There’s a certain aspect of life which goes something like this: You walk up a long steep hill and when you get to the top, you see a magnificent view, a firework is lit – it burns with expectation and then it goes off amidst whoops from happy faces. A present is opened to find what is inside is exactly what you want, and then maybe the idea of a build up to an orgasm.
In short, the joyous side of human existence. Well Human Pyramids does this with music.
Scottish composer Paul Russell and his sixteen-strong ensemble of guitars, brass, drums, tuned percussion, electronic whomffs, and string sections combine in a synergy of an unparalleled mixture of notes and chords that plays ‘pass the parcel’, but with everyone winning. This uplifting array should be on prescription as it would lighten the darkest of moods.
Opening track Louise whacks you over the head with strawberry jelly, but made by a punk rocker. Canned Thunder has hints of Techno but then resolves into a brass band collecting coins in the rain, a drummer unicycling in and showing off to the crowd. Crackle Pop is a five-minute symphony for kitchen sink and everything else.
Phase delivers that great rhythmic tuned percussion pulse that, due to the sharp transients of the form, always sound great on any size of speaker. Blast Off has three minutes of blue touch paper and then only a minute of rocketing into all the colours of a rainbow – this is lovely stuff whilst Home is the slow journey home after the heavenly sights that you have just experienced.
Genre wise, Penguin Cafe Orchestra comes to mind and there’s the DNA of Phillip Glass, but that might only come into play when you decide whereabouts on the shelf this CD belongs (if it ever gets that far) because in truth this is the sound of originality at its finest played with the enthusiasm of a puppy’s first foray into snow.
TRACK LISTING
01. Louise (3:46)
02. Shaking Hands (4:35)
03. Canned Thunder (3:34)
04. Slush (5:02)
05. Heartbeats (3:40)
06. Crackle Pop (4:46)
07. Phase (2:25)
08. Your Flag (3:35)
09. Blast Off (5:13)
10. Nico (3:47)
11. Big Data (3:39)
12. Home (3:19)
Total Time – 47:31
MUSICIANS
Al Gunby – Drums
Jim Parmley – Percussion
Gordon Clarke – Piano
Marcia Richards – Flute
Caroline Lyons – Vocals
Paul Russell – Guitars, Synths, Tuned Percussion & Compositions
Simon Dobson – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Thom Allard – French Horn
Nick Etheridge – Tuba
The Pumpkinseeds:
– Simon Graham & Kate Miguda – Violin
– Ian Anderson – Viola
– Pete Harvey – Cello
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Independent
Country of Origin: U.K.
Date of Release: 10th November 2017
LINKS
Human Pyramids – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp