CB 1000

3 May 2016
The album II, by Naxatras: Review
by Craig Bradbrook
Craig Bradbrook
Craig is retired Performing Musician and Actor. He contributes various musings for Circus Bazaar.

Oort Cloud begins the album as an instrumental introduction. Proxima Centauri a 7 minute soundscape with an analogue feel. A circular guitar riff greets the listener for the initial 2 minutes before an intentional crescendo resulting in a double time riff by 2 minutes 50 which continues for a minute before returning the circular guitar riff.  This forms the pattern for the remainder of this track with a nice progression around 6 and half minutes.

The analogue vinyl era distortion continues with Sisters of the Sun, it is here we find the only track on the album with vocals. Reminiscent of the The Brian Jonestown Massacre there is a groove which holds your interest for a while. A solo slides sweetly in around 3 minutes with addition of warm gain, it aligns well and suits the track. The fact that the solo goes on for over one and a half minutes is welcome and something that is lacking in much of today’s music.  The Great Attractor continues were Sisters of the Sun left with the aid of some nice jazz chordal voicings.  Its up-beat, attractive and a melody that’s aesthetically pleasing.

naxatras-ii
The album II, by Naxatras, with exception of one track, is largely an instrumental foray into low-key, psychedelic, jam style grooves laced with some melodic guitar solos.

The ten-minute epic, Garden of the Senses anchors into a bass line groove that extends for some time, there is progression on the drums before the guitar transitions into solo around 2:20 and continues before re-joining the groove about 3 minutes 20. The drums take centre stage at 3:40 and a minute later a Black Angels style rock directs the show for the next minute and a half.  If you’ve enjoyed this much, stay tuned for the rest of the jam session.

Evening Star is a fitting end to this mostly instrumental jam album.  A horn section fills out this track with criminal tones that would accompany a detective walking down a back alley to investigate the latest inner city crimes.

With 6 tracks it would be better to categorise this as an EP, though its neither here nor there. If you have some study to do, or need some background white noise with beats and psychedelic melodies this is for you.

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