Joint Intelligence Committee
In Session (PM Mix)

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(Excerpt from track(s) 'Grasping Jasper')

CDR / 12 tracks / 79.43 mins

Being used as the opener rather than tucked away in the middle gives 'A Wreck No Phobia', a rather different feel. It is also a couple of minutes longer here, using that time for the rhythms to gain even more oomph as well as further guitar flourishes. Somehow the untitled melodic / atmospheric interlude which comes next sounds more wistful in this setting. 'SubSeq2' got my pulse racing once more and as it faded away we got superb contrast with the shimmering guitar tones of ' orgotten', a short track not on the AM mix. I have always maintained that the running order of an album is vital and 'Beyond The Sofa' gives a perfect example in that there is no way that I would have come up with the Schulzian reference used in the AM Mix review if this had been the only version I had heard. It is not obvious here and yet in the other setting it still comes to mind- weird.

Next we get another short bridging piece not on the AM mix, leading to the awesome 'Grieg the Mouse', blasting through the middle section of the album. 'Grasping Jasper' gives us more of the power treatment, the guitars letting rip nearer the end. None of the next three tracks (totalling over 22 minutes) appeared on the AM Mix. 'Flamingo Bland' gets straight into a swirling filter sweeping rhythmic sequence- and is anything but bland. The guitar is particularly awesome sounding similar to some of the guitar work off recent Kubusschnitt releases. Another sequence enters in the third minute and combining with the existing syncopations and increasingly manic guitar goes completely ape! This is high energy, air everything, blissful mayhem. 'Freaky Spam' begins with gentle guitar licks before cranking up another blistering rhythmic sequence. Again, I found my feet moving and head nodding to the music, as I got lost in yet another wonderful power groove. 'The Ponder Factor' initially calms things down with strange scraping sounds and little melodic touches. By the third minute it had picked up the pace and added a really cool bass line, the guitar embellishments getting right in the zone. It all just oozes class.

The final track is the same moody, tranquil untitled track (track 4) from the AM mix, bringing us to a soft landing. This album has a very different feel to the AM mix but as someone pointed out to me, you could just change the running order of this mix to the same as the AM mix (though you would lose two unique tracks to that mix) and get the same effect plus have some 'bonus tracks'. To a certain extent there is some truth in this but you would lose all the subtle cross fading to be found in the AM Mix so the whole thing would sound much more disjointed. If just one mix had to be chosen I would probably go for this mix but if funds were available I would certainly go for both. (DL)

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