A SEQUENCE OF MOMENTS

Very interesting cinematic prog from Scotsman Ali Ferguson (who previously worked with RAY WILSON in STILTSKIN). The album contains great hypnotic rhythms and lush sonic weaves, great lead guitar passages, nice vocals and collages of media samples that lure one inside and make one think and feel.

1. "Why Are We Whispering?" (10:23) opens with fully half of the song filled with voice samples of television clips on the theme of "there is no God"--which is the exact statement whispered at the 5:40 mark just before all hell breaks loose from the drums, deep, rolling bass, raucous David GILMOUR-like guitar playing off of the wonderful Arabic "prayersong" sung by some uncredited (?!) female vocalist. Great song. Very contemporary. (9/10)

2. "Out Of The Dark" (7:42) synth pops and picked acoustic guitar open this song, setting the stage for the breathy voice of our composer to enter. Congas and other hand percussives soon join in to provide the rhythm track. Eventually, piano, cello, strings and female background vocals also join into the mix, enriching the sound palette but not really grabbing the listener yet. The voice samples beginning at 3:45 are what really attract my attention. The musical support becomes bare, and then drums kick in to pre-empt the arrival of bass and wonderful electric guitar lead. This is the kcik the song needed--and what a guitar solo it is! Superlatives! Air guitarists across the planet will love this one! The slow build was a little drawn out, but the second half really paid off on this one. (10/10)

3. "A Sequence Of Moments" (8:46) with the opening phone sample of a wife putting her toddler daughter on the phone to say ,"Hi Daddy, I just wanted to know what time you're coming home," slays me! Then the peaceful washes of synths and electronic percussives supporting the breathy and emotional lead vocal: it's great! By the time the full band palette arrives I find myself feeling quite a bit that I am back in ALAN PARSONS PROJECT's I Robot album. The ensuing guitar solo reminded of (9/10) 4. "The Realisation" (5:55) opens with more spacey synth background sounds--over which the spoken voice of KERSTIE BARR philosophizes. Then a DAVID GILMOUR-esque blues guitar enters the spaciousness to eek out some beautifully textured notes. At the three minute mark Kerstie returns to continue her story. Like STEVEN WILSON's "A Perfect Life" I find myself fascinated and fully engaged. I don't know where the sci-fi passage being read is from, but it's got me locked in. (9/10)

5. "Is This Enlightenment?" (6:25) opens with a KLAUS SCHULZE-like programmed synthesizer sequence over which a tape of a television coverage of the 2015 Connecticut school shootings plays. Ali's distorted, whispery voice follows and mixes with other political tapes before a kind of buzzing-wind instrument segues us into a section that is founded in a trip-hoppy programmed rhythm track. More vocal news tapes follow before a nice Spanish guitar solo takes the lead. Arabic synth chord progressions fill out the background with a clay drum playing a calming rhythm beneath and then in the middle of the fifth minute a crescendo of multiple instruments crescendoes before things calm down and the religion-oriented samples return. Cool song! (9/10)

6. "Into Falling Stars" (6:23) employs the weakest vocal on the album--a breathy, too-heavily treated DAVID GIMOUR- like performance. The accompanying music is okay, a bit too slow, too spacious--almost bare. A nice two-part guitar solo in the second half isn't enough to save or boost this one. (7/10)

7. "All In The Winds" (9:05) opens with a very slow, spacey PINK FLOYD-like feel--all created by programmed keyboards. A "Wish You Were Here" solo electric guitar sound enters at the end of the third minute and then drums, bass and whispery female background vocals (KIM SHEPHERD) join in to accompany the whispery male lead vocal. At 5:07 a fast-paced "radio" drum loop enters and is eventually joined/matched by the "live" (fwd) rhythm tracks. Then the "Perfect Life"-like female spoken voice from song 5 ("Realisation"; KERSTIE BARR)) takes center stage. At the end of the seventh minute a DAVID GILMOUR "On the Run" -like slide guitar solo takes over the lead over the near-disco rhythm tracks. This quiets down into a fade at the end while bird song is heard. (8/10)

8. "The Lost Satellites" (8:44) opens with a little Berlin School of Electronic Music style programmed synth rhythm track while a tape of some dialogue with astronauts in space plays. One nice thing about the voice samples on this album which, quite honestly, puts Ali in a class by himself, is the wonderful clarity of all of the samples used: I can actually understand the radio, television, and spoken voice passages throughout. When the song really kicks in it again feels like something off of STEVEN WILSON's Hand. Cannot. Erase.-- especially because of the whispery female (Kim SHEPHERD) vocals mirroring Ali's leads. SW's album must have been quite an inspiration to Ali! Nice laid back, almost MArk KNOPFLERish guitar solo fills most of a minute in the sixth and seventh minutes before accompanying in the background the play out of the vocalists to the end. (8/10)

9. "Above This Fractured Earth" (8:37) begins with yet another spacey musical accompaniment to a rather long sample of a child at play, in monologue. When Ali's breathy lead vocal enters we are well into the third minute; when his bluesy electric guitar takes up the lead we are well into the fifth minute. Okay song that is highpointed, for me, by the children's voices at the beginning. (8/10)

Fresh Neo Prog with a relevant message; music to easily get sucked into, to get lost within, to help pass time in a very enjoyable way. There are no "bad" songs on the album, nor are there any weak ones. They are all strong, interesting and eminently engaging. I appreciate the space themes and the use of samples illustrating some of the things that are most beautiful and most ugly about the patterns and activities of our human race; Ali's points are poignant and well-taken.

Ali Ferguson is the latest new discovery for me, a gifted Scotsman on guitars who parlayed a career as a member of Ray Wilson's band Stiltskin and who finally gets to revel in his own spotlight, 'living the cosmic dream'. His first opus evaded my radar but this second one hasn't, thanks once again to all my friends out there in Progland. There is a definite commonality with Tony Patterson's recent masterpiece 'Equations of Dreams' in that the voice is perennially whispered and heartfelt while the instrumental arrangements seem heavily tranquilising , like some nostalgic anesthesia.

This is a splendid cosmic work, daubed in compact atmospheric filament, perfumed with a myriad of sonic aromas and tonal flavors, thus creating a cinematic opus that dares to fantasize. Sure, there are overt similarities with classic Pink Floyd, especially the 'slow hand' guitar style as espoused by the amazing David Gilmour, a fret board genius that has influenced countless musicians worldwide. On 'Sequence of Moments', Ali gets to stretch out his compositions , wrapping them up in a variety of adornment , such as the Arabic voice winds on the epic opener , the 10 minute 'Why Are We Whispering?' that conjures images of sand dunes, lush oasis and conscious though about divinity. Religious spoken commentary flutters about as the blue electric guitar glimmers in an introspective awakening. Modern drum rhythms mechanically adjust the arrangement into a gentle propulsion, a cottony fluff of dense and tense atmospherics and whispering meaningful words. The explosive full throttle comes as the sandstorm inspired wind blast into the fray, calling for coiling Arabic voices, broiling organ flurries and the surreal slide guitar gone manic. Outfloyding Floyd!

Whispering and nearly comatose vocals anoint 'Out of the Dark' with a sweeping synthesized mood, densely melancholic and luminous yet somehow imbued with mystery and introspection. The voice is highly reminiscent of Gandalf's Fist and Luke Severn's high pitched hush, but this is quite a straightforward lilt, persuasive but fragile, the focus very much on the vocals. Initially polite and proper, the scorching guitar solo becomes daringly upfront and in-your-face, insistently expressing a sturdy sense of liberation and freedom finally achieved. Ali just flips right out, much to our collective pleasure. Pinging synths clock this one down.

The wooing title track has a contemporary feel, loaded with technological sound effects tempered by sweet children voices and another muted vocal performance, with a profound emotional drive that hinted at recent Anathema or RPWL in terms of melodic power. An electronic lullaby in many ways, the chorus comes shining through the clouds and 'the sequence of moments' becomes life. The sedate piano carries most of the arrangement, up until the pastoral acoustic guitar solo and the whole becomes truly magnificent. Obscured by continuous meddling clouds,

'The Realisation' maintains the space-rock course with a spectral guitar performance, swathed in electronic shimmer and female spoken word poetry courtesy of Kristie Barr. Birds chirping, a moment of breaking free. The shift into Berlin School sequencer-loaded electronic music spearheads the savage subject of a Connecticut school shooting, a modern day disease that has failed to disappear from our consciousness. The mood on 'Is This Enlightenment?' is heavily soundtrack-ish, as the pulsating beta kicks in, swaying to the electronic despair. The ensuing Spanish guitar platform is mesmerizing, as it chooses to blanket itself with some sweeping orchestrations, upwardly expanding the theme and the overall agony.

'Into Falling Stars' serves as a continuum, 'watching clouds change' as Ali's voice remains hushed and aggrieved. This feels almost like No-Man territory, very sparse and minimalist instrumentally, spotlight on the voice and the backing vocals that exude an almost a gospel-like quality. The twirling guitar exercise originally stays relatively sedate until a bruising second part fans the flames of desire.

The brash influence of Pink Floyd is all over the 9 minute epic 'All in the Winds', burgeoning with restrained electronic keyboards and vocal temperance, unhurriedly building up to an expansive and unsullied plateau where the bluesy guitar joins in, in utter delicacy. Evolution of the piece points toward more spoken words, a hustling rhythmic beat that consolidates the mid-section and thus paving the way for a patented slide phrasing that shuffles and shudders along, brazenly modernistic yet still old-school.

Bubbly synthesizer syncopation introduces 'The Last Satellites', a purely extra-terrestrial adventure once again that morphs into a breezy melody, recalling fellow Floyd fanatics RPWL, electro-charged by a bluesy guitar rant that does have slight Mark Knopfler-like twang, a twist that keeps the soloing variety open for further discovery. Bouncy and popping, the second solo is echoes madly and unforgettably.

Another sizable track and the album closer, 'Above This Fractured Earth' rekindles the playground effects with children playing out their innocence, oblivious to any hardship and disappointment. Pools of glittering piano only heightens the pleasure, augmented by Ali's hushed and plaintive voice. The long and deliberate guitar sortie is liquid gold, a perfect whisper of feeling and purpose.

A very accomplished and entertaining work, easily slotted in among the other Floydian influenced bands out there (Dave Kerzner, Nine Stones Close, Marco Ragni, Bjorn Riis/Airbag, Freedom to Glide, RPWL, etc'). Time to hunt down the debut'..

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