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MOONWAGON: NIGHT DUST (Instrumental Psych-Prog / Gate-Fold Card Cover)
Recently discovered by the people at CDS Towers, MOONWAGON is an amazing Progressive, Psychedelic instrumental band from Finland that you are going to love if you are into the music of the likes of GREENSLADE, CAMEL, ELOY, PINK FLOYD, OZRIC TENTICLES and HIDRIA SPACEFOLK!
Released in 2010 'Night Dust' is the band's first output, a studio album that features NEMESIS synthesizer / keyboard wizard Ami Hassinen. The album's seven tracks are virtually all-instrumental and thoroughly excellent melodic workouts that can be atmospheric at times, but also get into some flowing grooves that develop into hard driving territory work-outs at times, and sure to offer something to fans of all of the aforementioned bands and more!
Starting with the near nine-minute: 'Hoodoo Horizon', this begins quite slowly then rocks tighter as it goes on and features some really nice guitar and synth soloing as it develops.
'Highway To The Orange Desert' is also laid-back and atmospheric initially and a bit like GREENSLADE it this stage, but really gets into a groove as the band move into full instrumental flow for a thrilling eight and a half minute instrumental ride with a short atmospheric break in the middle. The guitars and synthesizers share the lead rolls with some real exciting licks going on, and it's great to hear the sounds of the electric piano ands organ coming shining through so clearly in the mix - Great track this!
The nine-minute plus 'Oceans Away' comes straight in on a beautifully melodic blast of GREENSLADE meets CAMEL-styled organ and synths with FLOYD-like echoed electric piano patches scattered here and there. The track builds and soaring into a more FLOYD-meets the OZRICS territory in the second half as the synths, organ and guitars fight for supremacy and is pure progressive genius if you are a fan of the aforementioned bands, and features many melodious passages throughout its nine minute running time - Just brilliant instrumental rock and then some!
'Super-Altar' is a shorter, melodic, floaty track that brings the acoustic guitar to the forefront with ethereal choral synths and flutey Mellotron sounds providing the atmospheric backdrop.
'Starmask' is rockier with some great spacey, choral synth work providing a sonic bed of sound that is punctured by some brilliant searing synth soloing throughout and sounds a little similar to 70's PINK FLOYD particularly in psyched-up guitar department.
'Thunderdrift' blasts in on a barrage of guitar riffs, pile-driving bass lines and swooping synth textures and provides seven minutes of energetic, psychedelia soaked prog that comes nearest to the OZRICS in style, but with a lot of melodic CAMEL-like keyboard and guitar action in the middle section, where the pace gets steadier and more tightly structured. The closing few minutes return to hard driving OZRICS-like mayhem with all the band members really going for it in a high burst of high energy playing.
At over fifteen minutes: 'Sundown Mountain' is the album's longest track, and it opens in cosmic, atmospheric mode for a couple of minutes, with the sounds of beautiful heavenly space choirs and angelic synth melodies flying high in the sky, before the band start to gradually go up the gears and wind up the pace, really getting into a progressive groove with the synths and guitars letting rip with solo after solo flying here, there and everywhere over a driving rhtythm section of deep bass and powerhouse drumming, eventually climaxing in a hail of starred-out high register synth heaven before closing the track an a spiralling, relaxed spacey ambience.
For ANY fan of instrumental, 70's influences Prog and Psych this CD is a MUST - It's a fantastic, musical roller coaster ride that moves from atmospheric to high-energy and back without ever crossing over the structured and the controlled lines. I loved it, and I'm sure loads of you out there will too!!!
Apart from the mastering, 'Night Dust' is an entirely self-produced album and the band have done an excellent job in all departments, and as such, the resulting CD come thoroughly recommended to followers of all the above big name bands, as well as fans Progressive, Instrumental Space Rock music in general. The MOONWAGON line-up of musicians is: Ami Hassinen (analogue & digital synthesizers / keyboards / FX), Jani Korpi (drums / percussion / acoustic guitar / jew's harp) / Joni Tiala (electric & acoustic guitars) and Janne Ylikorpi (bass).
Track List:
01. Hoodoo Horizon (8:42)
02. Highway To The Orange Desert (8:31)
03. Oceans Away (9:21)
04. Super-Altar (4:07)
05. Starmask (5:53)
06. Thunderdrift (7:46)
07. Sundown Mountain (15:51)
TPT - 60:13
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absolutely brilliant
