Album Review: Colin Edwin – PVZ

Porcupine Tree are one of the most successful Progressive Rock bands of the past two decades and bassist Colin Edwin has subsequently become a respected figure in contemporary prog circles as a result. ‘PVZ’ is his second solo album and is as equally indebted to the atmospheric explorations of Edwin’s side project, Ex-Wise Heads, as it is to the aural soundscapes of his main band. As an instrumental record, it is a difficult album to categorize, as it draws on a number of different genres – dub, ambient, Tricky-esque trip-hop – to create a relatively self-contained world of thick bass tone, stuttering rhythms, random echoes and spoken word passages. However these various genre aspects gel well together in order to make a cohesive whole.

There is much to like on these recordings whether it be the swirling synthesized strings of ‘Opium’, the spacey vibe of ’Endless Ascent’, or the odd juxtaposition of double bass and sub-Amazonian background drone of ‘Interlude’. Edwin’s warm and wispy Wal bass tone invariably conjures memories of Mick Karn, particularly on ‘A Dream Forgotten’ and the album’s stand-out track, ‘Arms of Sunlight’, the latter containing a positively creamy extended solo. His bass lines tend to be relatively minimalist, edging for simple effectiveness rather than flashy showmanship, whilst the album’s production renders the whole thing firmly at the bottom end of the sonic spectrum.

My main criticism of ‘PV2′ is that the album is too long. At fifty-eight minutes, by the time I got to its end  I found my attention span for its laid-back grooves had long been surpassed and it had simply become background music, albeit rather intelligently put together background music. However, I suspect that, drawing on the ambient influences, perhaps that was Edwin’s intention.

‘PVZ’ is an interesting release although ultimately, I fear, a little unmemorable. Edwin is clearly a solid bassist with great feel and an excellent ear; for me, though, I prefer his work with the day job.

http://colinedwin.blogspot.ca/

Richard Scarr