Jim Kirkwood Rituals of Intelligent Design Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband   Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'I Sit in a Parliament of Dreams') Please go to the Store to buy this item.

We kick off with 'The Hour of the Wolf'. Strange muffled sounds (like Dr Who's Tardis actually!) are joined by an excellent steady rhythm then rapid sequence. The excitement is at fever pitch already but the most awesome melodic lead lines really do transcend this to one of the most impressive starts to a Jim Kirkwood album ever. Even if you already love Jim's music this will just blow you away! We all know that Jim will never play live but if this were performed in a live setting it would bring the house down. It is just impossible not to try and air keyboard and air drum to it at the same time (anyone seeing me through the window would have been greatly amused). We get a few moments of relative calm as a sequence stands in isolation with just some ethereal wordless vocal colouring but the excitement is still high. The detonating plunger is then well and truly plunged as we take off again, those wonderful sequences doing their devastating thing. At about the ten-minute mark we get a curious reflective section with strange percussion before once again diving headlong into the maelstrom. It's all change in the last four minutes as a flute mixes with gentle pulsations. It's all rather peaceful and typical of the way he juxtapositions power with beauty.

'Alone in the Night' has a gentle airy beginning. This is very delicate stuff providing an uncluttered backing for some sampled text about God and the riddle of the universe. As expected we don't have to wait long for the sequence and as seems to be the case with many of his works at the moment this is ball-breaking stuff but melodically still subtle- spectres floating above a battle sort of thing. 'We are Grey' uses deep slow ominous pulses to create an uneasy feeling. It's as if we know there is something rather unpleasant out there and are constantly looking over our shoulder in readiness for flight. A slow twangy sequence starts up as the tension heightens. Delicate soothing flutey synth heralds our return to sanctuary. Confidence grows as a head nodding rhythm and further tinkling sequence are added to the mix. 'I Sit in a Parliament of Dreams' has a rather Eastern feel with ethnic flutes and percussion mixing with sounds from a more traditional Kirkwood palette. It's all rather relaxing but also mysterious. Just before the third minute a more conventional Kirkwood sequence starts up and we start to motor. An excellent lead line gives added oomph, even euphoria. This is a superb track, probably even better than the first.