at play here and there. It gets pretty tastefully noisy on a buildup as it approaches the seven minute mark. It peaks there, though, and then drops way back down. That mellower motif takes the piece to its closing.
Red Shift
A rocking sort of sound, perhaps the most mainstream thing we've heard, brings this into being. The cut starts building outward from there. The cut works out to some decidedly King Crimson-like stuff before dropping way down toward space sounds. This is a killer ride with a lot of great space rock built into it.
Tromso
While the general concept isn't greatly changed here, this cut has its own flavor. It's moody, trippy space rock based sound. The section mid-track here makes me think of early Pink Floyd to a large degree. There is a killer build-up around the nine minute mark that really intensifies the cut.
For Lost Sailors
This number starts very mellow and remains that way for more than its first minute. It only gets tentatively louder then with some weird psychedelic textures eventually making their way into the mix. The piece moves toward more of that early Pink Floyd type stuff as it continues. It turns rather noisy for a time, but then peaks past the half-way point. Ambience that's near silence takes it for a time. The cut gradually begins to climb back upward from there.
Lookface!
With noisy distorted guitar over the top and driving rhythm section, this is a powerhouse cut that really works well. It drops to a mellower movement mid-track, but drives forward with more of that early Pink Floyd texture. It eventually works back out to more intense stuff before the ride is done.

 

 
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