b o b

If ever there was an album that needed to have its best tracks burned to a custom CDR and its worst tracks left behind, this is it. When this album is good it's very good, as is the case with the exotic, multi-part, proggy epics that start and end the album. The instrumental trio "Condissonance" is also very nice (and a good showcase for the guitarist's unusual 21-string "harpguitar"), as is the delay-loop violin solo track. "Doc's Tune" gets another thumbs-up. But on the other hand, when this album is bad it's really bad. The other tracks seem like an attempt to blend lounge jazz with pop, and end up sounding like a cheesy mess for the most part. There are a couple decent instrumental interludes in the pop pieces, but not enough to save them. The irritating pseudo-religious lyrics of "For This Love" make me wonder how bad the non-English lyrics are. When the band played ProgDay, those who braved the freak cold front that rolled in that morning were treated to a great set, including a lengthy new proggy track called "Anne" which featured a couple cool gamelan percussion sections. If that song had been included on this album instead of the pop songs, this would easily be one of the best prog albums of 1999. As it is, it's still worth picking up since the good outweighs the bad. review by Bob Eichler — 4-5-03 —

s t e v e

I was fortunate to catch Discus live in Menlo Park (California). And although I knew nothing about them before that night, they were an impressive band to see. This 8-piece band consists of musicians with different musical backgrounds, but they are led by a guitarist/composer who loves progressive rock. Discus's music tends to mix prog, jazz, Indonesian pop, gamelan, Zappa, swing, fusion, and even a bit of zeuhl to form a highly original, and diverse sound. These guys, for example, are not afraid of jumping from a proggy gamelan section straight into something influenced by the 40s jazz scene. It's fascinating, and refreshing to hear really. Their debut CD serves as a great introduction to each of the musician's background(almost similar in concept to Yes' Fragile). But, to be honest, it isn't entirely progressive rock. The album begins and ends with two rather long prog compositions that mix gamelan and local influences. Another track features smoking Zappa-esque fusion. But most of the other tracks tend to explore other genres while showcasing the various musician's skills. One track, for instance, explores swing, another track explores Indonesian pop, and another track explores modern classical. There is quite alot of variety that is sure to please music fans in general. But I recommend 1st to prog fans who are searching for something unique, yet not completely in the prog rock category. review by Steve Hegede — undated —

b r a n d o n

Who would have thought that prog from Indonesia would be so diverse as this? Running a gamut of styles - lounge, jazz, prog, gamelan, classical - this album is a satisfying, if not evenly successful, debut. Discus plays a very upbeat, lighthearted music based around guitar (bandleader Iwan Hasan's 21-string harpguitar sounds truly wonderful), wind instruments, and keyboards. Sunny melodies, interesting textures, and a wide variety of instrumentation mark this album, which never really rocks out but gets quite beautiful at times. The opening and closing tracks are solid, very proggy tracks that combine traditional Indonesian musics with progressive rock very, very well; indeed, "Contrasts" is easily my favorite piece on the album. Of the rest, "Doc's Tune" is a great instrumental, very proggy, with lots of percussive bass and wild violin leads. "Condissonance" is a trio piece, with only violin, harpguitar, and bass clarinet playing; it is at times very beautiful, and it's very much in the style of a chamber-ensemble piece. "Violin Metaphysics" is exactly what it says: a piece for solo violin modified by digital effects. Imagine Soundscapes played on violin instead of guitar, with a few melodies interspersed, and you've got a good idea of what it sounds like. This is another favorite of mine - it's very rhythmic despite the lack of percussion, and very beautiful at times as well. The rest of the pieces, unfortunately, don't fare quite as well. "For This Love", "Dua Cermin", "Wujudkan!", and "Anugerah" are all quite poppy vocal tracks that wouldn't be out of place on a contemporary lite-jazz-vocal release. They are all mitigated by brief but strong instrumental sections and Nonnie's accomplished voice (Hasan's voice, on the other hand, tends to sound awfully strained much of the time), but I doubt prog fans will find much value in them. "For This Love" is also hindered by cloyingly sugary English lyrics; thankfully, the rest of the song lyrics are all in Indonesian. While the stronger pieces tend to be too long, and the poppy vocal songs are an obvious shortcoming, this is an album fresh and original enough to be satisfying anyway. It's far from perfect, but curious listeners will not be entirely disappointed by any means. review by Brandon Wu — 9-3-00 —