1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Uses melody and energy to create a dynamic surface tension, February 15, 2011
This review is from: Rooms (Audio CD)
"Rooms" by Philip Clemo is a collection of nine musical musings as imagined by Mr. Clemo and performed by an assembly of quite stellar performers, including including Henry Lowther (flugelhorn, trumpet) and Theo Travis (saxes, flutes), multi-instrumentalist Clive Bell, pedal steel player BJ Cole, and guitarist Simon Hopkins.
Mr. Clemo and company develop through repetition and a gradual building of melody and energy a dynamic surface tension that grants each distinct "room" its own character. The soloists come and go, interplaying with each other and the music like dolphins weaving their way across a flat ocean.
All the ambience and atmospherics give the music a floating, haunting feel, conjuring up the lushness of King Crimson's song Exiles or perhaps some of Jade Warrior's more meditative pieces, but the punchier, earthier sections have that same explosive kick as tracks by Land (Jeff Greinke's band) or Steve Tibbets. In other words, Mr. Clemo has melded elements of electronic, jazz, rock, and world music and then uses them to hypnotize listeners, though the vocals tracks tend to dispel the trance and mood.
All in all, a very interesting session that seems to lose focus and wander off at times, but well worth an hour's listening. Note that this recording sounds very good on headphones.
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