CD Review: Eyes of a Blue Dog - Rise.

Terje Evenson (Drums/Electronics); Rory Simmons (Trumpet/Guitar/Electronic) 
Elizabeth Nygard-Pearson (Vocals).
(Review by Steve Horowitz)

Eyes of a Blue Dog is a short story written by legendary magical mystical writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez  most famous for ‘100 Years of Solitude’ (one of the greatest novels I have ever read). The band are a Nordic British Techno/Jazz combo the Scandinavian cultural influence just keeps on giving

The album begins with Mai an ambient electronic  background is interrupted by piercing trumpet setting the scene for the rest of this dream inspired album. The title track  Rise is short  and sweet and this where we are first introduced to the fascinating  vocals of Nygard This is followed by  Marble Faces another instrumental featuring trumpet  and electronics  with  great rhythmic  percussion . Track 4 - Reject the Rhapsody - is the second vocal offering on the album set against a thumping industrial rhythm.  Another vocal, Nothing Dies With You, follows and is as haunting as the title suggests. 

Little Piece of Everything features Rory Simmons on trumpet accompanied by a repetitive droning  backbeat. The Deliverance again features the stark vocals of Nygard which begins slowly but livens up with wave like crashing electronics. The penultimate track, Knee, is another vehicle for the trumpet of  Simmons complemented by more electronic wizardry evoking the search for a station on a shortwave radio. Falling concludes the album and is  almost a summary of  what has gone before - driving techno beats supplemented with harrowing Nordic vocals.

Rise is a genuine fusion of Jazz and Electronics but if techno is something you abhor I’ll doubt you will enjoy it However, anyone open to modern improvised music will be  rewarded by giving  the new  tricks of the Blue Dog a run for it’s money.

Eyes of a Blue Dog was released on the Babel label in February this year.

Steve H