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Released
1997

Label
Zzaj Productions

Reviewed by
Kim Alexander

Contact

Zzaj Productions
5308 65th Ave SE
Lacey Washington 98513

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Last Edit/Update
20 juli, 1998

The Imaginary Band

SONARCHY

         
Track Listing

1. Evaporations
2. Crimson Sun
3. Sweet Twisted Blue

The Imaginary Band is

Harlan Mark Vale -- Synthesizers, Drums
Peter Tomshany -- Electric Guitar, Moog Synth
Dick Metcalf -- Keyboards and Spontaneous Poetry/Spoken Word

* * * * *

          The blend of electric guitar winding its way through spacious backdrops of organ and drums fuse together synth, chimes and a dab of jazzy tempo's in The Imaginary Bands opening act "Evaporations". This live performance at Sonarchy Radio/Jack Straw Studios in Seattle in October, 1997 leaves the listener wanting more fine programming and musician artistry from this excellent trio. This live performance would have been an interesting time spent with Harlan, Dick and Peter. "Evaporations" is a diverse track that would fit well in a drama/chase scene film set in the heart of Northern Ireland's political unrest.
          "Crimson Sun" slurs from quirky synths and hovering electro-ambience to a warped aural sensation of floating in a dream state, on the edge of a twisted nightmare as Dick Metcalf leads with poetry/spoken word about dreams and waking moments that take the listener off into thoughts of "forgotten passion and something beyond the televison". Picking up in tempo and timbre synths and birdlike sounds interject into the whirring and twisting continuum of electronica based bells and chimes. A beautiful work of synth noize-art!
          Guitar and synth continues to accentuate the keys in "Sweet Twisted Blues", a somber movement into a realm of carefully manipulated noise sonics and eerie sweeping shadows of blurred whispers of spoken word. Suspenseful and well composed, "Sweet Twisted Blues" conjures up a a race between heightened noise and gruelling guitar bringing the listener to an encounter of more nightmarish aural surrealism.
          In a genre all its own, "The Imaginary Band" as heard on this live taped performance isn't something to be taken lightly, certainly nothing you would play before retiring at the days end as it demands your full attention in gathering the myriad of sounds displayed and convoluted into a soundscape of electro-noise therapy.       

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