This 2-CD set was recorded back last year on April 10th
in Tokyo, Japan at the Billboard in which they did two shows with special guest,
King Crimson violinist David Cross. Originally the live recordings were
released as a double set in Japan only. This year, it is now released via
MoonJune Records and produced by Markus Reuter for Unsung Productions with a limited release of 1,000 copies.
When you put the CDs on, it is
for me, imaging yourself being at those shows in Japan being in awe of the trio
and Cross himself as they embark in sinister territories that will send shivers
down your spine and bringing memories back of the golden-era of King Crimson. Stick Men launched back nine years ago by bassist/stickist
Tony Levin, drummer Pat Mastelotto, and Chapman Stick player Michael Bernier in
which it was part of Tony’s solo album simply entitled Stick Men. Michael left and Markus Reuter on Touch Guitar,
Soundscapes, and Keyboards joined.
They have released four albums, one EP, an
anthology compilation, and now the live album of Midori. This here is a special treat to delve into the waters of
the band’s music and honoring the legacy of the Crimson sound. Listening to this album, as I’ve mentioned again earlier in
my introduction, makes you feel that you are at the Billboard for those two
shows being in awe of Stick Men and Cross himself being completely in awe of
what they are giving the audience a big special treat.
There are moments where
it’s ambient/atmospheric, world music, heavier, raw, electronic, and eruptive
volcanic beats. Shades of Starless
resembles this crossover between the Wish
You Were Here-era of Pink Floyd, early Tangerine Dream, and the homage to
the Red-era also. It is all combined
into one as if it set in a dystopian futuristic wasteland with the soundscapes
and violinist Cross do before the haunting melody comes in and he is nailing
his improvisation on his instrument as you can the imagine the dry ice setting
the eerie vibration on the stage to capture the breeze of you being in the
middle of a warzone.
The 12-minute eerie dystopian Industry, sees Reuter going into the darker atmospheres that
resembles a wasteland gone horribly wrong of corruption, greed, and inmates
running the city as if it the monsters have taken over the city. Reuter adds
the effects of gunfire, clicking noises, seagulls, and crashing effects before
the militant drums and bass kick in by Mastelotto & Levin. Then, Stick Men
go into the jump for light speed with Breathless
and the heavier forces to Hide the Trees.
Reuter brings an innovative blast that gives both eerie and
eruptive sounds on the touch guitar to a whole new scenario. He, Tony, and Pat
go into experimental roars with their instruments that channels the future as
if you are skydiving into amazing world of mountains, trees, and landing at the
right momentum. And again, there’s a futuristic quality to it also where the
ascending haunting melodies fit right into the stratosphere with some
unexpected time changes on where they headed into.
Improv: Moon, is a
continuation of King Crimson’s spacey jazz voyage of the 12-minute piece, Moonchild but adding the electronic
nightmarish scenario’s between Reuter and Cross himself adding the darker tones
of the outer limits that sends shivers down the audience’s spines as David
Cross carries the mysterious middle-eastern Egyptian sounds to his violin with
twilight zone-sque organ on Sartori in
Tangier.
This is my twelfth time listening to Midori. I’ve always wanted to delve into
the swimming pool of Stick Men’s floating in my ears and enjoy the spirituality
and essence of the force of Crimson’s music and staying true to the legacy of
the band’s music. I hope to check out more of Stick Men’s sound later on. If
you are new to their music or if you are a King Crimson fan, this 2-CD set is
worth checking out.
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