Year of Release: 2007
Label: Expanding Consciousness
Catalog Number: Expand 14
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:00:00
We are greeted by HAL 9000; or better yet, that instigative PC from WarGames. He or it suggests that we play some music.
Like an ambidextrous puppeteer, only one man controls the strings. Bingo! That's Tim Burness. He does however get some help from Fudge Smith on drums, Keith Hastings on bass, and Monty Oxy Moron on keyboards. Whether that last one is an alias, an alter-ego or an invisible friend, that's what it says in the credits.
And for the record, Burness is responsible for guitar, keyboards, percussion, an e-bow and an added bass.
While most of this is instrumental, he takes a stab at vocals in a handful of the songs. More specifically, in "Undercurrents II," he performs what he calls Buddhist chants.
His music demonstrates a diversification in mood as well. Many of his rhythms are dark. On the other hand, the opener, "Can You Hack It?" is so narcissistic that it's pretty much content with itself.
Truly, the music is never overly depressing or down in the dumps. Interspersed within the odious setting is a vibe that brings to light a nonchalant composer and a happy go lucky kind of a guy.
Additionally, he employs a number of techniques, such as what he does in "Space And Time." In this, he poses questions, philosophy and answers in the vein of Information Society's "Pure Energy."
Also, "Here Comes The Great Collapse" has the distillate of Pink Floyd. Using a sardonic tone, he implies that it's a beautiful world.
The final track, "Triumph Of The Soul" is probably the most manic of the bunch since it sounds like a string of video games as performed on a keyboard from Walgreens or Radio Shack. To complement the synthetic commencement, we get a "bye bye" from an android in the end.
As Burness describes, this album is quite different (but similar) to what you may have heard in the past. I might add that his music is both as friendly and accessible as the smiling artist and his pet tabby in the pics. By the way, the cover art is simply a personal collage of black and white snaps so go no further than this confounding sentence to elucidate the lameness of my inside joke.
As for animal advocates, the resident birds whistled along with the songs. So in addition to me, he's gained a couple of living, breathing fans somewhere in the range of earthworms to human beings.
For an album that comes in a nondescript package that looks closer to a photo shoot, this progressive album is extremely good even if it's on the cheap.
In response, Tim Burness writes: "Thanks for the great review ;o)). Full marks for your colourful and unusual use of language! [...] I think the only comment that got to me a bit was about it being 'on the cheap.' Crikey Josh, if you knew how much it cost me! No home studio here, and no well-paid dayjob (I'm a general and psychiatric nurse and care-worker) to make the whole process quicker and financially less painful either. And the artwork was a deliberate move away from the usual progrock style album cover, but I guess it could look cheap to some eyes, sorry about that! ;o)
Generally we have been getting some very good reviews and nice bits of radio play, its my best work to date, but I believe I can do better. [...]
Your ambidextrous puppeteer friend,
Tim ;o)"
Tracklisting:
Can You Hack It? / This Is Life / Space And Time / Undercurrents / All Through Your Life / Here Comes The Great Collapse / Broaden Your Horizons / Undercurrents II / Everyone Hears Voices /Triumph Of The Soul
Musicians:
Tim Burness - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, e-bow, sampled loops, keyboards, rhythm programming
Keith Hastings - bass
Fudge Smith - drums
Monty Oxy Moron - keyboards
Julian Franks - tabla and percussion
Chris Cordrey - hammer dulcimer
Pok - mandola
Tim Herman - saxophone
Martin Franklin - radio samples and programming
Julian Tardo - bass guitar, programming
Discography:
Burnessence - Burnessence (1983)
Burnessence - I Am You Are Me (1984)
'Learning To Fly' (single) (1989)
Power In Your Hands (1990)
Infinite Ocean (extended single) (1997)
Finding New Ways To Love (2004)
Vision On (2007)
Genre: Progressive Rock
Origin UK
