2. Picadora (composed) - 5:01
3. Piezo Fury (improvised) - 5:25
4. All Systems Go! (composed) - 3:30
5. Dream of the Arctic Tern (improvised) - 6:12
6. Santa Anna (improvised, violin added later) - 8:16
7. Quirk (composed) - 3:47
8. Sleepytime (improvised) - 7:11
9. Double Ascent (improvised) - 15:07
Half of Resistor's superb second album Rise consisted of the humorous 40-minute narrative song suite "Land of No Groove", in which four musicians, discouraged by the drivel and fluff of modern music, seek out a new land and discover a far-out group of musicians in voluntary exile on a deserted island. The Secret Island Band Jams is Resistor's third album, all instrumental and mostly improvised, presented as the music made by the Secret Island Band, who promised to push the "record" button whenever something cool was happening.
I'm always up for an adventure, but I must be getting old, because the prospect of a jam album dismayed me at first. Never fear, Resistor transcend the limitations of the genre. As other reviewers have noted, you probably couldn't pick out the improvised pieces versus the composed pieces without being told -- particularly the stunning opener "Voyage 7" and the murky, roiling, adventurous "Santa Anna". This is due in part to a fascinating method of communicating chord progressions mid-jam, which is elegant, inspired, and described in the liner notes. The editing is also quite good, crafting these jams into memorable, fascinating instrumentals, but the biggest reason for success here is the band. The sympathetic interplay of the instrumentalists is truly special to hear, and the excitement is palpable. While I do miss the vocals, this is still an album packed to the gills with fantastic music. Play it loud!
Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 moments of sympathetic interplay
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