THE SCREW-LOOSE ENTERTAINMENT

Very good and promising new instrumental Russian Band.They mis Crimso-influenced math-rock with folk and even tribal tunes,add some spacy and improvised spots,but never lose the sense of melody...some tracks even can be regarded as catchy!!! Perfect musicianship, recognizable style, great quality of the whole record - they know how to please a Progger! Nevertheless, they're also aware of ways of SHOCKING a Progger - you can find here dozens of bits when your mouth would be widely opened from in surprise, believe me. Highly recommended! DISEN GAGE promise to release their third one later this year ("Libertage" was mostly an avant experiment made on 90% from free improvisations of the band).When you're asking what will be the greatest discovery for Porg in 2007, I'll take a risk to propose RUSSIAN PROG , varied and interesting, on this role. Enjoy!!!

Very Disengaged ...

Wow! This is the debut of a very interesting russian band - excellent and very professional with great interaction between the musicians. Not to ignore - their music is often refering to KING CRIMSON and remembers me at 'Discipline' a lot. No keyboards and no vocals (excepting some spoken words). The twin guitar work is dominating the 10 short songs - sometimes similar to Fripp/Belew. They combine this also in a special way with other styles - Psychedelic - JazzRock/Fusion - jamming and a unique russian flavour.

The opener Solaris is convincing with a funky fusion bass - beginning with a psychedelic intro and then gliding into a groovy rocking part. Komar contains excellent drum work and Augenapfel is a very dynamic JazzRock track. Kategeriin first of all sounds like a country rock song and consists of many freaky effects - fabulous! Arabia is a tremendous ride - very much fusion again. Latino and Waltz are exactly what the song name promises. And Jewboilove is another very freaky song with saxophon accompaniment.

'The Screw-Loose Entertainment' is a fresh and ambitous work - very interesting to hear. Highly recommended to CRIMSON progheads and also to Jazz Rock/Fusion fans.

"Whether or not it is clear to you, the universe is unfolding as it should." - Anonymous

If not the most original this is definitely the most interesting experimental music that I have heard since Primus hit the scene in the early 90`s. It has the wackiness of the afore mentioned and the complexities and depth of King Crimson and after hearing these guys for the first time I simply couldn`t believe there were no keyboards! They get all the wierdness and kaos you could ask for out of two over driven guitars, a drum kit and a bass guitar with the occasional appearances of congas and a saxophone. One of the effective aspects of the twin guitars is that both guitarists, each with a different approach to their playing, are freed up to experiment with and develop each piece more freely due to the absence of vocals throughout 99% of the work.

Following an ambient intro on the first track, Solaris, accomplished by a mesh of guitar effects we ascend into some heavy rythm riffing over which we hear Frippish guitar screaming which leaves no doubt of the 80`s King Crimson influence which pretty much continues throughout the entire album. While the complexities, such as tight accented drumming, solid bass playing and bizarre yet sophisticated interaction between the two guitars, become more evident as the album moves on so do other influences.Tinges of Krautrock can be also be heard on Kategeriin, a track with great dynamics and rythmn which even features some tripped out vocals that remind me of early deranged Guru Guru voicings. Later on we also hear some effects that you would expect on a Neu! album blended in with latino stylings which is probably the most conventional track on the whole CD and is entitled unsuprisingly, Latino. And this one even gets wierd in places! Augenapfel tends to get a little funky and can sound like Canadian fusion band UZEB in parts while also having a very latino flavour.It also includes some fine flamenco-like guitar lines.The real gem on the album though, is the second track, Komar, with a very, spooky, almost frantic pulsating aura to it with a lot of freaked out Frippish guitar effects. The final track entitled Waltz is just that and conjures up images of a weird masquerade party with dancing manequins.

All comparisons aside, these guys use their influences very wisely and every track is a special witches brew. Despite all the influences , the ingredients on each track cleverly flow into one another and there are absolutely no grey areas, just suprises. They sound tight yet they have a certain freeness to their sound. The one word track titles also contribute to the wonderful strangeness of this ambitious musical accomplishment. Play LOUD!

Heavy Music and King Crimson inspired!

This is a relatively new band from Russia. They started in 1999 at the Moscow Physics, but their first album (this one) was released in 2004 by RAIM (Russian Association of Independent Genres). It is avant, psychedelic, jazzy, folky, and above all heavy prog that is King Crimson inspired - which is always a plus in my book.

The album is instrumental (except for a few sections where someone says something in Russian). The music is enticing and is always full of surprises no matter how many times you listen to it. There is no filler on this album at all. Each track is different yet it keeps a good flow to it. It is one of those albums that makes you want to sit down and just feel the music for the whole hour (or however long this album is). It is surprising that all this is created with 2 guitars, a bass guitar, and drums. No keyboards in sight. Truly exceptional musicianship.

All in all this experimental music is exceptional. It is worth getting, especially if you are a fan of heavy prog or the heavier King Crimson stuff. Don't get the idea that this band is just copying King Crimson style. The songs are unique and yet the main influence is obvious and wonderful to listen to. I think I prefer this to the King Crimson albums I have. 5/5 stars.

Oh and you can download this album (it's legal and free!) from the band's website!

Vow. A forty minutes long album now available as a free download and a good one too.

This Russian bands looks like some mad professors from a university in Moscow. Their biography confirms my "worst" fears too. Their music is instrumental eclectic prog with one foot firmly rooted in fusion-rock and jazz. The other foot is firmly grounded in King Crimson land. The first ten minutes of this album are really infectious groovy and makes my feet tap the floor in an indecent manner. The rest of the album is pretty good too.

The album also has this Russian feeling with myriads of other cultures thrown in. It is a true melting pot of everything. The main instrument are guitars, but they also use a myriad of instruments and that to good effect. I am not a fan of instrumental music, but this one is a good one. As this album is for free; grab and enjoy. I guess I need to get their second album too and I will gladly pay for that one.

3.5 stars from me.

Russian outfit DISEN GAGE was formed in Moscow in 1999 by students Konstantin Mochalov, Yuri Alaverdyan, and Nikolai Syrtsev.Soon drummer Eugeny Kudryashov joined them and the band gained some decent popularity playing at college festivals and recording an amount of self-produced cassettes.During this period the three main members continued their studies as researchers on Bio-Organic Chemistry and the band was set on ice.Despite the difficulties they released their debut ''The Screw-Loose Entertainment'' in 2004 on RAIG,after which oroginal guitarist Yuri Alaverdyan left to continue his academic career in Sweden.

STYLE: While the band states as being an Experimental Prog Rock act,I definitely deny with this term.The reason is that after so many listenings of bands being heavily influenced by the mid-70's Crimson-esque style of prog,the term ''experimental'' just fades away.This is guitar-driven Prog Rock strongly rooted in Jazz-Fusion with touches of Ethnic Music.Almost totally instrumental (except some scarce spoken words), ''The Screw-Loose Entertainment'' runs at 40 minutes offering fusion-esque musicianship with lots of breaks,cold atmospheres but also a decent amount of melody.Bass work can range from solid rhytmic patterns to almost funky grooves,while the guitar work with a Fripp-ian influence varies from heavy parts to melodic passages.Notice some interesting guitar distortions and effects,which make the album sounding a bit experimental.Drum work is also quite solid,without being anything excepttional and follows consistently the rest of the musicians.

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: With a guitarist playing his instrument sitting on a chair during the lives,can you imagine something else than ROBERT FRIPP's KING CRIMSON as an influence?Similar bands are also BI KYO RYAN,DIFICIL EQUILIBRIO,TRYO and maybe CABEZAS DE CERA.

PLUS: Excellent bass work,it really stands out!The use of some effects,light keys and guitar distortions prevents the album to sound mechanical.Good thing is the decent amount of melodies here and there.Musicianship is tight and really captivating.Nice alternation between slow- and fast tempos.Production is above average.

MINUS: Another band with a somewhat unpersonal style,the guitar work can only bring ROBERT FRIPP in mind.The tracks sound rather similar due to the limited instrumentation and the specific style of guitar playing.

WILL APPEAL TO:...anyone after guitar-based Prog Rock,KING CRIMSON-influenced music and a nice entry for someone who hasn't been in touch with a similar style of progressive music.

CONCLUSION: The same story again as in lot of cases.A band with obvious talent but without daring a step forward.A couple of tracks with added saxes are a good guide for a richer sound and the future.Good album overall,but not something ground-breaking.3 stars.

Surprising, intriguing and very difficult to classify music. A lot of styles, ranging from Samla Mammas Manna -like ("Augenapfel", "Kategeriin"), through Ozric Tentacles-que ("Arabia", "Sortie") and Satellite -like ("Chinagroove") to almost King Crimsonic ("Solaris", "Witchtanz") - these blundering comparisons clearly explain my problems with Disen Gage's style definition. I must add also distinct influence of, it is not a mistake, klezmer music ("Waltz", "Jewboilove") and this characteristic will be almost complete. Great musical competence of all instrumentalists is easy to hear - pay attention e.g on brilliant rhythm section in "Sortie" and "Witchtanz". The mood of dance party is also easy to feel during listening. Wonderful music, four and half stars.

I missed out on the 2004 debut album by Disen Gage when it came out first time around, but it has now been made available again. This was the only album to feature the original line-up of Yury Alaverdyan (guitar, percussion), Konstantin Mochalov (guitar, keyboards), Nikolai Syrtsev (bass, keyboards, percussion) and Evgeny Kudryashov (drums, percussion), and it is quite different in approach to the style of the band I came across later on. The guitars are incredibly important, with a very strong King Crimson feel to proceedings (especially 'Discipline' era), although there are also moments when it appears that Gilmour has also been a major influence. It is far heavier and straightforward, less experimental than their more recent albums, so much so it is almost like a different band. It must be quite a shock for fans to move from this to 'Hybrid State' as an example, where scientists make music in the course of an experimental procedure, and directly in the lab (the band originally got together when they were students, and followed careers in chemistry).

The label describes the album like this, 'Moscow scientists debut offers a highly concentrated twist on instrumental rock - a musical journey that leads listeners through the entire range of emotions without even needing words.' Don't think they're mad professors, although it would be useful to understand just what they are doing with this highly complex and complicated music as it turns, spins and whirls, with the result that any fan of Fripp is going to love this. The rhythm section is dynamic, and it is often the bass providing the warmth as the guitar interweave and construct strange patterns. Sometimes there is crunch, at others plenty of staccato picking, but it is always intriguing, and one never knows what is going to happen next. This may be very different to the band I came to know, yet is another great example of why in my mind they are one of the top bands to come out of Russia.

3.5 stars. DISEN GAGE are a four piece from Moscow who formed in 1999. We get two guitarists, bass and drums, but on this their 2004 debut we get some guest sax, percussion and keyboards. These guys have a sense of humour as witnessed by their album and song titles. The debut here is the only one to feature the original lineup with one of the guitarists leaving after this album. Not a bad thing considering the new guitarist has helped this band go into a more original sound, instead of the KING CRIMSON sound that is constant on this one.

This comes across as a tribute to the "Discipline" album. The two guitarists may not be Fripp and Belew but they are amazing. My favourite track is the opener "Solaris" for those spacey sounds we don't get anywhere else on here. Plus the guitars are the most aggressive on this song. Really it's the first three tracks that are my favourites on this album, then I kind of get tired of the "Discipline" vibe. I'm not into the last three songs at all. "Latino" with the Spanish guitar and "Waltz" which is exactly that. Oh yeah they're from Russia.

Lots to like here that's for sure, but lacking originality and a little samey this one. Their 2008 release called "...The Reverse May be True" is the one to get. We still get those KING CRIMSON guitars but more angular stuff on that one, plus it is quite a powerful album. "The Screw-Loose Entertainment" is a very nice start to their careers though.