DJAM KARET - A NIGHT FOR BAKU - 2003

Not bad!! This new recent issue by DJAM KARET, although it is not completely essential, is a remarkable example of their talent!! The guitarwork is excellent and in some circumstances also better than that one performed within "The Devouring"; moreover the trimming effects at the synthesizers, improved by means of the music breaks through performed by Oken & Henderson are a " DJAM KARET trademark". Besides the whole "cocktail" is enriched with a good bass-guitar work by Aaron Kenyon, which makes this fresh issue of "Modern Art Rock" a pleasant surprise!!
http://www.progarchives.com

We've all heard of The Grateful Dead, Phish and The Dave Matthews Band, some of us may have even have heard of Widespread Panic, but how many are familiar with Djam Karet? Another of the American 'Jam' bands, they, like the other groups mentioned, can instantly sell-out live concerts without blinking an eyelid, but have not been as succesful when it comes to shifting albums. Maybe it's because they have not confined themselves to any one musical area - they once released an album of 'bone-crushing heavy power rock with anarchistic guitar solos' in the same year as one of 'dark, eerie, ambient soundtracks' - maybe their name, which can be loosely translated from the original Indonesian to 'elastic time', has put people off, or possibly the fact that they are an entirely instrumental band has limited their mainstream appeal, but for whatever reason, a lot of people are missing out on some great music!

Founded in 1984 by guitarists Gayle Elliot and Mike Henderson, the band has released 11 CDs and inumerous tapes and archival CDs in their 19 year history, not bad considering they split for six years in the early 1990s! Drummer Chuck Owen Jr. and bassist Henry J. Osborne are the two other original members while last year the line-up was rounded off by the addition of a second bassist, Aaron Kenyon although, on this album at least, the two bass players don't perform simultaneously.

So what do you get for your money? Proclaimed as "a distillation of their musical visions across 20 years" A Night For Baku is a tremendously varied collection of instrumentals. Dream Portal sets the scene. An effortlessly smooth piece of languid atmospherics cut through with a biting guitar motif, it lulls the listener into a serene state before the hard rocking Hungry Ghost takes over. Featuring a driving drum beat that persistently pushes the track along, there is a some wonderful guitar - keyboard interplay as well as a few scorching guitar solos that will keep the air guitarists happy for years to come. Another change for Chimera Moon, which bears resemblance to Ozric Tentacles or perhaps early Porcupine Tree. The style of music makes it abundantly clear why Djam Karet have remained an instrumental band - there simply isn't room for a vocalist to slot in with the arrangements. Like the Ozrics, also an instrumental group, the compositions rely more on mood and soloing rather than riffs, choruses and melody lines but it is done with such aplomb and vision. Imagine one of Mike Oldfield's more adventurous large scale compositions distilled down into under ten minutes with a couple of up-front guitar solos thrown in and you get a rough approximation of the scale that Djam Karet operate in. Not afraid to incorporate slices of Eastern textures (as in The Falafel King), some modern psychadelia (Ukab Maerd), or even King Crimsonesque angular guitars and aggressive basslines (The Red Thread), the album is a guitar fan's utopia. Forget your goblins and court jesters, this is what real progressive rock sounds like!

There are many things one can do in an hour, but it is unlikely that many will be so rewarding as listening to A Night For Baku.
http://www.dprp.net