Number Seven - Phideaux

Number Seven: A Post-Pythagorean Presentation by Phideaux (2009)

ONE: DORMOUSE ENSNARED
1. Dormouse - A Theme - 1:08
2. Waiting For the Axe to Fall - 19:21

TWO: DORMOUSE ESCAPES
3. Darkness At Noon - 3:44
4. Gift of the Flame - 6:57
5. Interview With a Dormouse - 0:27
6. Thermonuclear Cheese - 1:54
7. The Search for Terrestrial Life - 8:14

THREE: DORMOUSE ENLIGHTENED
8. Love Theme from "Number Seven" - 13:50
9. Infinite Supply - 4:58
10. Dormouse - An End - 2:16

How does one describe this album?  Intricate, dramatic, elegant, dissonant, tender, brash, always adventurous; Phideaux's Number Seven is a cornucopia of styles, strung together with a philosophical theme and a high standard of singing, playing, and composition. While not as focused and consistent as Doomsday Afternoon, the band's masterpiece, Number Seven's loose-limbed, shotgun approach to the concept album pays off unexpectedly, while also giving each member of the band space to shine.

The album doesn't tell a story so much as it presents a philosophic arc of self-awakening, or so it seems. There are a lot of typical sentiments throughout: questioning what you are told, finding your own way, leaving the hive, and so on. However, it transcends these tropes in search of something bigger, and it takes a left turn at the end that makes the pursuit of individual "enlightenment" seem much less important than it did at first...

Musically, the journey of the Dormouse takes a fantastic trip through great melodies, soulful harmonies, folky acoustic passages, and full-on electric assaults. "Waiting for the Axe to Fall" is a dizzying medley of minor key magic, with plenty of vocal features for co-lead singer Valerie Gracious, the Ruttan sisters, and Ariel Farber.  Four female vocalists is never a bad thing, especially when they're all outstanding. "Gift of the Flame" features Valerie singing some juicily Gothic lyrics based on the myths of Prometheus, Tantalus, and, my favorite, Narcissus:

There's a boy by the pool who simply can't move but to drool,
Staring ever in to a silly grin
Trapped beside the pool...

Hour by hour I wait for my flower to bloom;
It's a hideous black mushroom,
Odious spore of doom!

There are ten people in this band, which could make for cacophony, but they navigate the movements well and show remarkable restraint on many simple and beautiful passages. "The Search for Terrestrial Life" stands out as a gem of an acoustic pop song with close harmonies - at least until the five minute mark, when it builds up into a mountain of rock and roll grandeur, then morphs into... a spaghetti Western soundtrack?  Several instrumental themes throughout have a certain Italian flavor. There are even Italian lyrics in "Love Theme From 'Number Seven'". This could be campy, but it's played with such gusto that it works.

With the poignant yet soulful piano ballad "Infinite Supply" (which uses Pachelbel's chord progression to good effect), the musical rollercoaster ends in fine fashion. If you're like me, you're back in the line immediately to ride again.

Arbitrary rating: 5 out of 5 odious spores of doom

If - Glass Hammer

If (Glass Hammer, 2010)

1. Beyond, Within - 11:44

2. Behold, The Ziddle - 9:11

3. Grace the Skies - 4:29

4. At Last We Are - 6:46
5. If The Stars - 10:25
6. If The Sun - 24:02

Glass Hammer is an indie symphonic progressive rock band started in the late 90s by Tennessee musicians Fred Schendel (keyboards) and Steve Babb (bass and keyboards). They have a lot of albums with a revolving cast of musicians, most with titles taken from J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and I've always been cautiously curious about them, but when a friend said I had to get their newest album If, it found its way to the upper echelon of my birthday list. Since my wife truly loves me, here it is!

By the first few notes of "Beyond, Within" I can already tell this is going to be good. These guys unabashedly worship the sound of the 70s heyday, playing Hammond Organ, vintage Moog synths, Mellotron, and a growling Rickenbacker bass (though this particular item is recorded and mixed too quiet for my taste). The lead singer sounds suspiciously like Yes's Jon Anderson (and is named Jon Davison - coincidence?), and the intricate vocal harmonies bring Yes, Genesis, and Gentle Giant to mind as well. Adding to the Yes comparison, the guitarist they have on this album seems to be channeling Steve Howe's muse with spidery melodic lines. The songs and arrangements themselves are adventurous, complex, and stirring in the best tradition of symphonic prog rock.

The songs are all very mystic and poetic, almost like they have Walt Whitman writing their lyrics.  Well, the opening words of "Beyond, Within" are basically stolen... "I sing electric to the skies / I sing the orbs in the heavens." This uplifting epic about creation (individual and cosmic) is filled with a sense of mature wonder. Contrast that with "Behold, The Ziddle," a mysterious, turbulent song about a bizarre creature and the people trapped in his dark world. "Grace the Skies" is another Whitman-esque rumination ("If the bird is free to fly / then why my soul should I deny?"). "At Last We Are", a song about heaven, has one of the most stirring melodies in 5/8 I've ever heard, with perhaps my favorite lyric of the album:

When I draw close He'll be waiting there
Father of my soul in the morning fair
Then I recall He has never been
Far from my side
Leading me, cheering me
Feeding me, guiding me home.

The last two songs, "If The Stars" and the 24-minute "If The Sun," do not disappoint. "If The Stars" is another sweeping metaphysical epic ("Man, just a grain of sand on an island / In a sea of stars"), with gripping guitar flourishes, haunting harp (yes, harp), and a high-octane rocking outro with guitar and Moog fighting for ascendancy. "If The Sun" migrates through many memorable musical themes and jams, from more aggressive jazz-based themes to a quiet vocal section with Mellotron flutes that builds slowly into a musical sunburst. The last five minutes of the song revel in multi-vocal prog rock glory. Both songs deal with man's identity and worth in an infinite universe, with the search for a spiritual home and how a person can be changed: "He sang me a song to break / The hardest heart / For I had made mine a stone."

Glass Hammer has created a stunning classic of modern progressive rock with If.  They use the sounds and styles of yesterday but succeed in creating their own beautiful music, indebted to (and occasionally paying tribute to) the past while forging ahead with their own vision.  This is good stuff.

Arbitrary rating: 5 out of 5 fathers of my soul in the morning fair