Review: 2 from Sula - Best Of / Zone Six - Live Spring 2017

I don't like to leave it too long between Sula Bassana related posts...partly because the man is so damn productive but also because his output is always top notch! However, half of this post is about a neat little retrospective of his solo work courtesy of KiNETiK Records from Greece. The other half is a blistering live set from Zone Six earlier in the year. Between them they highlight beautifully the depth and quality of what he has achieved, both solo, in the case of 'Best of' and with his partners in crime in Zone Six.

Sula Bassana - Best of

At this point I should mention that I normally have a bit of a problem with 'Best of' albums...at worst they are a soulless cash-in at Christmas time for bands/artists who have had a couple of hits. However, in certain cases, they DO provide a neat document of an artist's work that highlights the breadth and quality of a canon of work. Such is the case here: Sula's solo output is prodigious to say the least and this 'Best of' collection from KiNETiK acts as both a good introduction to his work but also as an encapsulation of all that he has achieved. Many, if not all of the tracks, will be recognisable to any Sula 'fans' but put together they form the aforementioned document. It is released on a limited & numbered double tape set which can be purchased via the KiNETiK bandcamp page here. The collection opens with one of my personal faves - 'Disappear' from the split LP of the same name with 3AM. A kosmische based piece of loveliness that brings forth thoughts of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. For the ten or so minutes of it's length we are cocooned in rich swathes of synths that caress and hold the listener in a blissful reverie. 'Dreamer' is the oldest track here from the self-titled album from 2002. Things are shaken up here with a seventies krautrock stormer complete with some groovy organ work to add authenticity. Sula shows us his multi-instrumental virtuosity, playing organ, drums, guitar and keys. The 'Dark Days' album has two tracks reprsented, the first of which is 'Departure'...a lilting track with the guitar very much in the forefront, starting quite sedately before becoming laden with glorious fuzz and spacey effects. 'Dark Days' ,the track, takes that fuzz and multiplies it tenfold...but this is not a freak-out acid jam but rather a cultured space rock track that just happens to have enough fuzz to keep even the most gnarled head happy. There is a lovely melody running though it that makes this one of the most recognisable of Sula's solo work. Side B opens with 'Perry Rodan' - a track that appeared as a bonus track on the CD version of 'Dreamer - 10th Anniversary' (Perry Rhodan is the eponymous hero of a German science fiction novel series). This is Sula indulging his mischievous side on a track that is the very epitome of seventies sci-fi TV soundtrack - full of groove and fun and not a little cheese! (and is fast becoming a fave). 'Lost In Space' and 'The Night' come from 'The Night' album - and I'm gonna be a bit lazy here and quote from my review of that album - "'Lost In Space' is pure spacerock...some eastern melodies permeate the chugging motorik grooves and the cosmic electronica with some groovy mellotron added for good measure. 'The Night' is the centrepiece of the album - a fifteen minute opus split into four parts. After an atmospheric, even eerie, start the vocals of Stefan Koglek join over some workman-like guitars. It has a really 'classy' feel about it ....... The gradual build continues - some lovely psych guitarwork kicks in and the tempo is cranked up, and then it comes full circle and evolves into a gentle, hazy number reminiscent of early Floyd." The first tape is closed with another visit to 'Dreamer' album in the shape of 'My Blue Guitar'...on this you can hear traces of Liquid Visions, a band of which Sula was a member...hazy, psychedelic guitar that transposes the blues from the cottonfields of southern USA to the outer reaches of space...it is pure bliss, no other way to put it!

The second tape starts with the 'Kosmonauts' era - 'Space Taxi' was a bonus track on the vinyl version (originally released on a small CD-R issue, called 'Sulatronics' in the 90s) and is a skittering piece of electronica that artfully combines contemporary beat making with the pioneering work of the Berlin School of the seventies, while 'Barbarella' is a kosmische tour de force with the mouthharp giving it an almost antipodean feel beneath the retro synths. 'Planeta Bur' (the title of a Russian Sci-fi movie) from the 'Shipwrecked' album has the feel of a Morricone-esque Giallo soundtrack with the mix of effects and instrumentation combining to produce a track that has a sense of dread and suspense but with hints of eastern melody creeping in over the pulsing beat. The newly released soundtrack 'The Ape Regards His Tail' is represented by 'Mystic Stone', a deeply atmospheric, slow burning track framed by a deep, dark drone over which lays an eastern melody that mesmerises the listener. The 'Silent Music' album has just the one track on the collection, the haunting 'Little Thought'. 'Silent Music' is possibly Sula's most laid back album and this track is just beautiful - the filigree guitar shapes are just magical. 'Shushi Express' sees 'Shipwrecked' revisited with its Neu!-like motorik rhythm accompanied by an oscillating drone and syncopated synth lines. It has a real hypnotic quality and lulls you into a kosmische reverie; a track in which to get lost and contemplate the meaning of things. The last two tracks are from 'Organ Accumulator' from this year - the title track has a distinct spacerock vibe and would have sat nicely on the 'Shipwrecked' album while 'The Frogs' (possibly my fave ever Sula track!) is very John Carpenteresque in its retro synth soundtrack vibe and, as I mentioned in the album's review "it has that glorious retro feel that brought Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon (from Survive) so many plaudits for their 'Stranger Things' soundtrack. It has a sense of foreboding that lingers in the background and has a cinematic drive propelling it onwards".

As 'Best of' albums go, this is a doozy and superbly showcases Sula Bassana's work, from 2002 up to the modern day and the breadth of his material...fuzz laden space rock to sublime kosmische via more contemporary beats driven pieces. Sitting down and listening to the tapes was like revisiting old friends, some of which I haven't seen for some while but, like all good friends, things pick up from whence they left off. Brilliant music all wrapped up in a neat package!



Zone Six - Live Spring 2017

It's important to remember that Sula's work isn't just solo - he is also a member of several bands...all pretty fantastic...the ever awesome Electric Moon, Krautzone and, the subject of this review, Zone Six. The band for this live outing is Sula Bassana - Drums, Keys & FX, Rainer Neeff - Guitar, FX and Komet Lulu - Bass, FX - the same people who were responsible for the huge 'Forever Hugo' album earlier this year (read my review here). 'Live Spring 2017' is just over an hour in length but comprised of just the four tracks recorded live - tracks 1 and 2 were taken from a gig at the in Heidelberg while tracks 3 and 4 were recorded live in Liege at "La Zone".

'Touch Down Heidi' is a goliath of a track, clocking in at over 26 minutes. It starts with a series of spacey effects and plaintive guitar wails combining to produce a feeling of space, metaphorically and realistically. It builds very slowly, letting the atmosphere permeate proceedings and flashes of kosmische keyboards instill some retro bliss. At the 8 minute mark things blossom forth..a motorik drum pattern and throbbing bass line combine beautifully under some genuinely fantastic guitar work from Neeff. The next 20 minutes fly by in a celebration of improvised space rock.....it ebbs and flows like the tide, reaching euphoric heights and falling into more contemplative passages. It is majestic stuff. 'Song For Richie' is relatively brief at 15 minutes and starts with the familiar slow burn but explodes quickly into another acid freakout of monumental proportions...once again Neeff's guitar takes the listener to the stratosphere and back again, tracing psychedelic lines in the firmament. The fuzz that surrounds this track is thick enough to slice with a knife....the audience must have felt this gig as much as they heard it! 'Mäusedisco' opens with some ritual sounding drums and a fuzz laden bass before, as is now familiar, morphing into some muscular space rock..makes Hawkwind seem like a school choir in comparison. There is a marked rise in the tempo towards the end that leaves you breathless and when the track reaches its conclusion you feel you should be reaching for your cigarettes. The last track 'Raining Sugar Cane Ritual' is a much more meditative affair with the onus much more on creating atmospheres and vibes than on out-and-out jamming. That being said, the guitar is rich and sonorous, creating just about the right amount of fuzz.

Over the twenty years of their existence the line-up of Zone Six has been fluid but this particular incarnation; Sula, Lulu and Rainer, is a particularly effective one and they seem to gel as a unit supremely well. The result is a group of musicians who have confidence and faith in one another and so the music just flows like nectar of the gods. 'Live Spring 2017' is a wonderful live document of a band playing at the peak of their powers. It is an internet only release but at 7 euros for over an hour of wonderful music (and a printable cover booklet) it is a bit of a no-brainer really!