26-10-2024, 16:19
COLIN MASSON ~ The Visitor
![[Image: a1154987050_16.jpg]](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1154987050_16.jpg)
I need to have another listen to this album - his second this year! First impressions are that Mr Masson's not very happy with the current state of current affairs! Who can blame him!! Especially on the second of the four tracks - "The Nature of Evil" which errs on the side of quite heavy and includes what sounded to me like a snippet from the rally of a certain erstwhile German dictator followed by another a bit further on that simply has to be a certain rather sunnily hued presidential candidate. There are no doubt other subtle nods in the equation that I have not yet picked up on and there is something a little reminiscent of The Wall in the marching drive of that track, coming very close to metal in places.
As always, his guitar/s is/are very evident - in a good position in the mix though - that's the thing with his productions - he knows how to balance the elements. And if he's not playing a guitar, he's doing the programming - everything, in fact. Wow - mad, driving bass towards the end of "Helvetia". I really loved the final track "Spered Holldevel" (no idea what that means - maybe it's Elvish??) which although it doesn't say so, I'm sure includes his wife, Cathy Alexander, on the recorder. Never would you imagine such a lowly instrument could be played like that. Amazing. Just goes to show what can be achieved with not a lot!
I must say that the first two tracks "Helvetia" and "The Nature of Evil" while well executed and as imaginative as I've come to expect, for me, didn't have the lovely lyrical quality that is always such an attractor. Perhaps that's unfair - obviously things can't always be sweet and nice. You'd have to be a musical illiterate not to pick up on the Mike Oldfield influences that remain woven into the fabric of the whole affair. And whether or not something is 'likeable' doesn't matter very much when one is trying to make a point, I concede. I will still purchase the album.
Anyway - I fear I am waffling and about to become unintelligible, so I will stop now. The album can be heard on Bandcamp - no YouTube links as yet although I'm sure there will be soon, at which point I will post them.
https://colinmasson.bandcamp.com/album/the-visitor
Wait ... there is an excerpt from one track in the meantime .... Part 1 of "Bones of the Mountain" -
Just bought it, and yes Cathy Alexander on whistle and tenor recorder. Also this snippet about "Spered Holldevel" - This traditional Breton tune is one of the first tunes I ever learned to play. Not Elvish after all. Celtic so not far off!
I need to have another listen to this album - his second this year! First impressions are that Mr Masson's not very happy with the current state of current affairs! Who can blame him!! Especially on the second of the four tracks - "The Nature of Evil" which errs on the side of quite heavy and includes what sounded to me like a snippet from the rally of a certain erstwhile German dictator followed by another a bit further on that simply has to be a certain rather sunnily hued presidential candidate. There are no doubt other subtle nods in the equation that I have not yet picked up on and there is something a little reminiscent of The Wall in the marching drive of that track, coming very close to metal in places.
As always, his guitar/s is/are very evident - in a good position in the mix though - that's the thing with his productions - he knows how to balance the elements. And if he's not playing a guitar, he's doing the programming - everything, in fact. Wow - mad, driving bass towards the end of "Helvetia". I really loved the final track "Spered Holldevel" (no idea what that means - maybe it's Elvish??) which although it doesn't say so, I'm sure includes his wife, Cathy Alexander, on the recorder. Never would you imagine such a lowly instrument could be played like that. Amazing. Just goes to show what can be achieved with not a lot!
I must say that the first two tracks "Helvetia" and "The Nature of Evil" while well executed and as imaginative as I've come to expect, for me, didn't have the lovely lyrical quality that is always such an attractor. Perhaps that's unfair - obviously things can't always be sweet and nice. You'd have to be a musical illiterate not to pick up on the Mike Oldfield influences that remain woven into the fabric of the whole affair. And whether or not something is 'likeable' doesn't matter very much when one is trying to make a point, I concede. I will still purchase the album.
Anyway - I fear I am waffling and about to become unintelligible, so I will stop now. The album can be heard on Bandcamp - no YouTube links as yet although I'm sure there will be soon, at which point I will post them.
https://colinmasson.bandcamp.com/album/the-visitor
Wait ... there is an excerpt from one track in the meantime .... Part 1 of "Bones of the Mountain" -
Just bought it, and yes Cathy Alexander on whistle and tenor recorder. Also this snippet about "Spered Holldevel" - This traditional Breton tune is one of the first tunes I ever learned to play. Not Elvish after all. Celtic so not far off!
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson