Artist: Levin, Tony
Label: Narada Records
Release: 2006
Rating: 4/5
Tony Levin is one of the first names that comes up whenever anyone mentions bass playing. His innovations sparked a revolutionary rise in the popularity of the instrument, and of the Chapman stick in particular, since Tony was actually involved in developing it. On the new record, compared to all his previous solo outings, he steps up as a singer more than ever before.
The songs are brilliantly varied, and by the time you get to the third track you practically can’t remember what happened at the start, if I can put it in a slightly bizarre way. And that’s not after the first listen, but after several. Tony proves he feels at home in absolutely any genre. Together with his collaborators he effortlessly strings together convincing mood swings, just for the fun of it.
The album kicks off with a bouncy rock’n’roll stomper that, bass-line-wise, recalls the Levin from the “Crimson” days, and then the tune unexpectedly breaks at the chorus into pure “Hendrix-ism”. That livens up the song, and right there on the record we get an attribute you could call the wit of innovative exploration, which sticks with the album from its start all the way to its end. That says a lot about “Resonator” as a typical progressive album. Progressive in the sense that it’s completely unlike anything you’ve heard before, which means that the word “progressive”, if we set aside (with that word) the often misleading label for one of the rock genres, is actually spot on here.
The second song, Places To Go, already conjures up the exact opposite of that wound-up opening. It’s direct proof of Levin’s genius. It takes your breath away how much space bare bass playing alone can fill. Backed by percussion and driven by the wit of the verses, Levin wins you over with his vocals, but what grabs the most attention is his simultaneous, complex bass playing. Levin uses every trick in the book, from fascinating pull-offs to hot flageolets. The playing is explosive, yet Levin approaches it with an incredibly refined softness of touch, which gives the song a whiff of sleepy bliss and cheeky, mischievous nonchalance. Throw The God A Bone gets you on your feet once again, with Adrian Belew (King Crimson) guesting and bringing the traditional sound of his guitar to the song. His soloing in particular adds extra variety, both on the track and on the record as a whole, and a strict deviation from known standards. Just leave the poor dog alone so he doesn’t lose his mind, and throw the poor guy that bone already (to the god who barks)! A bowl full of laughs. Then comes Utopia, where the atmosphere is once again cut from completely different cloth. A mid-tempo song with pop touches and Steve Lukhater (Toto) on guitar, who really shines creating an atmospheric curtain of sound behind the chorus, giving you the feeling of sailing through starry galaxies as you listen. Beyond My Reach is ruled by fretless licks and pull-offs, with a classical piano and Tony’s vocals beside them. It’s a song for smoky late-night cabarets, when the night is saying goodbye and a new day is being born, and everyone has already gone home to bed or passed out under the bar counter. The atmosphere is icy, almost a little creepy, but it’s the vocals that bring a ray of warmth in here. A song of extreme contrasts and depth. It’s incredible how a few short, clear strokes can create such perfection in filling out the sound spectrum. Shadowland is a song written for some sci-fi soundtrack. The contrast between the metallic clatter of the drums and the massive mellotrons on the other side calls up the outlines of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Gress’s solo, built on just a few notes, creeps into the track, stretching it out further and adding a new point of thrilling allure. Bounced sound effects are sampled into the tune, while the song is driven by the colossal racket of the rhythm line’s new-age “Crimsonoid” monstrosity. Probably the first progressive peak of “Resonator”. It’s followed by the “a cappella” psychedelic interlude Crisis Of Faith, which is really an extension of Shadowland and as such could well count as the second part of that song. The “Crimsonoid schizoid feel” thus continues, convincingly and in all its appeal. Next up is the bluesy-rock-flavored What Would Jimi Do?, which is in fact a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Hence the somewhat similar verses in the song, the kind Jimi Hendrix himself loved to use, and I won’t even waste words on the main guitar riff. In short, another atmosphere switch. Next comes the second instrumental on the record, a brilliant arrangement, or rather take, on Khachaturian’s instrumental Sabre Dance, where the band explodes again and the record once more rewards the listener with its experimental, adventurous side. It combines a few short, completely different motifs in the middle of its solo extravagance. Taken individually they seem totally incompatible, but they’re strung together here so that they couldn’t fit each other any better. This is the record’s second progressive peak. The album closes with Fragile As A Song, a ballad with Levin on keyboards and vocals. It’s a welcome way to finish, calming down the general character of this album, which is close to that of a wild court jester when it comes to bold exploratory harassment and challenging of established musical standards. That means “Resonator” as a record is a special chapter in music and a story of its own, welcome to all music gourmets whose spoiled ears are constantly searching for the ideal formula for the coexistence of listenability and avant-garde exploration, lifting invisible veils that lead toward new musical dimensions, through the constant courage of improvisational freedom. A solid ten, because “Resonator” has found the ideal formula for something that just keeps surprising you with its boldness, again and again.
This is an album that will satisfy absolutely everyone. It combines an excellent, healthy dose of exceptional listenability, which will appeal to everyone who can’t be bothered to dig deep into music and hunt for “beyond horizons” information on logical principles, and on the other hand it will be endlessly appealing to everyone looking for virtuosity, wit, resourcefulness, freshness, spontaneity and “off-the-wall jamming session” moments whose seemingly complex motifs are fused in a refined way into an utterly seductive puzzle. “Resonator” is by far Levin’s most mature album of his career.
Line-up
Tony Levin – vocals, cello, bass guitar, Chapman stick
Jesse Gress – guitar
Pete Levin – keyboards
Larry Fast – keyboards
Jerry Marotta – drums
Tony Levin – keyboards on Fragile As A Song (10)
Guest musicians:
Adrian Belew – guitar on Throw The God A Bone (3)
Steve Lukhater – guitar on Utopia (4)
Production
Tony Levin
Track list
1. Break It Down (7:02)
2. Places To Go (5:46)
3. Throw The God A Bone (5:23)
4. Utopia (6:20)
5. Beyond My Reach (5:16)
6. Shadowland (4:57)
7. Crisis Of Faith (2:10)
8. What Would Jimi Do? (4:32)
9. Sabre Dance (5:05)
10. Fragile As A Song (4:31)
Total running time: 51:18
