Like Bowie's Major Tom metaphor, Hawkwind's Moorcock mumbo and err..., Chris De Burgh's Christmas astronaut, Chick continues to find his muse with Hubbard's distinctly Star Trekkish view of space, where aliens are friendly and can dash off a pretty mean samba on their futuristic cyber pianos.This is good news for us earth dwellers stuck in an increasingly homogenous, and corporate music environment as here is record which conjures adjectives such as quirky, awesome, strange and, don't cringe, beautiful. TtS is not as economic as earlier CC's EB records but that said, the orchestration and ensemble playing pushes the envelope. I've not heard them sound better. The longer tunes reflect some of the moods of the back catalogue rather than making a singular statement. I mean we have the Chick vs Bartok of IO, the latin vamps of BtM and the singing (don't worry! Wordless vocals from Mrs Corea - 1 tune) is reminiscent of the latin RTF records. The shorter 'Port View' tunes are very atmospheric and not unlike Fripp's sound-scapes with their dispersed, floating globular texture. Dave Weckl continue to provide spectacular drumming, Frank Gambale is euphoric although the normally uber-tasteful John P adopts a somewhat rubbery, weak solo voice from his bass that struggles in the mix alongside his band mates more robust and sparkling tones. Eric M on Sax remains the least mentioned but none the less stellar EB member. Chick's on fine form and clearly enjoying the momenet. I've only got through the whole CD a couple of times as there is a LOT of music here but I'm already looking forward to my next opportunity to listen to it again. In these days of disposable music, it's a real pleasure to hear this record where the thought process is on composition or improvisation, not on marketing and promotion. Look, just order it and stop messing about with 'free' music you only listen to once. |
