Sea of Tranquilityposted 3/14/04 by Elias GranilloThere’s
something I can’t put my finger on regarding the opening track of
Eccentric Orbit’s debut; it just sounds so perfect—it’s an overture, a
nonexistent film’s main title, a seamless collage of elements from
classic electronic music (EM), space rock and symph-prog. “Star Power”
unfolds in a rather linear manner, but its simplicity is surpassed by
its density. Huge analog keyboard sounds rule the roost on this effort,
but those aren’t sequencer tracks, running ad forgotaboutum. Practically
nothing is or sounds canned—it’s live, baby. This is what we need more
of: voxfree, analog synth/keyboard-dominated bands with real flesh &
blood rhythm sections, as with Erik Norlander’s Threshold, Vangelis’
most pumped-up 70s excursions, and Mark Shreeve’s Legion and Crash Head—
the latter two of which did utilize heavy sequencing, yet helped to
epitomize what I feel “synth rock” should be (as opposed to Yanni).
Attack Of The Martians shares a vitality along with Threshold that we
need to hear more of, in lieu of compositions stitched together with
quantize functions and mouse clicks. This isn’t spacemusic, either, but
music that sounds nearly like a meeting between Vangelis, Patrick Moraz,
and Tangerine Dream, circa Stratosfear and Force Majeure.
Eccentric
Orbit is the brainchild of Madeleine and Bill Noland: Bill is a bass
player, while reed player/synthesist Madeleine plays sounds from the
Korg MS2000R via a Yamaha WX5 wind synth controller. Bill Noland’s bass
shares no small role in the proceedings, and he’s even got that dirty,
growling vintage Ricky tone pencilled in. The drummer is Mark Cella, who
will be known to those familiar with Triggering Myth, Pye Fyte, and
[Mark’s music enterprise] M & M Music. Mark’s reined-in style is
complementary, and effective, in that economically pliant way as echoed
by Greg Ellis on Threshold. Second keyboardist Derek Roebuck, a Berklee
graduate, completes the quartet. It’s noteworthy that all of the ‘Tron
samples—flute, strings, choirs, what have you—are software-generated,
and they sound just as good as the rule thing (as it is, the “real
thing” is not a hi-fi instrument). In fact, the album has a very
“analog” sound in general; it could easily have been marketed as an
archival release and fooled everybody. Organ, piano, and the vibrant
Clavinet/synth layer which opens track 3 were furnished by a Nord
Electro, while an E-mu Vintage Keys and Oberheim Matrix 1000 modules
extend the palette even further.
The aforementioned “Star Power”
and “Sputnik” are both uptempo crankers that will quickly satisfy
anybody’s synth jones, and the jonesin’ will continue long after that.
You’ll find two epics on Attack, being the title track, and “Forbidden
Planet,” which clock in around eleven and fifteen minutes, respectively.
Twists and turns aplenty distinguish these multi-sectioned pieces, with
passages that sound funky, jazzy, and bluesy, but always basking in the
luxuriant contours of rock. The spacey beginning of “Forbidden Planet”
balances the album’s energy with its downtempo crawl, deep bassy vibes,
shrill ‘Tron strings, and midregister bass solo. Part 3, The Krell, is
marked by a pulsating analog bass and back-to-back synth solos. “The
Enemy Of My Enemy” is, in a way, a revisiting, a summation, of all that
has transpired, but it’s still an original track, one that closes with
an organ solo-outro by Roebuck. Can’t go wrong with more of the same
when you like what you hear, so they say.
Like everything else on
this mudball, nothing’s ever perfect, and the one downside to the
splendor that is Attack Of The Martians is that you’re having such a
blast listening to it, and then it’s over after forty-five minutes. It’s
Gerard Syndrome®! Really, I’m ready for another forty-five minutes of
this, so I guess I’ll just play it again. Citizens, colleagues, bipeds,
fans of classic electronic music: please take an extended break from the
latest efforts by any several of the multitude of Euro-based EM acts
that pretend Phaedra and Rubycon are the be-all & end-all, and hook
up with a Martian, instead.
Score: 4 1/2 stars
---------------------
May 2004; Peter PardoScore: 4.5 stars
I'll
admit, I was completely hooked here after the opening Mellotron samples
of "Star Power", but was then reeled in as the pulsing bass of Bill
Noland ushered in some nasty Hammond and synth tones. Eccentric Orbit''s
Attack of the Martians is a keyboard fanatic''s dream CD, littered with
sounds of Mellotron, Rhodes, Hammond, Clavinet, and Wurlitzer, all
fused inside the framework of spacey yet symphonic progressive rock. If
you can imagine a collaboration between ELP, Ars Nova, Gerard, Gentle
Giant, Erik Norlander, and Tangerine Dream, then you have an idea of
what to expect here. Madeleine Noland''s wind-controlled synths &
keyboards combine with the keyboard work of Derek Roebuck to form a rich
and textured wall-of -sound, so much in fact that you do not miss for
an instant the absence of guitars.
Songs like "Sputnik" and
"Forbidden Planet" bubble and boil, attacking your senses with virtuoso
displays of sonic wonder, yet have a high sense of melody, so in no way
does the music come across as an exercise in shredding or mindless
noodling. I''m very impressed with this band, and am looking forward to
their next release with bated breath!
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