Paradox One- Inventing Stars
(Self Released)
Paradox One- Inventing Stars
(Self Released)
From Aural Innovations #37 (Sep 2007)
Paradox One is the brainchild of U.K. musician Phil Jackson, who on Inventing
Stars plays a variety of instruments, including guitar, synths, piano, organ
and bass. Though only a little over half an hour, there are several noteworthy
tracks that scud the boundaries of space rock, neo-psychedelia and prog rock.
The disc’s opening track, “Dimensions,” is reminiscent of
early 90’s Hawkwind, while “An Orison of Sound” blends elements
of trance with the work of 70’s synth pioneers like Jean-Michel Jarre
and Michael Garrison. “Regeneration” is the album’s heaviest
track, its power-chorded guitar intro ultimately making way for waves of organ
and samples that again remind one of similar work by Hawkwind. Songs like “Lindisfarne”
and “Invisible” provide pleasant quasi-folk diversions from the
electronica that dominates most of Inventing Stars. Both tracks feature some
nice flute by Elspeth McCormack. The symphonic jazz textures of “The Bridge
over the Rhein” move the album away from its roots in electronica and
more toward the prog rock of the Canterbury era. Though perhaps not yet fully-fledged,
there are enough bright spots on Inventing Stars to warrant the assumption that
Jackson’s next project will be more coherent and less eclectic.
Reviewed by Charles Van de Kree