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Madeline Tasquin

Future Telephone

Review by Gary Hill

I've included this under progressive rock. Clearly it's not tied to the prog of the 1970s, or perhaps it is. In some ways this isn't far removed from some of the more folk meets jazz driven stuff from early King Crimson. The best comparison I can see though is to Curved Air. There really is a lot of similarity here. This is adventurous and unique. It's also strong.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017  Volume 6 at  garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2017.

Track by Track Review
Don't Should Yourself
This cut is deceptively complex. It has some interesting changes and movements built into it. There is a lot of folk music in the mix here. It has plenty of psychedelia. Still, overall it lands in the vein of modern progressive rock to me. The harder rocking section late in the piece has a real 1960s pop music vibe to it. That gets blended with more of a pure prog element as it continues.
Agua es Vida

There is space music, weird psychedelia and other trippy stuff built into this number. It's less pop oriented than the opener was. It has some jazz in the mix. I love the soaring, dreamy vocals on this. As odd as it is, it's also compelling and catchy.

Mosquito

The mix of sound here includes 1960s pop music, folk prog, jazz and much more. It's another that's adventurous. This gets rather heavy in some ways, making me think of things like Diablo Swing Orchestra just a bit. This also gets really powerful as the vocals drive with a soulful insistence mid-track, bringing the music up with it. This is one of the highlights of the set.

Future Telephone

A mellow jazz concept opens this. It works outward from there in a stripped back rock and roll way. This is both retro and modern in different ways. It's a mellower cut that shifts slowly. When it powers out later in the tune it really is in a very jazz-like arrangement. Honestly, if the whole set were like this, I wouldn't land it under prog, but there are prog-like tendencies here.

Old River & Wide
The opening segment of this has a trippy sound to it. It's very much a weird prog kind of mellow motif. It gets more rocking after a section of vocals. More layers of sound are added to the piece. The spacey keyboard laden section later really has a powerful texture.
Fil Bleu (Interlude)
While there are vocals here, they are non-lyrical, making this essentially an instrumental. It's dramatic and a bit dreamy at times. Beyond that it seems to merge sounds like Radiohead with a more jazzy element.
 
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