SONIC CURIOSITY

This 52 minute CD from 1999 is a fine example of versatile instrumental power rock. The music covers a range from abstract structure to cohesive balls of rhythmic fury. Guitars scratch and scream while percussives chitter at the fringes. Electronics creep in, oozing between the scalding tension. There is a constant edginess going on with the guitars, accountable to the particularly un-guitar-like nature of the sounds they're producing. They evoke alien concepts and strange mathematical theorems with their plaintive wailings. Steadfast, the drums forge ahead with determination through a valley of stormy electronics. The bass remains so liquid as to defy identification, restricting its rumble to the subliminal range. This music appears abstract at first sonic glimpse, revealing its involved and sneaky melodies in sly fashion. The chaos falls together, defining something so grand that it eludes description with its unconventionality. What is first perceived as looseness later transforms into a calculated structure whose harmonics and rhythms are quite compelling. The fires in these songs burn brightly but with a gradual brilliance, their flicker dancing to a strange tempo. And when the music blazes, it sears everything in its path, as with the growling guitar and carefree percussion in "Undoubtedly". This piece cooks with funk and art-rock breaks. This weirdling music will open new worlds for your mind. - Matt Howarth

WIND AND WIRE (UK)

Escapade, a six member band that play a lot of instruments, including guitars, keyboards, drums, synths and samples, has recorded a wild ride of a CD, due to a faulty premonition. This is a genre-smashing/blending/morphing album that packs a punch and then some. It took a while to grow on me but finally I saw what lay under the veneer of this totally spontaneously composed album. And I was mighty impressed with what was laying there!

The first cut, "Sound Trap" begins almost softly, with mellow acoustic guitars, before all hell starts to break loose. Electric guitars sting, burn, and crunch; drums pound; cymbals crash; and a wondrous mayhem ensues. Reminding me at times of early Pink Floyd, I also flashed on the tripped out psychedelic sounds from Cork Mareschi's seminal band, Fifty Foot Hose and their album "Cauldron".

"When a Squall Line Beckons" is more avant garde and risky, if you can believe it. Beginning with a rhythmic cymbal beat, the song starts to swirl in concentric circles, while underneath squealing guitars sound like giant babies crying out in pain. Obviously, as the song progresses and things get even wilder (and louder), this may not be everyone's cup of herbal tea. There is a hypnotic feel to the cut, though, owing to the steady beat from those cymbals. When the drums come in, well, it sounds like that squall line (a line of storms for those of you who are meteorologically ignorant) is definitely around the corner. The energy in this cut is simply eruptive. Bursts of sonic fragmentation grenades jump out of the speakers and explode in your face. By extreme contrast, "I See Things" is like experimental ambient music. Echo-effect notes bounce like arrhythmic balls, ultra-spacy Forbidden Planet synths wiggle like neon snakes, and the cut has the feel of that movie's all-powerful citizenry, the Krell ('member when Morbius played some Krell music?). Coming after the two napalm hits of the earlier songs, the relatively subdued cut (note the use of the term "relatively") is a real change of pace. Especially because "I See Things" also has a vague haunting feel to it ("what exactly do you see?").

There are three more songs on the album, from the noise/musique concrete-ish opening of "Singe" that morphs into a something almost bluesy (!) to the mournful closing cut, "Postscript: a Flickering" which could almost (well, almost may be a stretch) be from a Jon Durant recording. In fact, this last piece is positively melodic at times - who'da thunk it?

All in all, due to a faulty premonition is a real experience. In a world of valium, this is a triple hit of white cross chased with Jack Daniels. It's brave, strange, disturbing, brilliant, risky, and represents an all out attack on the ordinary. Not an easy listen but a rewarding one for those who walk its trailblazing path. - Bill Binkelman

COLOSSUS MAGAZINE (Finland)

On their new album Due to a Faulty Premonition Escapade fulfills the promise set by their previous album and by now it can be said that they are one of the best bands around playing improvised Krautrock-like music. From time to time the playing of the band can even be compared to such classic bands like Ash Ra Tempel, Cosmic Jokers or Annexus Quam. A must for Krautrock fans!

FREQ (U.K.)

On hearing the opening acoustic guitar you could be forgiven for expecting a gentle excursion into Folk territory. Of course, it doesn't turn out that way. Escapade instead build shape-shifting improvisations, or collective compositions, using a wide range of sources but not, they state, with overdubs.

"When A Squall Line Beckons" is good example of their methods, using metallic percussion, distant howling guitar and keyboards they create a sound not unlike Faust. It is difficult to tell what instruments are being used, apart from the drums, but it all forms an amalgam of powerful, shifting noise that is harsh and disturbing. The plucking and tapping that opens "I See Things" constructs a watery soundscape that is full of strange, delicate forms. The combination of acoustic and electronic sounds balances the track, mixing some pellucid sounds with other more sharp and splintered ones. Elsewhere, they mix abstract sound with stronger rhythmic entities, as on "Singe" with its electronic wash at the start building into some jagged guitar and drum patterns. It is slightly reminiscent of earlier forays into the field, like Barrett era Floyd's space excursions. Guitars repeat motifs and the electric keyboards graft on dark swathes of distortion. Howling electronic storms are counter-balanced by plucked strings and tapped cymbals. The final piece, "Postscript : A Flickering" is 'an excerpt of a rehearsal recorded direct to two track' and is perhaps the most mellow offering here. A hovering cloud of keyboard is pierced by echoing guitar and the whole track shimmers, in a warm haze, to a conclusion. At times the improvisations can appear shapeless but that's the risk with music of this sort. Mostly Escapade do sustain interest through the constant variation of mood and texture. -Paul Donnelly

CLICKS AND KLANGS (U.K.)

REVIEWS OF Due to a Faulty Premonition AND Citrus Cloud Cover:

Escapade are the closest thing to Krautrock that (probably) any American band is likely to get. Sound odd? then read on...

I've heard so-called German Krautrock pale in comparison to these guys. A Faulty Premonition was my first introduction to them, and I just couldn't help drawing parallels with bands such as Golem, The Nazgul, Baal, Cozmic Corridors, and Ten To Zen (all from Virgin's three volume set Unknown Deutschland (The Krautrock Archives). What is it that makes their music so 'right'? Well, improvisation is the major element, whether it be live or studio, the band go for a musical stroll, adventuring and trekking through a variety of terrains and landscapes, yet there is a definite feel of restraint to their experiments. Nothing drifts too far, thus we don't get any unnecessary aural surprises. As pretentious as this might sound, each track is allowed to develop, mutate and evolve, not unlike a lifeform.

Escapade consists of Paul Hilzinger, John Ortega, Joey Murphy, Paul Casanova, Hadley Kahn and, on Citrus Cloud Cover (a double album) special guest Jane Scarpantoni (cello). It's pointless reviewing each album separately because the structure and development of each track (regardless of album) is unique, yet magnetically appealing. The main credit deserves to go to Hadley Kahn and Joey Murphy, the drummer and bass player respectively {On Due to a Faulty Premonition, the bass player is Russell Giffen.}, whose dedication to keeping an unbelievably tight foundation from which the electronics and guitar work can build, is truly awesome. Kahn's ability to keep refreshing the drum patterns with fills, rolls and whatever, takes the pieces from the ordinary to the extra. Whilst this music isn't exactly commercial, its strength lies in the pure inventiveness and improvisation. It's hard, at times, to believe that this is composed spontaneously, the musicians seem to naturally gel. They have an uncanny ability to feed off of each other with some inner knowledge and spontaneity. The drums and bass are like the legs of a long distance runner, they keep going, whilst the senses take everything in. The guitar and electronics weave in and out, neither taking main stage, but enhancing both each other as well as highlighting just how good the bass and drums are.

As I've said, it's a very difficult kind of music to review because it is almost peerless, and has nothing to help, you, dear reader, to grasp. If you are familiar with the term, and enjoy Krautrock, then Escapade deserve to be well up on your list. If you can suspend the geographical contradiction, get yourself to the Mother West site: website: www.motherwest.com. Take it from me, this stuff is truly stunning. - Dave Hughes

pOoTer's pSycheDelic shAcK (U.K.)

Take the most 'out there' Pink Floyd and move it to a place so far out that you didn't think possible and you will almost be entering Escapade territory. This music is haunting, evocative, eerie and beautifully fluid. Do not expect full on riffed up Space Rock in the style of Hawkwind or Amon Duul, this is a free form journey to the far reaches of time. Escapade creeps up your spine and tugs at your mind tantalizingly, occasionally scaring you as it laps gently onto the shores of some distant planet. There are elements of some of Floyd's scarier moments, also tinges of Brian Eno and some of the jazzier flavour of early Soft Machine. What this DOES NOT do though, is drift aimlessly and although improvised there is always an underlying structure that seems to 'just happen' naturally. For the full effect, play this at high volume in a dark room, just make sure you know where the door is.....!! Escapade it most certainly is......Strangely beautiful, experimental, LSD for your ears. Highly recommended.

AUDION (U.K.) - Issue #43

I've been trying to review this for ages now, but whenever I put it on and get down to having a serious listen, I get distracted by something; the phone rings, the doorbell, etc. I'm not complaining, as it's good to be busy. But the thing about this album is that it's so deeply involved and creative that it really demands your full attention.

Escapade are without a doubt one of the finest rock bands around today. Unlike most such American bands, they don't drown everything in a cacophonous soup to hide the fact that they haven't any ideas of their own. No, Escapade present their music in clear sparkling form. They have that flair for invention associated with the old Djam Karet and many a European 70's instrumental rock combo. They live on the edge, tempting those who don't understand such music to utter "Self Indulgence". But, indulgence is what we want, where the rhythms dance around themselves, with guitars and keyboards adding a diverse array of sonic patterns and colour.

Maybe you think this sounds like it's another Hawkwind or Ozric Tentacles copy, but it isn't. Escapade are too creative and diverse in their range of ideas to be at all plagiaristic, though you may hear a flash of Faust here, a twang of Mahavishnu there, but overall it's their own increasingly distinctive sound. And here they go even further than before, delving into the depths of the free-rock cosmos. Stunning! - Alan Freeman

EXPOSÉ - Issue #19

First the correction. Despite the 1999 date on the backtray, I'm reasonably certain that this disc was not available until the early weeks of 2000. And why is that a big deal? This one would have been a candidate for this writer's best of '99 list had it been available before year's end. Let's face it, with a handful of releases under their collective belt, Escapade is getting pretty damn good at what they do. For this type of improvised Kraut-jam space rock, the make-or-break is determined by what percentage of the time the project is airborne, with the standards to meet set by the early masters like Annexus Quam, early Ash-Ra Tempel, Cosmic Jokers and so on; With this latest release Escapade is in the air at least 75% of the time, which compared to some of the vintage German stuff is a pretty remarkable flight record. Unlike their 1998 sprawling two-disc set "Citrus Cloud Cover", the material here is far more concise and doesn't wear the listener out, the six tracks herein being edited down from three recent studio sessions into one long continuum. Like all great improvisations, what happens here is really beyond description - it must be experienced to be understood. We all know that sounds like the reviewer taking the easy way out, but the truth is that the best words that could be commited to the page wouldn't come anywhere close to describing the magic happening here. - Peter Thelen

PROGRESSIVE WORLD

The only word I can find to describe Escapade's latest release is soundsculpture - or soundpainting. There is a strong sense of the cinematic, as this music could well be the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic movie, or something on the order of Blade Runner. Though it isn't sci-fi music, per se, this New York based 6-piece do fall into the category of space-rock.

The tracks are dark, mysterious, and sometimes ominous, especially in the case of the nine minute "When A Squall Line Beckons." More hurricane than squall, this track builds slowly, fraught with tension as the percussion takes the lead. The approaching storm cloud looms ever closer, and when it hits, it is a chaotic and swirling mixture of drums, bass, and keys - a heavy, screechy, dark whirlwind that passes through you, only to leave you surprisingly untouched - but not unmoved.

"Singe" begins jazz-like, where again percussion takes the lead, sharing it with a guitar that honks and bursts - a role more commonly taken by a saxophone. A keyboard line almost quotes the Twilight Zone theme as another keyboard builds tension with a rising drone.

From such simple stuff are tension filled tracks made - the album intros with a gentle guitar and a mid-pitched drone (either voices or keys) - other guitar and keyboard sounds flit and float in. It is like the calm before the storm (above), as darker tones try to shove their way in.

There are moments when Escapade rock, mainly in a percussion context, but all within an ambient/soundscape type structure. There are moments when I thought of the Beatles during the opener "Sound Trap", thinking especially of the fade out of "Penny Lane" ("I buried Paul" or "Cranberry sauce" depending on what you think you hear). {This reviewer must have meant the fade out of "Strawberry Fields Forever".} And, I also thought of Mark Snow, the fella responsible for The X-Files' music. This is quite interesting and enveloping.

Due To A Faulty Premonition comes recommended. -Stephanie Sollow

THE BIG TAKEOVER

Escapade is an NYC improv unit formed by drummer Hadley Kahn in 1996. Dodging in and out of focus, the band teases atonal passages out of loosely structured rhythmic jams that have a lot in common with Soft Machine. The sextet also includes two keyboard/synth/sampler players, two guitarists, and a bassist, and they all seem comfortable moving around with one another's instruments. This is their fifth CD, and they work up some inspired heads of steam that, true to any band led by a drummer, are held together by intricate and powerful percussion excursions. This actually has more of a spacerock feel than a jazz one, though if you crossed Sun Ra with some of Pink Floyd's more out-there moments, you'd be getting close.

ACID ATTACK E-ZINE (UK)

Let joy and jubilation be heard around the land, a new c.d. from improvtastic jazz space rock warriors Escapade. Recorded over just 2 days and with no overdubs, this disc again demonstrates that Escapade are one of the tightest and most imaginative bands working in the U.S at the moment. From slinky jazz workouts to the wiggiest corners of space these tunes all do exactly what they are supposed to do. They turn on a sixpence and soar way above the clouds. Just check out the lovely guitar crescendo on track 5, sends shivers down my spine. They are not afraid to use quiet passages either and the absence of a vocalist gives them even more freedom from the chorus, verse, chorus tyranny that so many bands impose on themselves. The final track is recorded onto a 2-track tape at a rehearsal! Most bands don't get this together at a gig. As with the last Escapade c.d. reviewed by me I can heartily recommend this and suggest that it is an essential purchase!