This is a very interesting project. Take two and a half hours of jamming, cull through and find the best bits, edit it to make individual songs, add vocals on a few cuts, and voila! A CD! It’s ethereal at times and interesting for sure. These are soundscapes in the style of some of Eno or Fripp’s solo works.
The Triumph of the Deadly Improvs begins with a cacophony of sounds on “Sand Palm IV.” Some cuts are powerful, some are bluesy, all are intriguing and listenable. I especially enjoyed “Torpedo,” with its cool instrumental and jangly guitar throughout. It has a driving beat, then moves into a King Crimson dissonance, finally ending with a kind of progged out jam.
Some songs have a feel of e-bow or Frippertronics effect on the guitars that adds colors and depth to the songs. The vocals (when they are introduced) are a bit uneven, but I wouldn’t stop this aspect of their sound. It definitely breaks the mood and gives a distinct quality to the music. This CD would be much lesser without all the different contributions to the whole.
The Triumph of the 16 Deadly Improvs should be attractive to those who take pleasure in early Porcupine Tree, Robert Fripp or Brian Eno’s solo works, or some of the more “out there” styles of progressive rock. I certainly had a great time listening to it, and am pleased to have it in my collection.
Reviewed by Terry Jackson on December 11th, 2010
