INCARCERATION BY ABSTRACTION

For those folks who fancy progressive rock as a genre which encompasses several fairly distinct sound templates, RIO is seen as the one where people play things that don't make sense. Accomplished musicians sometimes lack the deft categorizational know-how prized by rock critics (prog-rock critics often being the smarmiest among them), but do have ears which can separate the new and adventurous from the tired old cliches which routinely dog prog-rock and frustrate those who crave true progression. The Flying Luttenbachers are (or were, at least) at the helm of this movement, their template-shredding music rendering nonsensical the symph/neo/pop wannabe acts that have littered and confused the musical playing field since the 70's.

Incarcerated by Abstraction is the period that mastermind Weasel Walter chose to put at the end of his stint with the Luttenbachers, and a careful review of their work reveals it is a logical place to make such a turn. It is by far Walter's best work, one which bolsters the importance and validity of The Flying Luttenbachers' body of music as a whole. One doesn't have to possess a musical degree to grasp the complexity of this band; it is a hallmark of Walter's music. Complexity and richness dominate throughout, even within the frequent minimalistic segments present on the album.

It is perhaps not unfair to point out the similar influences that avant-rock bands such as Thinking Plague, 5uu's, Zs, and Henry Cow share: Bartok, Stravinsky, Penderecki, etc. The Luttenbachers often venture into these Bartokian realms of angularity, creating a distinct brand of sonic warpage which will surely send even the most ardent prog-rock critic into fits of condescending, epileptic rage.

But music such as this deserves to be separated from prog as a genre. Walter manages to meld disparate elements of the seemingly unrelated musical genres of punk, jazz, classical and, yes, PROG in order to nullify the genres altogether. This latest album is seemingly the angriest in Walter's body of work with this band. It tore me to shreds, made Henry Cow into a laughingstock. It is not for fans of Marillion, and it is not digested easily by those who seek to compare it to other RIO bands (they are not, in fact, RIO). It is adventure in the purest form that progressive music can manifest.

As for the Luttenbachers, well, some of us hate to see them go. For fans of music which absolutely destroys the air with complete abandon, go buy their stuff... all of it. Don't listen to anyone tell you otherwise.