Precisely performed jazzy Math Rock from some youth from Chicago. Gutsy, intelligent, complex and intricate yet delivered tight and with great melodic sense.

1. "Lifeguard of a Helpless Body" (4:15) with the same fast pace and upbeat nature of a TOE (Japan) jam, this sets the tone for the album with some fast-picking (and tapping) guitar work. Such a refreshing sound! (10/10)

2. "I Heard them on the Harbor" (5:56) takes its time in establishing patterns as it opens with several instruments taking turns appearing and disappearing. It is only into the third minute that a rhythm and structure is established and played over--but then is challenged and discarded in lieu of some spacey and then jazzy keyboard. The spacey, spacious soundscape reappears for a while until at 4:18 an entirely new and soft-beat rhythmicity is established and built around. And exquisitely so, I might add! Cool and unusual song. (9/10)

3. "Curry Courier Career" (8:11) opens sounding like an intricate, upbeat WES MONTGOMERY song. It then diverts into I kind of étude in sharp time changes and collective band discipline. Things shift and progress in this song so quickly and suddenly--totally unpredictably. There is, however, a pattern to the song structure here (as opposed to song #2). A song that displays some seriously talented and skilled musicians and some seriously well-rehearsed execution of some seriously well-thought out song composition. Definitely the most jazzy song on the album. (13.5/15)

4. "Exformation" (5:21) opens with some intricate and frenetic guitar tapping leading the band into a stop-and-go kind of rush hour traffic pace. The guitarists melody lines here are seriously (and continuously) fast! Even in the mid-song lull the keyboard and guitar lines are intricate and speedy. STANLEY JORDAN would be impressed! (9/10)

5. "Gilgamesh (R-Texas)" (6:18) lots of interplay between instruments off doing their own thing: staccato rhtymic hits from drums and rhythm instruments, polyrhythmic arpeggi from piano, guitars and synths. It is an amazing display of artistry, vision, discipline and restraint. There's even quite a liteel MUFFINS-like Canterbury play in the chord and melody structures of the third and fourth minutes (and the horns in the fifth minute). Everything drops off at the end of the fifth minute save for an electric piano chord sequence--over which the delicate play of other instruments is added to the end. Another outstanding gem of a song! (10/10)

6. "Country Doctor" (5:25) opens with a simple little piano arpeggio repeated over before countrified big band joins in. The pace is atypically slow for this band until the one minute mark when a wall of KAYO DOT-like electrified sound enters and swallows us. The music vacillates back and forth for a while between the MAUDLIN OF THE WELL like beauty of intricately woven soft-picked instruments and the occasional wake-up call of a blast of heavy metal dynamo then settles into a long section of soft but intricately woven multiple instruments. The final 35 seconds allows instruments final flourishes over a fast piano arpeggio. Beautiful song! My favorite on the album. (10/10)

Every once in a while an album comes out of nowhere to shock and surprise me--and this is one of those. I only wish I had heard it in the year it was released so that I could have had more say in helping to bring attention to it. This is an AMAZING album that is truly worth the while of any prog lover's time and attention. Check it out!

A veritable five star album; a true masterpiece of progressive rock music! But what is it? Post Rock/Math Rock like TOE or ALGERNON? Eclectic Jazz Rock à la FROGG CAFE or UNAKA PRONG? Canterbury jazz like MANNA/MIRAGE/THE MUFFINS? It's a mystery! They're chameleon's! I can't wait to watch their future unfold for the skies are not too high for these talented musicians!

The boys from Chicago are back! As you may recall, their 2015 self-titled debut crashed onto the Post Rock scene with quite a splash! In fact, I rated it as a five-star masterpiece and included it among my list of favorite Post Rock albums of all-time. As good as that album was, this is better. The startlingly quick tempo variations and melodic maturity displayed here shows that these guys have been working hard over the past three years.

1. "Ilha Verde" (10:44) opens with slow, delicate playing from heavily distorted and lightly-flanged electric instruments while drums play clear and pure somewhat sub rosa. Things ramp up into a tight jazz weave in the third minute and then get crazy-cruisin' by the fourth--a little avant with tight stop-and-starts and a very tightly woven weave. By the middle of the fourth minute things are bass-slappin' Primal, if you know what I mean! Then, just as suddenly, at the four minute mark things break down and we glide into a section of gorgeous Lyle-Mays-like melodic jazz. Guitar and piano here are so tight! This is such a diverse odyssey--like a jazz master class! Intricate staccato work returns, followed by the heavier King Crimson-like stuff to the mid-eight minute. Another break as we enter a new dreamy patch. Wow! What a ride! It is truly like experiencing all of the emotional and spatial shifts of Homer's Odyssey--in just under eleven minutes! Great multiple-layered pacing in the final section as drums go frenetic beneath gentler keys and floating guitars on top. (9.5/10)

2. "Raytracing" (4:47) complex, fast-paced weave with, at times, a bassa nova kind of beat structure and some really funky guitar and vibe sounds woven into some gorgeous passages. Incredibly impressive cohesion and synchrony from all band members. Incredibly impressive song! (10/10)

3. "Former Islands" (5:26) the song most like their debut album. It opens fast-paced, intricately woven as Post Rock with a TOE. (Japanese Post Rock band) feel to it. Solid, impressive song with solid, impressive instrumental performances over the course of two movements in an A-B-A-B structure. The melodies in the B section are gorgeous. (10/10)

4. "Echophrasia" (9:59) a gentle, spacey opening section with floating synths and keys over which percussives and guitar noodle their rapidly traveling passages. When things pick up and become jazzier in the third minute, the feel becomes all intricately constructed, well-rehearsed timed rapidly arpeggiated chord progressions--jazz! A spacey interlude in the fifth minute lets everyone catch their breath before guitar arpeggi, cymbol play support trombone and slide guitar work. The intricate weave of guitar, keys, and bass and drums rises and intensifies before a guitar scream introduces a heavy" technical-metal section. This is so impressive the way the whole-band's timing has to be so perfect in order to pull off the realization of these crazy-complex compositions! (9/10)

5. "The Shortest Way" (1:03) a cross between John Martyn's echoplex guitar and Mark Isham's synth work to give the listener a little respite from this stunning album. Thank you! (4.5/5)

6. "Opalescent Edges" (8:08) speaking of Mark Isham, this one opens like a Minimalist Isham-Bill Bruford EARTHWORKS piece. Chunky bass and psuedo-power chords give the third section a little STEELY DAN feel to it. (What?!) But then Conor Mackay just has to show off his amazing speed for a few before we fall into another classic jazz gentle bridge leading to a Stick and vibes weave with keys and bass and drums rockin' out to drown out the band! This sixth minute would have been the perfect finale, but no, the band has to keep going in order to let some individual steam off--here the guitar and synth get some solo time before they weave back into whole before decaying into the sedating final minute of space sounds. Wow! What did I just experience? How does one define this music? "Prog Perfection!" (10/10)

Throw away the Post Rock/Math Rock label, boys, this is Jazz-Rock Fusion at it's most intricately KonstruKted King Crimsonianness.

Five stars; a certifiable masterpiece of modern progressive rock music--and album that would make Señors Fripp, Bruford, Levin, Belew, Gunn, Mastelotto, Harrison, Jakszyk, and Rieflin proud. My new leader for Album of The Year honors.

The SONAR leader and King Crimson-style Math Rock champion is back with yet another solo effort with an all-star array of guest musicians.

1. "Briefing For A Descent Into Hell" (18:35) could have come from Stephan's other project, SONAR, and their 2018 album Vortex, especially as there are three of the five members of that album on this song. Interesting, cool, just not memorable for anything new or distinctive--though there are many moments in which I feel as if I'm more immersed into a piece by CAN or KLAUS SCHULZE. One bull-headed pace and foundation over 18 minutes with lots of interesting displays of creativity over the top as solos. Somehow it works as I find this to be the song I return to most of all when I want to re-test this album. (36/40)

2. "Road Movie" (13:23) another SONAR-like foundation from the rhythm section as Henry Kaiser takes a turn competing with Stephan. Flags a little in the second half. (25.5/30)

3. "Fractal Guitar" (9:20) opening with infinitely echoed and morphed solo electric guitar, the sound journey is fascinating in itself. Yet another SONAR-like foundation is added by the rhythm section at the end of the first minute--in an unusual time signature. The "guitar atmospheres" of Barry Cleveland are quite interesting--perhaps they are the sound "morphing" to which I referred in the opening sentence. Drums and percussion begin to add their own distinct personalities in the fourth minute. (17.5/20)

4. "Radiant Day" (8:42) a more KING CRIMSONian weave of electric stringed instruments opens this song. Markus Reuter, Matt Tate, and Barry Cleveland all weaving their touch guitars with Stephan's is quite interesting. The absence of atmospheric "glue" of washes and slow decay notes and chords is also interesting. It's like a stage full of guitarists each waiting patiently for their turn to solo. (16.75/20)

5. "Urban Nightscape" (17:34) opens with two lines of chromatic arpeggi backed by David Torn loops and washes. Bass line and drums eventually join in but it takes a few minutes until a solid flow and structure are settled upon. Benno Kaiser's drumming is much more noticeable than the hypnotic support style of Manuel Pasquinelli because he is imposing a mentality of a lead instrument. (He's good but not great.) It's David Torn who really shines in the thick and heavy section between the sixth and ninth minutes (though Benno does try). The music gradually moves to a stripped down, atmospheric section where, in the fifteenth and sixteenth minutes you feel as if night skies and bug noises are the sounds trying to be reproduced (or imagined). My least favorite song on the album. (29/35)

Total time 67:34

It is very difficult to fault Stephan Thelen with this type of music because it is so unique and unusual in the music world, but after an album or two, listened to consecutively, one begins to grow fatigued of the repetition of similitude.

B/four stars; a solid contribution of polished, mood-oriented Math Rock and excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.

Switzerland's precision masters are back with yet another impeccably formed and produced album of Math Rock--still in union with American guitar legend David Torn as they have been for the past two albums. Leader and principle composer Stephan Thelen is in the process of stepping away (to pursue a solo career), here showing his expanding skillset with a turn on the tuned percussion instruments on song three, "Slowburn," yet the band sounds as good as ever. Maybe better!

1. "Triskaidekaphilia" (9:43) a fairly thin and surprisingly simple weave over which David Torn shreds and shrieks while the other guitarists pick and pluck their way in their own delicately staccato fashions. It goes by so fast that I find myself a bit underwhelmed by the little and infrequent high points. (16.75/20)

2. "Tranceportation" (12:39) deep bass notes fill the bottom end from the start while syncopated snare and hi-hat hits and pin-dropping guitar notes slowly join in and populate the starry aural field. Interesting how for the first three minutes the bass of Christian Kuntner and drums of Manuel Pasquinelli really get top billing; it's only in the fourth minute that David Torn's note-bending Southern-fried guitar takes the lead. Meanwhile, Christian's bass moves more and more and the other guitars' pin-droppings become more prominent. Unfortunately, I really am not a fan of the style and sound David is projecting with this performance, yet the bass and drums really make this one different and interesting. I love the ninth and tenth minutes when the pin-pricking guitars get more lead time: it's like the sound of stars twinkling in the sky. Finally, in the tenth minute, David's guitar sound and soloing style become interesting and enjoyable to me. And then, for the final two minutes, everybody individually begins to experiment with slow decay into chaotic "death." Quite interesting! (22/25)

3. "Slowburn" (10:01) A nice, full polyrhythmic fabric is established over the first three minutes before David begins his display of pyrotechnics--a quite wonderful one, in fact. Then the music softens for a bit during a return to the opening weave, but all stops are unleashed at the five-minute mark with another foray into the thicker, "B" motif. Great guitar "conversation" in the seventh minute. Drums begin to make themselves known around the eight-minute mark, seemingly goading the others into more aggressive and dynamic expressions--and boy does it work. My favorite section on the album! David Torn really unleashes. But then there is a sudden shutdown at the nine-minute mark and a long, slow decay into silence. Too bad! I wish that aggressive section would have/could have continued. Definitely the most interesting and dynamic composition on the album. (18.25/20)

4. "Cloud Chamber" (9:37) steady bass, rim hits, and sparse polyrhythmic guitar picks open this one before spacey electronics and more guitar lines enter and begin to further shape and re-shape this one. The regular stop and re-start every six, seven, or eight measures (it seems to vary) is a bit too formulaic for me--or rather, a bit too reminiscent of rudimentary bluesy rock'n'roll for my tastes. The intersting stuff in the sonic field is really only subtle and nuanced until about the sixth minute when David's soaring wails and screeches become more prominent and insistent. Again we are treated to a long, slow, spacey decay into silence. (17.5/20)

Total Time 42:00

David is "on" again with some truly remarkable solo displays of shredding, I just wish his lead contributions filled a greater percentage of the songs' lengths. To my ears, bassist Christian Kuntner comes out as the surprise star of this show.

B+/4.5 stars; a wonderful addition to any prog lover's music collection.

The union of Switzerland's Math Rock masters, Sonar, with David Torn was so successful, so meaningful to all involved, that they did it again--one year after releasing the stunning, ground-breaking, Vortex.

1. "Labyrinth" (14:26) the tension presented in this song is sublime! The low bass-dominated primary weave is incredibly engaging (engulfing!) In the fifth, eighth, eleventh, and thirteeth-into-fourteenth minutes David Torn reaches new heights with his guitar's creative, primal, animalistic screams. And the other guitarists take a more aggressive, attention-grabbing approach than is typical of their performances (they usually stay in the underground, hidden within the foundational weaves that David solos over). Even the drumming somehow reaches out to grab you and suck you in. Probably my favorite Sonar song ever. (28.5/30)

2. "Partitions" (5:37) opening with a wonderful spacey aural field--one that stays in the song's bottom end throughout. The star-spangling guitar interplay is absolutely wonderful--both with individual notes and, later, beneath David Torn's swooning guitar play, with staccato chord strums and then ascending chord arpeggi. (10/10)

3. "Red Sky" (11:14) percussion noises from the drum coupled with spacey guitar loops are soon joined with the lead blues-bending notes of David Torn's southern-infused guitar. Very cool. At 1:53 another guitar approach is introduced. Christian Kuntner's thick, heavy, low-end dominating bass does not enter until 2:19, over which David's bayou-bluesy guitar returns--all over some intricately-played quick note staccato guitar interplay. The rolling bass line only contributes further to the bayou-bluesy feel of this one. I'm not usually into bluesy rock soundscapes but this one is intriguing, at times mesmerizing. An interesting rhythmic shift occurs at the end of the sixth minute--one that ushers in a change in the expression of all the band members--as if all are suddenly pointed in a march toward a fixed point on the horizon. The progress they make--both as individuals and a collective unit--is quite exciting--especially in the drums' and David Torn's contributions. I like the second half much more than the first. (17.5/20)

4. "Tunnel Drive" (7:42) the band very quickly establish a very unusual, syncopated rhythm over which to create their weave. David Torn's indvidualistic contributions really don't begin to emerge to the forefront until the second half, making this much more of an "old" Sonar Math Rock song than the others. (13/15)

Total Time 38:59

A-/five stars; a masterpiece of spacey Math Rock and an essential addition to any prog lover's music collection.