CD REVIEW: Goldbug - The Seven Dreams (2010, 1K Recordings)

The avant and improv music scene has a lot of great music coming out from it these days.  It is as vital and alive as ever.

One of my favourite new releases to come out of this style of music is The Seven Dreams, a new almost-EP length album by Goldbug, a collaborative project of Tim Motzer, chief cook and bottle washer for 1k records and a fairly prolific musician in his own right.  Goldbug is not a solo project, and Tim is not the lone musician heard here…he’s put together a pretty formidable group with which to realise these edgy, angular, cut up compositions.  While Motzer handles guitar, piano, keys and does some cool programming bits on laptop, Barry Meehan helps to hold down the bottom end with some occasionally funky and always fat bass licks.  He’s joined in the rhythm section by percussive wunderkind Eric Slick, whose resume barely needs mentioning…but of course you know this means I’ll be doing it anyway.  Slick’s worked with Adrian Belew, Project/Object, Paper Cat, Doctor Dog, and so on.  His chops are beyond compare…his use of restraint when needed almost more so. 

Finally, this quartet is rounded out by the world’s busiest rock and roll horn player, Theo Travis.  I don’t know when he sleeps, or if he even sleeps.  Between Gong, Soft Machine Legacy, Robert Fripp, the Tangent, his solo recordings, albums like this, sessions with Porcupine Tree, and so on, I think he’s decided to take a run at Tony Levin for most active progressive musician…and he’s doing a good job of it.

The Seven Dreams opens with a 1-minute long ambient piece called “Shadow Memory.”  It does a fine job of setting the scene, but it is really not a stand alone piece at all…usually I consider it a sort of prologue or prelude for the piece that follows.  Echoed cymbals and piano, weird guitar sounds, and so on lead in to “The Departure,’ a funky bass driven 3:44 rocker that focuses as much on Slick’s drumming and Meehan’s deep bass groves as it does on Motzer’s spacy guitar workouts.  Notes rise and fade, chords fly in at weird angles, and everything it tighter than…well…tighter than one of Eric Slick’s drumheads.  Fuzzed, sustained guitar notes remind of Robert Fripp, but this is no Crimson rehash whatsoever.

Things move along with “Unravelling,” a slightly less substantial piece in terms of length.  Just over 2 minutes long, this composition is far more keyboard driven, eerie and dark with warped bits of guitar adding a more surreal feel to things.  There’s structure here, but the piece feels heavily improvised.  Where “The Departure” had the feel of a rock song, this is space and improv territory fully.  It crossfades into “Scratching the Third Eye,” our first fully substantial and extended piece.  Clocking in at over 11 minutes in length, this is out first opportunity to feel and hear the band stretching out fully.  It starts slow, with loopy bass parts and slide guitar over a skittering, chopped up rhythm.  The piece gradually builds to more structured parts, with Barrett-esque glissando style guitar and bluesy slide over a skittering drum beat and thick bass.  One gets the feel of 1970 Pink Floyd in concert, exploring the sound field while thousands in the audience looked and listened on.  Impressive stuff, really.

We shift back to shorter forms for “Elevation,” a 4-minute long piece that carries on from “Third Eye.”  We hear some of the same bass grooves, scratching guitar singing a shattered, broken, wordless tune over top.  Travis’s sax is a lone voice of sanity in the midst of this musical maelstrom, barely heard, crying out from masses of synth and noise and processed sound.  It’s a cool juxtaposition, and it really helps to make the song.  The album moves on to the second extended composition, the 11 and a half minute “The Past is Still Present.”  This is, to my ears, a little better balanced a piece when compared to the other 11-minute track contained on this disc, but the differences are slight.  We get more sax, more space, more openness…yet all the common elements we’ve heard on this release thus far.  Meehan’s bass playing is as tight as ever, Slick’s percussive accents add more world flavour to things than straight kit playing would provide, and Motzer’s guitar and keyboard parts add the right amount of otherworldly zest to the track.  For something that most people would say is structureless and without melody, I hear plenty of both, and find this to be a fantastically compelling, yet chill, bit of music to listen to.

Goldbug’s debut release closes out with a shorter composition, the 5:16 “Persistence of a Memory.”  More ambient and soundscape-like, at least in the opening moments, Meehan’s bass adds warmth to the textures that Motzer creates.  Slick’s drumming is primarily on lower tuned instruments, mixed back, adding a slight pulse to things at first.  The track builds and grows slowly, drums rising in the mix organically, adding more structure and shape to the waves of guitar loop and synth swirl carrying the melodies.  The uplifting bit at the 4 minute mark, with flute and brighter synth tones, closes out the album on a fairly positive note, considering the darker, more angular material that preceded it.

This is a short album by anyone’s reckoning…its 7 tracks clock in at under 40 minutes.  But there’s a lot of music happening in those 40 minutes, and things are never staid and static for long.  This is challenging material that rewards an attentive listener with some very interesting musical gifts.  Is this for everyone?  Far from it!  Hell, it’s not something that’s for me every day.  But if you enjoy a good dose of darker, edgier, improv-esque music…or really miss what Crimson was doing with live improv from 1995-1996 or so (and believe me, I do!)…I think you’ll find The Seven Dreams to be right up your alley.



Track Listing:
Shadow Memory 0:58
The Departure 3:44
Unraveling 2:22
Scratching the Third Eye 11:18
Elevation 4:00
The Past is Still Present 11:28
Persistence of a Memory 5:16


Musicians:
Tim Motzer: guitar, keys, piano, laptop
Barry Meehan: bass, piano, voice
Eric Slick: drums, percussion, voice
Theo Travis: tenor saxophone, flute


Find out more:
http://www.1krecordings.com/

CD REVIEW: Theo Travis - Double Talk (2007/2009 Voiceprint Records)

Theo Travis is one busy guy.

He’s a member of The Tangent from time to time. He’s a current member of Gong. He is a member of Soft Machine Legacy. He records with Robert Fripp. And occasionally he scrapes out enough time to record one of his own solo albums. His most recent studio album is Double Talk, a mostly quartet oriented album released on Voiceprint Records.

Theo has put together a very hot little group for this release. Mike Outram is stunning on guitar, with tones ranging from the crisp and clean to down and dirty. His solos are fluid and effortless, while his use of tone and shade when not standing out front to solo is impeccable. Pete Whittaker’s organ playing is similarly exemplary. It’s a joy to hear some real Hammond organ in a British jazz environment, and he acquits himself very well indeed. Ray Dodds’ drumming is excellent as well…he lays back and grooves and swings, but he’s just as capable of unleashing some great fills and twists to keep the music moving and hot.

Then there’s Theo Travis himself.

What can I say about him?

I’m more familiar with his work in the Tangent and Gong. Both bands have tendencies to go in jazz directions, albeit in totally different ways. In the Tangent, his playing is a bit more fusion-oriented, as befits a band with structured songs and less totally free playing and improvisation. In Gong, he gets a chance to go a bit wilder, albeit in a more space rock oriented manner. In either case, his playing is recognisable. It honestly doesn’t matter if he’s on flute or tenor or soprano sax…you can tell it’s him playing within a bar or three. In addition to his playing, his song writing is worthy of note. He’s come up with a fine collection of compositions for Double Talk, compositions that push himself and his band mates and allow for some great solo spots as well.

While it’s true that the material on Double Talk is mostly based in more of a jazz format, this shouldn’t imply that there’s a lack of ‘balls.’ ‘Ascending,’ which opens the album, is chock full of hot soloing. Sure, it’s a laid back tune, but it travels. It goes places. Best of all, it’s a song, not just a thematic head with solo after solo lined up in a row. Travis’s spotlights are tasty and cool, while Outram lets fly with some very cool flurries of notes. It’s followed by ‘Oblivionville,’ which at over 16 minutes is by far the longest piece on Double Talk. It’s also the first song on the release to feature contributions from Robert Fripp, with whom Travis has been working extensively recently. Fripp’s contributions are from his soundscapes ‘The Last Day,’ ‘Open Earth’ and ‘A Return,’ and these form the foundation Travis uses to build his composition. On this piece, Travis plays flute and clarinet, as well as adding in his own flute loops. The end result is a slowly developing piece with long, quiet themes and a peaceful, meditative feel.

‘The Relegation of Pluto,’ on the other hand, doesn’t have an opportunity to slow burn…it’s cooking right out of the box. The opening musical phrase is fast, furious, and features the quartet ripping right from the start. A quick break leads to some very nice organ work from Pete Whittaker, with Ray Dodds grooving and skittering away on drums and choked cymbals. Travis’s tenor sax playing is also great, winding around the organ and some very wild guitar work from Outram. Remember in the previous sentence where I mentioned ‘balls?’ Well, this track has them in abundance.

Robert Fripp guests on two additional tracks on Double Talk. The first of these is ‘The Endless Search,’ which sees him offering up both soundscapes and some nice electric guitar playing along side Travis’ restrained alto sax playing. A piece along the lines of ‘Duo’ from former Crimson violinist David Cross’s ‘Exiles’ album, it’s a bit of a breather from the hot number that preceded it. Fripp’s final contributions are on ‘Pallendream,’ where he takes Outram’s place as guitarist in the quartet. Here his playing straddles the line between soundscape and straight up ‘standard’ guitar playing. This piece, like ‘The Endless Search,’ is a laid back, quiet number that simmers comfortably.

The biggest surprise for me was the selection of Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd’s ‘See Emily Play’ as a cover. It’s nice to see the early Floyd get attention, as far too many people seem to believe that PF really only mattered after they released Dark Side of the Moon. ‘See Emily Play’ was, and is, a gorgeous pop song, and Travis’s interpretation is respectful to the original while offering a few nice twists of his own. Travis himself handles the vocal melodies on sax, and it’s interesting to hear a different ‘voice’ ‘singing’ this song. I can’t say that it’s necessarily the most killer song on the set, but it was an inspired choice, and while I prefer his originals to this cover, it is pretty enjoyable to hear what he and his band do with it.

Double Talk closes out with ‘Portobello ’67.’ Outram leads off with some glistening guitar work, while the band kicks in with a jaunty, upbeat theme. This feels like road trip music, and oddly as it plays I could see it being played over some closing credits in a movie after the guy gets his girl and they drive off into the sunset and their future. Does that sound too twee? Well, maybe it is, but it’s got that same upbeat, happy ending kind of feel. There’s no end of cool playing on this tune, from Whittaker’s cool Hammond playing, Outram’s solos and crisp chording, Dodd’s swinging drumming and Travis’s hot tenor sax. It’s a great way to close off an album of diverse songs and playing.

If you’re only familiar with Travis’s playing from his work in Gong or Soft Machine Legacy or the Tangent, you owe yourself to get in a copy of Double Talk. Even if you’re not a hardcore jazz fan, I think there’s more than enough here to enjoy and dig in to.


Track Listing:
Ascending 9:40
Oblivionville 16:16
The Relegation of Pluto 7:17
The Endless Search 6:07
Pallendream 5:46
See Emily Play 4:39
And So It Seemed 10:43
Portobello 67 5:35

Band Members:
Theo Travis – sax, flute, clarinets, loops
Pete Whittaker – Hammond organ
Mike Outram – electric guitar
Ray Dodds – drums, gongs

With:
Robert Fripp – electric guitar, soundscapes

http://www.theotravis.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theotravis

Theo Travis to guest on new Syn album

It has been announced that Theo Travis will be recording material for the forthcoming Big Sky album by The Syn.

From http://www.myspace.com/theotravis

"I have had the privilege of playing and recording with some amazingmusicians including Palle Mikkelborg who guested on my 2001 CD Heartof the Sun; Anja Garbarek (2001 album and tour); David Sylvian (Nine Horses CD); Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree CDs , No Man, Bass Communion); John Etheridge, Soft Machine Legacy; Richard Sinclair and Hatfield and the North; Dick Heckstall-Smith; Bill Bruford; Tony Coe; Pierre Moerlin, and the late Slim Gaillard. In 1999 I became a new member of Daevid Allen's Gong touring the USA, Europe, Japan,
Scandinavia, and the UK and co-writing most of the group's album Zero to Infinity released in Feb 2000. I subsequently produced their live album Live to Infinitea, released in October 2000 and to date have played over 120 dates with them all over the world.

I am also a member of the new Progressive band - the Tangent (http://thetangent.org) which is doing great things at the moment. My website is at http://www.theotravis.com and I do try and keep it up to date with gigs, recordings etc."

The Tangent news

Direct from Andy Tillison:

It has been some time since I communicated with you and for this I apologise. For various personal reasons I once again am on the move, still caught between France and England. There just might be a song in there somewhere. Stay tuned.

The Tangent is on the move too, making plans, some of which will come as a bit of a shock to you all. The first piece of good news is that we plan to make another Tangent album later this year and well into next. With that, though - in true, classic, Tangent and Prog fashion - will come another round of personnel reshuffles. This one will be a major one. It is not a set of decisions that I have taken lightly. Nonetheless, after long and careful consideration I have decided that we will move forward on this next album without Jaime Salazar, Krister Jonsson and even Jonas Reingold.

There are a number of reasons for this decision - some of them that old classic Rock n Roll cliché 'Artistic differences' and some of them far more practical and down to earth than that. They are, however, decisions that had to be made. And yet I must say that I will particularly miss Jonas Reingold who has encouraged and supported both myself and particularly our manager Ian from the very beginning. To Jonas, in particular, many many thanks and let's let our musical and business paths cross again sometime!

In some important ways, though, these decisions bring matters in line with the reality of things. The most recent album "Not As Good As The Book" was largely made by myself, Guy, Theo and Jakko - and Guy really hasn't ever been given enough credit for his role both within and outside the band. It is, at least commercially, the bands most successful album yet, however it was very sad to have to leave someone who is so keen on the band's work at home, (Theo Travis and Jakko too). Both Guy and I would count ourselves as composers and arrangers rather than virtuosos, but in the end, to me, probably to Guy too, having people in the band who are committed mentally and spiritually to the music is more important than the very best musicianship. The dream of turning the Tangent into a real band has been very difficult to achieve. The next move puts us back into the "project" territory in some ways, but as we came from that beginning, it won't present any of us with a problem.

One thing that I have learned in life, of course, is that every time a door closes in one place another door opens somewhere else. So....on a more positive note .... this is what comes next - we hope. I have asked the band Beardfish to collaborate with us en masse: the whole lot of them! After all, we had a sizable chunk of another band on our first two albums, we're just switching bands ;-)

On tour this past month with Beardfish, I can only say that I was amazed at their abilities, their youthfulness and their vigour - but most of all their belief that Progressive Rock can be an important part of their world; a world in which they are in their mid 20s. I only missed their set once on an eight day tour, and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them, they played with a gusto that I envied and had a brotherhood which I missed so much within my own band. I became very good friends with them all, and even got invited to guest with them onstage in Belgium, where I really messed up an organ solo on their behalf. However, I left the tour wanting to work with them, and put the question to them just a few weeks ago.

The good news is this. In reply to my offer, the Beardfish have replied with an enthusiastic "YES." As a result, they will form the core of the new band, which will debut at Summer's End (with hopefully and in all probability Guy, Theo and Jakko - thus making an 8 piece band!!, we will keep you posted on this). Several important points:

1. The Tangent and Beardfish will continue to exist, record and perform in their own right
2. The Tangent's lineup will still be variable at concerts depending on location, budget etc.
3. Rikard from Beardfish will also play keyboards and sing some vocals for the Tangent alongside me... back to 2 keys players as it should be!
4. Theo Travis and Jakko are still in the Tangent, how their roles develop is a matter of time and work, and we cannot predict how these two guys will find the new band who they have not yet met. However from day one both these people have been totally into the music and philosophy of the band and their early response to this change has been positive.
5. In mind of adapting to audience sizes and costs this does give both bands and promoters an opportunity of touring and playing at festivals as part of two band 'package deal'..

I think people are used to the fact now that The Tangent is and most likely will always be ever evolving. I really see this as a positive experience for both band and audience. To those that doubt, all we can say is "look what we did since (fill in blank here) left..." and trust that we can continue to create alert and challenging music for some time yet.

Maybe the anti-Tangent faction will say that it will spoil Beardfish, but be rest assured these guys are far too strong to be spoiled by me.

Of course, after all that I have said, I will finish by saying an enormous "thank you" to the three departing guys who in their time were an undoubtedly powerful force in making the Tangent what it was and still is. These were among the very best musicians I have ever had the pleasure to work with, I count myself lucky to have had this opportunity.

Now- here comes the future. It's good to be scared again.

Andy Tillison

Gong dates in London with Hillage!

Posted on the Planet Gong site:

For the latest transmissions from the luminous green planet - Gong dada 'hymn-self', daevid allen, is joined by co-founder Gilli Smyth, the motherbeat bass of Mike Howlett, master drummer Chris Taylor, incomparable jazz saxophonist Theo Travis - and for the first time in the UK since 1975 - Steve Hillage & Miquette Giraudy!

Both these events have a special limited 'Early Bird' ticket offer available to you.

Sat 14 Jun - UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall (seated venue) - GONG at Massive Attack's Meltdown 7.30pm. Tickets £18.50 (rear stalls), £22.50 (front stalls). South Bank Centre, London, SE1 8XX.
To get tickets in advance of the general on-sale date of 25th April and claim a 5‰ discount you need to call 0871 663 2500 (UK) or +44 871 663 2500 (from abroad) and quote 'Fan Offer' (their words, you're all friends to us). This offer is for phone and in person sales only.

Sun 15 Jun - UK, London, The Forum (standing venue) - GONG + Slackbaba 7.30pm. Tickets £19.50. Kentish Town, London, NW5 1JY

To get tickets online with reduced booking fee and transaction costs visit:-

www.artistticket.com/artist/?s=gong

This offer is limited to the first 500 tickets and comprises of a £1.25 booking fee as opposed to £2.45. Non-UK purchasers will be able to pickup their tickets on the night of the show. UK purchasers will also have the additional benefit of a £2.50 postal processing cost (First Class Post Recorded Delivery) as opposed to the normal £4.90 seetickets.com processing fee.