nik newark

Alpaca Guessed ... in Dutch!

Another review from a Dutch site. It is in Dutch so be prepared.

http://www.prog-nose.org/nederlands/albums_2004/alpaca_guessed_if_not_then_else.htm

Machine translated version is below (if anyone has a better translation (Keir?, please let me know!)

A cd which belongs but laterally in what here on forecast by the link is discussed. There are what left to progressive music, but with that is what concerns that thus everything said. If not then else try bring a fusion between progressive rock and the consonance of traditional Chinese bladder instruments what gives from time to time bevreemdende results. Progressive must sometimes complete litterally taken become in the sense that some numbers seem more on an experimental jam session. Although, you can jam with Chinese bladder instruments? In any case you must zoeken far sometimes considerable to retrieve only melody. The first number gives a beautiful example of rythmic chaos which is this way reached. I want no negative impression give, because there beautiful numbers on this cd. stand what concerns sfeerschepping consonances be which Rohan Leach obtain from the bladder instruments best impressive and it leads no doubt that he is a virtuoos. The number Adam gives perhaps the best illustration of the fusion between rock and traditional music which the type-setters for eyes had. Toch many numbers have little or do nothing with rock. They tend rather to the new age music and many will find here tracks which work inspiring during a meditation. These numbers - frequently a duet between piano and Chinese bladder instrument - are of a simple beauty and recall a mystic environment. Now take Nicole in which solo flute music ensures a wonderful, intense environment. (And take themselves not evil that I not weet for what kind of whistles it here goes.) Perhaps the type-setters had improve themselves entirely targeted on the quieter, sfeervolle numbers, because there they are really, however, complete well in. The cd more homogeneous are and the doelpubliek have been outlined more clearly. Now I that he a beetje by darn of exactly fear will slip.

New toy...

File under “essential equipment in the event of an impending baby who will not appreciate loud noises”

...for a new boy

We are assured by the medical profession that the baby on the left is “definitely a boy”. My male pride hears this as “he is hung like a blue whale”. We were also told an exciting anecdote as to how one can reliably determine the gender of a coffee table using a piece of cotton and an old nail. But that is a story for another time.

Sea of Tranquility

…have reviewed Alpaca Guessed's “If Not Then Else”

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=1667

Review text:-

I’m trying to think of a suitable label for this album. Some possibilities: tribal trance, ethno-symph, indigenous new age, etc. Not a one suffices on its own, but perhaps all of those could be strung together into one long term much like the group Braindance uses a twenty word-long blurb to describe its music. The packaging and photos are a bit deceiving; as If Not Then Else is not BGM, this is no somnolent affair. Pianist Nik Newark and reedman Rohan Leach also play synths, bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and assorted percussion. The ten themes do tend to prescribe an innate peace, but rocky rhythms surface often to shake up the liquid calm that overfloweth. Leach is a jack-of-all-reeds, performing on Thai-made flutes, and bawu (a “free reed” pipe) and hulusi (gourd flute), both of Chinese origin.

Gritty sampled percussion kicks in on tracks like “Loam” and “The Diet Cola Dream” to promote just enough of an edgy vibe for a welcome contrast. “Loam” in particular assumes an overture-like quality as a result, with octal piano runs and flanged drums waltzing along with sampled percussive noises and synthbass. “Adam” works in the same context with both a drumloop and acoustic drums. “A Grebe Amongst The Bulrushes” and “Nicole” are short solo pieces by Leach and Rohan, and the only ones that mainly rely on the purity of a single instrument (bawu, piano). An ambient collage of muted voices and drones gives way to a jazzy piano solo in “Strangely Perfect.” That and “Diet Cola Dream” rank among the duo’s best compositions, the latter being a slowly-evolving tapestry of fragile melodies that never break the surface of the waters. If Not Then Else is a beautiful, wholly competent work that can be compared to Lucia Hwong’s two albums in the 1980’s for Private Music, and even early Shadowfax without the fuzaky trimmings.

Added: September 6th 2004
Reviewer: Elias Granillo
Score: ***1/2