This is one of those albums that encapsulates the very raison d'etre of a
reissue label like Finders Keepers, or Trunk for that matter. John
Hill's Six Moons Of Jupiter is a dizzying cocktail of avant-garde jazz,
cosmic psychedelia and electronic experimentation, intermittently
augmented by the poetry of Susan Christie who recites text over parts of
certain tracks. There are drum-fuelled beat tracks like 'Io' or the
David Axelod-like 'Amalthea', and then there's some woozy,
electroacoustic soundscaping on the hazy, effects-laden 'Ganymede', all
of which are ideal fodder for library hounds, but 'Callisto' and 'Elara'
mark the real creative peaks here, eschewing the kind of exotica-appeal
that tends to taint reissues with a hint of kitsch. The latter of
these compositions draws a certain amount of influence from Messaien's
Turangalila Symphonie in its ambitious, often erratic harmonies and its
mingling of conventional and electronic instrumentation. The album is
capped off with an alternate, instrumental rendition of 'Europa', which
it has to be said, benefits from the absence of Christie's reading -
which itself is isolated as a final piece on the album, 'I Am The Storm
Of Dawn'. This amazing concept album will undoubtedly appeal greatly to
anyone who fell under the spell of Jean-Claude Vannier's L'Enfant
Assassin Des Mouches and generally to followers of weird and wondeful
musics from the archicives. Wonderful stuff - Essential Purchase. - boomkat (sorry, i have to leave for work so i have to use their description)
amazing avant future library cosmic jazz. this is a mind warper.
