ALL FROM ONE, AND ONE FROM ALL

All the way back in 1984 four musicians from Topanga, California, started a new band, none of them ever thinking that forty years later they would still be going strong. There have been some guests here and there, but guitarists Gayle Ellett and Mike Henderson, bassist Henry J. Osborne, and drummer Chuck Oken, Jr. were there for 1985's 'No Commercial Potential' and were still around for 2022's 'Island In The Red Night Sky', and this collection brings together a track from all eighteen studio albums and two live, hence the witty title. At three hours in length, this is a collection of uncompromising music which may be too much for the unwary or is it? To celebrate their soon to end fortieth anniversary the guys are currently making this available free of charge from their Bandcamp site, but this is a limited time offer so get in fast as this not something you will want to miss out on.

I first came across Djam Karet back in the Nineties when Cuneiform sent me an album along with their famous black and white promo photo (long before digital we used to get things on paper and card!) of the guys where their faces are obscured by instruments. A version of this reappears on the cover of this set, and to me it has always represented the feeling that musicians are just a conduit and all that matters is the end result, egos should be left at the door. This is music without boundaries, no need to be constricted to any particular style, length, tempo or anything else. But at the same time layering is important so we have music which is rehearsed yet at times feels like a full-on jam. It is hard to pick a favourite amidst all this delightful chaos, but I did come away with a soft spot for "Run Cerberus Run" from 1989's 'Reflections From The Firepool' as this is a new one for me, and the use of organ within this is sheer delight, and while it is somewhat more commercial than many of their experimental numbers it still contains the presence and delightful nuances that only those who refuse to conform come up with.

This is the perfect introduction for anyone who has been too frightened by the band's back catalogue to fully investigate, and they helpfully provide the album from which song was taken so why not take the plunge and investigate some of the most riveting and exciting instrumental progressive rock around? Did I say this was free?