Astralasia join Fruits de Mer for a LP + 7″ set of new tracks plus two unreleased recordings from 2006. I’ve not kept up with Astralasia over the years but if they’ve been primarily about Trance/Dub/Techno then they are really indulging their inner Space/Kraut rockers on this outing.

Rangoon is like Neu! meets Klaus Schulze with Space-Prog keys and the briefest of Dave Gilmour-esqe guitar licks. The Gilmour styled guitar steps to the forefront on Continuim, which is a killer grooving Pink Floyd in outer space rocker. Then there’s two 15 minute stretch out tracks. Wind On Water kicks off with Eastern percussion and floating space electronics creating a trippy cruising vibe, and then old time acoustic Blues guitar joins in. I wasn’t expecting that, and it sound pretty cool, like some kind of Mississippi Delta in the Himalayas. Around the 5 minute mark a rockin’ Motorik beat kicks in, and electric guitar starts soloing as electronic space waves and bubbling synths trip along. The guitar sounds exactly like Tim Jones work with the Stone Premonitions bands Rabbit’s Hat and Census of Hallucinations. The band jam away nicely until coming in for a peacefully cosmic acoustic guitar and weaving drones finale. The Innosence begins with a cloud of gently floating space waves, plus astral flute melodies, bleeping and bubbling electronics, and steady rhythmic pulsations. After a while the pace and intensity level pick up and a rockin’ guitar starts to solo as the electronic stars twinkle around it. Just a gorgeously mind-bending journey full of mellow, image inducing space rock and playful freaky effects that’s like a Swedish massage for your HED. Cresta Run is one of the two older tracks, being a beautiful blend of soaring cosmic electronic space, Trance grooves, and killer dual guitars; one trippy melodic psychedelic Blues and the other pure space. Finally, The Desert consists of Space-Blues and Trance, accompanied by voice narration that sounds like its describing a post-apocalyptic world. I like the dirty Blues guitar and piano combo. Lots of interesting variety and surprises on this album. Recommended.

The LP will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Tir Na Nog are the Irish folk duo of Leo O’Kelly and Sonny Condell. These guys are veterans, having formed in 1969 and their first albums were released by Chrysalis in the early 70s. This four song EP includes three originals and a cover of Silver Apples’ I Have Known Love.

At first it might seem odd for Silver Apples to be covered by a folk band. But if you listen closely to the original I Have Known Love, you’ll hear, buried among all the strangeness, a simple and very pleasant song. Tir Na Nog zero in on that song element and make it their own. All four of these songs are beautiful. It’s gentle, acoustic driven Folk music, but with a mystical quality. If you’re unfamiliar with these guys but are a dedicated FdM patron who enjoyed Soft Hearted Scientists, then you’re sure to dig Tir Na Nog. They’re more stripped down and not as “out there” as the Scientists can get, but definitely in the same general realm. One song that’s a little different is one you won’t hear because there wasn’t enough room on the 7″, but reviewers got it (nyah, nyah!!). Andria is a love song that’s more 60s Pop than Folk, and even has a cool Jazz flavor. Nice.

The EP will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Tor Peders are a Swedish band who released a single a few years ago and played several gigs. They recorded this one album in 2011, which was apparently even then slated to be released by Fruits de Mer, but the group disbanded after one of the key members was killed in a car accident. Having recently reconnected with surviving members of the band, Fruits de Mer has finally made the album available, including a bonus 7″ of music recorded after the album’s completion.

First, I’ll tell you that this sounds like it was recorded in the late 60s/early 70s. This absolutely sounds like a lost gem from back in the day. I listened to the album before reading the promo sheet and thought, “oh, is FdM getting into the reissue business?” Aye Makami opens the set and is a little different from the rest of the album. The intro sounds like we’re being prepped for a Deep Purple styled rocker. But lo and behold, once it blasts off we’re steeped in a blazing mash of twin guitar Surf-Psych and heavy organ. Some of the best melodic hooks are to be heard on the Acid-Pop, yet hard rocking Islossning I C-moll. The music gets more spaced out with Smafaglars varn and Sinnet rinner, two propulsive, Prog-Psych/Krautrock explorations with the guitar and keys joining on melodies and trading off licks. I especially like the way Sinnet rinner grooves along as a soulful, heavy rocking jam, yet retains a cosmic Psychedelic vibe throughout. Then what sounds like the finale is a volcanic explosion that leads into two more minutes of tectonic feedback and effects incineration.

Easily my favorite track of the set is Incident vid Domsted, which features 11 minutes of full blown Space Rock. The music builds up slowly, like a mixture of early Pink Floyd, Nektar’s Journey To The Centre Of The Eye, Grobschnitt’s Solar Music Live, and a zillion other analogies I could make. Tor-Peders do a great job of creating a bubbling cauldron of cosmic intensity, with a mind-bending sense of cool grooving drift. Rounding out the LP is a cover of George Martin’s Theme One, which Tor-Peders amps up with heavy organ and incendiary guitar (and damned if I don’t hear a wee bit of the Tommy Overture thrown in). But then we’ve got two more 7 minute tracks on the accompanying 7″. Signed tp is an easy paced stoned, yet soulful jam. And L’esprit d’escaliere is a slow, pleasantly melodic focused piece, that ever so slowly builds up to a high intensity climax.

In short, this is as glorious a retro experience as any early 70s Prog-Psych junkie could hope for. Did I tell you it was recorded in 2011?

The LP will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

My introduction to American electronic musician Craig Padilla’s music was his contribution to the Strange Fish 1 LP released last year by Fruits de Mer. Craig has been around for many years, releasing albums on multiple labels and composing soundtracks for television, theatrical and film productions. Americans will get an inkling of what Craig’s music might be about when I say that he has been featured on the “Echoes” and “Hearts of Space” radio programs. But this 2-LP compilation of music recorded from 1996 onwards is no mere New Age fluff. Padilla’s influences include Wendy Carlos, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Steve Roach, among others, and that is precisely the crowd this music will appeal to.

After a brief introductory piece, the first LP kicks off with Velvet Moon, the only track with prominent participation of guitar, which gives the music a floating electronica meets Pink Floyd feel. Cosmic Dawn has a deep space combination of electronica, Prog and classical that I enjoyed. It floats along steadily, with seductively playful melodies and multiple elements that make the music meditatively alluring yet elusively complex. It also has just enough oddball sounds to inject a welcome freaky factor to the music. Challenge Deep creates the sensation that we’re rocketing gently through the cosmos, swept along by layers of soaring electronic space waves. These are anchored by classic Schulze/Tangerine Dream syncopated patterns, giving the music a mesmerizing rhythmic quality. And Behind The Lightning is a gorgeously majestic slab of symphonic Space-Prog.

The second LP really stretches out, consisting of two 20+ minute side long expeditions. Sonar starts off with pulsating drones, angelic drifting waves, a symphonic sensation, and light melodies, before launching into a space excursion that recalls the best of 70s Klaus Schulze. The music traverses seamlessly through multiple themes, from lightly rhythmic, to sound exploratory, to floating dreamy calm. This is the kind of music you want to experience in a planetarium. Put on the headphones and gaze at the stars. Awaken To A Dream is a little different, feeling like aural brushes painting a cosmic canvas. It may be the most New Agey track of the set, but Padilla incorporates a variety of sounds that upset the typical singular New Age flow, making for a more varied and interesting experience. Overall, this 2-LP set is a great introduction to Padilla’s world.

The LPs will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Caricature Masquerade is a collection of unreleased collaborative recordings among artists that have appeared previously on Taped Rugs Productions releases, as well as some who are new to the label. The common thread throughout is Taped Rugs founder and head honcho Charles Rice Goff III. I’ll borrow liberally from Goff’s explanations of the source of each piece.

There are four tracks that first appeared on Suite For Zero Gravity Ballet, a collaborative collection of interstellar space music released by Ecco Hollow in 2013 (CLICK HERE to check it out). Each track was mixed by Goff, who added sounds, applied effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by the artists. Circus Of The Stars, with David Fuglewicz, consists of an electronic pulsating throb, toy instrument melody (like a marimba), and all manner of clattering sounds. Later the electronics get even more interesting, blasting off into bleepy blurpy space and accompanied by what sounds like electro giggling. Ionic Pentameter, a collaboration with Brava Centauri, features odd rhythms, freaky electronics, spaced out voice samples, concert piano, and a fun efx’d pastiche of sounds and instruments. Lovely Lady Of LEDA 25177, with Darlington Pair, is a highlight, being a spaced out collage of Trance music and grooves, melodic soundscapes, ghostly howling chant vocals, and other fun effects. And Antarean Vocabulary Lesson, with Total E.T., is a head spinning glom of electronics.

We also have some collaborations between Michael LaGrega and Goff. Wyandotte Winter was recorded by the duo in 2010. Goff later created a psychedelic video of wintry scenes from Wyandotte Park in Kansas City, Kansas, which he embellished with this recording as its soundtrack. The video was released on a Taped Rugs collection entitled Don’t Drag Cords Around Corners. The music is a combination of intense electronic Psychedelic concerto and Residents styled soundtrack. Goff has done lots of very interesting video work and this is a fun collection. (CLICK HERE to check it out.) What It Means To Be Whole was recorded by LaGrega and Goff Kansas in 2011. There’s a lot happening in just three minutes, as the duo rifle through a parade of themes. It starts off with a light melody that sounds like an old organ demonstration combined with space electronics, but then abruptly switches gears to a tribal/playful/orchestral mix, followed by a Goff vocal piece, and then a cauldron of space electronics surrounding a narrative bit from an old movie. It’s impossible to adequately describe this piece but I’ll say it’s my hands down favorite track of this set. Subjective Matter was recorded by LaGrega and Goff in 2010, and the following year Goff created a Dadaist video to illustrate the recording for Justynn Tyme’s Dali Krab Holiday. The music includes cavernous atmospherics, an unsettling flittering electro pattern, church bells, string manipulations and sundry other sounds that make for a spacey, haunting and sometimes sinister feel. I enjoyed this for the purely oddball array of moods. The video was released on a Taped Rugs collection entitled Psych Pshow in 2012 (Another Goff video I recommend. CLICK HERE to view.)

There are two lengthy tracks that are outtakes from the collaboration between Big City Orchestra and Goff entitled Reflected Imprecations (CLICK HERE to check it out). dAS of Big City Orchestra added sounds, applied effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by Goff to create these tracks. Paregoric is like some kind of avant-space soundtrack, combining strangely rhythmic Trance music and DJ grooves with a collage of freaky sounds and voices, and trips along a pleasantly oddball alien path. Opium creates a haunting Gothic atmosphere and ominous alien presence, bringing to mind a spaced out Residents Mark Of The Mole soundtrack.

Finally, The Four Walls Of Tomorrow is an outtake from the collaboration between Justynn Tyme and Goff entitled Raydio Bradcasts – Mrs. Morris Goes To Mars. Tyme added pre-recorded materials, applied sound effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by Goff to create this track, and I highly recommend this to fans of old radio broadcasts. Tyme and Goff do a good job of creating a fun old time radio feel, which also includes spaced out soundscapes and experimental free improv music. It’s different. (CLICK HERE for the entire Raydio Bradcasts.)

Caricature Masquerade can be downloaded for free at: https://archive.org/details/CaricatureMasquerade
If you are interested in a CD, email Charles at: padukem@sbcglobal.net
For a mind boggling array of information and catalog of releases dating back over 30 years, visit the Taped Rugs Productions web site at: http://www.tapedrugs.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Inside / Outside are the duo of Santa Rosa, California based musicians Russell Leach and Don Campau, who play a variety of instruments and electronics, including percussion, Moog, bass, guitar and field recordings. Their four previous albums were created by Leach and Campau with occasional assistance from singer Robin O’Brien. For their new album – Rooms – the duo recorded tracks with a different improvising musician in mind and asked the artists to play over the tracks. This is not, however, a compilation of the results, but, rather, intended to be heard as a compositional suite of music.

It all flows nicely. Susan Alcorn’s pedal steel is pure songbird, as it floats along with the acoustic guitar and percussion. There’s an ambient quality to her playing, even as the leads start to get frantic later in the piece. Mike Khoury’s viola and tambura add a tension laden, razor edged droning dissonance to the music that follows. The next section with James Hill’s trumpet is a standout, being a gorgeous ambient jazz groove tune with spacey effects. The rhythm and pace go off-kilter in the next segment, which includes Kyle Bruckmann’s oboe and analog electronics, creating an avant free improv jazz and experimental electronic exploration. Very interesting use and mixture of sounds on this one. Amy Denio contributes soulful vocals to a song with a great lead bass melody and trance like groove, but also incorporates experimental sound collages. Bryan Day contributes “invented” instruments to an avant free improv glom of manipulated strings and sounds. We’re groovin’ again in the next segment, with Tom Djll on trumpet and toy megaphone. This is another highlight, which struck me as a jazzy funky blend of Talking Heads and Discipline era King Crimson with a sound experimental edge. Russell and Don go it alone for a spacey, droning, sound experimental blend of ambience, bells and percussion. Anna Zaradny contributes alto sax to another intriguing blend of space ambience and sound experimentation, bringing to mind the soundtrack to an avant-garde sci-fi film. I really dig the free-wheeling electronic and sound collage fun when Al Margolis joins the fray with his various manipulations. Jon Raskin’s electronic berimbau (a single stringed instrument) sounds cool on a melodic, spacey, avant funky world music piece. Eric Glick Rieman’s prepared Rhodes electric piano bears little resemblance to a Rhodes on his contribution. I like the mood and ambience that is created when traditional instruments are manipulated (“played”) in decidedly non-traditional ways. Finally, Robin O’Brien contributes beautiful vocals that are backed by drones and waves-against-the-shore electronics.

In summary, I enjoyed the combination of ambience, rhythm and avant-garde instrument and sound experimentation throughout the album, and these elements often come together in single pieces. This is music that reveals new treasures with repeated listens.

For more information visit the Lonely Whistle Music web site at: http://lonelywhistle.doncampau.com
For all things Don Campau visit: http://doncampau.com
And I encourage everyone to visit Don’s Living Archive of Underground Music web site, which documents the “Cassette Culture” underground music movement: http://www.livingarchive.doncampau.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

It’s been a long time since we’ve had new music from Xoo. I believe the Brain Tattoo EP was their last release and that was in 2009. Well Xoo are back and in stellar form with a new full length album, Tales From A Red Planet…. This is… hold on to your hats… a CONCEPT album! Here’s the scoop:

The year is 2073. Mars has been terra-formed. There are colonies. There are cities. There is agriculture. There are frontier towns and there is freight and mining. But there are problems too. The same old issues are arising: pollution and Martian global warming, crime and social problems, psychological isolation and political unrest.

Sound familiar? The album opens similar to the beginning of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, only far spacier and with lots of UFO electronics. But we quickly settle into a spacey, drifting and gently rocking intro with a mission control voice announcing a landing on Mars. Throughout the album we alternate between songs, space-ambient interludes, and various types of announcements, adverts and radio. Like the narrative that speaks (“sells”) positively to the prospects of this new life on Mars. A Word from the Martian Tourist Board is a humorous ad for shopping and touring on Mars. “Have a nice, red day!”. Radio Free Mars is a station you can tune into. And I got a kick out of the announcement for Zephyria, the mistress of Martian erotica, appearing at the Cafe Elysium.

The album has lots of killer songs too. ReGenesis is a Space-Prog tune about new life on Mars. I like the combination of deep space orchestral keys and potent Alan Davey styled bass. Space Trucker’s Lament and Blues For A Red Planet are both immediately catchy space rock ‘n roll songs that are like Hawkwind with an 80s pop feel and a symphonic Prog edge. Yeah, I know, sounds strange, but these are excellent melodic songs. The finale on Space Trucker’s Lament is more overtly Hawkwind sounding, rocking hard amidst multiple swirly synths and mellotron-like freakiness. And Blues for a Red Planet includes blazing alien electronics, melodic guitar leads and robust bass leads. Other highlights include Lost, a pastoral but ultimately intense space-orchestral song with vocals by Canadian singer Heather Dale, and has a kind of Hawkwind Golden Void feel. We kick into high gear on Frozen!, a space rock ‘n’ roller that’s like Hawkwind with metal edged guitars and spirited dance grooves. Zephyria is a thudding slab of 70s hard rock, symphonic Prog and dance infused Hawkwind. And State of Emergency is a spirited space rock ‘n’ roll song that closes the album with Mars in a state of repression and rebellion.

Damn, I sure do enjoy this album. Xoo do a great job of blending Hawkwind styled Space Rock with Progressive Rock influences and good old rock ‘n’ roll with catchy melodies. And they do a fine job of telling their story with various narrative and instrumental transitions. The album is available as a download purchase only. The artwork is beautiful and will make those with turntables dream of gatefold vinyl.

For more information visit the Xoo web site at: http://www.alien8.co.uk

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Recorded Valentine’s Day 2013 at the Dragens Hule club in Copenhagen, Denmark, this live set consists of the entire concert in the order it was played. On this night the OSC lineup was Nick (The Univerzarls) and Nicklas (Papir) on guitar, Mikael (SKL, Agusa) played guitar on two tracks, Pär (Sgt. Sunshine, Carpet Knights) on bass, Birk on drums, Dr Space, Mogens and Rasmus on keyboards and synths, and the great Damo Suzuki on vocals.

Damo has been a prolific performer over the years and what has kept him interesting is that he always performs/tours with different musicians, and the merging of his trademark vocal style with a particular group of musicians results in a different experience each time. The possibilities are even more interesting with a band like OSC, whose fluid lineup results in something a little different of their own across albums. And being an all-improvisational ensemble, OSC are a perfect marriage for Damo’s freeform avant-scat-chant vocal style.

We’ve got 6 tracks, all in the 14-24 minute range, spanning 6 sides of 3 vinyl LPs (or digital download), for over 2 hours of improvisational space rock jamming delights. Damo’s Forste OSC Flyvtur is a slow steady burn, with the band tripping along in space exploratory jazz mode as Damo vocal jams. It’s got a cool combination of rolling rhythms, ambient/soundscape guitar licks and cosmic electronics. Nothing intense or heavy on this one, though the band rock harder near the end, sounding at times like a more overtly space rock version of the San Francisco band Mushroom. The whole piece is like an extended buildup in which OSC and Damo converge and meld. Energisk Reaktion 1 is next and right from the beginning the pace is lively, grooving along like a space rock Grateful Dead, soon veering into a sometimes Gong-like brand of jazz-in-space (think Hillage!). I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the bass/drums rhythm section which keeps things rolling along at a steady rocking, tightly knit pace, and that is a consistent characteristic throughout the set. This segues smoothly into Energisk Reaktion 2, so together they are really a single 30+ minute piece. This one gets more ambient space jamming, though still jazzy rocking, and includes some killer guitar effects and cool cosmic Prog keys. Later in the piece the mood gets more acid-space rocking intense, though the band come in for a gently ambient rocking landing.

And on we go throughout the set. Imagine Gong, Ash Ra Tempel, space rock Grateful Dead, space rock Allman Brothers, Mushroom, and Ozric Tentacles all rolled into one, AND with Damo Suzuki on vocals, and you’ll get something like this thoroughly enjoyable set of improvised space rock. I like all of OSC’s albums but this has quickly become one of my favorites, and not just because of Damo’s participation. These are some of the best jams I’ve heard from OSC and Damo is icing on the cake. The band and Damo take off and explore, finding that ideal medium between freeform improvisation and a sense that the spacecraft is headed down a clear, goal oriented path. Note that the 3-LP set is available in an edition of 500 copies, 100 color and 400 black, hand numbered.

6-20-14 UPDATE: When I published this review I just had the digital promo. The 3-LP set arrived today and it is freakin’ BEAUTIFUL!! Triple fold-out, band photos, and killer artwork with colors that leap off the jacket. And it’s so thick you could put it on your bookshelf. Simply gorgeous.

Stream, download and order the LP at: http://oresundspacecollective.bandcamp.com
Visit the OSC web site at: http://oresundspacecollective.com
Visit the Damo Suzuki web site at: http://www.damosuzuki.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Juke are the French quartet of Kévin Toussaint on vocals and guitar, Lancelot Carré on drums and percussion, Quentin Rousseau on keyboards and FX, and Théo Ladouce on bass. Atom Experiment is their first album and is nearly 50 minute long, though its referred to as an EP.

Sphere is the opening track and starts off as an ambient World Music jazzy instrumental with a pleasant keyboard, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and percussion sound. Vocals join in about halfway through and next thing I know I’m swept into a dreamily lulling song that brought to mind a Prog-like Pink Floyd. The dreamy vibe continues on Wave, though we’re far deeper in space, with trippy guitar leads, strumming acoustic guitar, and alien electronic effects. After a while the band really start to rock out and, again, it makes me think of an accessible and beautifully melodic Space-Prog take on Pink Floyd. But don’t get too hung up on the Floyd reference because Juke really are in their own world. Ditto for White Elephant, which takes off into psychedelically dreamy space, being a mesmerizing and graceful song with a strong early 70s Prog-Psych feel.

But the highlight of the set is the epic 28 minute Black Magic. The music starts off very similar to the opening riff of Dark Side Of The Moon, but quickly veers off into a rapidly changing succession of themes, from majestic rocking Prog-Psych to intense concert pianist in acidic swirling space. Then at the 6 minute mark the band settle into a rolling groove as the guitar spits out intense spaced out leads, the piano plays on, and then BANG… we’re rocking in 70s inspired cosmic Prog heaven. But nothing stays the same for very long because soon we’re back in a ballet-like piano driven and beautifully melodic section, and when the guitar joins in I’m reminded of early Camel. At the 11 minute mark we find ourselves in funky Pink Floyd meets 70s Jazz-Fusion territory. And on we go, continually transitioning through a cavalcade of 70s influenced Progressive Rock and Psychedelic themes, most of which are heavily dosed with a spacey edge. Damn good stuff. This album was released in 2012 so I really hope these guys are working on new music.

To stream, download and order the CD visit: http://jukeband.bandcamp.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

In 2000, a duo version of Alien Planetscapes (AP) – founder and ship commander Doug Walker along with Richard Orlando – performed Red Mars at the Quarkstock Space Rock & Avant Prog festival in Columbus, Ohio. That being my town, I had the pleasure of experiencing this performance. Red Mars was inspired by the first of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy – Red Mars (1993), Green Mars (1994), and Blue Mars (1996). Doug, sadly, passed away in 2006, but his legacy lives on. Richard Orlando recently discovered some sessions that he plans to turn into a trilogy of CD releases, the first of which, Blue Mars, is available now.

The 46 minute set features Walker on flute and Orlando on guitar, plus both utilizing an arsenal of synths, electronics and effects – EMS VCS3, ARP 2600 w/ARP sequencer, ARP Odyssey, SCI Pro One, EMU Classic Keys, Roland JP-8000, CMS MR-2… fun, huh? The set opens with dark, windswept planet atmospherics, engine room rumbling and swirling alien electronics, and builds from there. Like the best of the early era AP duo albums, Blue Mars features a cosmic banquet of electronics that come together like a meteor shower, falling stars, comets, and battle in space all occurring at once. We’re also treated to psych Bluesy, Fripp/Pinhas, and rocking freakout guitar leads, and trippy pied piper flute, both of which sound great amidst the alien invasion electronics. I like the heavy guitar presence, which is what mostly sets this apart from the early AP duo electronic efforts. Like the best soundtrack music, we’ve got some seriously image inducing stuff here, and the intensity level is predominantly high throughout, though there are plenty of soundscape and spacey sound experimental segments, as well as mellow moments like Claybourne’s Dilemma, which is a pleasantly dreamy guitar and flute piece.

The set is comprised of 18 tracks, mostly in the 1-3 minute range. I noticed a couple comments on the Alien Planetscapes Facebook group that wished there were fewer, longer tracks, that took more time to develop. I’m sympathetic to this, but while so many short tracks is unusual for Alien Planetscapes, after a few listens I found myself mostly oblivious to the gaps and hearing the entire album for the concept piece that its intended to be.

NOTE that all proceeds outside shipping will be given to the late Doug Walker’s son Evan.
To order Blue Mars, Paypal $12 to Richard Orlando at porcupinejones@yahoo.com. That covers shipping in the U.S. Anyone outside the U.S. should email him first.
Check or MOs can be sent to Richard Orlando, 19908 32 Ave #3R, Flushing, NY 11358

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz