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The View Is Better
from the Top of the Food Chain is an
experimental album of two part improvisation of guitar from Greg
Segal and drumming from Hyam Sosnow. The first few tracks are
comprised of unstructured exploration that are based upon
completely spontaneous musical ideas that have no planning.
Because of the lack of composition, there are no coherent themes
or structure that can be called arrangements. Besides that, some
of the guitar work is on the raw side and does not resolve notes
well with stable tonal centering around the implied notes. The
recurring track, "Erwin Park", has a Hendrix-like
progression that brings the first semblance of coherency to the
album, but doesn't go anywhere with it. In short, the CD is
comprised of a lot of spontaneous guitar noodling that has some
good guitar playing in places but the lack of direction and
structuring does not lend itself well to coherency. But, if you
are into spontaneous improvisation that defies convention, this
is an album you might want to check out.
Jugalbandi:
The View is Better from the Top of
the Food Chain
2000, Great Artiste 89
Records, GAJG001
CyberHome: http://www.Jugalbandi-Music.com
Guitar
Greg Segal
Drums
Hyam R. Sosnow
~ www.ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris@ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris Ruel's Monthly Spotlight
1) The View is Better from the
Top of the Food Chain
2) Moving Towards Kyoto
3) Erwin Park
4) Rest Stop
5) Erwin Park (Jam)
6) Reciprocal Demonology
7) The Toast Beckons
8) Castle Bravo
9) Erwin Park (Reprise)
| Greg Segal: Always Looking on the Dark Side of Life |
| 2001, Phantom Airship, PARGS01 |
| CyberHome: http://www.GregSegal.com |
Always Looking on the Darks Side of Life is a compilation of tracks from five different albums by Greg Segal. Segal's style is off-beat, and as the title suggests, has a dark perspective that is conveyed through the music from his different CDs. The music is primarily a combination of guitar, drums, and vocals that enounce Segal's unusual angle of approaching things. The music is progressive in its unorthodox, dark feel and the exploratory arrangements that project Segal's darkened vision. The instrumantalism is not progressive in the sense of advanced guitar or bass technique that many fans of progressive music are interested, though there are a few places that have some speedy sections with outside, dissonant scales that are traversed. The compositions are unusual and have a character that may be attractive to fans of out of bounds type music.
| Guitar, All instruments, Vocals | Greg Segal |
| From: Night Circus |
| 1) As the Sky Turns to Fire |
| 2) Cold Sky |
| 3) Night Circus (pt 2) |
| 4) Introduction |
| From: A Man Who Was There |
| 5) If I Die Tomorrow |
| 6) So Far |
| 7) King of Illusion |
| 8) A Man Who Was Here |
| From: Experimental Guitar |
| 9) Discharge |
| From: Water from the Moon |
| 10) Nothing in the Dark |
| 11) The Taker |
| 12) I Was Back in School Again |
| 13) Water from the Moon |
| From: |
| 14) Honor |
| 15) Motifs |
| 16) The Time to Be |
| 17) Demolished |
| 18) What Gives You the Right |
~ Christopher Ruel ~ www.ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris@ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris Ruel's Monthly Spotlight
| Greg Segal: In Search of the Fantastic |
| 2002, Phantom Airship, PARGS02 |
| CyberHome: http://www.GregSegal.com |
Greg Segal pumps out another of his exploratory brand CDs with his 2002 release In Search of the Fantastic. Once again, Greg embarks upon a divergence into unusual harmonization and exploratory arrangements. The production on this CD is notably better than his previous efforts that were less refined probably due to less sophisticated production equipment and more effort on this release. Greg explores sonic soundscapes that are more mood music than composition. The music is more of an experiment in abstract soundscaping than in structured arrangement and harmonization. There is a lot of noodling with unusual sounds that Greg derives from different instruments, but he does manage to put this noodling into some context for the trance music that he produces.
This type of exploratory space music is not my area, so you had probably best consult a review from a reviewer that has a better handle on this genre!
| Guitar, All instruments, Vocals | Greg Segal |
| 1) Alone |
| 2) Looking for Paradise |
| 3) Nad |
| 4) Sahara, 1909 |
| 5) Congruence Asserts Its Presence |
| 6) Madstone |
| 7) Returns |
| 8) Snallygaster |
| 9) The Deros Discover King Solomon's Mine |
| 10) Sanctuary |
| 11) The India-Appalachia Railway |
| 12) Was It Childhood |
| 13) The Bad Ass Ride |
| 14) Around the Healing Spring |
| 15) Bhoga |
| 16) The Backroads of Time |
| 17) What Once Was Is |
| 18) Of Brief Stays |
| 19) Wednesday, 10PM |
| 20) Paradise Is Where You Find It |
~ Christopher Ruel ~ www.ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris@ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris Ruel's Monthly Spotlight
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