JACKSON

Jackson is the third full length studio album by Japanese progressive/avantgarde band Korekyojinn. This is a power trio featuring Kido Natsuki on the guitars, Yoshida Tatsuya on the drums and Nasuno Mitsuru on the bass. I consider myself a fan of some other projects of Yoshida and Kido (Koenjihyakkei and Bondage Fruit respectively), but I have heard nothing featuring Nasuno before this particular album. Korekyojinn means in Japanese "This Giant", this may refer on the classic bands This Heat and Gentle Giant. The disc that lies behind an artwork which takes us to the Easter Island is somewhat connected to This Heat, it is quite raw, mostly frantic, almost a progressie punk, progressive garage rock effort, but the King Crimson and Yes influences (mainly Relayer era) are easily detectable , influences by Gentle Giant are not really present. This is an instrumental power trio, and the 9 tracks of the 53 minutes long album certainly have some power. A good mixture of a menacing and a playful sound, the production is very natural, like the band would play at your room. The musicianship is exceptional, all three musicans do a terrific job, and it is really a well-balanced album, no instrument is way too dominant over the other two. Of course solos are mosty played by Kido, but he is he guiarists, that is hardly surprising. Time flies when I put on Jackson, I really enjoy all 9 tracks, there is a healthy dose of accesibility on this album, it is great fun to to listen, but you need certainly more time to fully understand the music offered by this fabulous trio. An instrumental power trio can't get much better than Jackson, in my book it is a timeless masterpiece.