" It is no easy thing to paddle a punctured canoe through ferocious and boiling rapids during a thunderstorm; and an already onerous journey is made all the more fearsome when there are three people aboard the canoe, but only two oars, or paddles, and a cargo of musical instruments including a crumbhorn, sackbut, glockenspiel, theremin, ondes martenot, bassoon, flugelhorn, and spinet; together with a crate full of magnets,charred corks, sachet of jam, and weird little packages of unknown provenance. Who would undertake such a preposterous voyage? There were three of them.....
A sprinkle of stars did little to illumine the soaking threesome's progress.But lo! They see a beam of torchlight ahead.They have but little more desperate paddling to do to reach the eyot whereon stands the big hangar which is their goal....
Behind the beam of torchlight stands the man who has summoned them here- Lothar Preen: fanatic, voluptuary and impresario of international notoriety. As the sodden trio unload their instruments and crate, he does not lift a finger to help. Instead he stands silent and erect, oblivious to the howling gale, panning the torch-beam from side to side, checking that his instructions have been met. Some time later, crammed into a tiny kitchen in the corner of the hangar as [ the trio] sup on hot gruel from chipped bakelite mugs, Lothar Preen speaks for the first time:
" I distinctly told you to come here in a kayak !" -he screeches.."
excerpt from liner notes
Anybody remember The Ventures ? Too young? ( or won't admit to your real age ?). How about Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet ? Vril recapture that surf music style here in a remake of Lothar Preen's classic Effigies In Cork ( and if you believe that and/or the above anecdote, I've got some land in Southern Florida I'd love to sell you).
First off, an introduction to our daring trio who undertook the journey and created this project. Vril is made up of Lukas Simonis- guitars and mandolin, Bob Drake- bass and guitars, Chris Cutler- drums and electrified kit.. The idea behind this disc was born from Mr Drake who proposed this project of guitar driven instrumentals to recapture the tunes of the early sixties instrumental music; before solos took over later in the decade. The main goal was to:" return to the old work method, rarer today,where the band sits around with instruments,plays the pieces and works out the arrangements together, and then records them while they are still fresh." The end result is a collection of 16 short tracks ( CD runs 40:00 total) which remind one of the early '60's surf music. No flashy solos, or virtuoso escapades can be found anywhere on this disc. Instead, we are treated to quirky little instrumentals which seem to always stay close to the centre of the music, and never foray into the zenith or nadir of the musical universe. The listener is thus left in a kind of limbo and is never taken very far off the main path of the songs. Think of it as a kind of musical kiddie coaster where all the twists and turns are very predictable, thus never giving one the full sensation of going completely over the top.
Having said all this, I can only conclude that your mileage will definitely vary with this release. I think it's a decent disc which would sound really cool if you were throwing a beach party for a group of pseudo-hip friends, but I fail to be impressed enough to fully endorse this disc and peddle it ardently to the more experienced prog enthusiast. The liner notes are absolutely hysterical and remind this reviewer of the humorous prose of Dave Stewart; but this is no National Health.
Track Listing :
- Supersonic Canteen
- Impossible Canal
- Wistful Comorant
- Inexplicable Jar
- Gruesome Pillow
- Freakish Tarpaulin
- Spangled Farmyard
- Preening Docent
- Implacable Swordfish
- Bloated Janitor
- Wrinkled Lantern
- Clairvoyant Pig
- Despicable Cadet
- Crumpled Armada
- Uncanny Haversack
- Groovy Vitamin
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