Orange Tapered Moon

For their second release on Misra, the Chicago-based band Bablicon delivers a solid (although a bit short at under 36 minutes) statement. The album opens on a surprisingly upbeat song with a haunting melody played by two guest violinists while someone screams the lyrics at the top of his lungs in a David Byrne/David Thomas type of modulation. This song could serve as an anthem for Bablicon: Its warped drum beat, off-the-wall vocals, and exotic violins have "classic" written all over. This level of energy will only be reached once more on the album, on "An Orange Moon," a heavy space rock tune that shows a more experimental way of following the path Hawkwind pioneered 30 years before. The rest of the album goes from free improv to in-the-studio abstract electronic pieces, with the four last tracks being darker and more introspective. References to Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa are also in order, but only as far as the musical process is involved. The results are only Bablicon-esque: a blend of rock, jazz, and electronics poured into an indie mold (production is intentionally sloppy). ~ François Couture|