BCVSMGCD

I insist that it is odd that Bass Communion has an entry in Prog Archives, but I am glad that the site does a homage to the genre by not having a closed mind and restricting itself to what is labeled "Progressive Rock". Progressive music is much bigger than that. And Bass Communion is in fact the brainchild of one of the best "progressive" musicians out there, Steven Wilson.

Okay, moving on.

'bcvsmgcd' is not your average Bass Communion album, just like Bass Communion is not your average Steven Wilson project. Its name is derived from the fact that this is the CD by the collaboration between BC and electronic musician Muslimgauze. Hence, 'bcvsmgcd' = Bass Communion vs. Muslimgauze CD.

This collaboration, initially released over an album and an EP, and reissued as a single release in CD in 2006, takes Wilson out of his Bass Communion comfort zone, and into more electronica-esque soundscapes, courtesy of the other half of this collaboration. We have the typical Bass Communion soundscaping, with dense reverberation and echo effects, but extra- layered with dense electronic percussion lines that give it a beat (for a change). It is a very different and refreshing iteration of this, the densest Steven Wilson project, by a margin.

Still, it's not exactly very digestible. It's sort of what would happen if Messhuggah started a project with Barbra Streisand.

every song creates a very particular atmosphere of its own, which really highlights Wilson's and Muslimgauze's versatility and craftiness, but strips the album from a sense of continuity.

Three stars for a great album, that doesn't capitalize on its chances.

It could've been so much more