CORPUS

Though I am not a musician, this strikes me as a musician's album, not necessarily because of virtuosity, but because it is very much a heads down exploration of motifs with variations. Now that shouldn't interest me as someone who can barely play a recorder at third grade level, yet I found much to like here.

First there is the cleanliness of the production, without sounding sterile. I have also not heard an album quite like it, even if the vastly inferior Mind Gallery, from the other side of the country, does pop into my head in the lighter moments, and parts seem like an extension to King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man. All the more remarkable is that it is entirely instrumental, but the pieces like "Satanusky", "Corpus II", and "Step Flange", are concise while still sounding epic, the way a 3 page Edgar Allan Poe story might satisfy your craving for the macabre. The use of female "scat" style vocals on several tracks, like "Samba Tapping" and "Freezone", add a sense of fun in contrast to the more plodding pieces, while not sounding out of place or overly clever. The shorter tracks, like "Le druide", "Gavotte en Rondeau" and "Mandoly", are also far from throwaway, painting an abbreviated portrait of strength and beauty.

This is an album that can appeal to a broad spectrum of prog fans, basically to anyone whose tastes extend beyond the most simplistic. I rounded up because of its freshness, which is a major accomplishment in this genre.