SPLIT SECONDS

Phil Miller needs no introduction to those of us who are into Canterbury styled music. He's played guitar with DELIVERY, MATCHING MOLE, HATFIELD & THE NORTH, NATIONAL HEALTH and more. "Split Seconds" would be Phil's second solo album after the excellent "Cutting Both Ways" from the year before. He again decided to have his IN CAHOOTS band play on one part of the album as we get Pip Pyle, Fred Baker and Steve Franklin while Phil along with Elton Dean are the constants. The other part of the album features Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskins with John Mitchell helping out on one of those tracks and Richard Sinclair on another. It just seems to me that this is a pale version of his debut, you know like KING CRIMSON's fist two albums. The same style just not as good in my opinion. I miss Hugh Hopper too.

"And Thus Far" opens with guitar and synths as the drums and bass join in. A pleasant sound. Sax comes into the spotlight before 3 minutes. A calm around 4 1/2 minutes with the bass and a beat leading the way as synths and more come and go. Smooth sax after 8 minutes with bass and synths as it calms right down. The drums are back and soon it's a full uptempo sound before 11 minutes. A good start.

"Final Call" has a nice bass solo to start as the guitar and band all join in. I like the guitar after 3 minutes. "Dada Soul" is my favourite with Richard Sinclair singing and playing bass. It opens with percussion, atmosphere, guitar and beautiful female vocal melodies from Barbara. After that gorgeous intro Richard comes in with vocals. That intro will return and they will combine forces too. A really enjoyable track thanks to Gaskins and Sinclair.

"Truly Yours" is mellow as the sax joins in and it will be the dominant sound until the synths take over after 3 1/2 minutes. "Double Talk" is a uptempo track with a lot going on with the percussion, bass, synths and more. Soon the guitar is playing over top. It lightens before 3 1/2 minutes with picked guitar and percussion before kicking back in. "I Remain" is a smooth and relaxed tune.

"Your Root 2" sounds good to start as we get some depth to the sound here with the bass and drums. The sax comes in over top around a minute. A calm with bass before 4 minutes. Nice. This continues as drums help out then other sounds start to come and go until the synths start to make some noise before 6 minutes. Sounds like vibes and also sax kicking in before 7 minutes after some nice drum work from Pip.

I do like some of those IN CAHOOTS albums that would follow better than this one but "Split Seconds" certainly has it's highlights.