Space Rock Review: Alan Davey-Four Track Mind

Release Date: May 22, 2020

Label: 2020 Purple Pyramid Records, a division of Cleopatra Records, Inc.

Website

You may not believe your eyes at how gigantic this piece of work might be, but, it won’t take long to tell you of this powerful album. Take a trip. That’s exactly how you’ll feel after listening to Four Track Mind. It’s interstellar, out-of-this-world. You might recognize this badass bassist and guitarist from his Hawkwind days. For 12 years from ’84 to ’96 and then again from 2000 to 2007, he rode high on his band’s success. In the space of that four-year hiatus, Davey took the time to mold his own career as a solo artist. During his second run of Hawkwind, his solo projects diminished. With this new solo release, it’s almost as if he had one final trick up his sleeve…that we know of.

Four Track Mind is not for the average, every-day music lover and or consumer, (even some aficionados might find some difficulty in getting through this heavy tracklist). The album lures the listener into a trance-like state. Alan Davey shows a great variance of techniques in utilizing a blend between two instruments – a bass guitar, and a synthesizer. As you play through the album, it begins to feel like a movie soundtrack from an alien domination film. The tone intensifies as tracks like “Lost in the Smoke” and “Greenback Massacre” come on, where the beginning 10 tracks and others like “Fire Tribe” are play-on beatmakers that play almost like individualized ringtones to old-fashioned cell phones.

Imagine, if you will, a hypnotical spiral where it continues to infinity. That is what much of this album represents. Four Track Mind is the kind of album you need to allow yourself to get lost in. Dedicate a day of meditation or intention to this record. The varying sounds and tones through the combination of the guitar and synths send you through an out-of-body experience like no other. But a piece of work of this magnitude also requires the discipline to go from start to finish and understand how to make essentially four separate albums cohesively flow together.

Gregg Keniston- MuzikMan.net Staff

June 30, 2020

Track Listing:

01.     Spiritual Modulator
02.    R.E.M. Time
03.    Chinese Whispers
04.    Transient
05.    Slumber Head
06.    Dragon Chaser (1986 Version)
07.    Hypno Trip
08.    In A Sphere
09.    E-On Strings
10.    Wind of Ghosts
11.    Dark Light
12.    Moody Motion
13.    Flight to Andromeda
14.    Sunrise Assassins
15.    Moonstone
16.    Dragon Chaser (1988 Version)
17.    Sword of the East
18.    A Shot in the Dark
19.    Spiritual Modulator
20.    The Call
21.    Fire Tribe
22.    Return To…
23.    Simulator
24.    Chased
25.    Dragon Chaser
26.    Drive
27.    On Acid Bass!
28.    Hitze Seeker V
29.    Of Wings
30.    Out of My Box
31.    Robby’s Rap
32.    Jigging
33.    The Noise
34.    Abab Fed
35.    Backwards Thru Water
36.    Tribal Daze
37.    Lost in the Smoke
38.    Snake Charmer
39.    Up and Up
40.    The Animal
41.    Deep Space Rock
42.    Don’t Fret
43.    From the Deep
44.    Blue Shift
45.    Osc Squared
46.     Stan’s Middle 8
47.    Astron Belt
48.    Special Place
49.    Received
50.    Fear at Night
51.    Endoparasitoid
52.    Wave Upon Wave
53.    Space to Go
54.    Greenback Massacre
55.    Shahadah
56.    Many Voices
57.    Bird Nebula
58.    Creamy
59.    Holosuite Program
60.    Assimilation
61.    Alien Fingers
62.    The Wind
63.    Be Still
64.    Magic B
65.    Lgm
66.    In the Game
67.    Reality Foil

Space Rock Review: 3rd Ear Experience-Incredible Good Fortune

Release Date: 29^thAugust 2014

Label: Indie

Website

3^rdEar Experience is a new band to me, but as always there is that feeling of nervous anticipation just before the music escapes from the speakers. The band has been described as a “genuine” space rock band, who record musical improvisations in a little studio in the highlands of Joshua Tree/Mojave Desert. The band has already released 2 albums, Peacock Black (2013) and BOI(2013), prior to this release, Incredible Good Fortune.

The band is currently a 6 piece group with some guests also involved in the recording of the current release. Amritakripa (synth, voice), Robbi Robb (guitars, voice), Jorge Bassman (bass), Erik Mouness (drums, percussion), Alan Swanson (keyboards) and Eric Ryan (guitars) form the basic band with John Whoolilurie (saxophone), Billy Shire (mouth organ), Roger Arnold (flute), Bobby Moses Nichols (guitar) and Don Lombardo (percussion) also helping out. In effect, 3^rd Ear Experience is more of a project or collective as the line-up depends on which musicians are, or are not, available at the time. 

Incredible Good Fortune is a 5 track album with a running time of around 76 minutes, making it a fairly long album. The shortest track on offer, track 4, “White Bee” is still over 8 minutes in length (8:12) with all the other tracks in excess of 10 minutes, and the opening track, “Tools,” being the longest at 19:33 minutes.

“Tools” (19:33) has a very gentle guitar passage as an intro with some subtle synth tweaks in the background. The powerhouse of the band, the drum and bass pairing, starts to fill in the spaces until the track is motoring along. The guitar then comes to the fore again with a mesmerizing repetitive riff and the overall feel to the music thus far is very spacey, almost like a cleaned-up version of those space veterans, Hawkwind.  There appears a superb lead guitar passage which soars above everything and carries the track onwards. Soon time is made available for the organ and it delicately weaves in and out of proceedings. The track gives the feeling that there are some pre-arranged bits but there is plenty of leeway for some out and out improvisation. This is one of those tracks that seems to give more to the listener with repeated plays and the entrance of the sax was entirely unexpected. A slight nod to a more heavy rock styling creeps in and maintains the listener’s interest. It is difficult to easily express what this track is all about, but floaty, spacey and sometimes heavy, seems just about right.

“One” (18:09) has a spacey start with bass and synths setting the aural scenario with a haunting riff playing and a slow build-up to a full band workout. The upfront driving bass and drums with the tweaking/twiddling synths again lean toward the sound of Hawkwind. The very dreamy, echoed vocals suit this track perfectly. There is a terrific contrast between the driving and the quieter passages within this track. This track seems to follow the first with the feeling of pre-arranged and improvised areas. Both guitar and synth get a chance to shine before the long atmospheric fade-out.

“Parsley” (17:33), has a stunning guitar and eastern style rhythmical drumming setting the scene for the third long track. Guitar driven early on in the track, there is then a passage if very intriguing Indian style chanting before allowing the guitar back in. Synths behind the chanting work very well as the track launches into a frenzy. The track swings between Eastern and Western sounds before there is another long fade-out.

The shortest track, “White Bee” (8:12) starts with percussion and swathes of synths with an almost ethereal like vocalization. This is a much gentler floating track and is very relaxing. Lulled into a false sense of security, the band seem to waken up and crank up the volume to take the song out, as it slowly returns to the more gentle starting point.

The final track, “Shaman’s Dream” (11:31), has a synth start which leads to a full band involvement and at times, the music seems almost at odds with itself but the superb playing of all involved ensures that this does not happen. Some extremely powerful Native American chanting appears but is soon replaced by a driving guitar. The chanting passage returns for a second time and then the sound seems to be stripped back and the vocals give a hint of Bowie, before the full band strives to take the band out.

Incredible Good Fortune was an unexpectedly pleasant listening experience. The sound ebbed and flowed throughout, constantly drawing the listener in and maintaining the interest. It is not always a good thing to describe a band as sounding like another, but 3^rd Ear Band, on this display are the nearest thing I have heard to Hawkwind for a very long time, and the musicians should take that as a huge complement.

Have a listen to this album and you will find yourself going out to hunt down and buy a copy.  This is an excellent album by a very interesting band.

4.5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Shaman’s Dream, Parsley, Tools

Tracks: 
Tools
One
Parsley
White Bee
Shaman’s Dream
 

Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-Sr. Reviewer ProgRock Music Talk

January 17, 2015

Review Provided By Write A Music Review

Space Rock Review: 3rd Ear Experience-Incredible Good Fortune

Release Date: 29^thAugust 2014

Label: Indie

Website

3^rdEar Experience is a new band to me, but as always there is that feeling of nervous anticipation just before the music escapes from the speakers. The band has been described as a “genuine” space rock band, who record musical improvisations in a little studio in the highlands of Joshua Tree/Mojave Desert. The band has already released 2 albums, Peacock Black (2013) and BOI(2013), prior to this release, Incredible Good Fortune.

The band is currently a 6 piece group with some guests also involved in the recording of the current release. Amritakripa (synth, voice), Robbi Robb (guitars, voice), Jorge Bassman (bass), Erik Mouness (drums, percussion), Alan Swanson (keyboards) and Eric Ryan (guitars) form the basic band with John Whoolilurie (saxophone), Billy Shire (mouth organ), Roger Arnold (flute), Bobby Moses Nichols (guitar) and Don Lombardo (percussion) also helping out. In effect, 3^rd Ear Experience is more of a project or collective as the line-up depends on which musicians are, or are not, available at the time. 

Incredible Good Fortune is a 5 track album with a running time of around 76 minutes, making it a fairly long album. The shortest track on offer, track 4, “White Bee” is still over 8 minutes in length (8:12) with all the other tracks in excess of 10 minutes, and the opening track, “Tools,” being the longest at 19:33 minutes.

“Tools” (19:33) has a very gentle guitar passage as an intro with some subtle synth tweaks in the background. The powerhouse of the band, the drum and bass pairing, starts to fill in the spaces until the track is motoring along. The guitar then comes to the fore again with a mesmerizing repetitive riff and the overall feel to the music thus far is very spacey, almost like a cleaned-up version of those space veterans, Hawkwind.  There appears a superb lead guitar passage which soars above everything and carries the track onwards. Soon time is made available for the organ and it delicately weaves in and out of proceedings. The track gives the feeling that there are some pre-arranged bits but there is plenty of leeway for some out and out improvisation. This is one of those tracks that seems to give more to the listener with repeated plays and the entrance of the sax was entirely unexpected. A slight nod to a more heavy rock styling creeps in and maintains the listener’s interest. It is difficult to easily express what this track is all about, but floaty, spacey and sometimes heavy, seems just about right.

“One” (18:09) has a spacey start with bass and synths setting the aural scenario with a haunting riff playing and a slow build-up to a full band workout. The upfront driving bass and drums with the tweaking/twiddling synths again lean toward the sound of Hawkwind. The very dreamy, echoed vocals suit this track perfectly. There is a terrific contrast between the driving and the quieter passages within this track. This track seems to follow the first with the feeling of pre-arranged and improvised areas. Both guitar and synth get a chance to shine before the long atmospheric fade-out.

“Parsley” (17:33), has a stunning guitar and eastern style rhythmical drumming setting the scene for the third long track. Guitar driven early on in the track, there is then a passage if very intriguing Indian style chanting before allowing the guitar back in. Synths behind the chanting work very well as the track launches into a frenzy. The track swings between Eastern and Western sounds before there is another long fade-out.

The shortest track, “White Bee” (8:12) starts with percussion and swathes of synths with an almost ethereal like vocalization. This is a much gentler floating track and is very relaxing. Lulled into a false sense of security, the band seem to waken up and crank up the volume to take the song out, as it slowly returns to the more gentle starting point.

The final track, “Shaman’s Dream” (11:31), has a synth start which leads to a full band involvement and at times, the music seems almost at odds with itself but the superb playing of all involved ensures that this does not happen. Some extremely powerful Native American chanting appears but is soon replaced by a driving guitar. The chanting passage returns for a second time and then the sound seems to be stripped back and the vocals give a hint of Bowie, before the full band strives to take the band out.

Incredible Good Fortune was an unexpectedly pleasant listening experience. The sound ebbed and flowed throughout, constantly drawing the listener in and maintaining the interest. It is not always a good thing to describe a band as sounding like another, but 3^rd Ear Band, on this display are the nearest thing I have heard to Hawkwind for a very long time, and the musicians should take that as a huge complement.

Have a listen to this album and you will find yourself going out to hunt down and buy a copy.  This is an excellent album by a very interesting band.

4.5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Shaman’s Dream, Parsley, Tools

Tracks: 
Tools
One
Parsley
White Bee
Shaman’s Dream
 

Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-Sr. Reviewer ProgRock Music Talk

January 17, 2015

Review Provided By Write A Music Review