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Binkelman's Corner by Bill Binkelman |
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Bill Binkelman is a long-time icon in the industry. |
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| Leak |
| By Sensitive Chaos |
| Label: Subsequent Records |
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| Leak tracks |
1. Leak 
2. Android Cat Dreams Of Mice
3. Starry Night
4. Painting Earthtones In Orbit
5. Bullet Train
6. Nightshift At The Baby Mecha Nursery
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Leak |
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Leak is one of those maddeningly difficult to categorize/describe CDs that drive me nuts. I want to scream out loud how good it is, but after writing those words the details are tough to articulate! The reason that the music presents difficulties in describing it is, of course, indicative of how much talent the man behind Sensitive Chaos (Jim Combs) brings to this venture. Wielding a vast array of electronic keyboards and synths, he weaves heady and adventurous (yet from my perspective wholly accessible) ambient/electronica that crosses over into jazz fusion at times and also has some pronounced elements of retro EM as well. The music can be warm and friendly, even whimsical, or shadowy and shrouded in textural mystery. Four of the six album cuts are over nine minutes long which allows the music to take its time getting where it's going. To add further intrigue and pique your interest, a large amount of the music was composed on the fly at various live appearances (coffee houses, mostly). So, there is an element of improvisation here as well, although Combs always took the original live composition back home and tweaked it before considering it a finished track.
Two songs, the title track (Leak) and Starry Night, feature the Uber-cool sax playing of Brian Good, and its his deft soloing, snaking amongst layers of keyboards and synths, that sometimes migrates the music over into progressive jazz fusion territory (although Combs' assorted synths still anchor each track's aesthetic in ambient or electronica). Ambient fans who loathe sax are urged to not prejudge this CD as it would be a mistake.
At times, Leak (e.g. the track Android Cat Dreams Of Mice) reminded me of the Eien's (Andrew Mays) Dandelion Dreamer. Like Eien, Combs concentrates less on the traditional ambient tools (synth pads, chords, washes, and drones) opting instead for layering notes and tones amidst his programmed beats. The sonic difference can't be missed and lends the music a pronounced air of "fun". On the "Android Cat..." track, the assortment of retro/contemporary bloops, bleeps, shimmering notes and tones, and thumping snapping drums build up slowly, speaking of the number of instruments and a corresponding volume level, too. All these different "things" going on form a cohesive "whole" which energizes the listener, but never too much so. Some retro synths in the track also compare to pioneering artists such as Beaver and Krause and Patrick Gleeson.
"Starry Night", the second "sax" number, goes in a different direction, opening with classic spacemusic washes. When Good's sax floats lazily into the scene, the music takes on a sensual aspect, only to have programmed drums and reverberating bells slowly fold into the mix. The undercurrent of floating spacemusic is still there but the beats and sax once again sway the overall feel over to that of progressive fusion. This is opposed to the title track, on which the sax has a more exotic wafting sound and the reverberating tones, plonking percussion and hand drum rhythms call to mind Robert Rich's Gaudi.
Other tracks include the bouncy trippy Painting Earthtones in Orbit which abounds with tons of retro synthesizers in the latter half of the cut and the closing Nightshift At The Baby Mecha Nursery, another excursion into electronic whimsy, playful and lighthearted with lots of twinkling bells offset by a pleasant bass rhythm.
Leak is a thoroughly enjoyable album. Combs consistently impresses with how he blends his melodic and rhythmic synths, always maintaining a coherent vision and never allowing the improvisatory nature of his music to overwhelm its sense of purpose. I highly recommend Leak for its inventiveness, its beat-happy effervescence, and its thorough lack of pretension, not to mention it's just a flat out fun album from start to finish.
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Rating: Very Good +  |
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- reviewed by Bill Binkelman on 12/30/2006 |
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