Ricky Graham - Refractions
Mea Records - 2006
By Adam McAuley
The sounds of this album are a bit unusual, because one might go in expecting a sort of pure instrumental solo album, but instead there are leniencies towards a futuristic prog sound. As such, the album is fairly succesful at creating a sparse, almost robotic landscape where we can just sort of gell and relax to for a short, but reasonably enjoyable, period of time.
The production is sort of sub par and there's a very unfinished feeling to the album, as with some of the other ones I've reviewed recently, making the whole production slightly less than satisfying, however.
Still, any solo album with some interesting progressive tendencies can only be seen as a welcome thing. It has a sort of moody, relaxed feel that's also fitting to a more comfortable listening environment. Also, expect a reasonable amount of variety as some of the songs have a more somber flair while others have a distinctly progressive sound. It's the type of album you can put in from time to time to derive a reasonable relaxed mood, but doesn't quite have the depth and replayability of some of the greater progressive albums. Thus one will tend to overlook its positive traits because it doesn't quite standout and blow you away as you may expect.
The final track is the best one and carries with it an interesting egyptian sounding flair. The passages tend to ease together cohesively as well. Certainly not an album I'd call essential, but a fun casual listen. Again, I emphasize that the production isn't of the greatest quality, which really makes for a slight letdown. It's decent overall as a solo effort, however.
6/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Ricky Graham Website
Official Mea Records Website
Mea Records - 2006
By Adam McAuley
The sounds of this album are a bit unusual, because one might go in expecting a sort of pure instrumental solo album, but instead there are leniencies towards a futuristic prog sound. As such, the album is fairly succesful at creating a sparse, almost robotic landscape where we can just sort of gell and relax to for a short, but reasonably enjoyable, period of time.
The production is sort of sub par and there's a very unfinished feeling to the album, as with some of the other ones I've reviewed recently, making the whole production slightly less than satisfying, however.
Still, any solo album with some interesting progressive tendencies can only be seen as a welcome thing. It has a sort of moody, relaxed feel that's also fitting to a more comfortable listening environment. Also, expect a reasonable amount of variety as some of the songs have a more somber flair while others have a distinctly progressive sound. It's the type of album you can put in from time to time to derive a reasonable relaxed mood, but doesn't quite have the depth and replayability of some of the greater progressive albums. Thus one will tend to overlook its positive traits because it doesn't quite standout and blow you away as you may expect.
The final track is the best one and carries with it an interesting egyptian sounding flair. The passages tend to ease together cohesively as well. Certainly not an album I'd call essential, but a fun casual listen. Again, I emphasize that the production isn't of the greatest quality, which really makes for a slight letdown. It's decent overall as a solo effort, however.
6/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Ricky Graham Website
Official Mea Records Website
