It isn't too surprising that this is the fourth album by Henry KRUTZEN 's project FINNEGANS WAKE, and is a double CD.
Henry himself provides keyboards, tenor saxophone and ken (any ideas anyone ?), but as being joined by the rest of his band there are numerous guests who provide a whole raft of extra instruments so that if he wants the bassoon to take the lead role in a section then that really isn't a problem, or a violin, or trombone, or clarinet, or keyboards or, well, you get the idea.
But musically what is this like ? Arguably it is as far removed from rock music as one is likely to hear, but while there are plenty of Jazz leanings (especially at the beginning of the 12 minutes long "Fata Morgana"), but that label doesn't fit either.
What we have here is an album that is taking modern avant-garde classical music and melding it with other forms to create something different. This isn't easy to listen to, far from it, as this is challenging but there is some sort of sense within it althrough the listener never has the chance to work out what is coming next.
It won't appeal to the masses but was never designed to. I am not sure on this, but feel that my lack of enjoyment probably rests more with my own personal tastes as opposed to any failings on the part of those involved in this project.

UK - FEEDBACK - Kev ROWLAND

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FINNEGANS WAKE - 4 th

“The Voyage Of Maeldun”, the opening track off "4th" is the song that shows what FINNEGANS WAKE sounds like when everything works. It mixes free form jazz passages with new-age Irish passages while occasionally blending in a good rock background. This 8 minute masterpiece shows exactly why FINNEGANS WAKE is so highly regarded. Unfortunately, “The Voyage of Maeldun” is strictly one song on a two CD release spanning 95 minutes of experimental jazz. For many, this will be met with huge applause, but for me, the things that make “The Voyage of Maeldun” a classic, simply become repetitive and are not presented with the same success on many of the other selections on "4th".

“Back On” has a nice bass driven jazz theme with several solo instruments presented, including trombone, clarinet, and oboe. “Fata Morgana” is centered around the violin of Alexandre Casado and the tenor sax of Henry KRUTZEN , and gets pretty repetitive over the 12+ minutes. “Olinda” is a quick acoustic guitar song by Alexandre MOURA that never really finds a groove. “Mercurial” has a film score sound and is heavy in the bassoon, using the clarinet as the primary solo instrument. “Tapioca com Pimenta” is the only real rocker on the first CD. The guest guitar work of Jubileu Filho and the bass work of Alain Lemaitre are offset by the excellent organ work of Eduardo Taufic. “Tapioca com Pimenta” bookends the CD perfectly with “The Voyage of Maeldun” and are the two main highlights of CD one.

CD 2 opens up with “Moondogging”, a mystic foray into soundscapes and free-form improvisation, which mixes some of the best moments of WEATHER REPORT with some of the worst moments of Richard Stolzman. There should be a happy medium here, but at 11+ minutes it sometimes is missed. Krutzen does most of the composing on disk 2 and “Anemia” and “Brazil, RN” maintain a much more new-age feel than the eclectic songs on disk 1. “Wenceslas Shorts” and “Bon Voyage” are the two tracks with vocals and they do not enhance the disk but kind of lessen the mood. The artsy feel of the tracks is diminished by the childlike singing. “Datcha” and “Morituri te Salutant” once again hit the mark by mixing styles in creative ways that keep your attention and challenge the listener. Combining these two songs with the first two and last songs of disk 1 and you would have made an impressive 40 minute CD.

It should be mentioned that FINNEGANS WAKE is basically three musicians and a singer that appears on just two short numbers. But there are fifteen guest musicians playing throughout this CD. If you like free-form jazz heavy on the woodwind side (sax, oboe, bassoon, piccolo) you should completely enjoy this CD. I just found, that for my taste, there appeared to be a little too much fill. But when it works, it is simply masterful. There's just is too much that doesn’t work for me.

USA - SEA OF TRANQUILITY - Steve AMBROSIUS

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FINNEGANS WAKE - 4 th

A very good (to me) Belgian Cantebury-and-beyond-inspired band. I've heard parts of Green, and it sounds much like HATFIELDs devoid sense of humour. Indeed, everything together sounds like HATFIEL AND THE NORTH infused with light doses of ART ZERO school and experimental dark wave or neofolk art, eg. TUXEDOMOON, VIDNA OBMANA or even DEAD CAN DANCE. Head of FINNEGANS WAKE, Henry KRUTZEN have worked with J.L. Plouvier from UNIVERS ZERO. So it's really no use wondering why these Belgians lean towards dark in music. Despite somewhat depressed outcome, I find everything heard cool and well-worth the investment.
Perhaps not essential, but also not to be missed. -- Nenad Kobal I must admit that my first few listens to FINNEGANS WAKE's Pictures left me a bit cold, but this album really grew on me after half a dozen listens. It's not that easy to listen to, I would definitely have to put this album into the RIO category, albeit with more melodic content than some of the other bands give that apellation.
The first cut, "Downtown", is a Henry KRUTZEN composition, and sounds like his solo stuff, with a neo-classical chamber orchestra playing notes that sound as if they were generated by random dice rolls than any usual melodic technique. In other words, it reminds one of UNIVERS ZERO. But then it stops and a mellow, very straitlaced drum and bass line begins, and suddenly you think you're listening to STEELY DAN or MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER. But just when you thought it was about to get boring, the chamber music returns juxtaposed with this easy-jazz rhythm section. The result is quite a contrast, a study in tension and release happening simultaneously. Quite interesting.

"Pictures (Suite for 5 Painters)" features more of these non-melodies, this time reminding me of Gravity-era Fred FRITH, but there's also a scat singing section sung over burbling sample-and-holding synths, plus a sort of a beat poetry spoken section over a velvety synth chord. This piece clocks in at over 16 minutes and features movements written by most of the band members.

The third cut, "First Blow" is an almost Glassian exercise in trying to sound like human sequencers, with variations for each circuit thru the 14-beat sequence. Then it switches to a similar sequence, this one 10 beats long, with screeching guitar synth improvs over the top. I'm again reminded of Mr. FRITH. Strange, hypnotic and compelling.

The remainder of the album is similar, save for a vocal section in the last cut which would have been quite at home on a Hatfield and the North album. In fact, I might describe this whole album as sounding like HATFIEL AND THE NORTH, but with a lot of RIO and modern classical influences thrown in as well. If you like this sort of music, FINNEGANS WAKE's Pictures is a must.

After the release of Pictures, KRUTZEN moved from Beligium to Brazil, and for awhile FINNEGANS WAKE's future was uncertain. But with the release of their new album, 4 th, it's obvious that they have not let the distance between band members stop them. 4 th is a 2-CD offering packaged in a handsome 3-section digipack. If anything, it's even better than Pictures, using the same sort of combination of prog rock, avant jazz and modern classical music blended together in a very classy and intellectual amalgamation of styles. Knowing what to expect this time around, I was able to appreciate this album on the first listen, though the complexity tells me that subsequent replays will only reveal even more interesting details that were missed on the first spin. The addition of many excellent Brazilian guest musicians playing clarinet, flute, violin, oboe, cello and various ethnic instruments really broadens the palette of timbres and styles even further than in Pictures.

The music is mostly instrumental, though there are two short vocal cuts featuring the twisted verse of Richard REDCROSSED. There isn't a piece on the 2-CD set that isn't fantastic, but standouts for me are "Mercurial", which sounds like a twisted and elaborated version of the theme from the original The Twilight Zone TV series (KRUTZEN tells me this was not intentional, but admits that "unconscious" tributes are always possible) and "Tapioca com Pimenta" which departs from the avant-jazz/classical sound of the rest of the album by sounding like DEEP PURPLE ... though with an organ solo that Jon Lord can only wish to be able to play.

This album is very cleanly recorded and expertly mixed, starting in Brazil and finishing in Brussels, Belgium. It should see a lot of crossover interest from the avant-jazz crowd. At least, it will if life is at all fair. Also, they have swtched labels once more, from the Gazul sub-label of Musea Records to Guy Segers' (PRESENT, UNIVERS ZERO) Carbon 7 label, which is where Finnegans Wake really belongs. Krutzen agrees, and thinks Finnegans Wake will have no further need to switch labels, and even implied that Segers may participate in the next album ... someday. If you're a fan of the ART ZERO school of music, then order 4 th soon, you won't be disappointed. Highly recommended!

USA - GIBRALTAR ENCYCLOPEDIA - Fred TRAFTON

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FINNEGANS WAKE - 4 th

Prolusion.

Here is one of the finest representatives of the Belgian-school RIO (which, in its turn, is certainly one of the finest schools of the genre), Belgium's very own FINNEGANS WAKE and their new product, simply titled "4th".

What's curious is that only two years separate this album, which is the band's first double CD album moreover, from its predecessor, "Pictures", whereas each of their previous output appeared strictly once in four years. Also, it's the first time that FINNEGANS WAKE recorded material outside their homeland, specifically in Brazil.
Besides, the native guitarist Alexandre Moura-Barros has become not only a full member of the band, but also one of its primary masterminds, along with Henry KRUTZEN.
He actually replaced the band's formal leader, keyboardist Jean-Louis Aucremanne, who appears on this album only as one of the guest musicians, all the others of whom are Brazilians. (No, there is nothing ethnical in this music, and by the way, there is nothing pronouncedly dark as well.)

Disc 1 - Analysis.

So this is the fourth album by the always-intriguing FINNEGANS WAKE, and I must tell you it's outstanding, showing a rather radical departure from their previous work. Even if you have heard all their other albums you will not be prepared for this one, so please prepare for a leap in the dark.
The band's last album, "Pictures", can be regarded as their RIO apotheosis, while here, the band very often exceeds the bounds of Progressive Rock, entering far into classical territory.
The first CD contains seven instrumental compositions, whose immediate attractiveness is partly explained by the fact that each of them was thoroughly composed, carefully arranged and scrupulously performed. (Please take this remark into consideration: it is topical regarding the second disc as well.) The ever changing musical events with the alternation of purely chamber textures and those mixed with Rock ones are typical for each of them.
In many cases, however, the parts performed exclusively with chamber wind and string instruments, acoustic guitar included, are predominant. Besides, even at the 'rockiest' moments, the classical constituent often comes from inside, integrating into the music and bursting forth a unique and exuberant way.
That said, the fifteen guests perform here, and most of them are chamber musicians, incorporating various strings, woodwinds, and brass. As an experienced diver into the musical seas, you don't need a morphological analyzer to determine what can be found at the depth of FINNEGANS' fourth WAKE.
The fundamental style is laid already in the opening act, The Voyage of Maeldun. XX Century Classical academic music either in purely chamber or mixed, chamber Rock, form keeps most of the story line, from time to time giving way to MIO, which is Metal-In-Opposition, as you have correctly guessed. In the second and sixth acts, Back On and Tapioca com Pimenta, MIO beings possess a wider latitude, rather often intervening in neoclassical matters and, sometimes, showing an open aggressiveness.
However, seeing the Fata Morgana turned out to be fatal for them, and after dosing themselves with Mercurial they vanished completely. From time to time, the brass makes an attempt to throw things into confusion, but the almighty classical entities are always in their way. This is a highly complex, yet, totally coherent, transparent and unbelievably beautiful music. The piece Olinda features only passages and solos of classical guitar, but it's brilliant too, and is unique both compositionally and technically.
Generally, the incredible guitar playing by don Moura-Barros (especially on acoustic guitar) has a very positive effect in the music of FINNEGANS WAKE, pushing an already great band to another level.

Disc 2 - Analysis.

On the second disc, FINNEGANS WAKE made a further and, probably, their last steps in the development of Progressive Rock - towards Academic music of course, as there is nothing above the most advanced forms of our beloved genre apart from it.
The band has just proved the logical inevitability (or vice versa) of their blending. The classical instrumentation is offered very widely here: oboe, bassoon, clarinet, flute, horn, cello, violin, piano, acoustic guitar and more. The chamber group works musical wonders throughout, but on the first two tracks, Moondogging and Anemia, their patterns cover more than three-fourths of the space.
Here goes the XXI Century Classical music, welcome it! If you're into Art-Rock and feel bent for classical forms, start listening to the album with these two. They are so harmonious and beautiful that you will immediately love them and, via them, the entire album, with all the ensuing favorable consequences, as the world of Classical music is infinite.
On the other three longer tracks: Brazil RN, Datcha and Moriture te Salutant, the chamber textures more often meet the Rock ones, interflowing into one unique substance, which, lacking some better definition, I would call the XXI Century Chamber Rock with a strong sense of melody.
This is a wonderful world where beauty and complexity exist arm and arm, in full harmony, just supplementing each other. (After reading this and trying to listen to the album, an ordinary music lover may say: "He's probably off of his head", but I would pity him himself.) The pieces are composed from beginning to end, which is amazing considering how large is the list of guests and how long the arrangements are. I did forget to mention that there is some female vocalization on Moondogging, while it's just the time to tell you that the remaining two tracks, Wenceslas Shorts and Bon Voyage, are the only featuring vocals and lyrics. Although short, both are quite good.
Musically however, they have nearly nothing in common with the rest of the material. The music is a rhythmic Jazz-Fusion with elements of RIO of a French fashion, with the tenor sax being the one non-Rock instrument. It would've been wise of the band to place Wenceslas Shorts at the very end of the first disc, but this isn't a big deal. One may note: "Perhaps both the shorts were written especially for Mr. Redcrossed; otherwise I hardly find a proper explanation for their presence on the album, as well as the singer's presence in the principal lineup."
Well, one of the band members, vocalist and lyricist Richard Redcrossed, participated only on two songs, but does it really matter? All in all, this is their most complex, most interesting and most beautiful album to date.

Conclusion.

FINNEGANS WAKE "4th" is an absolutely brilliant thing that gets better every time I listen to it, and the essence of the album is just dazzling. But what's especially amazing is the incredible amount of freshness here and that such a marvelous thing as a musical magic reveals itself nearly everywhere.
In my view, this is the most ambitious and most intelligent, just the best album of 2004, but this is not all.
With this release, the band has entered the pantheon of Titans, and along with some others, it stands now at the head of procession of real stars of contemporary Progressive.

Uzbekistan - PROGRESSOR - Vitaly MENSHIKOV

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