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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Lucas Lee

Business Brunch Specials: Uranium Omelet (with GMO-Free Brown Sauce)

Review by Gary Hill

Featuring Tobias Ralph (Adrian Belew Power Trio, The Crimson ProjeKCt) on drums and Lucas Lee on guitars, bass and keys, this lands thoroughly into modern progressive rock territory. It’s often noisy and certainly King Crimson like. It’s generally quite interesting, too. This isn’t totally removed from a lot of contemporary prog, but it definitely expresses its unique identity.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2015  Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Dr. Kunto and the Eastern Klan of Rude Irrational Imbeciles

The opening section here has a definite jam band vibe going. From there, though, it works into some definitely King Crimson like jamming. The piece works through some different sections, but feels like Crimson the whole time it does so. Well, at least that’s true until around the two and a half minute mark where it shifts to something that’s rather metal like. This gets very heavy. It’s also still Crimsonian. It just happens to have a heavy metal edge at the same time. Then it turns the corner into a bit more freeform, but again Crimson like, jamming. This thing just keeps getting reinvented. It shifts to space at the end.

Ready for Revenge
Echoey space rock with Crimson-like jamming over the top is the order of business at the start here. Fast paced weirdness with some processed spoken vocals takes it from there. It feels like something that might be in the soundtrack to a science fiction movie. It turns towards metallic music as it approaches the end. Bass takes over for a moment, but that voice ends the piece.
The Evil in Sales Weasels
Some rather crazed weirdness starts this. Then bass rises up in a fast paced progression. The cut builds in a metallic Crimson-like manner from there. Then we get something a bit like 1960s spy music. The piece just keeps evolving, growing and shifting, though. It’s weird, but incredibly tasty. It’s hard to keep up with all the changes here, really. That voice returns at one point. More heavy jamming follows that. It gets quite crazed at times as it continues to move forward.
Berg Droppings and Bean Counting / Karoshi, Pt. 1
Although still rather freeform, this keyboard based cut is a big change.
Trip
This comes in with a more “song” like arrangement. It quickly twists into some seriously odd fusion, though. There is a more “song” like section later, but it quickly devolves into some definite weirdness. A melodic, keyboard based movement ends it.
Be Like Mike (and Falling Short)
Somehow the early jamming on this makes me think of Emerson Lake and Palmer quite a bit. That general comparison seems valid as it moves out, too. This is frantic and among the most accessible pieces here. Mind you, it’s still pretty crazed and unusual.
Trust and Betrayal
This contains some of the most mainstream prog rock jamming of the whole set. It is really soaring and melodic at times. That said, it does work out into some weirder, rather King Crimson-like exploration later in the piece.
Karoshi, Pt. 2

A shorter piece (under two and a half minutes) this has a mellow space music vibe with some great keyboard elements.

Datsusara / Best Way to Win is Not to Play

 There are quite a few shifts and changes on this experiment prog exploration. Some of those vocals are heard in the middle of the piece. It’s definitely another that’s quite freeform and quite King Crimson-like.

 
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