space is the place

Back in September of '99 Neil Haverstick mailed me an advance copy of
his new CD "OTHER WORLDS," and I sent an impromptu review of it off to
the TD. But as that was about six months ago -- and as the CD has just
now come out -- I've decided to posted it again for anyone who might
be interested.

Neil Haverstick -- "OTHER WORLDS"

If your familiar with the electric 19-tone blues rock of Neil's first
CD "THE GATE", or the wonderful 19 & 34-tone acoustic jazz fusion of
"ACOUSTIC STICK," this new CD may come as a bit of a surprise.

"OTHER WORLDS" has of four longish cuts that consist primarily of
layered guitar synths in a sound that I would describe as being
something like a cross between the early space music of say Klause
Schultz, and the wonderfully icy sound of some of the early ECM
records/artists - say Terje Rypdal's "AFTER THE RAIN" for example.

The general tone of these pieces, while often somewhat somber, is also
pretty severe... and in this sense "OTHER WORLDS" could also be said
to have a lot in common with the otherworldly electronic sounds and
imagery of the classic Sci-Fi flick.

As far as specific tunings are concerned, tracks 1, 2 and 4 feature
34, 19 and 12-tone equal temperament respectively, and track 3
features an overdubbed duet with Neil on fretless guitar synth and
John Starrett on the StarrBoard. But with all the various phasing and
echo (etc.) effects going on, the music's emphasis is not really
contingent on any specific tuning per say, but rather on the overall
sense of otherworldliness... and to that end, the alternate tunings
certainly do contribute heartily.

One of the most impressive aspects of this CD for me was that these
longish and largely texture based pieces succeed in accomplishing a
continued sense of direction and organic development - they have real
compositional arches so to speak... and with running times of 17:02,
10:55, 10:37 and 17:57, I personally found this to be most appealing.
Check it out!

Dan Stearns