Search - Michael Mantler :: Alien

Quite a pair these two

fred udrah | south california | 07/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Mostly dark, and forboding. Very soundtrackish. Like alot of Mantler's music, there is subtle beauty within the gloom. Plus ex- mother of invention Don Preston actually uses a drum machine as an instrument (as opposed to a bombastic timekeeper). He adds some "nice" synth work as well. On cut 3 the duo break into a odd jam that reminds one of the progressive rock of 'crimson', 'soft machine' and even 'elp'. Quite a pair these two. Not for fans of the Backstreet Boys."

Dark Avant-prog of the first order

D. P. Fisher | Los Angeles, CA USA | 09/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I really liked this Mantler CD. Most of the Mantler I own has vocals of some sort by luminaries such as Robert Wyatt, Kevin Coyne & others. This one is totally instrumental but what dark & atmospheric stuff. Almost reminds me in places of the great band Univers Zero. This is a good one for people into dark progressive. A little sparse in places but when the drums kick in it's almost RIO (Rock in Opposition) or Zuehl like musically.

A good one."