ON BLUE

For their next album Mahogany Frog decided to reduce the length of their recording tracks so this one could get a vinyl pressing.Some tracks in here were recorded in a non-professional level at the time of their writing, others would get a proper recording in the studio.Moreover they had already established their own Mafrogany Hog label (a slight joke with an anagram of their name) and the album was released in 2005.

While the tracks are reasonably shorter to cover the appropriate time allowed by a vinyl issue, the style of the Canadians is still grounded in old-style Prog/Fusion with a special note to the Canterbury school.Especially NATIONAL HEALTH had to have a huger impact to the sound of the band, which is filled with old Canterbury jams, featuring lots of organ, vibraphone and piano interactions, but the modern flavors are always present, as this time the band appears to experiment with the sound of piano, synthesizers and electronics.Moreover the slow tempo parts even have a slight Post Rock touch with ANTIQUE SEEKING NUNS being a good comparison at this point, more particularly the guitars appear to be distorted and more ethereal.The overall style is fairly keyboard-driven with quirky moves and plenty of interesting breaks, characterized by looser performances but also jazzy instrumental battles, while the more experimental stuff has a slight cinematic mood due to the use of loops and distortions.It was hard though for the quartet to escape their vintage influences and the Canterbury tastes appear always in the horizon.

Another very strong effort by Mahogany Frog, albeit a bit more abstract and abnormal than their previous album.Jazzy, keyboard-based, instrumental Prog, which tries nicely to combine recent technologies with nostalgic inspirations.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.