| Reviews The Ritual Continues (1987) The Ritual Continues showcases the sound that would come to define Djam Karet. The majority of the songs here were taken from a 1987 live performance at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. "Tangerine Rabbit Jam" and "Night Scenes" were recorded by Happy Cancer, the precursor to DK, in 1982. The material presented here shows the budding Djam Karet working with the various sounds and ideas that would come to define their later work, from blistering guitar solos to spacey electronics to powerful improvisation. This is another set of great instrumental progressive rock played by some very skilled musicians. "Shamen's Descent" kicks things off with an atmospheric keyboard opening which slowly builds up, adding flowing guitar solos over a strong rhythmic background, in the typical DK vein. "Technology and Industry" is a very Crimson-like number with excellent bass work from Henry Osborne. The title track shows the band's world music influence with the incorporation of ethnic percussion. "Revisiting A Quiet Place..." reminds me of the track "The Black Line" from Still No Commercial Potential, starting with the sound effects of a bubbling stream and chirping birds, to which is added flute-like keyboards and light cymbals, until around 10 minutes in, when the serenity is broken by jackhammers and scorching guitar. The Ritual continues is a very strong album that shows how the band's sound progressed over time, yet was still pretty well defined from the beginning. Fans of their later work such as Burning the Hard City or The Devouring should enjoy this one too. - Mike Prete [March 2001] Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info Burning The Hard City (1991) I don't think I could have come up with a better way of describing this album, so I'll let the band do it for me. From the liner notes: "Burning the Hard City is classic instrumental progressive rock that is angry, powerful and relentless in its pursuit of rhythmic intensity and passionate soloing" Indeed, the music here is quite sinister at times, with a pulsating rhythm section laying the foundation for fiery guitar work reminiscent of mid-70s Crimson, yet possessing with a much more acute sense of fluidity in the place of harsh dissonance (not to say that Burning lacks dissonance, however). The majority of the compositions tend to be drawn out towards the ten minute mark, and sometimes the repetitive themes can, well, repeat themselves too much. This is apparent especially on "Province 19" which is one of the more aggressive and harsh pieces, and seems to drag slightly over the course of its eight minuets. At other times, the repetitive nature lends itself to enhancing the powerful atmosphere, in a slight parallel to the Zeuhl subgenre. "Feast of Ashes" and "Ten Days to the Sand" break up the omnipresent guitar pyrotechnics slightly, adding another dimension with the more prominent role of keyboards and synths. The sound is much more atmospheric here, and the Gilmour-esque guitar leads help to move the songs along greatly. "Grooming The Psychosis" makes use of both aforementioned styles, mixing haunting electronics with heavy and intense playing all around, especially the killer bass. This is one of my favorite pieces on the album, along with the title track which tends to evoke much the same mood. Burning the Hard City is an excellent release, showcasing the instrumental prowess of the band. Although it retains a similar aggressive feel for most of the album, there is plenty of variation between songs and, with a few exceptions, really keeps me interested for the entire album. In fact, this is one of the few albums over 50 minutes that I can actually listen to in one sitting and not get bored. - Mike Prete [February 2001] Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info Collaborator (1994) "This album was created as a collaborative effort between Djam Karet and some of our friends and fellow musicians. These seven collaborators, working in their own private recording studios around the country, composed, performed, and recorded incomplete musical fragments onto digital audio tape [DAT], which they then sent to us through the mail. Djam Karet then independently added more sounds and textures on top of these fragments, finishing off the pieces, and creating the final versions found here on this compact disc". Now that you know the story behind the album, on to the music... As can be expected by glancing at the names of just a few of the guests, including Kit Watkins and Steve Roach, this affair is concentrated on the more ambient and spacey side of Djam Karet. With the majority of the collaborators contributing keyboards and percussion, it is up to Djam Karet to alter and add to these sounds in an interesting way, which they do with the aid of their typical instruments, as well as some rather atypical ones such as: baby toys, ocean drums, Tibetan glass crucibles, electronic door alarms and even Gayle Ellett on lawn mower. The work here can range from eerie soundscapes to desolate ambient planes. I can't say that I'm much of a fan of ambient work (not that I've heard all that much), so it's no surprise that the tracks I find most appealing are the ones that have more going on in them. "Solar Flare" has some great keyboard work, while "Foreign Lesion" has some very interesting percussion work going on. "Cliff Spirits" slowly builds up to a choral dominated piece with pulsating keyboard work weaving its way through the layers of male and female vocals, and is very reminiscent of Tangerine Dream circa Phaedra. "Salt Road" brings you on a trip with a desert caravan. There are other pieces like "The Day After" and "Moorings" that just don't have enough development to keep my interest. By the very nature of this album, not everything here was going to fit together perfectly. Having two artists work on the same piece independently of each other will undoubtedly lead to some areas that aren't as cohesive as they could have been. Nonetheless, DK has done a commendable job of working with different influences to create a varied and interesting piece of work. For those who are accustomed to the intense sound of the band on releases such as Burning the Hard City, or The Devouring, this might not be what you're looking for. - Mike Prete [March 2001] Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info The Devouring (1997) The Devouring is considered by many to be one of the best prog albums released in the 90s, and I would be hard pressed to find any reason to disagree with that assessment. Djam Karet have taken their trademark sound of blistering guitar solos, atmospheric passages, and instrumental prowess and added old school prog rock keyboards. Including not one, but two, mellotrons, along with great analog synths and organ. This hybridization brings a fresh new slant to their already impressive sound. Their familiar style from previous releases is still strong here, and the unmistakable edge of prior work is still present. Gayle Ellett's guitars dominate the sound here, from soaring and atmospheric to blazing and raw, with second guitarist Mike Henderson making a guest appearance on four tracks. Henry Osborne's monster bass playing is strong as ever, along with Chuck Oken's powerful drumming. Shifting tempos, time signatures and impossibly varied passages abound, with the music hardly staying in one place for too long. "Night of the Mexican Goat Sucker" opens the album in prime fashion, an exciting combination of driving riffs, frenzied keyboards and thunderous rhythms that propel the piece forward. "Forbidden By Rule" and "Lost, But Not Forgotten" make nice use of mellotron and other keyboards as an eerie backing to these rather dark pieces. "Lights Over Roswell" is the culmination of these first few pieces, starting with an atmospheric intro, leading to an assault of guitars and keyboards and a killer bass line. It is also the one track on the album to feature violin, which adds to the rhythmic power of the piece. For the most part, the rest of the songs on the album are more somber and atmospheric, and showcase the ambient side of the band. Piecing together what was a rather schizophrenic past, Djam Karet have fused together a fascinating and coherent sound on The Devouring. For the uninitiated, this is the place to start, and for previous fans of the band, you must already have this. - Mike Prete [April 2001] Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info Still No Commercial Potential (1998) I can't say that I'm usually a fan of improvised music. I can handle a little improvised jam, or something within the structure of a song, but for the most part improvs tend to build up too slow or just go nowhere at all. However, that is not the case when I listen to this album. Still No Commercial Potential was, according to the liner notes, recorded over two afternoons in the band's studio, using just one microphone and not a single overdub. Considering this, the sound quality is amazing. The music is much more atmospheric and low key compared to their most recognized albums, like Burning the Hard City and The Devouring. The songs tend to be an amalgamation of atmospheric keyboards and the trademark guitar solos the band is known for. Some of the tracks have an ambient feel to them, particularly when the keyboards become dominant. The most successful tracks strike an equal balance between both extremes of the bands sound, the best examples being "No Vacancy at the Hotel of Noise" and "Night, But No Darkness". "The Black Line" is one of the best examples of the band's experimental fusion of styles; the first four minutes being comprised of sound effects and a bit of didgeridoo. The droning of frogs and crickets is only rarely broken by the occasional percussion flourish or air raid siren for the first five min of the song, where the rest of the band starts to join in, with the second half of the song being comprised of interesting rhythm patterns and occasional guitar flourishes. "Strange Wine From A Twisted Fruit" is the 28 min closer of the album, and is just not cohesive enough to keep my attention all the way through. There are some amazing moments, but as with the improvised nature, it takes a while to build to them. An interesting supplement to the band's discography, "Evolving from the complex primordial soup, these pieces of music live in a unique world at the cusp of chaos and order much like life itself. Still No Commercial Potential is a reflection of this fundamental aspect of our musical selves." - Mike Prete [February 2001] Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info