SPAIN

USA 

Pi-2 Tomorrow’s Another Day
p-2 -Warner-Tales Music CD
51 Min.

Pi-2 is seven-piece progressive project from Barcelona, Spain. This is an interesting conceptual album, full of eclectic musical styles and rhythms. I immediately noticed a range of influences from the emotional acoustic playing of Steve Hackett (Please Don’t Touch, Spectral Mornings era), with a good measure of Camel guitar riffs in places, with wonderful flute playing.  This is all delightfully arranged and composed by Pito Costa who plays keyboards in a style I am reminded of by Kevin Leonard in North Star, especially on La Revifada an upbeat tune.  The album itself (which is mostly instrumental) has a brilliant 25-min epic (the title track) that is interlaced with a collage of dreamy atmospheric undercurrents that shows p-2 has great potential if they so desire.  L7 is also another impressive multi-layed track that stretches p-2's ability to blend different progressive styles together with changes in tempo that reflects a maturity of Pito Costa's composing and arranging skills. Strongly recommended.

Foot note: Currently the band is taking a break after intense recording sessions whilst continuing individual solo projects. Pito Costa is producing the debut LP of UNOMA to be released in Autumn 2001. Pito Costa will begin composing for the next p-2 project in September 2002

You can visit p-2 web site at http://www.pi-2.com

Bjorn Lynne Revive   
(CYCL 087)
72 min

Revive by Bjorn Lynne is re-arranged and re-recorded new versions of some of his older music from his early years with Rory McLeish providing extra lead guitar on several tracks.
I quite like Revive and this release probably compare well with other single multi-instrumentalists on the scene at the moment like Chris Fournier of Fonya, or Chris Reed of Earthstone as two examples.  Lynne's musicianship has the Kraut-rock synthesiser (okay Synth-rock!) beat on most tracks, (akin to Tangerine Dream on Mooongazer) but I found myself drifting rather than listening to parts of music which at times has too much techno drumming like on 12^th Warrier. Cosmos is the longest track at 11 min drifts between being excellent and tedious because of the lacklustre style of playing the basic melody producing a hollow sound.   But on balance this keyboard orientated CD is quite good in other places as two tracks Empty Spaces and Empty Spaces 2 are piano solos that come across very pleasant and soothing compared to the rest of the CD.  Am I convinced? May be I will play the CD one more time to be reassured!

Transience Sliding   
(CYCL 084)
66 min

  Transience started out as a solo project by Land's End's keyboard player Fred Hunter.  However, the rest of Land's End members contributed by playing on one or more tracks of the CD.  There are 8 tracks on the release from interesting instrumentals like Sliding, Stanley Park and Captiva Island that consists of keyboard sound samples and saxophone. The CD opens with At Squaw Peak that features a pleasant melody, good dreamy vocals and a slow flowing keyboard but has a slightly annoying guitar playing at the end.  Desert Falls is a long 13-min track in 2 parts. The instrumental second part, Time Flows Backwards, has a dark bass touch, and atmospheric keyboards with saxophone. LA Post is perhaps one of the highlight on the album with acoustic guitars, bass, keyboard, harmonic vocal, hand clapping a real winner. The Seven Pools is the longest track over 19 min. Beginning with sound effects and quiet noises the song finally starts with a keyboard solo. Thereafter various keyboard melodies and a Floyd type guitar solo follows. Transience plays nice, laid-back music, which is relaxing to listen too. Most of these songs are very laid-back.  Ideal to relax and mediate on. Overall a nice CD.