ROGER POWELL – Fossil Poets

Cover	Release	Style
	2006	electro prog
	Label
	Inner Knot Records / Discipline Global Mobile
	Website
	Fossil Poets
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	51:22	INK 0680
	Review by	Rating
	Danny	7/10
nederlands	Review
When I received the promo CD, the first question I asked myself was: “Who is Roger Powell?”, because his newest album is released on the Inner Knot/Discipline Global Mobile label, yes, King Crimson’s label. If you are or were a fan of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, his name should ring a bell, because he played the keyboards for a long period. He plays on Meatloaf’s “Bat out of Hell”, toured with David Bowie and created his own synthesizer. Although he toured and played with a lot of bands, this is only his third solo album. His first two being “Cosmic Furnace” (1973) and Air Pocket (1980), on which he experimented with synthesizer sounds and textures that were very renewing for that time. You could describe his music as jazz, funk, blues on electronic instruments. He played every single instrument himself on those releases, but this time he asked some guests to join him. Greg Koch plays guitar and bass and Gary Tanin takes care of some additional keyboards, but more important, he is also the producer and arranger, a job well done. The style hasn’t really changed. It’s still jazz, funk and blues on electronic instruments, with a lot of programmed loops and arpeggios. Although the drum parts are very well programmed, I still prefer a real drummer. Adding all this to the fact that it’s an all instrumental album, you understand that this isn’t the easiest of releases to get into. There are no real songs on the CD, only soundscapes creating atmospheres. Some tracks are very funky, e.g. “Lone Gunmen”, “Fallout Shelter”, very groovy. Most of the tracks are built on a synth sequence; sometimes making me think of Tangerine Dream or Ozric Tentacles. “Test Drive” is a great bluesy track. And so would “Crème Fraiche” be if some techno beat wouldn’t start after 30 seconds to destroy the blues ballad feeling. Although I have to admit that several auditions later, the beat adds up to the groove. You have to give this music enough time to settle in your head. There’s certainly enough variation, with different instruments and sounds. I particularly like “Osmosis” with the accordion. Other songs are a bit too experimental for me, e.g. “Serpentine”. If you are into this kind of electronic music, you should try it out. I liked it a lot, but I’m afraid I won’t get it out of my cd rack very often. It’s an original sounding CD, coming from a keyboard wizard worthy of his reputation.
Musicians
Roger Powell: synths, guitars, mandolin, accordion, flute, flugelhorn, piano & organ Greg Koch: guitars, basses & effects Gary Tanin: producer, arranger and additional keyboards
Tracklist
Lone Gunmen (4:14) Fallout Shelter (3:21) Delayed Reaction (3:40) Test Drive (2:58) Creme Fraiche (3:04) Too Much Rain (3:22) Underwater City (4:55) Dauphine [piano solo, for Vince] (0:57) Tribe By Fire (4:30) Miles Per Gallon (3:37) Peaceful Uprising (3:50) Serpentine (4:14) Zentegrity (3:11) Osmosis (3:51) Astrae [piano solo, for Karen] (1:08)
Discography
Cosmic Furnace (1973) Air Pocket (1980) Fossil Poets (2006)


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