IN SEARCH OF A NEW DAWN

This is one of those albums that is loved primarily by other musicians. Like a lot of raga and jazz music, these songs are full of instruments with odd tunings, obscure and finger-contorting guitar chords, and time signatures that don’t often include even numbers. Really entertaining and challenging for some young turk with a guitar and time on his hands who is willing to sit down and figure out what these guys are doing from a technical perspective.

Me, I’m just a neophyte with an acoustic guitar and a tab book trying to keep my fingers from bleeding vibrations from one string to the next. This stuff is way beyond me. But that’s okay too, because in the end music is all about what appeals to your ears and your soul, and whether you can actually appreciate the virtuosity of the artists is really secondary.

This is an interesting debut album from a band that’s been around for nearly three decades but who doesn’t seem to have a very strong following, at least not internationally. I get the impression they are a well-kept secret among their discerning fans.

This album was originally released on vinyl in 1989, actually twice, with one pressing being on a pink label and the other on a green one. The artwork is quite complex and detailed, and I assume the original vinyl was housed in a gatefold from the looks of it. The influences in both the artwork and the music housed in it are middle-Eastern, Indic/far-Eastern, and far northern Europe (Nordic, Russian). I doubt if you’ll find one of these if you don’t already have one. On the other hand, the record was also released on CD in 1994 and that version is a bit more accessible although you’ll still have to look around a bit. The 1994 issue is also a remix with a couple additional musicians added to the duo who recorded the original tracks. Since I’ve never seen or heard the vinyl I can say what’s different, but the mixing and production of the CD is exceptional.

These are all compositions blending raga-like arrangements, slightly psychedelic guitar and sitar, eastern instrumentation, and trance rhythms. Hardcore psych thirty years after the stuff was in vogue. But these guys do what they do very well, and all of them are seriously accomplished musicians with totally mastery over the instruments.

Most of the tracks are shorter than one would expect for this type of music, and the record has the feel of a sampler or EP throughout most of it. But the closing, fourteen-minute near-raga “Solorgy” shows that the band has serious intentions and the ability to generate both complex and substantive art. The psych guitar set against a persistent and hypnotic tabla and hand drums is seductive and mesmerizing, while the occasional forays into screaming speed-demon guitar riffing in spots gives notice that this is modern day stuff, not simply rehashing the sounds of the sixties. This track alone would have made a great debut EP for Tangle Edge.

Their music is a bit hard to find, especially if you don’t live in northern Europe. But Tangle Edge are a consummately talent group of musicians and their music can be enjoyed by both hardcore and serious musicians, as well as simple fans who like to get their ears dusted off once and a while. Four stars and highly recommended to just about any progressive music fan.

peace