LOST IN KALI YUGA

Lalo Huber is an Argentine keyboardist mainly known within progressive music circles as the figurehead of the band Nexus. His play on the Hammond organ is of above-average class, but doesn't the same apply to all keyboard instruments he touches? Huber possesses the blissful ability to combine a high degree of taste with a lot of virtuosity. The evidence of this can be heard on the numerous Nexus albums where his playing is adorned with ELP-like runs and eruptions that are fortunately less over-the-top than his sources of inspiration. Nevertheless, Huber always manages to infuse a modern feel into the retro-tinged music, as seen on his solo debut "Lost In Kali Yuga" from 2009.

On this album, Huber presents a beautiful blend of electronics, full retro-prog, hints of neo-prog, jazz-rock, and even Argentine cultural music. He effortlessly delivers nearly 80 minutes of captivating sound. Okay, some tracks go on a bit long, which is fitting for an album centered around the theme of getting lost. Then it suddenly becomes a compositional tool.

On the album, Huber plays all instruments himself, except for the drums. There is no electric guitar, allowing the keyboards to occupy maximum space, and they certainly do. After the opener All Computers Die, a spacey piece held together by bubbling synths and tinkling sequencers, Universal Legion comes in to cleanse your ears. What a fantastic track. A delightful synth theme and a masterful organ solo are accompanied by driving bass guitar and drums. The contributions of Luis Nakamura, drummer of Nexus, give it all a nicely timed feel. In the somewhat dark To Play And Die, Huber, amid his emphatic synths, also introduces vocals, and it's clearly not his strong suit. He sounds a bit like a background singer who took on the lead role, and the song lacks the wow factor the music deserves.

The subsequent The Entangled World is a complex prog composition that, through a flow of mellotron sounds, Hammond organ, and swirling synths, takes the listener beyond the nine-minute mark. This track is the first part of the four-part title piece that circulates on the album. But before the next parts emerge, Huber presents two other noteworthy tracks. Still I Sense Your Hand is a beautiful ballad about a relationship that no longer exists. The melancholic atmosphere Huber creates here is reminiscent of the subdued side of Little Tragedies on their "Chinese Songs" albums. With Last Trip In Buenos Aires, Huber surprisingly ventures into jazz-rock territory. An electric piano kicks off the song, and throughout the track, Huber showcases his skills, which are a pleasant surprise within the context of this stylistic shift. Particularly noteworthy is the solo on the Moog (or any other synth), keeping you engaged. A nice detail is he also fills in a few measures with the quintessentially Argentine instrument, the bandoneon.

Huber then presents the remaining parts of the four-part Lost In Kali Yuga. He demonstrates that the ultimate form of getting lost is portrayed in the swirling In The Labyrinth. It's typical Huber has developed a style that captivates at all times and in all places. Witness this, but also in a ballad like Failed To Feel, he effortlessly maintains your attention. The true climax of both the four-part suite and the album is The Hecatomb. Here, Huber asserts himself with such precision. His passionate playing soars. The album truly concludes with the beautiful chill-out track Back To Dust, and not entirely coincidentally, the sequence from the opening track is revisited towards the end.

In all respects, "Lost In Kali Yuga" is an outstanding album. It's remarkably clever to create a disc filled to the brim with attention-grabbing music. High five, Lalo.

Originally posted on www.progenrock.com