Future Shock, the new album by keyboardist/composer Michael Whalen, comes at you from so many directions that you’ll wonder what it is, other than good and snappy and vibrant. It’s closer to ’70s prog rock than fusion, and while it has the same jazz underpinnings as Steely Dan, you might hear a shade of Daft Punk here and there. The energy is consistent, though, even though each of these ten original compositions lives in its own distinct aural neighborhood. The common thread in Future Shock is Michael Whalen himself. He plays all keyboards, synthesizers and programming, he composed and arranged and even mixed the results. He provides plenty of layers to the sound, which is perhaps why these tunes are so difficult to pigeonhole. On the title track, Michael Whalen sounds like he’s skirting along the edge of hip-hop with sampled voices and steady beats. On softer tunes, reed player Bob Magnuson takes over and draws the soundscape into something more panoramic, with feelings that might be normally expressed through films that use a lot of saxophone themes. Simon Phillips’ drumming, however, keeps pulling quartet back into the arena with rock and roll rhythms pulled from the ’70s and ’80s. […]
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I wasn’t quite sure at first about guitarist Todd Mosby (website) and his new album, Aerial Views. It starts off very mellow, almost an equal blend of soft Pat Metheny and the better-than-average Windham Hill releases through the early ’80s, and I my first reaction was dismissive. Lately I’ve listened to plenty of guitarists emulating Metheny (aka “paying tribute” or “one of my main influences growing up”) While there was a time in my life when I really dug some of those pristine Windham Hill LPs in my collection, especially from the likes of Mark Isham and the late, great Michael Hedges. Yes, I thought of Hedges’ awesome Aerial Boundaries the first time I listened to Aerial Views. The first time I listened to this Todd Mosby album, I got through the first couple of tracks and then my mind wandered and I started doing other things. After about ten minutes, I was drawn back to my listening chair. Aerial Views, over the course of the first handful of tunes, turns into a first-class audiophile album. While the smooth and versatile guitar work from Todd Mosby is front and center for most of the album, the focus does shift to […]