Jasun Martz The Intercontinental Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Choir - The Pillory The Battle (7 tracks) +Album Reviews

The Universe Symphony of Everything!

Tom Furgas | Youngstown, OH United States | 01/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shortly after the advent of magnetic recording tape, and, later, the invention of the voltage-controlled synthesizer, there was much made of the "endless possibilities" of those mediums. One could now use the actual sounds, both of instruments and voices as well as "noises", to mold and create one's music. In the case of the electronic synthesizer, it was believed that it could replicate virtually any audible sound and enable it to be used in a musical way hitherto impossible. So what happened to all those "endless possiblilites"? One has to search far and wide to uncover any music that actually fulfills that promise. Much of the musique concrete or electronic music created in that heady time ('50's-'60's) certainly seems to have fallen far short of the dream, except for certain works by Stockhausen, Xenakis, Subotnick and a (very few) others. The reason for this is as simple as it is devastating; as composer Mel Powell put it, the creation of electronic or concrete music "allows camoflage about as generously as does, say, writing madrigals for unaccompanied voices." Not only that, but it also requires a tremendous amount of hard work! The composer and artist Jasun Martz knows this quite well. The amount of work to create, mold, shape, and produce "The Pillory" and "The Pillory/The Battle" was staggering, but he knew well that to accomplish the sublime one must commit to the hard work and devotion necessary to bring the vision into reality. Martz contacted musicians all over the globe, sent them sheet music and instructions, then imported, assembled, arranged, and produced the music, as well as perfoming many parts of his own. The result is a rare and sublimely beautiful cycle of compositions which seem to embrace the whole universe of music and sound. But unlike composers whose reach exceeds their grasp, Martz has kept this all within HUMAN time and perceptual boundaries, so as to be fully comprehended and enjoyed. He did not want the listener to be as staggered by the listening process as he nearly was in creating it. The wealth of music, sound, and overall conception never seems like an "embarassment of riches". The pacing and progression of the individual movements as well as the outlines within the movements are clearly drawn, logical but humanistic. These "Battles" are fought with strategy and forsight...never devolving into insipid ambience on the one hand, or mindless chaos on the other. Martz holds the progression and development of the music firmly within his grasp, but allowing freedom and chance to operate appropriately when needed to balance the stricter elements. The richness of texture and invention invite continued repeated listenings, as there always seems to be just a bit more embedded in the music than a given audition would reveal.

The packaging of this 2-CD set is also superb (Martz is a visual artist as well as a composer and musican), and the price is a bargain to boot.

Now, scroll back up and ORDER it, and hear for yourself!"

Mellotron Masterpiece

KATON | t'nacle, NJ | 03/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jasun Martz returns nearly 30 years after releasing his masterpiece "The Pillory", an album which is often cited as the Mellotron Holy Grail! The piece has also been hailed as one of the greatest 20th-Century compositions. This follow-up, "The Pillory/The Battle" follows in the tradition of the first album and expands upon it. Fans of eclectic music will eat this up. There's everything from World, Progressive Rock, Industrial, Ambient, Classical and Mellotron washes woven together to create one cohesive piece over 2 full CDs! "The Pillory/The Battle" is an easy contender for Album-of-the-Year. And, yet another masterpiece from Jasun. I'm looking forward to the third installment."

Great music

Mr Mellotron | 03/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This one was worth waiting for. I liked The Pillory but this one is better. 2 cd's with great orchestral soundscapes and of course a lot of mellotron. Pretty amazing. Just let us hope Mr Martz don't wait 25 years for his next opus."

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water!

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 01/21/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over 25 years later, Jasun Martz had revisited The Pillory. He's not the only one revisiting albums from the '70s. Think Mike Oldfield with his series of Tubular Bells sequels in the 1990s, think Jean Michel Jarre and Oxygene 7-13. Many people accused them of simply cashing in on nostalgia or desperate to gain more sales, or both. Of course, since Jasun Martz had nothing to lose, given his original Pillory from 1978 only sold to the handful who knew of it, and not recording albums in between (he played for Michael Jackson and arranging the dreaded "We Built This City" by Starship in between that time, but that really didn't matter much as the mainstream audience hardly knew who Jasun Martz was), recording a sequel was not going to hurt his reputation.

And it's true, this is truly a wonderful sequel to his great 1978 album. This time around he used a 115 piece orchestra called The Intercontinental Philharmonic Orchestra. While the 1978 original had such familiar names as Eddie Jobson, Ruth Underwood, and Paul Whitehead helping out, this time around, the only recognizable name (to me) is Mark Shreeve, one of Britain's top electronic musicians. With two CDs, and over two hours of music, he's able to expand much greater the ideas he had in his mind than he ever dreamed of back in the '70s with the original Pillory. The Pillory/The Battle is divided in seven movements, the final movement, takes up all of the second disc (clocking in at 74 minutes, making the likes of Acid Mothers Temple and Radio Massacre International seem rather modest in their composition length, where they often did 40-50 minute long compositions). Each of these movements have their own "musical style", like "Soundscapes/Choir/Mellotron", "Tribal/Prog Rock", "Ambient", etc. And trust me this is music not very easily labeled. Neo-classical? World music? Ambient? Prog rock? Industrial? Noise? Actually all of the above and more, as the music goes through all these different styles. I'll tell you the exploration of noise and industrial is something you'd never find on the original Pillory. You get the orchestra, strings, brass, choir, percussion, and keyboards (synthesizers, and virtual Mellotron). As mentioned "virtual Mellotron", meaning an M-Tron, SampleTron, or any similar VST plugins, or real keyboards that emulates the Mellotron. Also there's a couple passages that was so obviously a digital synthesizer trying to sound like tron cellos (like on the first cut) but still sounding like a digital synth. Andy Thompson who runs a website called Planet Mellotron stated he was invited to play on the album, and had he done so, real Mellotron would have been used, but he never had the time to do so. "The Battle 3" actually features guitar, something never used on the original Pillory. The original Pillory is not exactly easy going, this 2005 sequel is even more so, with over two hours of music, but it's stuffed with so much great ideas, that it completely warrants a 2 disc set! Once again, a lot of the music has this rather gloomy, sinister feel, to let everyone know this ain't lite classical!

Jasun Martz talks of a third Pillory around 2030. Well, given sources state he was born in 1953, he'd be well in his 70s by the time he attempts to do this. So lets hope he still has the health and energy to do that, and it's just as good as the first two he's made!

This is truly a highly recommended album for the adventurous, and don't forget to pick up the original too (also issued on the Under the Asphalt label)."

A great result for a great work, 25 years

Poignet | France | 03/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"25 years is the top age for human race ! for this CD it's the same, 25 years after the 1st opus ! This is a real great and hard work with plenty different sources and influences A combination of quiet and loud times in alternation A great pleasure to ear it for the mind, for the body and for enlarge his own culture"

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