Stella Polaris
This is 51 minutes of instrumental psych-rock that would readily grace the collection of anyone into eras of jamming bands such as Here & Now and Ozrics through Gong and Hillage to modernites such as Porcupine Tree and Djam Karet. With keyboards wizard Dave Hendry on keys and synths, Tim Jones on guitars plus rhythm section, they move through a steaming set of instrumental stunners. Things kick off with the 9 minute "Off With Their Heads" and you could be listening to any of the aforementioned bands as it drives at a solid mid-pace through some seriously hot and smoking guitar leads over the rhythmic drive and the textural undercurrents, the result being a psych-guitar lover's dream track. Up next is the four minute "Ephadream" which is way more reflective with some soaring guitar leads that chime, ring and hang suspended as well as blow your head off, over slowly rolling rhythm, twangy guitar rippling to perfection and just one awesome track that's achingly beautiful as well as totally heartfelt. The 5 minute "Diocin & Widdershins" ups the anti to give us a driving slice of psych-rock magic with melodies and muscle that's superbly played and another tour-de-force of outstanding electric guitar work, but with this amazing production and huge sound that characterises the album as a whole. The power briefly drops back for a classic slice of Hillage-esque mood music in the middle with Blake-esque synths soaring away under the chiming, ringing guitars before it then takes off once more and flies overhead. At near 9 minutes, the next track is a bit like one of those mid-song jams that you'd hear in an early-mid seventies Gong or mid-seventies Hillage concert, as the band with synths and guitars floating, flowing and soaring into space, provide us with an absolutely glorious slice of music that's got feeling pouring out of it in spades as the guitars ripple, the synths swoop and soar, glissando guitar provides texture that's wondrous and the whole thing will just leave you jaw-dropped in awe of just how great a track it is. "Remembrance" is a more menacing 3 minute piece that's electronics-based and more like something you might have heard in an early Hawkwind gig or album with no rhythms, just space in all its darkness. This then leads to the wake-up call that is the sprightly 5 minute "Retroglide" which has a hook to it that's so infectious it'll be swirling round your head for days and if this had been the seventies, it would have been a top 10 single to rival Focus or similar, only here the guitar work is solid over mid-paced drumming, beefy bass and there's a depth to it that's just astounding as the expansive track rolls forward with riffs, melodies and hook taking a firm and permanent slot in your head and heart. The 3 and a half minute "The Man Who Never Was" is a slice of solid atmosphere with twangy echoed guitars, dramatic undercurrents of percussive bursts and an overall echo that gives the track a sense of sky-high magic. We move on - to nearly 5 minutes of "Liberation Squared" which is another slowly moving more sedate piece but with biting Hillage-esque guitar giving it space as well as the depths from the textures and the rhythmic flow underneath plus spacey echoed guitars all around to provide the icing on the cake. The album ends with the near 7 minute "We're All Egyptians Now" and it's a rolling thunder of a track that ends things with a slice of psych rock that lifts you up and takes you off. All told then, a fantastic album for anyone into classic psych-rock instrumental magic.
(Reviewed by Andy Garibaldi (Dead Earnest) 05-12)
http://www.deadearnest.btinternet.co.uk