HW: Harvey Red Shift

[David Jones]

This is a review of Harvey Bainbridge's Red SHift from the CDS catalogue

I scanned it rather than re-typed and I have not checked very closely for
mistakes so apologies if there are any.


HARVEY BAINBRIDGE: Red Shift    CD £11.99
For synth fans, forget the fact that this guy used to play for Hawkwind!
Read on and find out that this is one of the most sensational synth albums
I have heard in years!!! Those who know his first album can just forget
that completely, as 'Red Shift' is on a higher musical & mental plane
altogether. From start to finish (it actually opens good and gets better
and better as the CD goes on), this is one stunning album. It is not at all
like Hawkwind, it is not like T.Dream, or Schulze or Vangelis or Neuronlum
or anyone equally famous, but it does have influences from the music
produced down the years by all these artists. Never at any time is it
difficult or inaccessible - it is unique yet somehow familiar, like someone
chucked all these groups into a steaming cauldron and mixed it all up - the
resulting concoction is this fabulous synth CD. To do it full justice it
would take forever, but we'll try to get the message over in a reasonable
space

It opens with swirling space synths with a neat keyboard passage drifting
away on top, shimmering bassy undercurrents that hint at rather than
feature rhythm, as the foreground lays out sets of lead synthe that just
soar away into the heavens on waves of cosmic textures with echoed synths
entering briefly as more layers are added to the ever growing sound. Then
one of those trademark teutonic '70's sounding sequencer lines emerges and,
whilst still maintaining the full sound and the spacey atmosphere, the
sound gradually intensifies as the sequencers roll in around the space-like
synthscapes and it's all positively breathtaking. The synths & sequencers
forge ahead with a strong yet etherealimelodic feel, as the landscape
slowly changes and a new rhythm layer from synths comes in on top of the
strengthened sequencer work - a master piece of vintage '70's influenced
space music with sequencers to die for and synths flowing away in grand
cosmic fashion - nine minutes of pure bliss! All that was only track one
and track 2 is similarly structured with those big flowing chords that
you'd find on a good TD or Neuronium album, allied to spiralling, but
relaxed synth rhythms, with the central focus being the flowing chords and
string synth style soundscapes that capture a mood and keep it going
throughout. As the track develops, the focus changes into a more rhythmic
synth approach, still spacey, eventually adding more synth layers to an
already wondrous eight minute+ soundscape. Track 3 starts with more flowing
space synth chords and sound patterns that are right out of the space music
textbook with, again, a hint at rhythms as the bass synth undercurrent
travels through the piece. The sound engulfs the unsuspecting listener in a
synth mist that is warming, deep and heavenly, cosmic music at its absolute
best. The track briefly becomes a bit more symphonic, in a Vangells sense,
but then it ends on waves of pure space keyboard textures.

Track 4 opens with more gorgeous space chords, then a lead synth soars
overhead on a short three minute+ piece. Track 5 possesses an even fuller
sounding landscape and here we find a cascading rhythmic base from synths
and bass synth plus a set of Neuronium-like synth solos that effortlessly
glide through the air. Track 6 is a remarkable ten minutes of
vari-textured, multi-layered, wide-ranging soundscapes, with gently
cascading, solid rhythms, creating some superb sonic patterns that flow and
drift immaculately through and alongside the softly textured backdrops, all
making for a spellbinding track that really pulls you along through its
intergalactic voyage. Then comes track 7, and ifs unbelievably,
mind-bendingly brilliant  At over eleven minutes, it begins with another
synth-space set of chords and layers that precede a high register
sequencerlike rhythm that emerges overhead. The bass undercurrent becomes
deeper and positively scary, until a beautifully majestic string synth
enters the sonic arena and then, from the depths, a sequencer-styled
electropercussive rhythm flies in, with a Tim Blake style synth solo,
partially echoed, emerging on top, it all develops with extra keyboard
layers and the whole thing takes off on After a short lull with just synth
percussion & sequencer rhythms, more keyboard top layers are added, a
massive set of synth chords and strings enter and the sonic engines fire up
again and this incredible musical landscape just has you absolutely
transfixed in its musical splendours - A really incredible track that
you'll play over and over and over again. The CD ends, surprisingly, not on
a cosmic note, but on three minutes of melodic/rhythmic synth space-rock,
mid-paced with solid sequencers, Tim Blake style swirling synths and superb
lead lines. Overall, as I said before1 this is brilliant and should be
owned by anyone into TD, Blake, Neuronium, space synth & Hawk fans who like
it instrumental and cosmic.