MARSHMALLOW MOONDUST

ANTONY KALUGIN is the mastermind of KARFAGEN. It also has its letters of nobility with SUNCHILD and HOGGWASH; he started to compose new age music then very quickly a progressive frame replaced it; after an album in 2008, he delivers here an instrumental opus in the lineage of the last KARFAGEN with drifts and convolutions of CAMEL and other YES at the start, quickly joined by pure and hard prog symphonic. ANTONY KALUGIN is the only person to have participated in his orchestral solo album. 4 tracks available, 2 long and 2 medley on covers of the 2 major titles, one for long adventures in symphonic regions, the other for surfing when time is short. A dive for these increasingly uncertain times infested with sinister viruses that are shaking up the world music economy. An album that goes on repeat at home like a medicine. "Marshmallow" has a typical airy and celestial sound from the start, the intro reminds me of this devilish instrumental from ENCHANT (I'll let you find it on the 1st album!), Then it goes on the best KARFAGEN, playful, fruity and melodic; CAMEL immediately comes to mind as a basis but the most important is the sequence of the different instruments and the cohesion in their programming, the synth and the drums giving the basis, the guitar, Soviet Czech bass, flute and variations of keyboards taking care of bringing us on musical sound images far from the current tumult. A little GENESIS for the synth of course in wavelets. A major room in which each of you can enter and travel as you wish. "Moondust" leaves for more airy regions, also aerial since I hear the plane go by, cosmic in my opinion, passing from one lighted drawer to another more intimate; some sounds are reminiscent of SUPERTRAMP's sax when the verse would stop and go on a marvelous progressive musical drift; after a little flute we catch a glimpse of Peter GABRIEL who releases his archangel solo; warm guitar in real life (yes he plays almost everything composer's bugger!) comes at one point and gives us another direction yet, in short, long piece, hold a few floydian notes there, disconcerting, symphonic and majestic, title which rekindles the torch of prog quite short without more voice; well I also remain speechless in front of this sputnik "Marshmallow Medley" and "Moondust Medley" therefore take parts of the 2 symphonies, I'll let you guess where are the deleted parts and those chained, the voices come a few moments to integrate with the instruments, to have just for the pleasure of get lost in these tight convolutions. ANTONY KALUGIN has (again) produced a major musical work; warmth, ambiance, emotion, creativity, more or less vintage-fashioned synths that will from time to time search very far in our memories and prevent us from going into Alzheimer's mode; just the title will take you back to your tender years when you ate, where you gorged on this legendary candy while looking at the moon, at a time when we must keep hope, this musical ray of light bringing us out of the darkness viral. Music that redefines the progressive genre for those who have lost hope, a must as I hoped. The KALUGIN stamped sound at the top of its art.