So to pay a bit of homage to the band I continually use as the standard-bearer for all things progressive, I have decided this week to walk down the library aisle dedicated to progressive drummers. With three percussion men in this latest rebirth of King Crimson, surely I can find a band one of them was in while waiting for the phone to ring last week...let's see what lies buried over here...
I don't have to venture too far into the past to find KTU, a band featuring Pat Mastelotto. KTU is simply incredible. Their sound is classic, futuristic, experimental, metal-edged, dark, and absolutely mind blowing. The first song I choose for my ear-orgy is "Kataklasm." Start listening to this song in a dark room with your eyes closed and you will feel like you have been transported to a different dimension. The opening riff--played on the accordion--is the stuff prog dreams are made of.
After allowing the sounds I just bathed in to sink deeper into the pores of my skin, I turn to another amazing song called "Absinthe." Once again KTU shows innovation, style, and an ability to create a sound so unique it is jaw-dropping. Listening to this band for five minutes gives one confirmation that Gunn and Mastelotto were honor students in the school of progressive experimental/improvisation. As I sit and listen to this it is difficult to distinguish where one instrument ends and another begins...and that is what makes KTU so damn good.
Liner notes...KTU consists of the aforementioned Trey Gunn on Warr guitar and Chapman stick and Pat Mastelotto on percussion. They are joined by Kimmo Pohjonen on chromatic button accordion and voice, and Samuli Kosminen on sampling. KTU is the "marriage" of the duos TU and Kluster--and that must have been quite a ceremony. KTU was brought to life in 2004 and have released two studio albums, "8 Armed Monkey" in 2005 and "Quiver" in 2009.
In true progressive style, Kimmo is credited for voice rather than vocals, because what he does is not simply singing nor it is just noise. Rather, Kimmo seems to give the music a soul as you feel yourself being absorbed into the sound like it was a tangible being. If there is need for a warning here it is simply this--KTU is not for those looking for catchy, nine-minute "prog ballads." Even by progressive standards KTU is on the experimental fringe...a place I believe more bands need to go to perform and more people need to go to get a good listen. I could literally stay in this world for days and never be bored...
OK, musical piece number three...a cut called "Sumu" from the "8 Armed Monkey" album. By now the bar has been set fairly high and once again KTU delivers--with a punch to the temporal lobe. Yes, this truly is a feast for your brain. To label the sound or try to pigeon hole KTU is like describing the taste of milk--you know it when you taste it but try putting it into words.
The cut below is "Sineen," another sample from "8 Armed Monkey." This is a song that does Master Fripp proud. I definitely get a feel of King Crimson from back in the Jamie Muir days...and no one eked more inspiring sounds from inanimate, obscure objects than he did. KTU makes you feel like you are in a Paris cafe, listening to a Gregorian chant, and standing in the middle of an apocalyptic sound check all at once--they are that amazing.
There you have it prog heads, one for the good ol' days while praising the good new ways. Next week I truly have no idea where this journey will take me, but I do know this--I gotta get me an accordion...
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