PLAN AHEAD

US Avant Prog/Chamber Rock quartet,emerging in late-90's in Philadelphia out of the ashes of the theatrical burlesque/rock act The Lost Art of Puppet Orchestra.Bassist/guitarist Ted Casterline, guitarist/viloin player Glendan Jones and keyboardist Valerie Opielski,all former members of T.L.A.o.P. invited drummer Jay Horvath to join them and Krakatoa was born.Their debut on Etherdrag Records ''Plan ahead'' was released in 1999.

Their sound on this instrumental debut is an extremely rich and powerful mix of Jazz- Rock,Avant Fusion and Chamber Rock,not unlike Canadians ROUGE CIEL minus the explosive guitar parts of the later.With bass,piano and violin in evidence,Krakatoa create a challenging style with highly complex rhythmic patterns,unusual breaks,jazzy improvisations and deeply dissonant passages.The band produces some quite interesting grooves,over which guitars,piano and violin are free to overdose the sound with some interesting individual performances,while all tracks alternate between heavy and mellow moments.There are also hints of FROGG CAFE's sound in places,especially when violins take over and some influences from boggie rock on the groovy parts.All in all,this album is a strange journey,where power meets complexity meets Avant atmospheres.

Far from a piece of cake for even the qualified prog listener,''Plan ahead'' is an album for those into trully artistic musicianship with a very complicated,jazzy face.Warmly recommended.