| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. December 17th | | | | | |
| 2. Good King Friday | | | | | |
| 3. Spiders | | | | | |
| 4. Sleeping | | | | | |
| 5. Neither | | | | | |
| 6. Copper Ink | | | | | |
| 7. Conversations With Ellis | | | | | |
| 8. Coal Boxes And Daisy Cutters | | | | | |
| 9. Lincoln | | | | | |
| 10.Jupiter | | | | | |
| 11.The Miller's Tale | | | | | |
| 12.The Quince Tree | | | | | |
All tracks by Shawn Persinger except "Spiders", "Neither" and "Jupiter", by Matt Eiland.
On October 22, 1998, Shawn Persinger informed the readers of rec.music.progressive that the rumours which had been circulating about the breakup of Boud Deun were unfortunately true. This announcement marked the end of one of the more promising progressive (not just "prog") bands in North America.
Boud Deun hailed from northern Virginia, and played a style of music that was influenced by the progressive, punk and jazz-fusion traditions (real jazz-fusion, that is -- not the miserable lounge recordings which helped taint the 1980s), with some bluegrass thrown in as well. Their official web site (www.clark.net/pub/nicklin/bouddeun.html) lists King Crimson, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Leo Kottke and Minor Threat as the band's primary influences. Others have also added the Dixie Dregs to this list, much to the band's consternation.
In their brief existence, the band recorded three studio albums: Fiction And Several Days (originally only available on cassette), Astronomy Made Easy and The Stolen Bicycle. While I don't have F&SD yet, I still feel fairly comfortable in asserting that the band operated at a high level of virtuosity -- usually loud, fast and complex, but capable of more poignant moments as well (this being mostly due to Greg Hiser, not surprisingly).
Astronomy Made Easy, which seems to be fairly representative of the group's talents, indicates the ways in which progressive music can be relevant in the late 1990s. Rather than repackaging the cliches of the genre (or watering them down, as per the Magna Carta bands), BD infused virtuosity and complex songwriting into their own unique style, in the still-emerging undercurrents of punk-prog. While their music is clearly influenced by the Mahavishnu Orchestra and King Crimson, it isn't simply derivative.
No band exists in a cultural vacuum, of course, and the mere fact that the band was able to get away with music of this sort (even on a fairly low level) probably has something to do with the success of Primus in the American market. Primus, after all, demonstrated that complex musical arrangements aren't necessarily anathema to success with a younger audience demographic, and it's probably not ridiculous to assert that Les Claypool's trio has inspired other adventurous musicians to seek out and combine the best elements of both punk and art music. This parallel doesn't run very far, of course (Boud Deun were an instrumental band, were much more jazz-influenced than Primus and tended to avoid references to "white trash" culture), but there is some level of cultural overlap here.
Anyway ...
The album begins with "December 17th" [the song explanations on the web site are really unhelpful, btw; you'll have to use your imagination with most of these titles], a heavy and impressive Mahavishnu-esque work with strong performances by all four musicians. The guitar and violin duets work well, and Eiland's bass work is at times quite amazing. As a "statement" of the band's abilities, this is a good way to start the album.
"Good King Friday" is a less sonically overwhelming number - a quieter work featuring shared virtuoso leads from Persinger and Hiser [think of Robert Fripp's guitar solos on "Suite No. 1" and "Fracture" and you'll have some idea of Persinger's part here]. "Spiders" then sees the band returning to a "heavy" mode, and shows some influence of King Crimson's songcraft without descending into mere imitation.
"Sleeping" is a curious sidestep. A brief piece, dominated by Hiser's traditional violin performance, this is easily the mellowest section of the album. The next track, "Neither", is a much, much heavier number -- strongly punkish, but nevertheless bearing some formal similarities to the MO's "One World". I'd have to think that the juxtaposition of these tracks was deliberate ...
"Copper Ink", the longest track on the album, begins with an extremely impressive band section, and soon shifts into solo exchanges from Persinger and Hiser (Eiland gets in a slap-heavy bass solo in mid-song as well). Some elements of the track might not seem substantial enough at the beginning, but the development of the song eventually makes sense of it. I imagine that this one must have been impressive live.
"Conversations With Ellis" [the title refers to the first piece of fan mail that the band ever received] is another track in the heavy/ crafty mode, and is notable for the strong role played by the bass in driving the song forward. "Coal Boxes And Daisy Cutters", too, is an good punk-prog number, with an excellent guitar solo toward the end.
The primary feature of "Lincoln" is its folkish violin lead, which bookends the jazzish improvisational section that dominates the track. The violin part itself it quite impressive, though it must be admitted that the improvisation meanders a bit. This is followed by "Jupiter", a lengthier piece which isn't immediately distinguishable from the rest of the album on a thematic level -- some of its subsequent developments deserve mention, though, including a wah-wah violin solo that doesn't sound entirely derivative of Jean-Luc Ponty, and a solo by Rocky Cancelose that actually comes off fairly well [it isn't the most amazing technical display imaginable, but it "fits" as part of the song]. I'm struck by the similarities of the opening bass line to the Cranberries's "Zombie", by the way ...
"The Miller's Tale" is another brief work, neatly summarizing the band's progressive and fusion tendencies. The concluding track, "The Quince Tree", is a bit odd -- beginning with a fairly sparse introduction (by the group's standards, at least), the track eventually mutates into another slappish bass solo, and resolves itself with a guitar-driven conclusion. I'm still not certain that the track coheres together all that well, though its development is certainly interesting. Perhaps that was the idea ...
It will be interesting to see what becomes of the musicians in this project. Persinger's letter mentioned that he was going to Europe, though the exact nature of his plans weren't revealed -- as to the rest, I have no idea of their current engagements. One way or the other, though, these four musicians are to be watched for further developments ... I'd be surprised to see their talents go unused for too long.
This album is strongly recommended to fans of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the mid-1970s version of King Crimson, who have some interest in discovering the creative spirit of those bands living on in the present day. Virtuosity enthusiasts will probably find little to disagree with here, as well.
If I had to name a single fault with the album, it would be that Persinger occasionally seems a bit too "flashy" for his own good. This, however, is a minor complaint.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 19 Feb 1999)