LUCID DREAMS

I'm not really in favour of one-man home projects where a self-appointed composer mixes his preferred sounds with a synthesizer. The output often runs into danger to sound single-tracked so that you consequently will lose interest sooner or later. When it comes to Pasi Koivu from Finland it's certainly different. He's under way with the moniker Psychedelic Eye, since 2011 at least, and draws on unlimited resources related to the history of progressive rock music, picks up influences from here and there and forms something new based on an experimental, partially bombast keyboard background.

Stylistically hard to pigeonhole, multi-layered, comprising symphonic, psychedelic, ambient, jazzy elements, often presented with avantgarde approach, uncommon, frequently coupled with a dissonant or hallucinogenic touch on top of it. Sometimes it even sounds rather innocent ... but with intent ... nothing is thrown in by chance, this needed hours of compositional attempt I am sure. With other words - definitely worthwhile to explore if you're open-minded enough to be interested in synthesizer generated stuff. To bring some notably weird exemplars to the fore first - Confession is carrying basics which definitely could suit for a funeral, Moonmadness lives up to its name exactly, where on Mushroom Dance Pasi sends you on a dizzying trip featuring some oriental sentiment.

With the wonderful The world is so cold and Drops in the ocean we can deeply plunge into nordic melancholy ... cinematic, ambient - a pleasant contrast to the avant tinged first songs which I don't like so much. The album's highlight is saved for the finale - the extended epic, where Heavy Butterflies are fluttering around all over (you should close your eyes when listening to let nature take its course). This is an extremely gripping one, entertaining due to sense of dramaturgy and suspense.

'Lucid Dreams' is a very unique album, probably Pasi's most ambitious. Fellow countryman Eetu Pellonpää has created the nice psychedelic artwork. While checking up my huge music depot only Trip Lava (Joel Lee) comes into my mind when searching for something comparable music wise - just in a wider sense. To sum it up, Pasi Koivu offers an interesting mix of soundscapes with many variants here, which definitely needs time to get involved with.