HAT AND FIELD

This is AIN SOPH's second album released some six years after their debut "A Story Of Mysterious Forest". I do prefer the 1980 debut as I gave it 4.5 stars but this one is well worth the 4 stars in my opinion. "Hat And Field" is an obvious reference to HATFIELD AND THE NORTH including the very cool album cover. There's also a song called "A Canterbury Tale(For Pye Hastings & Richard Sinclair)", yet to my ears this is Jazz/ Rock Fusion all the way with them crossing the line into Symphonic and Canterbury the odd time. I wish the liner notes were in English as there's a lot of info but I appreciate the many pictures of the band, mostly in the studio.

"The Swan Lake" has a mellow intro that turns beautiful before a minute followed by a guitar led section, very enjoyable. Distorted keys replace the guitar and the bass is prominent here as well. The guitar is back leading and man that bass is good. A calm after 4 1/2 minutes but it's brief as that guitar led soundscape returns. "Little Pieces Part 1" and the second part later on were written by the keyboardist while pretty much everything else was written by the guitarist named Yozok. This short piece is piano and floating synths throughout.

"Suite: Hat And Field" is the longest piece at just over 10 minutes and it's divided into 5 sections. It hits the ground running with so much going on but then it stops as a guitar led melody takes over. Catchy stuff with some nice bass too. I like how themes are repeated throughout. We get an almost spacey vibe 4 1/2 minutes in that's beautiful and I like the relaxed keyboard work after 7 minutes. The tempo picks up before 8 1/2 minutes big time.

"Mizzle" is a Jazz/ Fusion piece where they show off their chops. Impressive! "Canterbury Tale(For Pye Hastings & Richard Sinclair)" is a guitar led song that is a fitting tribute, very enjoyable. "Magic Carpet" is synth led as the music swells and collapses until it kicks into a Jazz/ Fusion track that is quite lively. A calm before 3 minutes and I love when the guitar comes in with the background synths. "Little Pieces Part 2' like the first one is piano led with spacey synths, very ballad-like. "Pipe Dream" is a bright keyboard led track with prominent bass and busy drum work. The guitar starts to lead before 4 1/2 minutes. Nice.

A really enjoyable album that will scratch the itch for most of you Jazz Rock/ Fusion fans out there.