MIDICraft's MIDINET CD-ROM/MIDICraft's MIDINET CD-ROM.iso/MIDFILES/ASIF_ALI/CDREVIEW.TXT

Text File | 1996-11-21 | 14KB | 263 lines

CD Reviews

by Kevan R.Craft of MIDICraft  Email: [e-mail]

Artist:Asif Ali
Title:Out Of Abbfinoosty Comes The Storm
Type:Audio Compact Disc Album
Record Label:Cyclops
CD #:CYCL 034
World Distribution:Pinnacle, 99th Floor and Griffin Music

Out Of Abbfinoosty Comes The Storm
    Tracks:
 1. When the Sun Explodes
 2. Interstellar
 3. Cyberspace
 4. Saddest Girl
 5. Love Like This
 6. Churchyard
 7. Hell or High Water
 8. Dream
 9. Soul Catcher
10. You'll Never Make It
11. Recipe for Power


MIDICraft readers will  be  familiar  with   Asif   Ali   from our previous
review  of  Abbfinoosty's  album  Future   also  on   the   Cyclops   label
CYCL005.. Now Asif has single-handedly written all  the  lyrics  and  music
recorded  on  the  Out Of  Abbfinoosty  Comes the  Storm album and used the
Amiga music packages OctaMED V6.0  and  Music-X  V2.0  to create the multi-
instrumental backing together  with  session  bass  players  and a drummer.
Asif  is  a guitarists/vocalist  musician  and  plays his electric, rythym,
acoustic  and lead  solo  guitars  together  with   providing  the lead and
harmony vocals on the album..

Asif originally produced all his  song  demos for  Out Of Abbfinoosty Comes
The Storm in his small home studio  but  later ventured into a professional
24-track recording studio and  re-produced  all   the  tracks  featured  on
the  album  using  up-to-date    technology   that   a   recording   studio
environment  can  provide an artist.

Out Of Abbfinoosty Comes  The  Storm,   as   an  album   title, signifies a
change  in  direction  since  Asif's  first  band  Abbfinoosty   have   now
disbanded and the work featured  on  this  new  album  is  intended to be a
showcase for Asif's solo  talents  which  will  eventually  be taken on the
road  and  toured with a new band called Storm..

A Scanned image of Out  Of  Abbfinoosty Comes  The  Storm CD album cover is
provided on this issue of the MIDICraft Magazine and  if readers have had a
glimpse then you would have  seen  a  picture   of   Asif  emerging  from a
stormy sky background with an open road  ahead..  The  picture  illustrates
beautifully  the changing direction  in  the  way  Asif  communicates  both
his  music  and  himself  to  the  outside  world  and  for  an artist this
message is important..

Equally important is the musical works   and  the  remainder of this review
will examine Asif Ali's Out Of Abbfinoosty  Comes The Storm CD in the usual
manner..


1. When the Sun Explodes

The opening track on the  album  When   the   Sun Explodes employs a subtle
gradual build-up from  an  arpeggiated  syntheizer   piano   pad and Asif's
picking electric guitar  together  with  his  softly   spoken-like  singing
until the track opens up into a  a  full-blown Rock peice! From now  on  we
now exactly where we are, with a solid rock beat constructed  by  the  bass
player and  drummer  juxtapositioned  with  Asif's  powerchord  guitar  and
soaring  rock  vocals.. When the Sun  Explodes contains a  fine chorus  and
displays  some  excellent harmony vocals   by  Asif, and  some  interesting
sound  effects, which   herald   the  emergence   of  Asif's amazing guitar
solo, then  finally  a  complete   vocal  chorus,  all  of  which is really
quite stunning..


2. Interstellar

Interstellar is an instrumental providing  a  platform  for Asif to feature
his talents as a solo guitarist. Opening with a monologue speech which then
lurches Interstellar into the Rock nether regions.. Asif uses a combination
of stabbing strings  and  subtle  synthesized   instruments  together  with
some stunning drums and bass  instruments as backing  juxtapositioned  with
some whacky  computerised  sound  effects  montaged  over  the  score. This
provides a great platform for  Asif  to  paint  a  solo guitar narrative, a
voice  which sweetly sings to  the  listener  from  the darkness of space..
Wow!


3. Cyberspace

This next track  reflects  both  the  emergence   of  Cyberspace  as both a
concept of Computer-speak, of communicating with  Email on the Internet and
of Asif's sense  of   humour   in   poking   fun    at    this   aspect  of
modern  day  non-personal  communication..   I  like  the   clever  use  of
sound  effect  samples within  the  score,  this  adds  to the black humour
inherant  in  the peice but as the  sounds  are close to what most computer
games use  then this also makes for  a  weird  and whacky track at the same
time..  The  comic  overtones  in  Cyberspace  works well particularly with
the fun Pop style  of  music  in the composition as a whole.. Its also nice
to see someone poking fun  at  a concept and Cyberspace is a good as any..


4. Saddest Girl

Saddest Girl is an assured  track,   placed  within  the  Rock ballad genre
with excellent overlayed drum patterns, a  solid  bass  line  and some fine
vocals by Asif where  he  sings   of   The   Saddest   Girl  and  her  lost
love.. The musical tapestry provides  a  brilliantly produced  backdrop for
Asif's acoustic  guitar and  vocals..  When   we   are presented  with  the
chorus this  opens  with  fully  orchestrated  strings and distorted guitar
providing  a further springboard for Asif's  solo guitar which gently weeps
just like the girl in  the  song's  lyrics..  A  great  song this with fine
performances  by  all  the  musicians,  the  vocals  are  sung   with  real
feeling,  overall,  a  well  produced  song  in  the  classic tradition..


5. Love Like This

A song's opening can make  or  break  a  peice..  With  Love Like This Asif
has decided to fade in a soloing  guitar   on  a tapestry of sound effects,
which act as an intro to  Asif's  picking  acoustic  guitar..  We  are then
presented with a drum beat and  bass  line which  does  not  follow  normal
4/4 timing but instead employs  an  off-beat  effect  on the  2nd  and  4th
beat which works well against  both  Asif's  acoustic  guitar and well sung
vocals.. The chorus opens  to  a  full-blown   orchestrated Rock score with
strings and powerchord guitar, the off-beat timing is explored further  for
the   well-executed   solo  guitar  section..  Love  Like  This  follows  a
traditional  written  song  style  employing  verse, chorus, verse, chorus,
solo, verse, chorus but  does   so  in  such  a  fresh  and interesting way
that'll grab your attention with  its  inherant hook-lines and catchy beat,
the chorus is easily memorable too and  wouldn't  be  out of place aired on
the radio and even featured in the charts.. Could be a hit this one!


6. Churchyard

Again, this track  communicates  Asif's  sense  of   irony  with  a deep an
meaningful concept.. This  time  the  concept  is  "Death"   or rather what
happens to those who are dead and  burried only to find  that sometimes the
living, whilst walking in  a  churchyard,  step  over  their graves..  Asif
clearly displays a talent for  this  kind  of thing.. Churchyard possess an
musical arrangment much like the producer George Martin employed in some of
The  Beatles songs.. Its  quite  astounding  to  listen to the orchestrated
picture painted  by  Asif here in  this  peice,  a  good drum beat and bass
line, the subtle  trumpet,  the  string  sections,  bells, brass and Asif's
guitar   all   stepping   over   the   musical   gravestones   within   the
narrative of the song's  lyrics..   Equally   there's  the additional sound
effects which further embellish  the  weirdness  of  the  peice and overall
contribute to  a  memorable  song..  A  device  used  by  Asif   within his
compositions is the  build-up  from  small  musical  arrangements, a simple
beat which slowly intensify and  rise  up  to  a  climax.. Churchyard is in
this  tradition where the final part takes a change of pace to develop more
fully with  a really catchy  beat  as  a  background for Asifs amazing solo
guitar and amazing it is..


7. Hell or High Water

All popular music derives from the  "blues"   and   Hell or High Water pays
homage to this  traditional  genre..  Here  Asif   further embellishes this
style of music making and  in  so  doing  produces  his  own  unique  sound
variant of this style. Hell  of  High  Water  employs a  traditional   Rock
blues  back beat but the  song  is  modernised  by  making  great use of  a
guitar technique known as the "volume  swell" which  produces the effect of
a  subtle   string  section but  is  in  fact produced by  the  guitarist's
finger  revolving   the    volume    knob    on  his  electric guitar! This
really works  within   this   peice  and   as   Asif  sings we also hear an
occasional blues solo  on  his  guitar   which   juxtaposes nicely with the
soft bluesy vocals.. This is a great track!


8. Dream

Like all traditional stories, Dream unfolds  like a Fairy Tale, a narrative
with  child-like  qualitites  which    is    a    device   used   by   many
storytellers. This track's use  of   instrumentation  contains  subtle  use
of  bells, orchestrated strings and  deep polyphonic synths  together  with
a  solid drum beat, a sound bass line and a  picking  electric  guitar  all
of  which produce the  "dreamy"  effect  inherant  in  the  song's  title..
Dream  reflects  our  unconscious,  our  universal  ability  as  humans  to
experience  dreams  -  stories  in our sleep.. Again, Asif pays homage to a
blues Rock  style of guitar soloing  in  this  peice, which reminds me very
much of the band Wishbone Ash, with  beautiful examples of lead guitar work
that I've not heard in  a  long  time,  and  that's very refreshing to hear
being played again.. Asif  really   is   a   great  guitar player in a fine
line of British guitarists  and   his   solo   work  featured  in  Dream is
simply  fantastic!  Dream  is  a  great  track   full   of  atmosphere  and
delightful surprises just like a dream itself..


9. Soul Catcher

With some lovley  apeggiating  bells   this  signals  an  all-out-attack on
your senses  which  then  follows  in   a   rock/ballad   tradition.   What
separates Asif's work from a lot of his predessors  is  his  clever  use of
arrangements and his production   techniques   using  sampled  speech   and
sound  effects  and   the  interesting  stereophonic   placement   of  that
instrumentation.  Here,  in Soul  Catcher,  Asif  again  takes the role  of
story-teller, this time its "death"  who  narrates his story.. Soul Catcher
is  coming  to  get  you in this  song  so  when your time comes you better
watch  out!  The  tapestry of sound employed within Soul Catcher is full of
orchestrated strings with a thundering drum  beat,  thick bass guitar and a
solo guitar which  simply  screams  at  you  as if it were the Soul Catcher
himself.. A real  powerful  thundering  track  this one which also weaves a
kind of spell in the way  the  music slows down and speeds up in tempo like
a heart beat  and  containing   moments  of subtle ballad-like arrangements
juxtapositioned with moments of headbanging riffs..


10. You'll Never Make It

This track opens  with  the  use  of  an  arpeggiated  electric piano which
provides a stepped melody for Asif's  main  blues  style  vocals..  This is
offset with some fantastic harmony  vocals  in  the chorus-line  which  are
perfect and work really well for  this  peice.. You'll Never Make  It opens
further in the middle section with some weird and wonderful  fairground  or
funfair-like sampled sounds with Asif's solo guitar, fingers burning on his
fretboard.


11. Recipe for Power

Recipe for Power is the final track  on Out Of Abbfinoosty Comes The Storm,
and again  Asif  chooses  a  story-teller  technique   using  a  voice over
narrator.. This time its a girl's voice which  provides  us  with  a recipe
for cooking a weird concoction for a  meal that includes boiling a terrepin
in a stew -  this is the Recipe for Power.. This unusal recipe is  narrated
over a short  wonderkind  of  a  rock  track  which  acts   as   a  musical
backdrop  to  this ironic and child-like Recipe for Power...

Out Of Abbfinoosty Comes  The  Storm  is  a  fantasic  album and displays a
strong sense of  maturity  in  Asif  Ali's   compositional  and arrangement
skills. It also  demonstrates  his  talents  as  a  story-teller and singer
songwriter with excellent vocal  and  guitar  performances  from Asif.  The
drummer and bass players featured on  the album demonstrate a fluidity  but
are equally capable of forging a  tight musical beat  structure  in musical
time and their  performances are  also very good.. The clever use of synths
and  sound  effects  using  computers   further illustrates this musician's
work is communicating to today's audiences  but with one foot firmly rooted
in established  traditions of  genre,  of European story-telling containing
irony and wit but at the  same  time  has  pushed  his  music into a modern
arena towards the  new  millenium..  For  those  wishing  to acquire Out Of
Abbfinoosty Comes The Storm  then   it   comes   highly  recommended and as
Amiga computers were used  in   both   the   compositional   and  recording
stages of this album then you'll  be  not only acquiring great  musical art
but a slice of Amiga history as well!

Out Of Abbfinoosty Comes The  Storm   is   released  Worldwide  in  July 96
on the Cyclops record label, number CYCL034 and distributed by Pinncale..

For more details contact:-

Cyclops Records
33a Tolworth Park Road
Tolworth
Surrey
KT6 7RL.
England. UK.

Fax: [phone]