IMPRESSIVE INSTRUMENTAL DEBUT
One of the remarkable impacts the modern era has had on the music we listen to is the explosion in international studio recordings, where artists from different continents, let alone countries, get together to create new music remotely at least part of the time. This is a wholly positive development and, naturally, a little more cost-effective than whipping a pile of people and equipment aboard a Boeing 747 to create your art over the course of weeks together.
The latest such collaboration, from Canada, USA, and UK, to pass between the Lazland listening lugs is Paradigms by T.A.P., which features the talents of Mike Jobborn, a well-known promoter of progressive rock on keyboards, soundscapes, and drum programming; Mark Cook of Herd of Instinct, a multi-instrumentalist and producer who has recorded and performed with the likes of Djam Karet, Pat Mastellotto, Colin Edwin & Jerry Marotta on Warr Guitar, basses, other guitars, synths & soundscapes; Suzi James of Fearful Symmetry and Thin Lizzy tribute act “Live & Dangerous” on guitars, basses, oud and flute; and Gayle Ellett, founding member of Djam Karet and currently with The Electromags and who has guested with Herd of Instinct, on Hammond, Moog & Mellotron. The band are joined by Paul Sears (on Silence from the Storm) and Bill Bachman (Herd Of Instinct mix of this) on drums.
The album is released by Melodic Revolution Records on 6th October and can be pre-ordered before that. The Bandcamp page is at https://tapprog.bandcamp.com/album/paradigms
We have seven tracks on this album, plus the bonus track of HOI mix of Silence from the Storm, and I must say this is a very enjoyable album, a nicely eclectic mix of sounds and influences, and an impressive addition to some recent instrumental crackers.
So, we start off with Infinite Names, the first of two epic length pieces on the album and a statement of intent. Following the soundscapes in the opening seconds, you notice immediately the haunting guitars, and it is fair to say here that if you deeply appreciate, as I do, the range of work Fripp has done over the years from his ambient soundscapes to industrial noise with Crimson, you will find a lot to enjoy here. Nothing derivative, but clearly a strong influence on not only the guitars but also the overall mood created. There is a relentless funk beat underbelly to the track as it develops with the guitar notes crying in the ether set against some distinctly experimental noises which continue throughout. The choral voices are very pretty and the extended guitar and bass passage entering at five and a half minutes in fair took my breath away. I think the best way to describe this strong opener is something which you sense in the great distance at first, but then steadily hurtles its way towards you before immersing you in its sound and tension and takes you on an extended journey with distinctive eastern flavours interspersed with futuristic dystopia in the closing segment.
This is followed by The Progbient, a definite contender for “Title of the Year” in the 2023 Lazland Awards. There is a video for this track, and it is embedded below. I like the graphics on it, the mindful dancing to mathematically infused complex rock music, and the stunning image of the sky split between the two trees. The opening segment is dark, and jazz infused, before that haunting guitar returns underpinned by a thumping rhythm section and some wonderful interplay between guitar, bass, and keys. This is adventurous, dramatic, and as interesting as anything I have seen and heard in 2023.
Initiate Protocol 7 sounds like something from a sci-fi thriller or Marvel Universe and, as an interesting aside, there is a Protocol 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights which deals with the “expulsion of aliens”, although sadly not the infinite void variety. There are some lovely flute and synth noises alongside some gorgeous guitar work which floats above you in a track which veers between the accessible, expansive, experimental, ambient, and futuristic all packed in at under six minutes. Said Protocol does not strike me as being a disastrous initiation or outcome. The track is far too beautiful for that.
Signal Transactions follows. The combination of guitars and strings is electric before a low, rumbling bass introduces the main segment with some bouncy keyboard work and guitar swirls which take you back to some of the experimental work created by the more leftfield artists of the classic era. I think it is Jobborn on the drums and percussion here, and that is a very impressive aspect of this track, creating a relentless beat and, taken as a whole, this track is a very good fusion of jazz and chamber rock.
My favourite follows, the exceptional Silence from the Storm, as good an evocation of a climatic event I have heard since the peerless Disturbance Fields by Edison’s Children. It also happens to be the longest piece here. I have seen a comment on this by Charlie Bramald, who said simply “yum!”. I concur wholeheartedly. Paul Sears adds some dramatic drums and percussion, some of the bass guitar work is sublime, the varying guitars (listen to that explosive riff just before the ten minute stage), with some incredible intricacy in places, and extremely disturbing keys, Hammond combine to dramatic effect that closing my eyes, I see in my imagination myself standing at the edge of a large expanse in a state such as Wyoming, with the tempest encroaching ever so steadily towards me, carrying with it that interesting combination of death and harsh beauty of nature. In over twelve minutes of music, it never loses one’s attention. In fact, I wanted more when it finished, especially after that extended guitar solo. Instrumental rock at its best.
It is difficult to follow an epic such as that. There is always the risk of disappointment, which is why, of course, many bands simply plonk such pieces at the end of the album, or at least at the end of Side One of the old vinyl. T.A.P., though, follow it with a fascinating piece, The Last Words of Dutch Schultz. Said Dutch was not a particularly pleasant person, a New York mobster who, like many of his contemporaries, grew rich from one of the most imbecilic pieces of legislation imposed in the history of mankind, Prohibition. He died a somewhat violent death in a restaurant after defying his boss’s refusal to sanction the (failed) murder of a federal prosecutor. This track packs a lot in with its five minutes, and especially noticeable is the way the band create a tension. I can see this set against the scene in The Godfather, where you have the build up to the Michael hit of the Turk and bent policeman. There is an element of pure swing in the bass and drum/percussion rhythm here, and some of the keyboard and synth work is stunning. The guitar swirls, echoing in the large scene of death before the comedown recreates those last words, which have inspired many writers.
A boy has never wept...nor dashed a thousand kim.
You can play jacks, and girls do that with a soft ball and do tricks with it.
Oh, Oh, dog Biscuit, and when he is happy he doesn't get snappy.
The main album finishes, appropriately, with Terminus, and we have a video for you to enjoy, hot off the presses, and it is another very impressive watch and listen. The guitar is, again, haunting, and the hand drum impressive. This is a piece infused with the spirit and sense of the east, an oriental delight. The bass is a jazzy treat, but the video makes clear there is a violence behind the word terminus, an end, perhaps of us, our civilisation, perhaps driven by that mechanical, artificial mind? The crashing piano notes perhaps do more than anything else to put this across before the end comes with some starkly beautiful, simple, chords, but even more effective for this.
As mentioned above, there is a bonus track, the Herd of Instinct mix of my track of the album. Shorter by some four minutes, with Bachman bringing a different energy to the party in a punchier version of the epic track.
Paradigms is a very impressive album. I have seen a couple of people I respect deeply on progressive music forums state it is their album of 2023, and I have no doubt it will reach the lists of many music magazines, fanzines, and websites. This website does not produce such lists. So, let me say this. If you appreciate music which seeks to break boundaries, tell stories without words, has sublime musicianship, and encourages the listener to immerse themselves in a collective’s vision & art, then you should get this. A genuine highlight of 2023.