Reviews roundup – Magnum vs. Thom Douvan vs. Telesma vs. Psych Tribute To The Beatles vs. Mark Wingfield

Reviews roundup – Magnum vs. Thom Douvan vs. Telesma vs. Psych Tribute To The Beatles vs. Mark Wingfield

MAGNUM
Escape From The Shadow Garden – Live 2014
Steamhammer / SPV

A somewhat misleading title for live album number nine(?) from melodic rock veterans Magnum.  See, it’s not actually their 2014 album “Escape From The Shadow Garden” live. Rather it’s a souvenir of their European tour in the spring of 2014 promoting “Escape From The Shadow Garden”.  In other words, your regular Magnum tour with a few new tunes.

Now Magnum don’t make bad albums, either live or in the studio, and this is no exception.  For your money you’re getting 12 songs chosen from 7 of the band’s 19 studio albums, ranging from their early days right through to their recent releases.  It shows the quality of the new material that they kick things off with ‘Live ‘Till You Die’ from their most recent studio set before heading off into ‘Black Skies’ and ‘Freedom Day’ from their 2011 album “The Visitation”.

Then it’s the album highlight with ‘Dance Of The Black Tattoo’ from 2012s “‘On The Thirteenth Day”, by far the best song Magnum have recorded in the last decade.  So you’re into the second half of the album before the crowd pleasers arrive but their brand of melodic meets prog rock is so good, you don’t mind the wait until ‘How Far Jerusalem’ arrives.

There doesn’t seem to be much post recording tinkering going on, so it does sound like a live album, and all the band are in good form.  Granted, Bob Catley can’t hit all the notes of yore, but his 67 years don’t show in his voice, and it’s another treat for Magnum fans.

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THOM DOUVAN
All Over Again
Redwood Road

Thom Douvan can play the guitar.  Which is why he spent the seventies working on sessions for the likes of Marvin Gaye and The Four Tops alongside members of the Funk Brothers.

Nowadays, he’s releasing solo jazz albums, of which this is the third.  And it’s really rather good.  Whereas his last release was a soul-jazz organ combo tribute to the Funk Brothers, this sees him returning to original compositions, aided by a crack back up band featuring jazzateers who’ve played with the likes of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, John Scofield, Jean-Luc Ponty, Kenny Burrell and Herbie Hancock.

Thankfully, it’s not all noodling as he always remembers that the song is the thing, and there is just as much space for his colleagues as there is for guitar picking.  It’s a fine mix of up tempo material and ballads, a bit too edgy for the smooth jazz world, and with a special mention for the just delightful ‘Then I Met You’ with guest vocals from Lynne Fiddmont.  A real pleasure.

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TELESMA
Decade Dance
independent

Hippy alert!  Pretty much all you need to know about Telesma is the fact that this lengthy EP (38 minutes) was launched at Telesma’s 10 year anniversary / Winter Solstice Celebration.  Oh, yes.

If you’re as old as me, you’ll remember the Magic Mushroom Band in the trance tent at many a festival, and that’s not a million miles away from the electronic / trance / psychedelic / rock vibe that Telesma are trying to create.  In their own words they want “to take the listener on a journey through the mind, body, and soul.”

And if you’re into that sort of thing, then this is actually a very good example.  Add in a didgeridoo and a kubing (bamboo mouth harp), and you’ve got your own mini festival going on.  All you need is the smell of a crusty, some mud and a dog peeing against your leg, and you’re all sorted.

The more percussive they get, the better they sound, and it’s certainly something to listen to.

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VARIOUS
The Magical Mystery Psych Out: A Tribute To The Beatles
Cleopatra

All you need is another bloody Beatles tribute.  I don’t get, I really don’t. Maybe you had to be their, but the Beatles rank as a fairly uninteresting sixties band, when you look at what else was going on around the same time.  But that doesn’t stop generations of musicians from thinking they were something special.

And the latest lot are a bunch of psych outfits taking on some Fab Four tunes.  Although none of them seem to be from the Magical Mystery Tour.  And no, I’m not binging it to find out for sure. The good news is, though, that all of these songs sound better when not performed by the Beatles.

The best of the bunch are German acid rockers Electric Moon taking on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, British band The Underground Youth rampaging through ‘Come Together’ and the colonial outfit Strangers Family Band on ‘Sun King’.  Nothing will ever convince me to voluntarily listen to anything by the Beatles, but this was a top, gear, fab and groovy listen.

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MARK WINGFIELD
Proof Of Light
Moonjune

With Mark Wingfield citing jazz, rock, Indian, Japanese, African and classical music as influences, it’s no great surprise that he’s ended up with a release on Moonjune Records, as the two seem a natural fit.

And on this latest foray, Mr Wingfield is in fine company alongside drummer / percussionist Asaf Sirkis and bass player Yaron Stavi whose credits include Robert Wyatt and David Gilmour. The guitarist himself isn’t shy when it comes to putting his instrument front and centre, and he is just as at home thrashing out as he is at the finer nuances of noodle.

The opener, ‘Mars Saffron’ is a real highlight, blasting out a fiery fusion beat, but he is equally adept at the more reflective ‘The Way To Etretat’, before crashing through another must hear piece in the shape of ‘Voltaic’. It only took two days to record the nine tracks on offer, and they’ve trodden the fine line between spontaneity and professionalism to perfection.  For fusion fans, this is just about as good as it gets.

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