Thursday 1 May 2014

Stereokimono - Intergalactic Art Cafe (2012)



The third and so far final album from this Italian trio.

I first thought this was a Japanese band. Not only because of their name, but also because of their music. That was during my first two listening sessions. Then the Italian associations creeps up on me. We are talking one hour of mostly instrumental crossover fusion here. Music which comes across as a mix of RPI and Canterbury prog. A bit like the lighter sides of Area and Gong.

The very few vocals here reminds me about the dreamy spaced out Ms Smythe in Gong. There are also some Area like male vocals here. The other instruments are guitars, woodwinds, keyboards, bass and drums. Mostly the keyboards, guitars, bass and drums format.

The music is sometimes pretty dreamy and spaced out. Most of all, it is pretty much grounded to the earth with a lot of quirky bass and drums parts. I don't really feel the band has gone out on a limb here and created something unique. The music is sometimes too bland and there is no real great tracks here. That said, this is a very good album which adds something special to this tried and a bit tired formula. Of the instrumental bands, this one is well worth keeping an eye on.

3.5 points

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