HOLOGRAMATRON

Some days ago I was reading the reviews about BARRY CLEVELAND'S album "Hologramatron", and had some curiosity, being that the music is described almost as a blend of everything, but still was not convinced to spend my hard earned bucks, being that the reviews were somehow contradictory.

I almost couldn't believe my luck when the door bell rang and the mailman brought a package of albums from "Moonjune Records" sent by courtesy of Leonardo Pavkovic and found a copy of "Hologramatron", can't deny I was surprised being that this label works mostly with Jazz music and Hologramatron is cataloged as Eclectic Prog, but later I understood why.

So opened the album and started to listen it, and WOW!, this music blew my mind, it's like a fusion of all styles and genres, from Avant Garde, Psychedelia and Funk, all worked in Jazz style. It's evident that the album is amazingly complex, with dissonances, jamming and elaborated sections plus the voice of "Amy X Neuburg" (who reminds me a bit of Eartha Kitt). Even when I don't like protest lyrics too much, have to accept they are intelligent enough not to collision with the adventurous music.

The opener "Lake of Fire" summarizes what the album is, starting with a complex intro that blends ELP and King Crimson influences but changes radically when Amy adds her aggressive lyrics in a real protest mood.

But what surprised me more is the brilliant work of Michael Manning and Celso Alberti in the bass and percussion respectively. No matter all the insane changes and radical dissonances created by the keyboards, guitar and vocals, the rhythm section manages to make the band keep their feet in the ground and avoid wandering through a mystical and violent amalgam of moods.

Of course we can expect dramatic contrasts, like in the second song "Money Speaks" with a more evident Jazz and Funk mixture that I enjoyed from start to end, all enhanced with the fantastic guitar of Barry Cleveland.

Won't even try to describe the whole album in a song by song review, because expecting the unexpected is part of the adventure that "Hologramatron" offers to the listener, and I don't want to ruin the experience for others, but will recommend the album with confidence, because is simply hallucinatory and a whole new musical conception.

The rating in this case is only an anecdote, because it's almost impossible to transform more than an hour of adventurous music into a cold number, but if you ask me, less than 4 stars would be criminally unfair.

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