Michael Barry-Rec - "On The Road To North Mountain" Review

Artist/ Band: Michael Barry-Rec
Title: On The Road To North Mountain
Label: Self release
Year of Release: 2004
Artist/ Band Link (click for details/ ordering)

The Review:

To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got the On The Road To North Mountain album by Michael Barry-Rec. I really wasn’t sure it would fit within the progressive music genre. But after several good listens, boy was a I wrong. The music is basically acoustic based symphonic. On the back of the cd, it’s listed as “ambient/ acoustic”. I’d guess to those beyond the progressive community that would be appropriate. There is some bluegrass and new age vibes going on throughout the album.

The main feel I get from the album is an ethereal quality that tells a story of a journey in an almost soundtrackish way. If you listen closely one can detect a slight Pink Floyd influence to some songs. Part of the key to that influence is by way of Josh Harvey’s keyboards. There are other musicians that help flesh out the music on this album. Most notable are an electric guitar lead from Jeremy Leadbetter on “Go Fly A Kite”, Rob Campbell (guitar) and Dave Porter (bass) in the short track “…Thru The Fog”.

As for the highlights of the album? Well the whole album is a highlight and one of the very few that gets played in one listen rather than sporadically over a course of time. The music just flows with a familiar feeling that you can’t help but keep listening up til the end. This makes On The Road To North Mountain one of the better independent, even major releases that has crossed my path in a long while. Michael creates what can be called a nice diversion from the mostly electric world of music these days. It seems that Michael subscribes to the “less is more” attitude. This is definitely something serious music lovers should check out ASAP!

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on October 25th, 2005

Tracks:

1. In Your Waking Hours

2. Funky Side Up

3. Bo Kata I

4. Cold Sun

5. Go Fly A Kite

6. ...Thru The Fog

7. Verge Street

8. A Chance To Dream

9. Elements

10. Rain Or Shine

11. Braking Point