PRIMITIVE NEURAL PATHWAYS

Zombi's Steve Moore turns in a more up-tempo and less atmospheric work than predecessor Vaalbara, and here the sequencers and drum trax are right in front. It's a sound not always warmed to by the Prog sector and does uncomfortably echo a sort of 80s synthpop which everyone and their grandmother seemed to be into at one point or another. Electronic finger snaps don't exactly evoke good memories.

But there may actually be a few left out there who still enjoy a clean-sounding Jan Hammeresque bop through mindless space and in that vacuous but secretly liked realm of post-Vangelis soup, Steve Moore's Primitive Neural Pathways does what it's supposed to. Enveloped bass pedals and grainy mellotron samples for 'Orogenous Zones' with its Jacko dance beat; Vintage astral projections and chirps of 'Feel the Difference' modulate frequently but don't really go anywhere; Flagrant early 80's Tech-Noir club beats in 'C Beams', and it's a blast--- sharp, robotic, to the point, a pleasure. Distinct Tangerine Dream-isms run through the title track, and '248 Years' slows for a little cosmic swing.

As stated, the disc succeeds at what it sets out to do and in that way is a healthy album from Moore. Surely his partnership with Tony Paterra brings out more aggressive and riveting material than here, but I guess that's what solo records are for.