Adrian Belew - "Side Two"

(Sanctuary 06076-84755-2, 2005, CD)

Guitarist and composer Adrian Belew continues to shell out austere audio experiments in his second installment of this CD trilogy. This one is again primarily an all solo endeavor except for a select group of guests. A navigational walk through the CD reveals many facets: "Dead Dog on asphalt" relies on acoustic guitar phrase to create a backing for Belew's now familiar/expected lead guitar wailing. Alternately "I Wish I knew" also is predicated on an acoustic guitar phrase and sampled pulsing percussion tracks that cleverly work in tandem with each other. "Face to Face" is perhaps the most accessible son in the set of short pieces. It could be due to the explicit use of major chords and effective tension building as the piece proceeds over a bright Dobro backing. Belew's brief backwards sampled lead solo is also an appropriate fit. The string section on "Asleep" also relies on two dissonant Fripp-like familiar chords to parlay across. "Sex Nerve" is based on an ominous low end which recaptures some of Eno's work circa Another Green World which then segues into "Then What" that relies on electronic percussion and random synth blips for Belew to scowl atop. The track then gets caught in audio mire before dovetailing into "Quicksand". Two short brash sonic excursions setup the album's closing finale: "I know now" and "Happiness". The latter is a childlike two chord phrase with a slightly off kilter counterpoint music box accompaniment. Belew states that he has abandoned the traditional song structure for using Japanese haiku based pieces making this collection of recordings less standard rock based. Overall it doesn't really change the outcome as Belew's mindset as composer remains in tact by his powerful sense of composition and personal identity. -Jeff Melton

Jeff Melton is a staff writer for Expose for 10 years. Favorite Band = Yes, Favorite solo artist: Peter Hammill. Prog Ears and Gnosis member since 1999