Wednesday 8 August 2012

Bondage Fruit - Bondage Fruit I (1994)



Review originally published somewhere else 14. December 2010. Moved over to this blog to get a complete review of their discography.

That's what we are talking about !

This is the debut album from the Japanese band Bondage Fruit. They are labeled zeuhl, but that is a label loosely applied to their music. This album is all over the music scenes. From fusion aka Mahavishnu Orchestra to Magma. In between, they also visit African music through the likes of Osibisa, avant-garde aka Present and Univers Zero, jazz aka Miles Davis and Simak Dialogue, the Canterbury Scene aka Hugh Hopper and hippie pop bands like The B52s. And I could go on and on by mentioning references. But this list should suffice for now.

In short, Bondage Fruit takes us on a heck of a journey on this album. The guitars are both clear, acoustic and distorted. There is plenty of violins here. There is also plenty of female vocals used as sound effects. There is also plenty of drums and bass here in addition to synths. The sound, chaotic at times, is still organic and never plastic or synthetic.

Quality wise, the album is great throughout. Most of all; this is a joyful album with a lot of small details which makes the listener really concentrate hard......... and then enjoy the music. A couple of ideas are underdeveloped and leaves a lot to be desired, but this album is still great and a must have for any zeuhl/RIO fans. Even fusion and jazz fans will find this album very interesting. But be prepared to be challenged.

An excellent album and a real winter warmer is my verdict though.

4 points

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