THE REMEDY OF ABSTRACTION

Every once in a while, I do silly things like buy an album because it has a cool cover or I'm drawn to the title. I therefore have a highly eclectic music collection which includes some albums that I just can't listen to. This is one of the albums that I was magnetically drawn to by both cover and title, but particularly by the title of the opening track (which is depicted very nicely by the front and back of the cover). I mean, how cool is Now That My House Has Burned Down, I Have A Beautiful View Of The Moon as a song title?

Anyway, enough waffling and on to the album itself. It's great. It is cool. It is beautiful and emotional and has some even cooler song titles that are also outstanding compositions, the best of which by my book are that first track, The Remedy Of Abstraction, Shakespeare's Strippers, The Eisenhour Slumber and Not Even Wrong. These songs are at times frighteningly complex at others so simple that you wonder why there isn't more music like this around. The interplay between piano and guitar is particularly striking and is laid on top of some very intricate drum and bass rhythm play. The presence of the violin adds further interest to the mix though it is maybe not quite as prominent as it should be (but maybe that's just to my untrained ear).

As this is the first jazz/rock fusion album I have bought, I can't really suggest suitable comparisons for this work. However, I am very much inspired to explore this genre further as, despite my purchase of this album being very much a shot in the dark, I enjoy listening to it very much indeed and am still finding fresh themes on each listen. I'm therefore happy to recommend it to anyone else who is thinking about dipping a toe in this particular part of the prog rock pool. Excellent stuff!