Paradigm 9 - "Live @ The Lost Dog" (Magnanimous Records, CDR)
Uploaded to Aural Innovations: January 2004
I have no information and no cover for this CD. Only a business card from Curt. I guess that he is part of the band, if it is a band? I don’t know, but I can say with assurance that it is strange and I like it.
There are no bass, drums, or guitars on here. It is mainly synths/keyboards and flute, so the whole feel of this CD mixes atmospheres that are sort of a cross between the Ozric Tentacles and Tangerine Dream. The seven tracks flow very nicely through mellow hypnotic stuff. The atmospheres are eerie/electric in places and the eastern sounding flute only enhances that atmosphere, filling the soundscapes more. The building flute over track one sounds very similar in places to Nik Turner’s great pyramid recordings for Exitintoday with his Sphinx band. This is recurrent throughout the CD and as it moves on I like it more.
The mellowness of all the tracks produce pure journey music that is headphone stuff. The synths bubble away, the obscure sounds unfold with emotion as the Ozrics/Turner flute wisps hauntingly over the ambience. In places Afresco Mantis can be heard. Jorge Reyes too has a place here for mention as both their atmospheres and flute warblings muster similar feelings.
Paradigm 9 takes their synth creations into new places. They open endless doors, and each door leading to film score stuff. The sound quality and production are very good for live and on the whole it is a very interesting CD. If you like slow building weird shit that’s often repetitive then you’ll like this band as I do. I would love to see them live to give me a better feel for it, with lights and LSD it would surely be an interesting experiment.
For more information you can visit the Magnanimous Records web site at: http://www.magnanimous.org.
Email at: curtseiss1@aol.com.
Contact via snail mail c/o Curt Seiss; PO Box 541; Sheperdstown, WV 25443.
Reviewed by Albert Pollard