Reviews roundup – Allan Holdsworth vs. Gin Lady vs. Copernicus
ALLAN HOLDSWORTH
FLATTire: Music For A Non Existent Movie
Moonjune
FLATTire was originally released in 2001, reissued in 2007 and is now back again, showing off Allan Holdsworth’s use of the MIDI-controller, guitar-like Synthaxe.
It seemed to vanish upon release, which may have been down to the esoteric nature of the muse he was pursuing at the time. It’s solo Holdsworth bar a couple of appearances from the late bass player Dave Carpenter, and sees him working (as the title suggests) in soundtrack mode.
But rather than reflect someone elses vision, he takes the opportunity for inner reflection through his guitar work. Although when you listen to orchestrations such as ‘The Duplicate Man’, it’s hard to believe that all those noises are coming from one man.
It’s interesting rather than essential, but Holdsworth fans who missed it should rectify that now.
GIN LADY
Mother’s Ruin
Transubstans
I liked Black Bonzo, the Swedish prog band, so I was disheartened to hear that Gin Lady have emerged from their ashes. At least until I heard this CD. Because it’s a cracker.
But don’t come here looking for some top notch prog, because you won’t find it here. Nope, Gin Lady have taken a sideways step into the world of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep to put out a set of seventies classic rock.
It’s one of those records that belong on a record deck, late at night, sometime in the winter of 1972, as the band offer up a wide range of grooves on tracks like ‘Shine On (Song For Terry)’, ‘High Flyer’, and ‘I Head For the Mountains’. The closest sound from those days is probably that of “Sufficiently Breathless” Captain Beyond, and that is always going to be alright in my book.
COPERNICUS
Worthless!
Moonjune
Finally, for the day, we catch up with the fourteenth album from Joseph Smalkowski (who is this Copernicus).
Now don’t be fooled into thinking this is music. Rather it’s the deranged warblings of someone who should be getting regular treatment. Imagine if you will an aged beat poet shouting and rambling while someone throws a trolley full of cutlery down the stairs. And even that doesn’t do it justice.
However, there are some people out there who like This Sort Of Thing. Some of them even have ears. Which shocked me, I must admit. From panpipes to acid fried jazz to out of tune prog, this is the record you should recommend to people you really don’t care for very much. As for me, I shall have it on repeat play any time the in-laws come for a visit.
If you thought we’d got rid of this sort of thing once we set fire to the seventies, think again.
The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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