MIRRORS

4.5 stars. I must admit I've been fascinated with this live recording of late. YUGEN is the project of guitarist Francesco Zago that sprang into life late in 2004. Zago at that time had been writing music for chamber ensembles. It was Marcello Marinone who gave Zago the idea of melding his music with more rock-oriented sounds. And so we get a UNIVERS ZERO-like style from these Italians. Marcello was so convinced of this band's worth that when YUGEN was rejected by a record label specializing in this type of music, he formed the AltrOck label and released it himself!

This was recorded in 2011 at the Rock In Opposition festival in Carmaux, France. Francesco relates that there were skeptics, those who didn't think YUGEN could pull off live what they created in the studio. They rehearsed some 10 to 12 hours before the event but Zago admits they should have put in 100 hours to pull this off perfectly. But they still pulled it off. As the liner notes state "The result is a dizzying cavalcade of turn-on-a-dime rhythms, intriguing harmonics and striking, anthemic melodies that have a habit of drilling down deep into the consciousness of the listener."

A beautiful package this is. The photos and the info from Zago and Sid Smith. There are ten tracks featured here with four coming from their debut, five from what would have been their most recent album at the time "Iridule" from 2010. And a cover of HENRY COW's "Industy", a Tim Hodgkinson composition. Really paying homage to a band who they felt was the motivating force behind the RIO movement of the late seventies. YUGEN feel that they are working within the RIO tradition in spirit and in attitude, even if the original movement has been long gone.

One big difference in "sound" between this live record and their studio versions is that in the studio they would have up to 18 musicians adding various sounds and dynamics to their music, while here it's a more stripped down version. And I clearly like the more stripped down music from this band. This is brilliant! And as Zago relates, orchestrating for the live band of just seven players requires striking a careful balance with regards to what can be eliminated without affecting the integrity of the composition.

So we get about an hour of music here and it really doesn't seem like a live album to me. In fact I still get surprised by the applause after some of these tracks. And how about starting the concert with a one minute track called "On The Brink". Perfect in my opinion because we get these sounds creating suspense as darkness falls. Heaviness comes and goes as it blends into "Brachilogia" where we get this classical display of keyboards and so many intricate sounds. So complex with extreme tempo changes. And yes we are off and running!

It's tough picking a top three. I actually feel the two final tracks are the best, and that's about 22 minutes of music right there. Incredible is the word. "Industry" might be a HENRY COW tune but it reminds me a lot of UNIVERS ZERO. That track and "Overmurmur" are tied for that third spot. The latter is dark, heavy, powerful and complex.

The sound quality could not be better thanks in part to Mike Potter who recorded it, and he's from Orion Studios in Baltimore. I appreciate the photo of the band playing at this event on the back cover. What a show! Bumping this up.