Jerome's CD.

[Jerome]

Absolutely great - I loved Auralscapes! With the synthesizer intro, I expected an album of extended notes, but in came a lively beat, imaginative melodies and constant changes of time signatures. Certainly, it is not languid and I found myself tapping my feet. I wish I had kept a note of the times of the different parts so that I could be more specific, but I lost track. There is so much to enjoy here: the symphonic elements, the occasional ethnic touches, the little Floyd and Oldfield motifs (without being blatant) and the overall feel. What makes the album cohesive is the effective use of real drums which drive the material from start to finish. The violin reminded me of Mostly Autumn's combination of Floyd and Celtic music. Was that real guitar I could hear? I am wary of committing myself as even David Coverdale thought Jan Hammer's keys were Tommy Bolin's guitar when he suggested the latter for Purple. In any case it worked!

Recently, I have heard some albums which, although made by excellent musicians, tend to over-rely on signature sounds from other bands. Jerome has avoided this, by ensuring the lion's share of the ideas are his own. The 'echoes' for example are a nice little touch, rather than an irritation, and the exotic parts make it original. There is a good deal of experimentation with the synthesizer sounds here, which one does not hear much these days. Perhaps being from the southern hemisphere, Jerome has been less inclined to use British and Americanisms.

Some questions: what are the instruments and have you played this material live to an audience? If the answer is 'no' to the latter, you should! Also, it definitely deserves a wider audiece. I have never posted on YouTube, but have you thought of doing so? Lastly, there is a magazine in the UK called Fireworks, which write predominantly positive reviews and, as well as detailing the big names, champion unsigned artists. It might be worth sending them a CD or mp3s. They are not underground and have a wide readership.

Just to answer some of Big ear's questions. I will list the instrumentation once I post the description of the individual tracks (something I still have to get around to). As for playing live - no - it would cost too much and be too complicated to set up. I am not a performing musician - just a hobbyist. In fact I have never seen the inside of a professional studio to date. This has all been done in my 'project' studio at home with contributions from various session musicians who have recorded their parts in various studios/countries around the globe. An internet album for want of a better explanation. As far as YouTube is concerned, I will need to come up with a decent video/visual accompaniment in order for it to be effective. I am a normal working stiff - there's no budget for high-end production/marketing etc. There are bills to pay..............