TALES FROM THE FOUR SEASONS

Tales from the topographic punchbowl oceans? Well, actually not. Tales From the Four Seasons is more like a lot of Anthony Phillips solo albums as it is guitar dominated, with alternate tunings as well. I also hear some similarities to Shadowfax. Mike Oldfield are claimed as an influences by the artist and I do hear some of that in the music. The artist claims to make a mixture of folk, classical, and progressive rock music and that's a fairly accurate description. Probably lighter on the rock than many would like.

Flood, in the case of this album, turns out to be a completely solo act. Flood calls himself Flood and apparently doesn't have a last name. He plays all the instruments on the album and quite an array: acoustic guitars, piano, organ, synthesizers, flute, clarinet, cellos, acoustic bass, drums, birds. Well the last one is the only annoying aspect of this album. The first track, Spring, has this bird chirping that goes on a little too long. The other three tracks are named after the rest of the seasons, of course. They are all subdivided in five to seven sections.

Normally, I'd think writing a piece of this complexity is a bit of risky business, but Flood did take three years and it turned out very well. Also, he had some river scenery for inspiration. I can hear that in the music, too. If you like well-structured mellow music, check this one out. Great stuff to chill out to.