Oxygene 8 - Poetica

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Oxygene 8 - Poetica

Artist:	Oxygene 8
Title:	Poetica
Label:	self produced
Length(s):	57 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2003
Month of review:	[04/2004]

Line up

Linda Cushma - vocals, midi chapman stick, guitar synth and loops
Frank D'Angelo - midi electric guitar, guitar synth and loops
Tim Alexander - drums

Tracks

1)	Stand	4.29
2)	Hold On	6.25
3)	Funkernickel	6.28
4)	Empty	5.21
5)	Poetica	3.12
6)	Larry's Lullabye (prelude)	2.29
7)	Spoolanoosh	3.05
8)	Larry's Lullabye	3.14
9)	Mocha Butterfly	5.48
10)	Love Soldier	3.59
11)	Cathedral	8.10
12)	Heart To Weep	4.08

Summary

With Alexander of Primus on drums and Ty Tabor of King's X doing the mastering, it may be surprising this is a self produced release. But it is, led by Cushma and D'Angelo.

The music

Stand is the rather heavy opener. The combination of spoken word, bouncy repetitions of the title and the rhythm and lead guitar work make this seem more like American alternative than progressive rock. The solo guitar however leaves more of a progjazzrock impression. An ethereal guitar sound dominates Hold On, which again features the somewhat spoken somewhat vocals of Cushma. At times, for instance during the very melodic chorus, she really sings. The groove is quite important to this band it seems, and the guitar work continues to have this jazz rock feel. In a way, the instrumental intermezzo's which line the track, can be compared to some of the bands on Magna Carta, Attention Deficit and the like. The drummer is very active on this lively track which wanders between the melodious and accessible chorus vocal (well it is not really a chorus, but the part of the song that gets repeated), and the more meandering guitar parts.

Funkernickel is what I expect to be an instrumental and well it ought to have a name, right? It is not as funky as you might expect, it is more in the line of American instrumental prog with a strong focus on the guitar, although the rhythm section is also very present. Melodically, there is quite a bit of repetition, and the song gets to be more percussive along the way. Personally, I am not that fond of the meandering guitar, especially when it starts to dominate the stage.

Empty combines a weak chorus with fast verses and a dissonant guitar line which is more experimental than usual and bit Asiatic sounding. The second instrumental which also happens to be the title track is quite different from the foregoing. A mysterious sounding keyboard dominated track which moves right into the acoustic Larry's Lullabye (prelude). Like the previous track there is a mystery and maybe something exotic about the track.

Spoolanoosh opens with effects on bass, I would guess. The instrumental continuation is slow, and a bit spooky with lots of time reversed effects and gamelan like sounds. Weird, but it does help to take away the 'alternative rock' stigma the album might have gotten during the first few tracks.

Larry's Lullabye itself, is a rather soft spoken vocal track. Keyboards lining the melodious vocals, a bit in the vein of Peter Gabriel. The level of experimentation present on this album also reminds one of his latest offering, Up. Percussion is clear and repetitive.

The guitar sound of the opening of Mocha Butterfly, brings back the alt feel again, think of bands like Sonic Youth here. Later the meander comes back in. You should not be thinking of San Francisco and Donovan when you listen to Love Soldier, because it is a rather heavy and angular affair. Not fast, but heavy on the rhythm guitar, which does happen to be playing a nice melody. The vocal parts happen to be lacking in just that department. Longest track on the album is Cathedral, whose vocal style reminds me of Anne Clarke. The vocals sound friendlier a bit later. Musically this song is a climactic one which tends to win in power as it progresses. The guitar meanders like on any other track, but with more point to it, at least that is how I feel it. A great finale.

The album closes with the ballad like Heart To Weep. Repetitive acoustics, an open sound, a good vocal melody form the main ingredients.

Conclusion

This is a typically American album. If the music on this album can be called progressive at all, it is the progressivity that one may find on current jazzrock bands or in the music of Peter Gabriel. For the rest it contains references to bands like The Breeders and Sonic Youth, but it also contains some rather friendly and melodious tracks that are then harder to place. Something for everyone one might say, although I think the meandering guitar and the tendency to include eastern influences are the most dominating factors here. As a result one obtains a rather disjointed collection of songs, some of which are weak (Empty is a good example) and some of which I can readily appreciate (Hold On, Larry's Lullabye, Cathedral and Heart To Weep for instance) and some of which leave me a bit indifferent, those are mainly instrumentals. Still, it seems that the positive experiences in my case form the majority.