Taylors Universe with Karsten Vogel

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Taylors Universe with Karsten Vogel - Once Again

Artist:	Taylors Universe with Karsten Vogel
Title:	Once Again
Label:	Marvel of Beauty
Length(s):	41 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2004
Month of review:	[04/2005]

Line up

Karsten Vogel - reeds
Robin Taylor - miscellaneous instruments and electronics
Mads Hansen - drums
Kim Menzer - disgeridoo
Pierre Tassone - violin
Rasmus Grosell - drums
Kalle Mathiesen - drums
Louise Nipper - voice

Tracks

1)	Groop	4.53
2)	Oyster Jungle	4.19
3)	Bellahoy	2.44
4)	Conferences At Bird Mountain	9.45
5)	Way Back In 85	5.58
6)	Suspect Terrain	4.27
7)	Lazy B	8.43

Summary

The second Taylor's Universe, on which Robin Taylor is again assisted by Karsten Vogel, formerly Burnin Red Ivanhoe.

The music

Groop opens with humoristic didgeridoo, at least it sounds funny to me. On the whole it sounds like a cocktail party somewhere in the Australian backlands, lots of unintelligible mumbling. It does not stay that way of course, because Taylor is there to add his meander guitar right after (it was pointed out to me by Robin that this is in fact Pierre Tassone's distorted violin). The drums are loose and percussively played. An easy going gait, makes this a tune that doesn't appeal to me much, although the Western like twangs towards the end are a nice touch.

Oyster Jungle opens with nice effects, moving right into a really good melodic theme played by guitar and sax together. The percussion lies low here, and the sax can display itself in all its elegance and beauty. Excellent track, with also more than a hint of tension. Later on, the guitar becomes more rowdy, while the sax stays very clean and melodious. Bellahoy is a rather short affair, and again a strong display of sax and atmosphere, based on a simple yet effective, repeated melody. Again plenty of tension on this avant-gardistic tune that may remind some of Present and Kerman's bands.

Conferences At Bird Mountain takes a totally different tack, based on a very catchy bouncy tune is at first backed by some kind of synthetic colony of birds. Then at first the theme and the birds die away and we are left with percussion mainly, smack in the middle. Then soothing synths ride to the rescue, to pave the way for some mellow sax, although the jollity of the opening returns.

Way Back in 85 is moody piano oriented stuff. Again a great melody here, so memorable you wonder why nobody ever thought of it before. The contrast with the rhythm guitar and the soaring Frippian guitar is excellent. The break in the middle is a bit stranger at first, and the sax tends towards David Jackson of VDGG fame. Rather groovy this part. An intense finale on sax brings us back to the main theme, but subdued.

Suspect Terrain is a percussive piece with the sax interjecting small runs of meandering notes. At the end we get some guitar as well, but compared to the previous tracks, this one feels somewhat uneventful. Lazy B closes shop, and does so in what is indeed a lazy fashion. Ponderously it moves, with synths in lining the back, and the guitar playing is bluesy in an almost not recognizable fashion. Later that becomes more evident.

Conclusion

Well, Taylor had me scared there on the first track, but he comes back with a vengeance. If you are into fusion or jazzrock, or even the RIO side of things, then you owe this a listen, even if it happens to be short. Excellent melodies, great playing and variety and a nice touch of experimentalism to keep you on your toes. I especially enjoyed tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5.