HALLUCINATION ENGINE

Imagine a dreamy instrumental collaboration between The Future Sound of London and Massive Attack being scooped up by the jazzy edgy duo of Bill Laswell and Wayne Shorter. Yes you're getting closer to Hallucination Engine but not quite there yet.

Listed here under fusion, I'd like to think that stickers in regards to this mother simply fall short of any meaningful explanations. You won't find any real box befitting of this fantastic venture in sonic dreams. Ethnic IDM fusion???? Nahhh...... This is real progressive music right here, even if it's miles away from the prog rock of the 70s - or 80s, 90s and 00s for that matter. This is about splicing unorthodox styles of music together, and then shaping it into that ever so seductive Material unit. Bill Laswell is the main engine behind all of it, and while you hear and feel the smoothness of the man's bass - his effortlessly played phrasings, you're just as likely going to gape at his hip and youthful beats, loops and samples. I don't know whether Laswell was an avid fan of The Future Sound of London - as Fripp was, but I sure get a similar vibe in those beats - those velvety soundscapes that more than anything feel like warm radiant sunlight cascading in over your body like a rolling wave of feel good vibe. Breathtaking stuff to say the least, and when you then add the saxophone stylings of Wayne Shorter, who sounds like a serene Yoga teacher with his lofty and ethereal spurts of beauty, - you are truly in for a treat unlike any you've come across before.

Continuing to infuse originality and vibrant umph into Hallucination Engine - you get like 40.000 tons of Indian spirit lashed onto the rhythm section, and that is without it ever coming off as a raga - or like something traditionally eastern. L. Shankar's emotional violin stints break through the barrier and joins in with the melody makers of the album, but most of the Indian spice here, is conveyed through the gorgeous tabla playing of Zakir Hussain and Trilok Gurtu. Together with the electronics the album reaches unknown heights of beauty, and the unlikely marriage of robotic electronic wisdom and earthy incessant rhythms suddenly feel like a trip to Goa - riding a huge stork with built in stereo. What the feel of this reminds me of, is the Massive Attack tune called Antistar from the brilliant 100th Window album - menacing yet soothing. A floating effervescent Indian veil pulled over the music, that takes you places only your stork chauffeur knows...

Oh you want more get-down on it bass mastery? Big fat zooming string work - thick like shoelaces! Well apart from Laswell, you also get served with the low-rider funk hero Bootsy Collins, who on here is credited with the space bass. HAHA YES!!!!!!! Beautiful, I love it! And as if that wasn't enough for you, the Swedish prodigy Jonas Hellborg additionally lends a helping hand. Needless to say that the bass now safely is taken care of.

Hmmh, I can tell that you're not quite there yet - not quite sold.............Then what about a small cameo from the man himself - the black rider, the man who eats his lunch naked and continues to draw in the young and restless outcasts - the filth of society: good ol' William Burroughs? Opening up the second side is the aptly named Words of Advice, that in usual penetrating and sharp Burroughs behaviour proceeds to teach you a thing or two about the 'stuff' you preferably shouldn't do nor trust:

"People often ask me if I have any words of advice for young people. Well here are a few simple admonitions for young and old. Never intefere in a boy-and-girl fight. Beware of whores who say they don't want money. The hell they don't. What they mean is they want more money. Much more. If you're doing business with a religious son-of-a-bitch, Get it in writing. His word isn't worth sh*t. Not with the good lord telling him how to f*ck you on the deal." - Burroughs

The words here melt together with the music like slowly oozing lava, and the staccato and dry voice of Bill develops wings and suddenly starts floating away. This is the remarkable feat of Material: everything is so wonderfully gooey and friendly. It almost approaches lounge jazz, but then again those electronics coupled up with the Indian flavourings - simply take this thing to another level. It's like that all the way through. The Beatles once wrote about marmalade skies, and this is surely the actual proof of said fantasy constellation. A rolling slithering musical substance of unknown ingredients.

If you're into IDM, fusion or ethnic music - this record is the best thing out there. I've honestly never heard anything like it, and I probably won't. Hallucination Engine is the very essence of why I am here: Discovery. Musical discovery that seduces me, wraps around me and stays with me long after the final note has played itself out. This album did that for me - it reminded me of what music can be and what it can achieve.

A masterpiece of modern music, quite simply.

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