House Master 2015
Deep Space
Cologne guitarist observes his last decade as marked by progressive exploration and a CAN man mileage-logging.
Often deemed a new-age dweller, Alan J. Bound has much more strings to his bow, and many tracks scattered across the artist’s three albums – spanning 2005 to 2014 – demonstrate a very vigorous intent. Nine of those pieces, four of them freshly remixed, are on this compilation that takes a perfect start with the enchanting “N365” whose bluesy flight is kept on orbit by Jaki Liebezeit’s thunderous, if quite sparse in its cosmic expanse, beat. Yet while the urgency is hidden there, here’s a gripping, albeit even simpler, pulse to the infectious stomp of “Elephant” where the axe cuts a heightened vibrancy.
Rhythmic patterns become relatively intricate on “Dune” as befits a Muad’Dib drama and a Sandworm slithering, and a feel of tragedy, no sense of levitation, fills “Ikarus” as its tension rises and expands to orchestral proportions. And if “Delightful Changes” distills the charge to a light, transparent dance with a textured, folky undercurrent, the acoustic guitar in the heart of “Eta Carina Pt. 2” lends its epic scope an irresistible pull. Catching a motorik rumble, the riff which carries “Float” gets sharper and sharper, going for a time warp to conquer the space. An exciting adventure.
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