|
| |
|
:: Rob Sbar Noesis - Wagon
Wheels and Atom Bombs :: |
|
Band/Artist:
Rob Sbar Noesis
Title:
Wagon Wheels and Atom Bombs
Release Date:
2002
Label:
Aggregate Recordings
Total time: 43:37
|
 |
Track List:
01. Wagon Wheels And
Atom Bombs (Intro)
02. Lexical Gap
03. I Woke Up This Morning
With This...
04. 16 Shades Of Gray
05. Drowning In A Vacuum
(Of Barbed Wire...
06. Media Induced Paranoia
07. Blue Harvest
08. Diet Soda, Chinese Food
And A Single...
09. Wagon Wheels And Atom
Bombs (Reprise)
|
Matt Schaefer
Bass
|
:: Musicians ::
Rob Sbar Noesis
Guitars
|
Erik Feder
Drums and Percussion
|
:: Review ::
Let me start by saying that this album was a very pleasant surprise.
 The
music offered here defies easy categorization, which I think is a great thing. The
nine instrumental compositions that constitute the album are all smart, creative and
really top notch, incorporating everything from 80's metal guitar flashes and sweep
arpeggios all the way to almost lounge lizard, jazzy ennui. Dissonance is used
sparingly, deliberately and the production is really excellent on every track. I
hear bits and pieces of many things, but ultimately this is really 100% Rob Sbar
Noesis. For those who want more references, I found a lot of similarity between
Sbar's metal approach and that of Pete Laramee of Kurgan's Bane (check out the
review in the archives). Certain sections remind me of Uncle Gut, and others just
have that strange deja vu sort of vibe to them, but I don't mean that in a bad or
derivative sense. This is really killer jazz/prog fusion...
I should also mention that the CD is very professionally packaged. In my opinion,
the text that fills the booklet worked very well as a complement to the music,
though it probably won't be of much interest to people who live and die by the
vagaries of prime time TV frenzy.
Sbar refers to this album as an attempt at Gesamtkunsentwerk, or a total work of
art. I don't know how one can objectively judge the success of such an undertaking.
I do know that, to my ears, this was really a superb effort, which unfortunately
will probably never get the attention or exposure it deserves. Certainly not as long
as we continue to accept, as a society, to live in a world where crap is constantly
forced down our throats by mass media moguls.
Want a break from brain junkfood and box office poison? Check out this album. It's
really worth it...
Sounds suspicious? Think I'm the one who's full of crap? Go to his website and see
for yourselves.
Rating: 9 keyboards.
Reviewer: Luis Nasser
Visit the artist website:
Rob Sbar Noesis
:: Additional Contributors and Credits ::
Tony Gairo - Tenor Sax, Flute
Duane Eubanks - Trumpet
Aino Soderhielm - Alto Sax
Laurie Nagle - Alto Sax
Bill Wenglicki - Calrinet, Baritone Sax
Mark Shewchuk - Drums
Andy Pfaff - Bass
Daniel Mintseris - Piano
Jason Elliott - Tenor Sax
Rob Mislivers - Alto Sax
Savvas Karamalis - Engineering, Mixing, Photography
Steve Vavagiakis - Mastering
Sandra C. Sbar - Cover Art Painting, Illustration
Keri-Ann Laurito - Photography
Ruben D. Mercado - Layout
Produced by: ROB SBAR
Recorded and mixed at Astoria Soundworks Studios, Astoria, Queens, NYC.
Tracks 1, 7 and 9 recorded live by the Rob Sbar Jarge Jazz Ensemble in Philadelphia,
PA on November 20, 1996.
Mastered at Bang Zoom Productions, Tappan, New York.
:: DISCOGRAPHY ::
Wagon Wheels and Atom Bombs - 2002
 |
|
