Wednesday 3 October 2018

SPIRITS BURNING Belgium review translated

http://www.musicinbelgium.net/pl/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=9565


SPIRITS BURNING & MICHAEL MOORCOCK - An Alien Heat
/ published on 29-09-2018 /
Spirits Burning is a geo-variable Space Rock / Progressive collective in which American composer / producer Don Falcone seems to be the only permanent member. Since the creation of the project in 1996, Falcone has published a dozen albums to which members of Blue Öyster Cult , Hawkwind , Gong , Acid Mother Temple , Yes , Spirits , Van der Graaf Generator , Clearlight , Porcupine Tree and many others have collaborated. more besides. 

"An Alien Heat", the brand new opus released by Gonzo Multimedia on October 19, 2018 is a concept album whose story is based on the first volume of the quadrilogy "The Dancers At The End Of Time" (NDR  : "The Dancers Of The End Of Time " ), written in 1972 by the famous writer Science-Fiction / British Heroic Fantasy Michael Moorcock (NDR  : author, among others, of the famous " Cycle Elric " ). To ensure that the lyrics of his re-reading of the novel are true to the original story (NDR  :a strange story at the end of time, in which an immortal named Jharek falls in love with a girl born in the Victorian era), Falcone flatly appealed to the services of Moorcock himself. Although now 79 years old, Moorcock is far from refractory to the idea of merging his lyrics with Rock'n'roll. In the past, he has already written two songs for Blue Öyster Cult ( "Black Blade" on the "Cultösaurus Erectus" of 1980 and the superb "Veterans Of The Psychic Wars" for the album "Fire Of Unknown Origin" In addition, Moorcock was also an active member of Hawkwind, in which he held the microphone in 1975."Warrior On The Edge Of Time" , released at the time and on which we find on the bass a certain Lemmy Killmister . For "An Alien Heat" , Michael Moorcock was not content with the writing of the lyrics and we find him many times behind the microphone (chorus) and the harmonica. 

Moorcock, of course, is not the only guest at the party. Don Falcone did quite well because he gathered around the British author some of the witnesses of his rock'n'roll past. Thus, in this 2018 edition of Spirits Burnig, some members (former and current) of the Blue Öyster Cult family ( Albert Bouchard , Joe Bouchard ,Richie Castellano and former Hawkwind affiliates ( Harvey Bainbridge , Mick Slattery , Bridget Wishart and Adrian Shaw ). It would probably be long and boring to list all the other musicians who participated in the recording of the plaque. We will nevertheless mention the surprising presence of Monty Oxymoron of Damned , as well as that of Andy Shernoff ( The Dictators ) and Cyrille Verdeaux of the French progressive group Clearlight . In addition to his role in the composition of music (NDR  :a role he shares most of the time with Albert Bouchard), Don Falcone plays keyboards (Mellotron, Piano, Organs, Synths, ect,) 

Difficult to paste a general label on the music proposed by the strange collective. There is Space Rock and Folk, as well as some Electro and Ambient Pop. Masterfully sung by Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser, the "Hothouse Flowers" that opens the plate looks a bit like a Blue Oyster Cult title to which would have added violin lines. The influence of the cult of the blue oyster (unfortunately) will be much less pregnant after the opus. "Geronimo"is a weird and haunting title, with a violin, a harmonica, electronic and tribal percussions and some pretty guitar lines. "Evening Of Fire" mixes a dancing and hypnotic rhythm with a pretty female voice. Nothing more Rock, "In The Future" is distinguished by the deep (almost gothic) voice of a vocalist named Jsun Atoms and the sublime solitaire guitar of Richie Castellano (BÖC). "Doomed" is a folk and space title at a time, in which Albert Bouchard's voice is as much Bob Dylanas David Bowie . "Any Particular Interest"is another curiosity that combines a martial / electro side to the more down-to-earth sounds of violin, piano and harmonica. Ditto for "Dark Dominion" which marries mesmerizing hypnotic rhythms with perky vocals. In short, you will have understood without going further, each title of the album has its own identity and is interpreted in a style different from the one before it. 

If, despite these confusing variations of styles, the whole shows a certain unity and generates a furious desire to continue listening until the last of the 75 minutes of music, the second CD, with the same titles version instrumental, was perhaps a bit superfluous. 

An interesting curiosity. 

The
  1. Hothouse Flowers (4'09)
  2. Geronimo (4'42)
  3. Evening Of Fire (5'20)
  4. In The Future (4'05)
  5. Doomed (4'25)
  6. Fall In Love (4'14)
  7. Any Particular Interest (2'58)
  8. Dark Dominion (4'49)
  9. Seven Finger Solution (4'07)
  10. To Steal A Space Traveler (7'29)
  11. Virtue & Mrs. Amelia Underwood (6'33)
  12. Learling The Art (3'04)
  13. Back To 1896 (4'28)
  14. Quest For Bromley (3'00)
  15. Thank You For The Fog (7'34)
  16. Old Friends With New Faces (4'43)

The second CD (75'41)  :
  • Same titles and same order, in instrumental version

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO


Spirits Burning is one of the most unique entities in the space rock galaxy. The group consists of one main member, Don Falcone, and many other participants from various  bands and projects...


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