Lazy Bones 2015
Celebration
Many faces of a drummer turn into MM-masques and dance out of the shadows.
Somewhere in between touring with THE ARISTOCRATS and Steven Wilson, Marco Minnemann managed to mold another multi-instrumenal masterpiece, an impressionistic one. Always more than just a drummer, his composer talent has finally reached the stage where each piece – and there are 18 of them on “Celebration” – tells a story of its own, while contributing to the whole album-sized picture. It’s much more than an exploration of a melody’s rhythmic edge this time, then, with the artist handling all of the instruments and expanding the decreasingly heavy context, where “Thoughts Take Shape” sums up his approach both musically and conceptually.
Riffs might reign supreme on the prog-minded title track which rides a distorted vocal in a lyrical, harmonic setting, whereas the funereal “March Of The Living Dead” deepens its pseudo-orchestral vibe, but “What Have You Done?” repurposes it in a quirky pop way where funk gets married to a folk child song. There still is technical nuancing to the 11-minute “Print Life” to show MM’s spectrum as a player, yet short vignettes like “4000” pack a truly succinct emotional punch, and “Amina’s Birthday” unexpectedly, if gracefully, falls into blues. On the other side of soulful spectrum, “Eclipse” laps into flamenco, and “Have A Great 3015” offers an ear-busting retrofuturistic dance as if to contrast a finely layered texture of “How Can I Help You?”. The latter hooks up a hint at musique concrete to a fusion flow that, accentuated by a rather romantic guitar and synthesizer interplay with cymbals lining, is introduced in opener “Miami” and carried over to the piano of “Ugly Sunrise” before it gains weight without losing any of the twangy poise.
So even though the heaviness returns for “Better Place,” that’s the disposition which rings true at the end of this cerebral celebration – one full of heart.
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