THE VORTEX OF MADNESS

Warning, this 16+ minute EP sounds nothing like Mutiny in Jonestown. This is a detour from business as usual into the crazy and fun world of experimental looping and doesn't take itself too seriously, so I hope no one else who gives it a listen does either. This album is meant to be a fun exploration and should be listened to in that spirit.

The album was recorded in April of 1995 and consists of experimental improvised pieces based on the processing technique called looping. Around that time Lexicon had just released one of the first large scale commercially available digital loopers which they called the "Jam Man". The idea was you could create "loops" by layering section upon section of guitars, keyboards, vocals, drums, sound effects or whatever you wanted. Then you could record additional loops built up in the same way and move among them in real time by use of a foot pedal creating a song structure built of very odd parts.

These experimental pieces were all based on improvised foundations created by layering and looping guitars and vocals. A rock rhythm section of bass and drums was then added to give a little structure to the chaos (or, as HP Lovecraft might call it, "the vortex of madness"). Finally, a little post recording processing was added to give an unusual sheen to create the finished project.

Improvisation is a very hit or miss approach which usually falls short but occasionally can hit one out of the park. On this album, the home run track is "Mary Wants a Cordless Drill", which sounds strangely like something Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band would have put on their 1969 showcase of madness, "Trout Mask Replica".

The story of the name of this track is amusing. I was working at a high tech company back in 1995 and every Christmas they put a "giving tree" in the lobby. It was a Christmas tree with labels on it that local charities placed to let us know what local people in need would like for Christmas, but couldn't afford. One day I was looking through the labels deciding which one I would take when I ran across a label that simply said, "Mary wants a cordless drill". I couldn't have made up a better song title if I'd tried! What makes this improvisation so successful is when the vocals break into the melody of Silent Night while the background splits into several threads, some trying to follow Silent Night and others continuing in Beefheart inspired blissful ignorance.

Unfortunately, every track on this EP isn't as successful as "Mary Wants a Cordless Drill", but hey, that's what you get with improvisation! This album is really the definition of a 2 star, for collectors/fans only.

In fun is power: the author himself gives a warning those pieces were just for fun, but fun is how an amazing bizarre flanged intro of 16 seconds to "Peter Zen" appears, sounding very sweetly to my ears ( a pleasure which be easily understood if we agree that those flanged sounds make for actual chords and there are notes already, not just noise )... what I consider his best hard rock riff among the ones I know from him, in Lexicon at 1'51. So only great sparks, we're just left to figuring out which piece would fit to them. The remaining I found less catchy (some melodies or riffs in Mutiny In Jonestown ARE catchy !), but some nice lines also.

The Crimson King's review will tell more !