November 01, 2018

The Confrontation jam is solid, if predictable. The first several minutes have a nice minor key, spacey feel to them that works really well. Around the 8-minute mark they force a shift into major key territory. Then weirdly they switch back to minor key about two minutes later. Well okay then. This and the I Feel Love jam both have moments, but neither sticks around long enough to warrant a re-listen. After Midnight has a nice jam. This is pretty clearly headed for Basis from the start, but I don’t mind it. Jam out of Basis is short and forgettable. The jam out of Neck Romancer gets dissonant for the first few minutes. This is not bad, though fairly squarely fits inside of any box. The second Basis jam features some really cool playing from Magner throughout. This gets a little weird at times, and I’m here for it. He’s using a white noise heavy synth patch that he doesn’t bust out all that often, and it’s one of my favorites. Ending is just okay.

Crystal Ball is standard to start set 2. The Shimmy jam has the feel of a Night Rider theme jam. I’m not sure if it’s intentional, but it definitely gives off that vibe. Most of this is forgettable, up until the forced transition to Tempest. The jam out of Tempest is a two-chord, major key jam that features a lot of soaring Barber guitar riffs. They’ve got a lot of energy here, but just doesn’t do much for me. Munchkin encore has an I Feel Love tease immediately. Make it stop. This jam doesn’t really get a chance to breathe before we suddenly hit the ending theme.

Highlights: After Midnight, Basis (2*)