NIGHT DREAMS & WISHES

The album on review here, entitled Night Dreams & Wishes', is the second full-length album by the Modern-Rock Ensemble, a collaboration of international musicians under the auspices of Ukrainian composer and producer 'Vladimir Gorashchenkoa', (poet, and keyboard/guitar). It is, without doubt, an epic rock assemblage that encompass all aspects of the progressive rock, space rock, jazz rock and classical rock spectrum. Accompanying album notes suggest that the listener 'might not find it obvious that many parts of the suite are related'. And after several plays in the process of reviewing its contents I would subscribe totally to this statement. However, it is an album that will remain on my turntable for quite some time and, as a consequence, I will certainly look forward to investigating further the storylines and in the process, gradually piecing the various musical sections together? To aid clarification and at the end of the review I have included 'Vladimir's' explanatory text which details out the storyline and various links. For me the entire works are a glorious all-embracing musical scrap book that contains a massive wealth of ever-changing musical soundscapes. These movements all combine together to create and contribute to the lengthy seventy eight minute overall score which has the semblance of a mighty rock opera. Buried within the score are of lots of little but familiar musical snippets that jump out at you and beg your attention as they pass you by. My ears anyway picked up cleverly integrated droplets of 'Slaughter on 10th Avenue', 'West Side Story', Isao Tomita 'snowflakes are dancing. All wonderfully captured and sucked into the heart of the score to suddenly spring out and thrill you. But this is the very tip of a magical iceberg of gratifyingly well-constructed keyboard inspired music. The flow of the music between individual and adjoining sections frequently form patterns of everchanging tempos that vary considerably. Instances where slices of raucous guitar and synthesiser entanglements shift seamlessly over to delicately and exquisitely administered acoustic guitar and flute resulting in a plethora of different moods as the style of the music switches constantly throughout the lengthy programme. Dancing like little wisps of sunlight, gorgeous flurries of keyboard electronica add dimension to the main instrumental phrasing. Just so much going on its difficult to take it all in at once especially the added jazz rock fusion excursions which burst forth onto the scene with stunning bass lines, grandiose saxophone passages, frenetic drumming, aggressive percussion and even more keyboard generated mayhem all beautifully layered on top of a vast array of varying background foundations. Even though Vladimir's keyboards are the focal point of the album dynamics, the contributions from the other musicians are enormous. Powerful lead guitar, tremendous bass guitar and saxophone are all amazing. It is clear that the key stand out feature of the entire suite is the fact that it has all been painstakingly put together with care and expertise, no offbeat jam sessions or throw away tracks. The whole production has been perfectly worked out like a major symphony. Whilst the vocal contributions are far and few between there is an enjoyable vocal input from 'Vladimir' and again executed with a mixture of styles ranging from that of tender sweetness to monstrous stage like aggression. Especially the delightful and quite romantic duet 'Night Comes'. Dreams with 'Anastasiia Gorashchenko' The artwork is quality, wonderfully assembled with much thought and care, clearly with the purchaser in mind. Quite the best package I've seen for many a day. Artwork: "Balcony" (1977) by Vitaliy Vasiliyev Summary, another must have top score album and one that represents a veritable and complete musical encyclopaedia of the progressive rock genera