One Shot: 111

One Shot was formed in the late 1990s by two members of Magma, guitarist James Mac Gaw and keyboardist Emmanuel Borghi. They were joined by Philippe Bussonnet on bass and Daniel Jeand’heur on drums. Together, they released three albums from 1999 to 2008. They took a long hiatus after their third album, Dark Shot, and during that period Mac Gaw unfortunately succumbed to cancer in 2021.

They returned last year with a new album 111. Instead of finding another guitarist, they added a second keyboard player, Bruno Ruder. But you could have fooled me. This album, which broadly could be considered jazz fusion, gets heavy at spots. I’m guessing that one of the keyboardists is mimicking the sound of a guitar at times. Whatever they are doing, it works.

The album sounds, well, a lot like Magma but without the vocals, which some would say is a very good thing. I’ve always been on the fence about Magma’s vocals. Sometimes I like them or at least can tolerate them, while at other times, I wish I could mix them out entirely.

The album is noisy and challenging and may not be everyone’s cup of tea. If you are looking for Return to Forever-type melodies, for instance, you’re not going to find them here. But if you like often dissonant, experimental instrumental music, this might be up your alley. I enjoyed it a lot.

There’s not much that distinguishes the four main tracks. What you get in the first one is what you should expect in the others. For some that will be a turn-off, but for me, it was more than fine. The closer, “Mustang Coda,� is just that: a coda, three minutes of drone. You might as well stop the album before you get to it, in my opinion. But up to that point, it’s very good. I see myself continuing to play this in the future.

Track Listing
1. Off the Grid (9:26)
2. Mérovée (11:13)
3. Don't Ask Me (7:14)
4. Mustang (12:04)
5. Mustang Coda (3:33)

Added: February 10th 2024
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 235
Language: english

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