Handwrist - Branching Out
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| Handwrist - Branching Out |
Who's up for a 3 track
instrumental prog-rock album but a solo artist from Lisbon, Portugal, that
contains "material not government approved...possibly the opposite"?
The three tracks contained in this collection - 'Prologue', 'Monologue' and
'Epilogue' - total just under an hour of music so must surely be considered an
album in terms of length but each song has its own movements as well, making
this a truly prog record. There are elements of Jazz, some wonderfully loose
rock drumming and the kind of instrumental interplay that made the Doors and
Frank Zappa so well respected. However, there are also moments of plain old
nutsiness that sound like the theme tunes from Children's TV in the twilight
zone.
By the time we venture in to the
2nd movement of this album, the tone takes a more progressively medieval
approach and you can fully imagine Rick Wakeman and pals getting excited by
this kind of fair. For my money, by this point it's all getting a bit self
indulgent but then I don't really know what I expected from a three track, one
hour long instrumental album entirely written and performed by one person with
an obvious axe to grind about the state of music - his own press blurb boldly
states "Hopefully there are freaks who have outgrown the ordinary and who
like a little adventure in their life, or at least in their MP3
player". Don't get me wrong, there
are some nice ideas here and individual sections have their appeal but it's
just not for me. I fully accept that there is a time and a place for this music
but I'm nowhere near stoned enough or in a big enough bean bag to fully
appreciate it. Mind you, it's all being offered up as a free download so you
might as well pop it in on your MP3 player and have a good old freak out on the
bus to work tomorrow.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/handwrist
Free Download: http://handwrist.bandcamp.com/