This is a translation of the review I've written for the Dutch progressive rock-magazine iO Pages.
KIT WATKINS
Flying Petals
(PRIVATE RELEASE / CAFEPRESS.COM)
Kit Watkins seemed to be lost for progressive rock. During the last couple of years he mainly concentrated himself on ambient and meditative music, in which performances with the reunited Happy The Man didn’t fit. After listening to Flying Petals a guest-appearance on The Muse Awakens, HTM’s comeback-record, is a very good possibility though. It’s a 77 minutes lasting reproduction of recordings made between 1995 and 2004 of so called progressive world-fusion-music. He calls it “Beat Music”, which is a well-chosen definition, when you look at its extraordinary rhythmic character. In the first part the rhythm still serve the compositions, like in the hefty title-track, in which typical Watkins-solo’s (a Moog that sounds like a trumpet or saxophone) and a threatening, slurring synthesizer-theme, combined with a guitar-accompaniment and –solo lead to a increasingly broader layered sound-picture. Absolutely fierce is Bowels Of The Agency (Bush Lied Mix); sampled and manipulated speeches about the so-called existence of mass-destruction weapons in Iraq create a dark sphere, which is being intensified by low, David Gilmour-like guitar-licks and intriguing loops of guest-musician David Torn. Neptune Goddess, with its recognizable strum-sequencer and a beautiful break to a more up-tempo part, would have fitted perfectly on a HTM-record or on Labyrinth or Sunstroke. The second part of the CD looks a bit poor of melody, but appearances are deceptive. Long stretching tracks like Dragon Breath and When Flight Paths Emerge contain a constantly shifting, exciting play of tuned and un-tuned percussion and sounds, in which melody-instruments are mainly brought into action to intensify the climaxes. Working with acoustic and electronic percussion-instruments is one of the trademarks of the music of Watkins; on Flying Petals he manages to reach a certain perfection in this, while comparisons with the Dutch percussion-ensemble Slagerij Van Kampen aren’t out of place. Together with the as always very recognizable sounds and solo’s, the varied beats make sure that this is a successful return to progressive music.
Information: kitwatkins.com/
KIT WATKINS
Flying Petals
(PRIVATE RELEASE / CAFEPRESS.COM)
Kit Watkins seemed to be lost for progressive rock. During the last couple of years he mainly concentrated himself on ambient and meditative music, in which performances with the reunited Happy The Man didn’t fit. After listening to Flying Petals a guest-appearance on The Muse Awakens, HTM’s comeback-record, is a very good possibility though. It’s a 77 minutes lasting reproduction of recordings made between 1995 and 2004 of so called progressive world-fusion-music. He calls it “Beat Music”, which is a well-chosen definition, when you look at its extraordinary rhythmic character. In the first part the rhythm still serve the compositions, like in the hefty title-track, in which typical Watkins-solo’s (a Moog that sounds like a trumpet or saxophone) and a threatening, slurring synthesizer-theme, combined with a guitar-accompaniment and –solo lead to a increasingly broader layered sound-picture. Absolutely fierce is Bowels Of The Agency (Bush Lied Mix); sampled and manipulated speeches about the so-called existence of mass-destruction weapons in Iraq create a dark sphere, which is being intensified by low, David Gilmour-like guitar-licks and intriguing loops of guest-musician David Torn. Neptune Goddess, with its recognizable strum-sequencer and a beautiful break to a more up-tempo part, would have fitted perfectly on a HTM-record or on Labyrinth or Sunstroke. The second part of the CD looks a bit poor of melody, but appearances are deceptive. Long stretching tracks like Dragon Breath and When Flight Paths Emerge contain a constantly shifting, exciting play of tuned and un-tuned percussion and sounds, in which melody-instruments are mainly brought into action to intensify the climaxes. Working with acoustic and electronic percussion-instruments is one of the trademarks of the music of Watkins; on Flying Petals he manages to reach a certain perfection in this, while comparisons with the Dutch percussion-ensemble Slagerij Van Kampen aren’t out of place. Together with the as always very recognizable sounds and solo’s, the varied beats make sure that this is a successful return to progressive music.
Information: kitwatkins.com/