Census of Hallucinations - "Nothing Is As It Seems"
It is so life-affirming to hear music by like-minded people who are not prepared to accept the 'never never land' that has been inflicted upon us by government, media and society (or the lack of). I loved the sardonic wit of discarded brains on 'Conspiracy of Silence' with Tim Jones' narration and Maxine and Terri on backing vocals to a musical backdrop of wind chimes and John Simms' cultured guitar lines. 'I can't think straight any longer so I think round corners' brilliantly encapsulates the sense of alienation portrayed (often surrealistically as on the canty allegro of 'Elephant, Elephant, Elephant' which concludes with one of those wonderfully fluid guitar lines from John). Indeed the music has an 'Alice in Wonderland' phantasmagorical edge to it. The allegorical elephant continues on 'In Ruins'- We have heard this from C of H before of course: the 'greedy, mean doctrine of lies and deceit' of the lyrics, the finger pointed but accepting we are all partly to blame by our silent collusion. But never have I heard the message so alive and vivid as here as if projecting straight to the heart of the matter, young James Jones making his recording debut with his narration of some self-penned poetry, the innocence and expectation of youth in a spoiled world. 'Faculty of Mirrors' has a dreamy, ethereal quality with percussion and guitar and a distinct Ian Dury funk vibe, some cool organ and rhythm work and semi-acoustic from Kevin Hodge and tasteful jazzy and rocky fills from John. The song seems to be about selfishness and also the destructive force of science versus spirituality. 'Nautilus' is very much John and Tim's piece, a monologue against free market economics and lethargic apathy to a planet we have turned into 'junk'. The bluesy guitar work on '95 to 5' juxtaposes nicely with some surreal lyrics. The reader will have noticed that what is written here is as much an essay or an analysis as a review. This is the only way I can describe 'Nothing Is As It Seems' for it is such a remarkable piece of work explicitly exposing a dystopian world. More people should be making music like this, questioning, challenging, as Tim would say screwing their heads on the right way. Or as it says in the press release "The unfathomable beauty of the universe is denied to us" as we are "cut off from the source of our reason for being here."
Reviewed by Phil Jackson (Acid Dragon)