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| Progressive Rock CD Reviews |
Adult Cinema
365
Review by John Pierpoint
"Adult Cinema" is the nom de guerre of Mike Weston, the multi-instrumentalist and self-styled "One Man Band and Classic Rock disciple" who has already made a huge impression with previous albums This Is Your Life, Teaser Trailer and Hot & Cold. These were very much influenced by Pink Floyd, but also had nods to Deep Purple, Ian Dury, The Small Faces and other artists of the 60s and 70s.
With the new album 365, he's gone full-on prog with a set comprised of just four tracks, each 15-minutes long, depicting the four seasons of the year. If you have fond memories of Mike Oldfield's groundbreaking early albums with their side-long tracks, then you're probably going to love this. There are also strong references to the earlier electronic music of Jean-Michel Jarre (especially in the sounds chosen for synth washes and sequencer sections). But the Adult Cinema Classic Rock elements of raw guitar, bass and organ that we know and love are still front and centre, so this album should please both camps.
I wrote much of the first draft of this review during my very first listen, typing as I listened in real time, to give this review the "stream of consciousness" feel that seemed to fit this music.
This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024 Volume 3 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.
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| Track by Track Review
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Spring
My first impressions were "very good, right off the bat!" Delicate organ tones shimmer into existence. We hear some poetry reading by actor David Streames, describing the glories of the season, but with a bitter edge to the words. Almost immediately, a bold, echoed bass line comes in and remains in place throughout the piece, pedalling the same riff over chord and instrumentation changes, the ebb and flow of the arrangements, underpinning the sombre mood of the whole. This bass part has a Mike Oldfield feel to it — iconic and memorable. The tune is very mellow, with Floyd vibes courtesy of that echoed bass riff, the organ and the acoustic guitar. It's in no hurry, taking time to establish the mood. After a while, a distorted guitar doubles the bass riff, with lots of sustain, sounding like it's going to take off as Jarre-like flanged synths bubble up underneath. Sure enough, the drums enter, and the energy of the piece increases. Yet it still resists the urge to kick into something faster. The languid pace remains, but now strengthened with the traditional rock band mix of guitar, drums, bass and organ. At this stage it also reminds me of another of my favourite artists: the German band Eloy (who admittedly owe a lot to Pink Floyd themselves). Jarre synthiness comes in again, lush and dreamy. I love the way the guitars sound like they were recorded in the 70s! They have just the right blend of smoothness and dirt. I don't mind the repetitions and the dwelling on one riff, as this is how the music I was raised on used to be. The composition successfully treads that fine line between giving the listeners more of what they want and not letting it become too samey. New elements appear frequently, and sometimes play with the listeners’ expectations. However, this piece is so addictive that I never want it to stop! But, of course, eventually it has to, as surely as the seasons change. |
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Summer
Whereas "Spring" was very much redolent of the season as experienced in Britain, for "Summer," we are whisked to other parts of the globe. The opening ambient sounds (especially the breathing and the pouring and drinking of the fizzy beverage) remind me of parts of Mike Oldfield's Amarok, but with a warmer, happier feeling. Crickets and some distant background music can be heard. We are clearly somewhere where summer is to be enjoyed, most likely a Caribbean island. Congas start up, followed by other Latin percussion, with a pulsed rasping organ completing a Santana feel. Then horns come in, playing staccato bursts. Nothing wears out its welcome on this track, though, so there's a sudden, jarring switch to a very distorted blues piece with bottleneck guitar, blues harp and vocals, as though it's coming from a radio the listener is passing. But, after a short while, suddenly we're back in a Floyd-like sequence (oh, that driving bass!) which morphs into reggae (but still with that Floyd drive on the bass and tasty organ), and then we even get a short guitar solo that sounds like it was played on Dave Gilmour's Strat #1 - it has that tone. The "Toasting" vocals (courtesy of Leroy Lindo) complete the reggae feel but these are soon overwhelmed by a frantic tapped guitar flurry. The music fades and there's the sound of water lapping on a shore. A new theme comes in on electric piano: gentle, happy and relaxing. It reminds me of air, as it builds up to a strident synth melody. But it stops before getting too far along. The percussion re-enters, then dives into a frenetic sequence that evokes Japanese city life, with street noises and electronics (reminiscent of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" in places), complete with female Japanese spoken vocals, as though coming from a news announcer. A Telecaster joins with bright, choppy rhythms as the music picks up the pace to launch into a short guitar solo. As the solo winds down, some very Jarre-like sequencer synths come in, introducing a reprise of the faster section which sadly fades out almost as soon as it's established. |
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Autumn
Syncopated synths start this off. The Eloy connection is strong here — this is very promising! The synth changes to a more sombre sound that Jarre fans will find familiar. There are washes of cymbals. Foreboding low notes swell up underneath, bursting into a slow, distorted descending scale while the original synth loop pedals behind. This is replaced with swells of more melodious sounds and some of the electronic stardust that Jarre used to sprinkle over his early albums. (I love those.) Then in comes a bass riff, reminding me again of Mike Oldfield. (He excelled in creating great bass riffs — often on acoustic bass.) This one has a bit of a reggae feel, too. The drums burst in, accompanied by children counting in French, followed by adults counting in German! It builds to a guitar solo, backed by more of that potent organ — very Floyd! Everything gets heavier, and then it's almost a shock when Weston finally starts singing, as by now we've got used to the instrumental nature of this album. This section is very much like Pink Floyd on "Obscured by Clouds" (a favourite of mine), but it doesn't last long as it suddenly bursts into a Jon Lord/Ken Hensley-like galloping Hammond riff that brings in more of that early 70s feel that I love so much — along with a nod to the "Pearl and Dean" theme that anyone who visited the cinema in the 70s would know. My favourite bit so far! There's an Ian Paice feel to the drums and — yes, he's even got the guitar tone sounding like Ritchie Blackmore's! It reaches a peak and then cuts, leaving us back with the electronics now. . . where's it going to go next? Oh, the antici. . .. pation! Damped guitar chords, like Floyd's "Echoes" with the flanged bass part from "Sheep" (yes, yes!) build up the tension! It crystallises into a melody that has a very 60s (Roy Budd's "Carter Takes a Train") feel. I love it! It continues to build up, via key changes and suddenly stops, leaving the remnants of burbling, flanged bass echoing away. |
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Winter
This whole piece is filled with a sense of loss and quiet desperation that really resonates with me at the moment. It starts with a cold wind howling, but we're not in that faraway fantasy realm of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," as there's a funeral being conducted. A priest intones the solemn burial litany; the crunching of feet on gravel; the sound of shovelling earth; church bells chime. There are more readings from poetry, ending with the ominous, "For the weak, it's just a matter of time. . ." and disturbing, looped samples. This is going to be a hard, unforgiving winter. The mood lifts momentarily with a chord change, but then subsequent chords reinforce the grim foreboding atmosphere. Unidentifiable machine noises prowl around the stereo image: Sentinels or Terminators roaming a post-human, apocalyptic landscape, looking for survivors? Or merely the gravedigger’s back-hoe digger? This all fades, but is replaced by an equally morose organ playing a funereal dirge. Sequenced electronic tones come in, lightening the mood. The full band comes in now, but there's still an Elegaic feel to the music — a mourning for someone or something that has passed on. That cold wind comes back, but then the music enters a major key to bring some relief. The music finishes, with that wind still howling. After a few seconds an entirely keyboard-based tune comes in with a plaintive vocoder singing very gentle, heart-tugging lyrics about the end of the winter, reminiscent of Dave Greenslade's music. Untreated vocals come in right at the end on the final repeats of "Sunshine," just before a reprise of the opening synth burbles of "Spring." |
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