HOOFFOOT

This is what you get when you're a prog/jazz rock/fusion band that records at Aerosol Grey Machine Studios in Sweden. The studio is ran by Christoffer Lundquist, and it's probably safe to say he's a big Van der Graaf Generator fan to name his studio after that album (although much of the acts that appeared in his studio isn't prog, Roxette a rather obvious example). Also the studio is largely analog, sorta like Toe Rag in London, so you can see why a retro act like Hooffoot would record there, but unlike Toe Rag they don't seem to object to plug-ins, especially something like the Mellotron, known to be unreliable.

Apparently the group has connections to Øresund Space Collective, just like Mantric Music, but don't expect space rock. What you get here is top-rate jazz rock and fusion with a clear prog rock approach to it. Think something like Santana, Miles Davis, Soft Machine, and Return to Forever and you're not too far off, but with a more prog rock approach to it. Expect lots of wind instruments like trumpet and sax, plus organ and electric piano, as well as the usual gear. "Last Flight of the Ratite" is the band in a nutshell. It's clear when there's a trumpet solo, the Miles influence can't be denied, just like where there's that Gregg Rollie type Hammond organ with Carlos Santana-type lead guitar work, you can't avoid the Santana comparison. Unlike their famous American counterparts, there's a more genuine prog rock approach to this music, where the music frequently goes through changes, rather than extended jams. "Take Five, Seven, Six, Eight, and Nine" seems to be a Dave Brubeck reference, but doesn't sound like Brubeck, don't even expect a quote from Brubeck's "Take Five" here. Instead it's more of the same great proggy jazzy rock and fusion, but here I detect a bit of a Scandinavian feel to the music, something you don't get with the American acts. There's even some nice use of sampled Mellotron flute (as I'm sure the band doesn't use a real Mellotron, and Aerosol Grey Machine does have a Mellotron plug-in at their disposal).

The album features some really nice artwork, very reminiscent of 1970s album covers, which I really think is nice, rather that awful, sterile computer generated artwork.

I, for some reason, totally missed out on this group when they released this album in 2015 (I never heard of them then), I am so glad in 2019 there were still a handful of vinyl copies left, which I purchased me a copy (this type of retro music really begs to be heard on vinyl). Really great stuff worthy of your attention!