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| At a recent Orion Sound Studios show, I saw Rule join Thee Maximalists for a set of entirely improvised music. Afterwards, she came back and played a set on her own, playing violin over a series of pre-recorded backing tracks. That performance gave me a pretty good idea what to expect from this CD. The backing tracks on the disc are provided by members of Systems Theory, with Rule creating the melodies and soloing on violin over top. The instrument is sometimes played "clean" and recognizable as a violin, but just as often it's heavily distorted or fed through processing and can sometimes sound like a guitar or some sort of growling, otherworldly beast. The background music ranges from originals to traditional ("Congress Reel") to covers (The Beatles' "Inner Light"), with one track that fits both the traditional and cover categories ("Scarborough Fair"). The album is entirely instrumental. The use of programmed drums gives the music a somewhat artificial or "techno" feel, but it doesn't detract much overall. The music is generally upbeat, although the heavy use of synthesizers and loops creates a somewhat spacey sound, in line with the album title and front cover. In case you were wondering about the cover art, it was created by Daevid Allen of Gong fame. Rule's violin playing is top notch, and does a nice job of walking the line between being melodic enough for enjoyment, but abrasive enough not to sound like elevator music. I enjoyed her brief set at Orion, and have found this CD to make for great headphone listening at work. I'm generally a fan of prog music with violin (Kansas, Boud Deun, Ozone Quartet, etc), and this album gives it a new twist. Worth picking up if you're similarly fond of violin and don't mind programmed drum tracks and synthesizers. review by Bob Eichler — 3-31-06 —
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