Vossabrygg

In parts, as in the propulsive eighteen minutes of the opening "Ghostdancing", the music is very much in the spirit of Miles Davis's ground-breaking jazz-rock recording Bitches Brew, including brief and effective sampling of Joe Zawinul's "Pharoah's Dance" from Davis's epochal album of the late-1960s. Elsewhere, the ground-breaking here is very much Rypdal's own, as in the lilting sensitivity of "Waltz For Broken Hearts" and "A Quiet Word" (both featuring the excellent Mikkelborg, whose spaciously cast lines are a delight throughout), the full-on guitar power of "That's More Like It" and "You're Making It Personal", and - especially - the richly layered "Hidden Chapter". Here, lyrical samples from some of Rypdal's most ambitious and attractive work in the field of contemporary classical composition combine with passages of club-culture backbeats and tough, industrially inflected electronics to inspire the sort of arrestingly etched reflections from the guitarist that stay in the mind long after the music has ended.--Michael Tucker

There's also guitar multi-tracking, which makes you realise that Mr Rypdal has applied considerable treatment to the recording in the three years before its CD release.

Note also the presence of another Rypdal on this CD. I feel it is almost always ill-advised to let your children perform with you and expect the audience to pay the full fare. (Take note: Peter Gabriel, Rick Wakeman, Dave Brubeck, Edgar Froese etc.) The children of rich musicians typically take a slightly easier route into music -- by singing or drumming, for example. Here Marius Rypdal does sampling, and electronic drums, thereby drowning out the subtleties of Jon Christensen and another drummer. Track #2, for example, is catchy, but take away the excellent guitar and you would think you're listening to an Enigma track.

However, with all those cynical points out of the way, I have to say I rather enjoy this CD. I was one of those who bought AFTER THE RAIN in 1977 (because it was sold as the next Tubular Bells) and developed the impression that Rypdal was a Nordic depressive.

There's a considerable 1970s feel to this album, despite the sampling. The inlay notes say the music was inspired by BITCHES BREW, but for me, it's just as much like Weather Report's SWEETNIGHTER. The electric piano is a touch like 1970s Corea too, but Palle Mikkelborg's trumpet clearly centres the music on the Davis opus. The two Rypdals duet well together, particularly on 'Hidden Chapter'.

The only thing to dislike about this CD is the Hammond organ playing, which somehow does not sit well with the excellent electric piano (played by the same musician). It would have been a five-star review otherwise.

If you want something that is at least slightly different from almost everything you have heard, try this.