One drum shot to lead in the beat and in it comes, a roaring, crunching classic rocker, as only David Bowie can fashion them. 'The Next Day', the album's title song is a powerful announcement: " I AM here and let's get ON with it!" It's like there wasn't anything more than the usual gap between albums and it hardly seems like the decade, half a generation, that it was. Produced by Bowie himself and long-term production partner, Tony Visconti, "The Next Day" is a solidly strong and consistent album of some really fantastic rockers and oddly skewed slower numbers. Classic Bowie. The album follows along on the heels of "Heathen" and "Reality", continuing a sound and singing style that the former two recordings began. Think of this album, then, as part 3, if you will, of the "trilogy". Building on the previous two albums Bowie takes "The Next Day" into some really fine new textures and subtleties as well as continuing, for the most part, the stylistic feel of it's predecessors. But it's the strongest of the three. "The Next Day" is quite possibly Bowie's most consistently good release since 1997's "Earthling". Every song is great and brilliantly draws on Bowie's monumental back catalogue of styles and influences to synthesize one really killer album.

"Dirty Boys", the second track, could almost be a Tom Waits song. Familiar in sound, but twisted and bent in unusual ways and sung with an intense angularity. There's some chunky, odd rhythms and some honking sax here that could easily come off something like Wait's "Mule Variations". It is the strangest song on the album. With this as a second track Bowie lets the listener know not to get too comfortable, confounding expectations a bit and re-establishing that he is just as much the experimenter and "outsider" that he always was. "The Stars ( Are Out Tonight )" rocks it out again in a very "Heathen" way. It has the same feel as "Looking For Water" on "Reality" as well. The next track, "Love is Lost" breaks into a moderate pulsing beat with some really welcome organ chords, some grungy guitar accents and very catchy chorus, " oh what have you done?". It's the one track that features any kind of noticeable keyboard work, making "The Next Day" a very guitar-oriented album. The Single "Where Are We Now?" further alters the momentum for a really fine ballad, Bowie style. He sings it with his newer "mumbly" style but I wonder how much better it might've sounded if he'd used a more open-mouthed technique - like he's done on "Wild is the Wind" for example. The sound on this song really highlights how pristine the production is for this album. Bowie and Visconti have gone for the gut but elaborate the power and punch with some really artistic touches that elevates the music beyond typical standards. Gail Ann Dorsey's bass playing, for example, really stands out and Zachary Alford's drums have their usual muscular power. Bowie, who has always promoted Dorsey's incredible talents, gets her to open "If You Can See Me" with her powerful voice. It's here also that guest guitarist David Torn lends his jazz roots to the guitar and bass lines that make this the most instrumentally complicated of all the tracks. Gerry Leonard's electric guitar stands out on the album's premiere song "I'd Rather Be High", a soaring number with a killer hook. It's powerful song voicing individual and societal angst put into the mouth of a 17 year old. Bowie has always been right out on the edge of quite a few things in his life and boldly reassures us that he has not a single compunction to modify his ways.

"Dancing Out in Space" is a tongue in cheek, fun, rave-up with balls. Bowie's having a blast here but he's also taking the fun into an odd and disorienting place. Another stand out track. The momentum never stops on this album and it gets really ripping by "How Does the Grass Grow" and ( You Will ) Set the World on Fire", a song that pulls out all the power on hand with a blistering guitar and bass line that would make an arena of young rockers cream their jeans. Bowie's always backed himself with really, really impressive musicians, most of whom have a very low profile outside of his orbit and it works really well for him. Gail Ann Dorsey, Zach Alford and Sterling Campbell have been stable musicians for him since "Earthling". There are some contributing artists of note though. Jazz fusionist David Torn appears here and lends just a hint of his world to the proceedings in ways that move it into some novel colours. Earl Slick, most famous for his work on Bowie's 1976 "Station to Station" album, lends his searing, powerful but very musical guitar lines to several tracks. Visconti contributes his usual string arrangements to fill out and accentuate the sound in key places.Tony Levin of Peter Gabriel and King Crimson fame also adds to the list with his typically impeccable bass work as well. Noticeably absent, though, is Mike Garson's intensely angular jazz / avant garde piano stylings. Visconti contributes his usual string arrangements

Bowie's voice is as strong as ever and full of all the characterization and nuance he brings to the mic. His harmonies, as always, are largely done with himself and that's always created a very unique texture to his vocal sculpting. He also makes good use of Gail Ann Dorsey's voice to back him up here as well, which he will most certainly do if they take this on the road. He's always been an incredibly versatile vocalist, experimenting with his voice as much as many notable instrumentalists have done with their media. Known for being a remarkably deadly impressionist and strikingly deft at subtleties of voice of a great actor, Bowie features that amazing 'palette' here with consummate panache and experience. It's one of the great things about the later work of a truly remarkable artist, the range of nuance, shade, tone, invention and ability to dip into an oceanic past of accomplishment - and David Bowie does that here better than he has in many years.

The conventional release ends, like "Reality" did, with a subdued and moody piece - "Heat". It's a perfect close to the album. On the deluxe edition the 3 bonus tracks are indeed worth the price. "So She" is a crunchy, moderately paced song. "Plan" is a moody little instrumental a la "Low" or "Heroes" - just to let you know, in case you'd forgotten, that he can go there still. "I'll Take You There" finishes off the deluxe version as a standard Bowie rocker. I would be QUITE satisfied with the regular edition, in fact I think, musically the album ends better with "Heat" as did "Reailty" with "Bring Me Disco King" but I couldn't resist getting 3 more tracks.

Like a lot of the classic David Bowie albums, "The Next Day" hits you on first listen as a mass and repeated listenings reveal more and more the finely crafted movements and subtleties that are so much a feature of David Bowie's music. In some ways Bowie's promethean personality can sometimes get in the way of a really musical appreciation of his art. Bowie is SO ... Bowie, and some of his past efforts have been carried by that when the music wasn't as well crafted as it is here. Strip the personality and the personae of David Bowie away from the music, which is rather hard to do, and you are left, once the glare of the 'person' is subdued, with a coming into focus a truly remarkable universe of undeniable talent, bordering at times on sheer, gob-smacking genius. I think that if I had been blind and never saw Ziggy or the Think White Duke, or any of his many other personalities, never saw his face or watched him work a stage with an almost frightening charismatic skill, never read about his wild, picaresque debaucheries, or never heard of the controversies around his sexualities, I would STILL be a HUGE admirer of his work. The music stands quite independent of the man, as odd as that may seem. But in the end it's David Bowie's truly olympian talents as a musician that have me chomping at the bit to see what he comes up with next. "The Next Day" does not disappoint. Killer.

Ang Lee's movie version of "Life of Pi" is an extraordinary achievement. Like "The Lord of the Rings" or "The Road", two very different movies made from overwhelmingly well-lauded books, Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" flies in the face of those who at one time might have said that "it couldn't be done, and if it was done, it wouldn't be done well". Lee accomplishes not only a fine and sensitive adaption of Yann Martel's now classic novel, he has fashioned a work of art that stands rock-solidly on it's own merits of cinematic mastery. For the movie exists as a profound statement affirming the indomitability of the human spirit, expressed in an artistic form that is stunningly beautiful, brilliantly edited, meticulously performed, almost metaphysically imagined and very deeply affecting. Both times I saw this in theatres I went away profoundly moved and highly stimulated intellectually, for "Life of Pi" is not JUST the story of an Indian boy in a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker, a Zebra, a Hyena and an Orangutan called "Orange Juice". It is a daring and unflinching look at questions that today we dare not talk about, or are actually embarrassed to talk about - those mostly being around the question of the existence of God ( or Gods ) and whether Reason triumphs over Faith. ( As if one must exist without the other! ). Martel's multi-layered narrative that presents a story and then questions that story digs far more deeply into some big questions than a cursory or reactionary judgement of it might suggest. Lee makes sure that all those levels are clearly discernible for those with the courage to look and see. This is a film that will move you very deeply and have you thinking for many days afterward.

Of course the story does not take place entirely on the lifeboat, even though it is the main body of the piece. It begins in Pondicherry, a one time French colonial town on the southeast coast of India, in Tamil Nadu state. As the film opens to bucolic shots of birds and animals in a very Eden-like setting we begin to hear a narrator, who turns out to be the older Pi ( Irrfan Khan ), many years later, recounting his life as a child in the town to a young writer sent to interview him. It is idyllic and untroubled and Pi himself recounts the rather eccentric story of how he got his unusual name. His father, a stark and ultra-rational man of science and reason, thinking himself a member of the "New India", has withdrawn from his traditional Hindu faith in favour of Reason and Science. He is somewhat exasperated with his precocious son Pi, who seems to ignore his father's remonstrations and outright rantings against his son's all-consuming need to explore all the religions his life exposes him too - Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Pi sees no reason why he can't be an adherent of all of them simultaneously. He seems lost in his dreamy ways and has one foot in this world and the other in a somewhat more metaphysical plane. He seems tied to this world by a very thin thread, but yet, the naive, "irrational" boy may yet be on to something.

Pi's innocence, and even outright dangerous naivete, comes to a head when he seeks to hand feed the Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker that is the feature of his father's landmark zoo. Named so because of a clerical error, Richard Parker comes hair-raisingly close to the boy who is holding out a large piece of raw meat through the bars of the big cat's enclosure. Pi believes that all "animals have souls, I have seen it in their eyes" and he wants to reach Richard Parker's. The boy is rescued by his enraged father at the last second just before the tiger pounces. The father then subjects Pi and the rest of the family to an object lesson on the brute, instinct of animals in order to shock the boy into a realization that is important to his survival. It is amazing how frightened a 450 pound Bengal Tiger is of Pi's father. The incident both wakes Pi up, but it also drives some of his convictions even deeper. This, in turn sets up the precedents for the events of the main body of the story.

Not wanting to include any spoilers in this review I will say that the family has to leave India with the animals and head to Canada via the Pacific Ocean on a gigantic Japanese freighter. A tragedy strikes and Pi by chance ends up surviving by ending up in an ocean lifeboat with what he thinks is his sole companion, a zebra who broke it's leg diving into the boat in order to save itself. As his boat boat is tossed on the waves of the stormy, roiling Pacific Pi sees the figure of someone else struggling in the water, trying to get to the boat. Pi extends an oar only find out it is none other than Richard Parker, the tiger, and it is too late before the big cat is literally tossed into the boat by the gigantic waves.

What follows is extraordinary. Pi's dreamy life is ripped away from him but he still manages to find meaning in his situation - trapped on a lifeboat with a helpless zebra and a Bengal tiger. The character of Pi is shown at 3 stages of his life, as a small boy, as a middle-aged man, but mostly as the young man in the boat. Suraj Sharma, in his brilliant first role, delivers an astoundingly realistic and deeply affecting performance. It is a solo performance upon which the entire sympathy and believability of the story relies and he pulls off a completely convincing range of emotions with perfect aplomb. Things happen and the animals do what animals will do, much to Pi's dismay and danger. He nevertheless works out ways to stay tethered to the boat, by building an attached raft out of supplies. Now the long, complex, harrowing and very moving relationship between Pi and Richard Parker begins. The tiger is a tiger and behaves no less than one. Pi, however recognizes that in order to stay alive he has to build a relationship of sorts with the cat and keep the beast from going after him for food. It is NOT easy. Pi's spirit is resolute and he keeps himself busy with the survival manual and feeding Richard Parker, who is not at all pleased with Pi's presence.

What might seem a monotonous prospect, a boy on a lifeboat, lost on the Pacific Ocean, becomes a riveting story both magical and brutal. This long segment is where Lee's cinematographic vision takes full flight. The Pacific, at one point, becomes eerily flat in a dead calm that stretches to infinity. Lee often shoots the boat from very high above, looking straight down on it from a good 50 - 60 feet above it. With the water absolutely motionless it becomes a flawless mirror of the sky and Pi's boat and raft appear to be floating upside down ( or, 'downside up' ) in an infinity of orange and yellow clouds. Reality's defined "ups" and "downs" are discarded and we begin to see that as a metaphor for Pi's mental state as he spends days, weeks, months adrift on the ocean. Metaphors abound. Later Pi begins to work on subduing the tiger's wildness by using the animal's sea-sickness against it. To a degree Pi is able to re-inhabit the boat after this and he and Richard Parker begin a pas de deux, an olympian struggle of souls, that leads to a form of 'truce' between them. When Pi saves Richard Parker's life when it would have been in his best interest to kill the tiger or let it die, things change. It is one of the most powerful moments in the entire film, the full-circle realization of Pi's childhood conviction that "animals have souls - I have seen it in their eyes". Pi realizes that he actually needs the tiger, that it gives him purpose and reason to live. His powerful and dangerous presence keeps Pi focused and drives his will to live. Richard Parker also becomes resigned to his tormentor and they keep their respective, and respectful, distances. From here the story gently, subtly crosses the line into more metaphysical territory.

Like the cloud scene above there is another such event that follows in the uneasy relationship that Pi and Richard Parker have and it occurs at night. It is the deep, oceanically profound still point, the HEART, the most inconceivably mystical part of the film. Pi awakens to see Richard Parker with his back to him quietly staring out to sea. The moon is out and the water is lit with phospherescent plankton and jellyfish. The air and the water are calm. Pi asks Richard Parker, "what are you looking at? what do you see? tell me". The tiger is still for moment then turns its head to the side, looking over the boat into the water. Pi turns his head to see and the deep becomes alive with living phosphorescence and swimming forms. As he continues to look the images become more magical and Pi sees visions of many things, including his mother who appears more as a goddess in this amazing sequence. Another shot from very high above, looking down at Pi and Richard Parker looking into the depths of the ocean with the cosmos above them also reflected in the water, takes us now into the great Universal. Pi and Richard Parker, in their lifeboat, look like a constellation in the firmament. Pi snaps out of his vision only to see that the tiger has turned completely around to face him but is perfectly still, yet looking at him with extreme interest. Pi looks back at Richard Parker quietly and the two seem to see into each other like never before. Is he finally vindicated here, having believed as a child that his human soul could connect with an animal soul? Is Richard Parker thinking of eating Pi, or, is this the final moment when the human boy and the Bengal tiger share in a vision of eternity, something beyond their individualities and natures and realize their individual selves as expressions of one life? For me, it is the most profound moment of the entire film.

The story continues a bit more, sealing and strengthening, after that vision, the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker. It begins to get fantastic and Pi himself states in his journal that he isn't sure if his grip on reality is all that strong now. Emaciated, dehydrated, starving, the two are at the very limits of their existence. With the coming of a final mid-ocean storm, Pi and his friend are reduced to almost nothing, barely hanging on to life itself. You wonder how much more the two can take. As the violent storm rips away food supplies, life preservers and all that has kept them alive Pi finally surrenders to God. With nothing left to lose and Richard Parker being violently thrown about inside the boat by crashing waves, Pi feels that God has finally come to them... and he is ready.

When he is rescued, the company that owned the freighter desparately try to get Pi's eye witness account of the sinking and want his story - the story he has been telling to the young writer who's been sent by his uncle, the story of he and Richard Parker. At this point both the freighter company people and the befuddled writer begin to question the older Pi's story. Pi recounts how the freighter people were getting quite angry with his story and asked him to give them reality. Reality? Pi asks. He then bitterly launches into another version that speaks of people in the lifeboat, not animals, each person taking the place of the animals of his first version. Pi then almost angrily, hopelessly recounts a tale of such unimaginable horror - of murder, starvation and worse, all in a few short minutes. We have never seen him like this - jaded, wounded, and sharply bitter. It is shocking. Is he now telling the truth or is he so exasperated with his interrogators' incredulity that he spitefully whips up a "reasonable" version to suit their lower level of understanding? We are left with the question - which one is the metaphor for the other? Which one is the truth? Present day Pi asks the now completely confused writer sent to get his story, "which one do you prefer?" You never really know which version is the truth. The easier one to believe is the version of human beings doing unspeakable things to survive, behaving like 'animals', having lost their so-called reason - the reason so vehemently trumpeted by Pi's utterly rational father. When faced with events that strip the soul down to it's core, can we still hang on to the illusion of reason? In "the one with the tiger" there is something deeply significant that goes down deep in many layers and redeems the soul. Which kind of story do we therefore, live by? And when it comes to "God", which do we prefer? To live a life of cemented reason, meeting out rigid judgements and banishing all wonder and connection. Or do we live by a kind of faith where all that we see is connected, interpenetrating and ... meaningful? Which way gives us a deeper peace and sense of 'correctness' in the universe? That the way of seeing our lives as part of a higher movement and connection, part of the larger being of "God", whatever that is, seems naive and foolish to some may in the end prove to be the greatest strength. How we conceive of "God" is how we see our everyday lives. Is it magical and connected, full of meaning, or is it cold, hard, unyielding and without more than what we experience physically? Which one is the way of the "animal" and which way the "human"? Pi is clealy sane. He endured something terrible, survived and tells his tale, in two radically different versions. Which one do we prefer?

There is MUCH here for many hours of contemplation and very lively discussion. Martel and Lee give us no express philosophical conclusions - that would be to give in to explanation, which is part of 'Reason'. The 'answers' to the many complex questions that come out of this incredible story are those that are FELT first. So in the end, Ang Lee has accomplised, beautifully and brutally, a film that poses intense questions on human nature and indeed on the nature of being itself with it's most profound "answers" wonderfully, profoundly found in the non-rational depths of an ocean of feeling. And he lets us decide how we will interpret them. One of the most provocative and moving films I have ever seen, gorgeously and meticulously wrought by a master. It truly is a must-see.

Brian Eno's "Lux" is his 4th release on the Warp label and by all indications the partnership is good and fruitful one. Judging by the output on Warp: first the instrumental only CV of all his non-vocal styles "Small Craft on a Milk Sea", then the full-on lyric, "song" format of "Drums Between the Bells" and "Panic of Looking" and now his third full-length ambient piece "Lux", Warp seems to be encouraging Eno to give them full representation everything he's ever done. One could almost summarize the entirety of his post 1978 output in these four releases. Every style he's ventured into can be seen on those 4 albums, only with updated technology and a lifetime accumulation of technique and thought. It's been a very welcome last few years for those with a long-term taste for the music of Brian Eno.

On the surface it doesn't seem like he's broken any new ground with this one. It sounds mostly like 1985's "Thursday Afternoon" and yet on repeated listenings there are many details and subtleties that clearly separate "Lux" from "Thursday". While the album sounds like one, long, flowing piece, it's actually a long piece in 4 movements - Lux 1 - 4, each individually timed on the CD itself. Careful listening reveals the introduction of different instruments in each movement, most notably Leo Abrahams' liquid guitar work and Nell Catchpole's violin, and shifts in scales and modalities. It all starts out bright and lambent ( full of light ) and eventually gets into modes that sound quite minor, adding to the blissful washes the element of tension and 'interest' that Eno himself says differentiates what he does from New Age music. Eno isn't always pretty, but he can be quite transcendental - and that's just what "Lux" really is. It also achieves Eno's long-ago set parameters for his ambient music it must be both as ignorable as it is interesting. In other words, one can listen very, very carefully and hear a forest of detail that keeps revealing with each listen, or, this music can be used to 'tint' the atmosphere of the room, hence, ambient. For the careful, close, listener this is an album full of riches. Pianos, synths, violins, bells and guitar provide the semi-melodic motifs and glints, so there is a broad sonic palette on the album.

It's great to have another full-length, ambient piece in the Eno canon. Each one was created in a separate decade with gaps of 18-19 years. 1993's "Neroli" was the last one before "Lux". Now "Neroli" really stands out as something quite unique in Eno's entire catalogue for it's utter spareness and almost virtual silence. "Lux", along with "Thursday Afternoon" now nicely bookends this most incredible of Eno's ambient pieces. Like its predecessors, "Lux" was created using generative systems and precisely plotted opportunities for unforeseen surprises. Scraps of the 'notation' and 'charting' for the music are reproduced in the album's sleeve. Of note, those who buy the first, limited edition of "Lux" get 4 reproductions of Eno's art for the cover in different variations of colour as a bonus.

"Lux" is part of a larger piece done for Italy's Volumina art festival and a project that Eno launched on November 17th, 2012 called "Day of Light". On that day his website played the entirety of the album in four complete sessions. Photographers were encouraged to register with the site before the 17th and then submit their work with the theme of capturing some element of light while the piece was playing. Shots were submitted in real time and a few moments later your submitted work was shown onscreen for a period of time until the next photograph was selected by Eno and team. A final assemblage was done of the best work and now one can see them all when you watch "Lux" on YouTube. Another bold and innovative idea for cultural experiment from a man who is as much as a cultural experimenter and theorist as he is a highly sought-after producer and ground-breaking musician.

"Lux" is both for the died-in-the-wool fan and it's also a great introduction, in a new decade, indeed, a new millenium, for a whole new generation of listeners. There are now 3 full generations of people avidly following this great artist's work and it's only right - this is music that is utterly timeless in every way.

Everything about "Prometheus" is pure Ridley Scott. It's tone, it's originality, it's technical achievements, it's questions as well as it's controversy and it's perception in the public eye. Either you loved it or you were disappointed by it. The crux of the argument surrounding it's reception was whether it was a good "prequel" or a bad one. If there's one thing you learn as an appreciator of the controversial English director's work is to let go of your expectations and come to his work with a very open mind. Having a readiness and a willingness to have your horizons expanded a bit and yourself challenged to THINK ... while you're being entertained ... is the best way to come to a Ridley Scott film. Whether it be "Thelma and Louise", "Blade Runner", "Black Rain", "Kingdom of Heaven", "Gladiator" , "Alien" etc, or, "Prometheus", you can expect to have your expectations confounded a bit, your thinking challenged and provoked, your eyes richly feasted and your sense of wonder, even, bedazzled. "Prometheus" carries this tradition on in grand fashion.

In this powerful, controversial film, Scott goes beyond creating a mere "prequel" to the "Alien" franchise. He pretty much re-boots it, providing a much more profound philosophical base for it, and in the process, beginning a premise that could lead to SEVERAL intervening films that would take place before the time of the original 1979 classic. There's a lot more that can be told before the events on the ill-starred Nostromo.

The film begins with a visual homage to Stanley Kubrick. A crescent Earth viewed from space, stars twinkling all around, references the opening of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and sets up the thematic and philosophical basis for the film. Kubrick's ( and you could also say Arthur C. Clarke's ) film took a new THIRD position concerning the origins of life on this planet, particularly of the human race. Peoples' views of how life began on this world have traditionally fallen into either one of two camps - "Creationists" believe that God personally invented and made this world and all the life that's on it. It is also implied and accepted that that Creation is also unique in a universe of unlimited eternity. The other camp are the "Darwinists", who rally round the work of the explorer/scientist who basically saw life, all life, as a more random but purposeful selection and elimination of continually adapting species. Nature creates them and nature eliminates them solely on the basis of their strength, adaptability and methods of survival. The strongest wins. There is, however, a THIRD view, a much more controversial view, one that is growing and simmering under the surface of the general public's consciousness. While there is no name for it yet, that I know of, I would call it "Interventionism". It goes like this: life was here on the planet in a simple and primitive form. It had great POTENTIAL but was a long way from having anything remarkable about it. Highly evolved beings from another world, or worlds, saw this potential and intervened with their enormously advanced science and 'tweaked' us genetically, giving us, particularly we humans, a genetic advantage that could lead us ourselves to become highly advanced beings in the universe. They did this ... and then they left, carrying on throughout the cosmos, "planting seeds".

There is literature out there that lays out that theory and rigorously backs it up. One example would be Robert Temple's "The Sirius Mystery". The field is thought-provoking and extremely challenging. It would be an anathema to both "Darwinists" and "Creationists" because it directly explodes the notion of our uniqueness. Many believe ( because we "chose to" ) that seeing ourselves as some freak phenomena or special pet invention by the Deity is ultimately irrational and limited. So the possibility of this "Interventionism' is the philosophical and narrative basis of "Prometheus". Scott said that he preferred to make this a more 'thinking' picture and sought to pose some very big and quite challenging ideas. That he did in his particulary grand style.

As the introductory credits roll we gradully descend through the clouds of an unnamed planet and cruise over mountain ranges, valleys and rivers mostly bare or hosting grasses and basic plant life. Where is this, we ask? Then at the edge of a gigantic waterfall we see an enormous disc hovering low in the sky. We see a porcelain white alien, humanoid for sure, but definitely non-human, appear along the edge of the falls. He is alone and walks to the water's edge in a robe, removes his garment and opens up a mysterious metal canister which holds a seething, bubbling fluid that seems to crawl with something ominous. He ponders it for second and drinks it down. The fluid has an immediate impact. As he writhes about, his face and body seeming to collapse and lose it's integrity, the gigantic disk leaves, abandoning the figure and heading off into the clouds. The alien is in agony and collapses to the ground, breaks and falls into the torrent. A shot of his dissolving body and fluids leads to a macro view of his very DNA breaking up and mixing with the natural compounds and other DNA in the water that are native to the world he is in. The Earth has just been 'seeded'. Prometheus, in the Greek myth, sacrificed himself to bring humanity into the fold of the gods. Here an alien, sacrifices himself to the fledgling Earth, using his own body's dissolved DNA to combine with the new world's life. The "Dawn of Man", 21st century style.

Fast forward to the late 21st century. A team of archeologists and scientists discovers 3 millennia old cave paintings, strikingly similar to those in other locations around the globe, all showing smaller humanoid figures surrounding a much taller, humanoid who is pointing to a particular constellation of stars. Scientist/Idealist Dr. Elizabeth Shaw ( Noomi Rapace ), stands with her personal and professional partner Dr. Charlie Holloway ( Logan Marshall-Green ) looking up and the glyphs and says, " I think they want us to find them". It is both Shaw's wide-eyed idealism and corporate rapacity that drives the mission that becomes "Prometheus".

A pause, and then we see a large interstellar space ship racing deep into the unfathomable unknown of the cosmos. The ship is called "Prometheus", of course. What follows sets up the rest of the film's narrative and it lays out the familiar themes of the original "Alien". The ship is owned by a corporation, that corporation ( the modern day evil of the highest nature ) has a self-seeking agenda. The scientists have provided the 'purpose' while business provides the means. This time however, "The Company" ( Weyland Corporation, of course ) has a director on board. Her name is Vickers ( Charlize Theron ). She is the ultimate stone-cold corporate monster. Shaw and Holloway are the super genius scientists whose discovery lead Weyland Corp's founder, Peter ( Guy Pearce ) to fund the trip because of his own eccentric, dying wishes. Like Shaw, he wants to "know" and he also wants to be saved from his immenent death. An air of tension between Vickers and the entire crew develops and sets up the drama of what happens once they land on the life-sustaining moon they've discerned as being the home world of, what they call, "The Engineers". They do NOT find what they expected and what they do ... they wish they hadn't.

Like the original "Alien " mistakes are made, accidents happen, even life threatening sabotage occurs. People are endangered and disaster strikes in the form of 'infection', another major theme in film in the age of AIDS. Lots of dark, claustrophobic horror ensues. Bodies and minds are violated in the most horrific and perverse ways. Inexplicable mysteries are set up and NOT resolved. In the middle of all this and around whom all the drama revolves is another android figure, a staple of The Weyland Corporation - David 8 ( Michael Fassbender ). He is the first character in the film that we see and the sequence readies us for the complex contradictions in his character that make us wonder why he later does what he does. He appears as an innocent, a child, a dangerous experimenter, a ruthless opportunist, a heartless scientist, a wonder struck fan of David Lean's classic film "Lawrence of Arabia" and a corporate lackey. His motivations are never clear. Two contrasting incidents relay this ambiguity perfectly. When Peter Weyland's hologram says that David is the closest thing he's had to a son, David smiles quietly with visible pride and warmth. But then, in another scene, David asks Charlie to what lengths he would go in order to achieve his goals and Charlie answers that he would "do anything and everything". David smiles and cryptically agrees and then gives Charlie the fateful "drink". Later as the crisis escalates David coldly asks Shaw if everyone doesn't want to see their parents dead. Fassbender does a magnificent job of the character giving David a depth and complexity that is both subtle and thought provoking. Even though Rapace's Shaw is the prime mover and heroine of the story, it is really David who is the most complex and fascinating of all the "Prometheus'" characters.

When I fist saw the film in theatres I was confused by what appeared to be some gaping plot holes but on subsequent viewings the film makes a lot more sense. And it really is a film that warrants repeated viewings, like most Ridley Scott outings. Once again, you get a sense that one or two of the action sequences were imposed into the film at the studio's command. One of them in particular, the return of the 'infected' geologist to the ship seems a bit of unnecessary 'adrenalizing', if you will. It makes me wonder what the eventual Director's Cut will look like in the future. Scott has the misfortune of having his films dallied with or interfered with by studio executives and we may yet see a finer, less "Hollywood" version of this film in the coming years. "Blade Runner" is an excellent example of how different Scott's original vision was messed with until he was able to release the film the way he first intended it to be. And even then, the questions that his films provoke ( is Decker a replicant? ) are not explicitly answered. Neither were Kubrick's for that matter. "Prometheus" poses several intriguing ones ...

Is it possible that we are genetically engineered?
Could there be a 'blend' of Creationism, Darwinism and Interventionism in the future?
Why did "The Engineers" seed us, create us even?
Why did they reverse their decision and seek to destroy us?
Why does Vickers not run sideways out of danger when running from certain death?
Is Vickers herself an android and does the Captain actually find out?
What investment possibilities does Weyland Corp. see in this venture?
Why did David deliberately infect a crew member?
Why did the awakened "Engineer" react the way he did?
Why does David "creep" peoples' dreams?
What is David's motivation, in everything he does?

These questions are either there for you to figure out, or, debate, or they have answers that will slowly reveal themselves in subsequent viewings. There's no Hollywood spoon feeding here and that may part of the reason for some peoples' disappointment in the film. "Prometheus" is that wonderful species of film that offers up a good dose of adrenalin after a slow build up of tensions and foibles, drives one crazy with unanswered questions and gives you more than enough to ponder and think about. While it gives the goods that one expects - action, drama, stunning special effects, lots of good science fiction gobbaldy gook, it is also a somewhat disturbing pondering of a question that will nag humanity for a few more centuries, I suspect. It is a fascinatingly "dystopian" view of the "Interventionist" notion and in that - a thematic opposite of Kubrick's more 'ideal' philosophy of "Interventionism in "2001".

"Prometheus" is a great film. Time, I think, like it did with "Blade Runner", will show that Ridley Scott is WAY ahead of the game and that this film is one of his finest. It's not perfect, at least not in this version, but it's still a magnificent piece of work.

"1992 - 2012 The Anthology", Underworld's latest career-spanning overview is an excellent collection of Underworld classics and some really fine rarities. And as good as it is, it's at best a mere sliver of the broad, broad achievements of a band whose music never seems to date and remains eternally electrifying and aesthetically rewarding. A band with the kind of CV that they have and a enormous back catalogue of truly great work just can't be summarized in an edition of this size. 3 very long discs, all over 70 minutes each and you are still left with the feeling that many very fine moments were left out. Releasing the notion or expectation of a definitive anthology is probably the best way to approach this collection. If only for the newly remastered versions of classics like the "from the gods above" "Cowgirl, "Dark Train". "Dirty Epic", "MMM Skyscraper I Love You, "Big Mouth" and "Pearls Girl" the price is worth it. The bonus disc's assembly of rare tracks and B-sides, of which I only recognized "Oich Oich" certainly adds to the value of the package. REALLY hardcore fans, dedicated collectors, probably have almost all of this but for the average punter or great lovers, but non-completists, this collection is very nice thing indeed.

Inevitably thoughts like, "why "Born Slippy" again?", "why not "Diamond Jigsaw" or "Boy Boy Boy"?, "where's "Push Upstairs"?, "Beautiful Burnout", "Juanita/Kiteless", "Bruce Lee" and "Oh" and why "Scribble" instead of these?", come to mind. But then when the extent of their impressive catalogue is considered it becomes clear that such a collection would necessitate a 4th disc, or an abandonment of all the rarities, which, in the end is probably the reason a fan would buy such a package. As inescapable as these objections and questions are, this is still a great package to have and it's been put together very well. The sleeve is made with really fine glossy stock, well laid out, beautifully designed and containing a fantastic 28 page, high-quality booklet collage of exceptional band photos spanning their career. The sound quality is excellent, clear, crisp and broadly ranged with bright highs and rumbling lows. One of the drawbacks of all previous Underworld albums was the surprisingly LOW volume of those discs. So here, with the remasters, we have some of their best pieces at a volume level that really brings out the full dynamics of those pieces very nicely.

Now to completely 'flip' the perspective, consider this - what if we think of the so-called "bonus disc" to be the actual focus of this release and not it's 'add on'? When you listen to the 3rd disc you get an exceptionally fine collection of lesser known but incredibly accomplished songs that rival the two discs of classics. Nine great songs, starting with the ultra-funky "The Hump", with it's eerie, treated vocal motif and uber-90's beat and other greats like the very "Dubnobass" period "The Big Meat Show", the atmospheric "Minneapolis", "Why Why Why" which appeared on the "Volume" 90's compilation "Wasted" as "Change", "Oich Oich" from the Pearls Girl single, "Second Hand" - an edited re-working of "Thing in a Book" from the very rare "Dark and Long" album ( 1994 ), "Parc (Live)", a great piece of classic moody Underworld, "Simple Peal" based on looped cathedral bells exploring a more Brian Eno style ambiance and the robo-voiced "JAL to Tokyo". So for a slightly lower price than one regular CD you get this amazing selection of relatively 'unknown', fantastic tracks clocking in at 72 minutes AND then two long discs of some of their classic songs re-mastered. This is a great deal.

The band seems to have settled into putting out albums at a very slow pace over the last 10 years, but if you go to their website "Underworldlive" dot com, you find that they have produced several albums that have not been released for commercial, mainstream purchase. So similar to other major artists like Brian Eno and Paul Schutze, Underworld have split their output into two tiers, one for widespread "public" release and the other for dedicated fans who stay tuned to the band's activities. "1992 - 2012 The Anthology" is for the former. One of the distinguishing features of Underworld, right from the outset, was that they are more than just musicians. Karl Hyde is an active, showing and very credible visual artist as well as the front man for Underworld. He is one of the co-founders of Tomato, and artists' collective which has designed virtually every single one of the band's releases since "Dubnobass". Rick Smith as also put out solo music on his own while Hyde fully practices a full life as a visual artist. In fact Hyde is having his first solo show in the UK coming soon and there'll be a full catalogue of his work printed to accompany that show. So what appears "publicly" from Underworld is really only part, at best, of what Karl Hyde and Rick Smith are up to in their lives.

Indeed Smith and Hyde, two highly accomplished artists, lead a very full and broad career, just not all of it as the classic electronica act they are known for. Underworld, indeed, are one of the great early 90's electronica acts that have survived to continue practicing and releasing exceptionally fine work right up to this day. Only The Orb, System 7 and perhaps the Chemical Brothers join them in that league. Great acts like Fluke, Leftfield, The Shamen, Pop Will Eat Itself and The Grid, real contenders in the day, have faded and disappeared completely. While Smith and Hyde, without Darren Emmerson, don't seem to be so intensely focused in grinding out the albums like they did in the 90's, they nevertheless continue to evolve their sound, never rehashing past glories. Other artists have lost creative steam but Underworld most certainly have not. Sure we'll never get "Dubnobsswithmyheadman" again, but why should we? We'll never get "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" from The Orb again, and I say here's to that!

Undeworld's "1992 - 2012 The Anthology" is a really satisfying collection of Underworld tracks, as cursory as it really is. One of the things about this band's music is that every fan likes different aspects of this very versatile and broad-ranging act and so it would be virtually impossible to create an anthology that would please everyone. This one does a really, really nice job for me. This is a band, two very significant artists, whose work I love insanely and respect ultimately. Well worth it in my mind.

Dr. Alex Paterson and long time partners, Thomas Fehlmann and Youth have teamed up with Reggae and Dub legend Lee Scratch Perry to produce an album that is both pure, quintessential Orb AND a fantastic presentation of the talent of one of the giants of Jamaican music. Perry's reputation is long, fiery, tumultuous, accomplished, innovative and unquestioned. After working with two major partners in his younger years, and eventually falling out with them dramatically, he created his own studio, "Black Ark" on his property. While modest of means, Perry nevertheless had a talent for creative and innovative studio techniques that lead the the creation of the new sounds of Reggae and Dub, eventually working with an encouraging Bob Marley. At 76, at time of writing, he is still working and this collaboration with The Orb could not be more fitting.

Dub has always been Paterson's most prominent musical influence and it is present in one form or another on every single Orb release to date. Paterson's love of the style and his own incredibly gifted talent in the studio make for a perfect match to be collaborating with Perry. Other than Brian Eno, I don't think anyone else in the business is as deft, inventive and as startlingly original with electronics and sonic manipulation as Alex Paterson. Listening to the Orb catalogue bears this out with crystalline clarity.

"The Orbserver in the Star House" is a non-stop, tripped out, funky, funky, funky mix of some of the most innovative and catchy rhythms, earth-shaking bass lines and amazingly creative melody lines and effects ever committed to an Orb release. Perry's pure spirit and bon fide Jamaican idiom shines on top of it all. And it's all quite organic and natural. There were moments on the David Gilmour/Orb collaboration that saw both artists compromising or even 'holding back' which resulted in moments that didn't rise to the full potential of the pairing. But on this release, the partnership is totally in sync and the result is pure magic. Paterson shines in all his glory, creating some of the best tracks he's ever put out and Perry is given free reign. It's a beautiful mix - organic, natural and totally in mutual sympathy. Each of the 11 tracks is approached from a novel direction and the result is easy flowing of moods, styles and textures that moves this 51 minute CD along to a fully satisfying finish. In fact the music flows along with such grace and ease it is surprising when the album is over.

There are nods to earlier Orb classics such as "Little Fluffy Clouds" on the wonderful "Golden Clouds", where we hear a snippet of Path Metheny playing Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint", the infamous guitar line that was the basis of "Little Fluffy" back in '91. It's fun and appropriate. Other less direct references to keyboard parts from "Outland" etc also appear. And while we don't get much of Paterson's signature voice sampling there is one hilarious entry of "we only have enough to roll one joint". "Ashes" brings in some real roots references with the inclusion of African instrumentation to compliment the heavy Dub. "Congo" really pics up the pace after a brief bit of Orby tripping and closes the album with a really fine contemporary exposition of two established artists at the top of their game. The album starts with Perry pronouncing "I've got something to say" ... and he does. All the themes are here, consciousness altering, doing god's will, protests against evil authority ( "Police and Thieves" and "Go Down Evil" ) and definitions of self ( "I'm not girly" ). Fans of The Orb will love this absolutely fantastic release. It's a realized dream for Paterson. It would be like the Rolling Stones doing and album with Chuck Berry. Those not used to Dub or The Orb might want to look elsewhere for their first introductions to either. But for fans of both this is absolutely wonderful.

The Presets, Australia's brilliant, super-cool electronica duo has clocked in with a major piece of work as their third album release. "Pacifica" is expectedly dark and celebratory at the same time. In fact that duality seems to be the main theme of this collection of incredible songs. While their previous album "Apocalypso" sported an abundance of phenomenal, unforgettable dance floor classics, all glorifying the club scene, putting it almost in mystical terms, "Pacifica" confesses that there just might've been something nasty cut into that recent batch of E, that the 'club life' might just have a darker side of self destruction to it than was previously acknowledged. Julian Hamilton's always impressive lyrics ( unfortunately never included ) relay the ambivalence of someone still deeply involved in club culture but starting to see the wasting, obsession and darkness of flashing lights and gut-thumping beats. It makes for a very intelligent, mature and thought provoking collection of songs. There are still some soon-to-be club classics, really impressive and just as hot as anything on "Apocalypso" and there is much here that breaks new and refreshing ground. Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton, are, still, primarily artists and artists with a formidable talent that will carry them even further. That they have stretched beyond the predictable on this album is to their enormous credit.

The album begins with the very Underworld a la "Dark and Long" / Giorgio Moroder "Youth in Trouble", a grand, dark club workout taking the genre to the max. It's here that the theme of the wasting of youth is most strongly established and sets the tone for the rest of the album's thematic content. "Youth" is followed by two songs with refreshingly new approaches. "Ghosts" is probably their most radical move away from the expected on the album, it's choral call and response/calypso sound and folk song/sea-fairing lyrics testify to the great resources of creativity that Hamilton and Moyes are in command of. It surprises at first and then greatly grows in appeal with repeated listenings.

"Promises" is another more laid back, more mature track with it's eye sharply focused on strong melody. Hamilton's making more use of his voice on "Pacifica" for choral backup and it really shines here on this song. It gives dimension to his solo voice, broadening and deepening the Presets sound admirably. The song calls for a re-examination of the singer's current life and expresses a desire for a quieter, more grounded sanity. He sings to a partner that is no longer where he is in life and wishing them well as he heads into his desired future. The next song, "Push" returns us to the "the club" scene with harrowing synths and a perfectly rendered repetition of "party, party, party, party, party"... the mindless, locked focus on the the 'scene' as the be-all and end-all of life. It's a very hard, back-handed smack across face of the club scene and a deliciously furious parody of a life these two very intelligent artists must've seen to the max.

"Fall", with it's richly textured, melody-full openness, really gets into a territory that sees the boys stretching out for something broader, vaster and brighter than they have before. It's a thoughtful romantic lyric and Hamilton's incredibly impressive voice is really featured here with great polish and expression. "It's Cool" is up next with its beautifully spare structure over a nicely paced, moderate beat. Tastefully placed keyboard and piano lines support Hamilton's most wistful and deeply introspective lyrics to date. His voice takes on a balladic quality here that has never been heard before and it's one of the brightest gems on this surprising and powerful album.

"A.O." - back to the dark again with choral shouts and some remarkable choral and solo singing from Hamilton. "A.O.", which seems to suggest "Australian Outback" in the lyrics, sings of returning to the coast, ie: the big city, only to find considerable darkness, corruption, madness, despair, destruction, coke-laced, high-roller deals and the genuine collapse of the human condition. It's a song with teeth and steely strength, one of their most disconcerting to date. It suggests perhaps that the real 'outback' is the city and not the country's wild interior.

"Surrender" another beat driven song with it's attention-grabbing "fire alarm" synth and choral shouts suggests again a need for new way of life. Moyes' synths here are really impressive. It's alway been a aspect of The Presets that I've liked - their really inventive but carefully spartan use of synths. Often compared to Underworld, Moyes' and Hamilton's instrumental work distinguishes itself from their English older brothers by it's economy. "Fast Seconds", the last of the beat-driven songs on the album, and in many ways its dramatic finish, is bound to be a hit in my estimation. Along with "Push" and "Youth in Trouble" it's deep, dark dancefloor ecstasy will be a surefire hit in clubs around the world. It won't be long before it's on retail, satellite radio feeds. Fans of previous Presets albums will love this infectious track. It's classic Presets.

The album closes with the deeply introspective and somewhat peremptory song to a younger soul that needs to hear that it can't always get what it wants - "Fail Epic". The club's over, the reality sets in and this kid is being told "You can't win everything, everything, everytime". He or she is admonished to understand that their 'entitlement' view needs to experience failure in order to really know what it truly is to win. Something a generation that never experienced failure needs to know. You can palpably feel the deep sense of loss of a kid standing outside of a club, party over, the sun blaring into their eyes and realizing that they are really alone and their life is frighteningly empty. It's a moving moment, a challenge and statement of position from two extremely talented artists, masters of the club scene, who have the intelligence and insight to step back from what they see and ask for more.

"Pacifica" is The Presets most fully realized album to date. Full of ethereal light, emotional depths and obsessive darkness it packs a power punch that builds with repeated listenings. I wondered how they would ever be able to follow up "Apocalypso" and now, with "Pacifica" I see how they did with such impeccable panache and creativity. Some old fans may not like this, preferring to "party, party, party, party"... and that's exactly the point. Kudos to Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton for their integrity, their formidable talent, their insight and their bravery to dare to ask for, and get, more. Brilliant piece of work.

Progressive Rock legends Chris Squire of YES and Steve Hackett formerly of Genesis have teamed up in these days LONG past the heyday of the genre that made them international figures of respect. But recently we've seen that many younger listeners are also looking back to that genre and revisioning it again in a new way. Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree has done a lot to foster this renaissance, as well as the unremitting, dogged power of Robert Fripp's King Crimson, working well into the 21st century with strength and relevance long lost by many of their contemporaries. Swedish metal bands have all but taken on the prog ideal with complex time signatures and virtuosic playing. So instead of this being a tired, old re-hashing of something with a very 70's consciousness to it, it has a freshness and contemporaneous execution that makes this a very fine recording indeed .. and a relevant one. The pairing of Squire and Hackett, two of the very best players of their respective instruments, works extremely well. Do NOT think GTR, that disastrous, forced amalgam of big prog names that did no justice to any of it's big-name players and resulted in a hideous mush of commercial pap. Like most people I have always been very wary of pairings-up of big names, but in this case we have a winning project that works on all levels.

The songs are all very well written and beautifully arranged and played. The first two tracks are almost worth the price of the entire recording, the title track " A Life Within a Day" and "Tall Ships". "A Life" after a filigree synth intro and some Classic Hackett lead lines gets down to a heavy, heavy crunch very reminiscent of Zepplin's "Kashmir", chugging string section and all. Towards the middle long-time fans are treated to a prog workout in the very best of fashions. Squire and Hackett share vocals on the track, and on most of the album. The vocal arrangements here are very much given the Hackett treatment: thick velvety harmonies that mostly cover up the strength or clarity of any lead voice in an anonymous wash. It sounds wonderful at first and very satisfying in terms of sound, but after a while one wonders why Chris Squire's wonderful voice was allowed to be lost within a cloud of distinction-hiding harmonies. A stronger lead voice would've knocked this recording up in to the stratosphere but instead the over-production on the voices takes the humanity out of the vocals. Squire could easily have handled a more frontal positioning within the sound. He has the voice for it. Hackett is not a singer, never has been. But he insists on slugging away at it. So his style has always been to hide is plain voice in lofty stacks of harmony. Fair enough, his guitar sings far more powerfully than a lot of vocalists. The result has often come across as over-produced or "unreal". Thick vocal harmonies carrying the melody can often come across like barbershop quartet, which doesn't take long to tire the ear. To submit Squire's unique, strong and very distinctive voice to the same treatment takes this recording down a notch, for me. Producer Roger King is to blame for that I would think. Fans of "The Fish" have always wanted him to follow up the magnificent, timeless "Fish Out of Water", his 1975 solo album and for good reason. That album is one of the best albums of all time, period. It was remarkably strong on all fronts, especially the vocals. So with the first appearance of "Squackett" there was hope of an album that was at least lead, vocally, by Squire. It is not the case here. Both Hackett's and Squire's voices only come forward enough, here and there, to any real certainty of identification. For the most part, it works rather well, but it falls just short of greatness, because of this, for sure. That aside, the writing is very strong and very well arranged and played.

"Tall Ships" is a magnificent piece of songwriting, with a haunting and sinuous melody, signature Squire bass playing, beautiful nylon-string guitar playing from Hackett and a solid beat driving it along at a stately pace. It's haunting chorus stays in the mind all day and on into the night. The album notes tell us it was largely result of a fortuitous recording made as Squire was testing out a new bass! The song is classic Squire. "The Divided Self" is primarily Hackett derived and could easily have come off of "Defector", for example, sharing a common theme of Hackett's regarding mental homes and institutions. Great guitar work, of course, from one of the very best players ever to plug an electric guitar into an amp. The song gets into a very odd bit of prog adventurism at the end - something that could've come from Trevor Rabin based YES. Much is being made of the Squire penned "Aliens". As far back as 2007, when he was touring with a form of YES, with Benoit David replacing Jon Anderson, this song was featured in the program. Then, it was sung by Squire accompanying himself in the upper registers of his Rickenbacker with a few keyboard fills from Oliver Wakeman. It was an eerie and intriguing piece. Now here, with Hackett's input, the song takes on a more mainstream feel and is gorgeously accompanied by some lovely 12-string acoustic guitar. I find Squire's idea of "Aliens are only us from the future" not a nutty idea, but an intriguing one. It's a different notion and I say bring it on. Remember this is the same man who once sang of "shining, flying purple wolfhounds"...

"Sea of Smiles" is really seamless blend of both artists' pasts colouring a very contemporary treatment. As it was with Anderson and Squire's first meeting, Hackett and Squire agreed on their love of vocal harmonies and the influence of the Beatles. While "Sea" does not sound like anything from Lennon, McCartney or Harrison, the strength of the song is in the vocal arrangement. A moderate song in tone and mood, it nevertheless displays some of the strongest and most inventive instrumental arranging. Hard core proggers might find it a bit light, but repeated listenings gradually warms you up to it. "The Summer Backwards" is another mid-paced, moderate piece full of the kind of light and airiness reminiscent of 12-string led Genesis, circa "Nursery Cryme" and "Foxtrot". It's melodic lines are luxurious, providing some really lovely lambent textures and catchy dream images before the powerhouse return of "Stormchaser". This song, after witnessing the two artists working out some really mature and creative melodic invention, returns us to "Fly on a Windshield", "Hearts" territory. This is going to be a memorable and powerful live number, without a doubt !!! Both artists are letting it rip true to both their reputations and it's glorious. Squire and Hackett both know how to create and churn out a muscular, intoxicating hook. The album finishes with the segueing of "Can't Stop the Rain", the lightest track on the recording ( maybe a little TOO light ) and "Perfect Love Song", a perfect summing up of all the invention and maturity of "A Life Within a Day".

All in all, a very fine album, worthy of purchase that may well grow and grow on you as time goes by. It's certainly weaving it's way into my heart despite my reservations on the vocal arrangements, which, I think, take this from being a great album to a very, very good one. BUT .... this is a project that could easily bear future fruit. I would more than welcome seeing further collaboration between these two incredible artists. I think that says something about the current work.

You've been waiting for this, and it is everything you've ever wanted ... This is Dead Can Dance's grand, expansive, magnificent return and it is pure manna from any form of heaven that you can imagine.

Recorded with a perfection of production and a brilliantly evident array of compositional mastery, "Anastasis" is one of the very best albums in the entire Dead Can Dance catalogue. Expectations for a return would have put a lot of pressure on Perry and Gerrard to come up with something worthy of the adoration of their legion of long time fans. This is exceeds expectations by a long shot. Every single element that one identifies as being Dead Can Dance is here in glorious abundance - grand, magnificent compositions and curling, unfurling, serpentine melodies blending a seamless mix of medieval, gothic, Celtic and Arabic influences expressed and realized in beautifully modern techniques and instrumentation. The harpsichords, lutes, percussion, wang chens, sarangis, clear ringing guitars and the sweeping synthesizers are all here, not to mention the otherworldly and powerful voices of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. There are also a few new elements added to their ever progressing sound, particularly the introduction of brass, to great and powerful effect. Not heard before in their orchestration, the trombones and french horns add an extra dimension of power and grandeur that is totally natural to the Dead Can Dance sound. The album is a masterful display of rigorous songwriting, atmospherics and remarkably inventive musical arrangements evidencing magnificent talents in composition and arranging. This time it's all so beautifully balanced and integrated, as if they've taken everything they've ever done and carefully crafted a wholistic blend of all that's gone before into a rich grandeur of composition that takes their magisterial music to another level. It would seem that the intervening 16 year gap since their previous album "Spiritchaser" was a time of considerable introspection and a species of inner 'ferment' that has finally surfaced to meet the light of day.

"Anastasis" has a grandness, a sweep and breadth that opens it out into some very expansive vistas. One would expect nothing less. Less percussive than some previous outings, there is more of an august feeling of great panoramas of time and vision. "Anastasis" then, has a great, slow arcing sweep to it that delivers the Dead Can Dance spirit in a way never before so fully realized. Each piece is almost a movement to the larger whole, each one different and yet every single one oozing and exuding that special spirit that only Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard can conjure together. Each of the two has done some really impressive work outside of the band that bears bountiful fruit here on "Anastasis". Perry's two solo albums are testament to how much his compositional sense is the solid pillar of his work alone, and with DCD. Gerrard's work with Klaus Schulze, especially, is some of the most affecting and beautifully realized of her many efforts on her own. Yet it's here in this band, together, that the two artists seem to flourish with a magic that goes beyond either of them. "Anastasis" is the richly aged and deeply charactered mature work of two great artists at the very peak of their game.

As usual the tracks alternate their two voices and contributions, occasionally blending their singing on a few pieces. Each song is strong and steeped deeply and richly in a sound that one embraces as a long lost love. Yet there is a freshness and a quiet but powerful intensity here that absolutely intoxicates. "Children of the Sun" opens, reminding one of "The Carnival is Over" on "Into the Labyrinth". It is Perry's work and it is a stunning opening to the whole suite of songs. The broad magnificence of strings, trombones and french horns lifts the song up into epic realms that celebrate the collective light and nobility of the human race. Lisa Gerrard's first entry on "Anabasis" is quite subtle, moody and low key. An air of Arabic mystery and mysticism opens out in a slow, graceful movement. Gerrard's singing is intoxicating. She is here for the music, not to show off. Her melodic lines are exquisite and magically soft. Perry returns on "Amnesia" to deliver a powerful introspective meditation on the vagaries and profundities of memory. "Kiko" is an eery composition of rich, exotic invention blending Gerrard's signature singing and Perry's glorious guitar playing. It stands out on a album of truly great music as something extraordinarily NOT of this world. This is a strong contender for the quintessential Dead Can Dance song. "Opium" is a piece featuring Perry at his darkest, almost confessional best. The music, driven by classic DCD percussion, is inward and mysterious, the strings and horns weaving an intoxicating melody. His singing is at its absolute best, here and all over the album. This is the work of old mastery, of magic ability and talent. Lisa Gerrard, too, is singing to the best of her prodigious abilities, preferring atmosphere and melody here to "Cantara"-like pyrotechnics. "Return of the She-King"'s deeply moving Celtic melody is enough to bring even stone to tears. It calls to mind the grandeur and deep emotional pull of "The Lord of the Rings" with a heart-rending warmth. This song goes DEEP and pulls on something inside that words can barely reach. It is a showcase of Gerrard's other-worldly talent for evoking feelings that seem to come from another place of nobility and majesty. On this priceless piece both Gerrard and Perry combine their voices and it is a deeply, deeply moving moment that goes beyond anything they've ever done. Perry's 'outro' vocals are absolutely exquisite. Classic. The set closes with the profund meditation "All in Good Time". Perry's common theme demarking two types of human beings, those that seek to raise their consciousnesses up and those that spiral down into darkness is given eloquent and moving voice here. It's a perfect closer to a perfect album.

As much as the focus has always been on the duo's distinctive, signature voices, there is a LOT of very, very fine instrumental work on "Anastasis" that begs for closer attention. Perry's beautifully processed and tastefully played electric guitars and his impressive work on 12-string acoustic are extraordinarily skilled and tastefully on the mark as contrapuntal and lead melodic 'voices'. Lisa Gerrard's wang chen, a Chinese hammer dulcimer, is all over the album adding that almost indefinable but utterly recognizable Dead Can Dance touch. On songs like the intoxicating "Kiko" she duets beautifully on her wang chen with Perry's 12-string playing to great effect. Perry's electric guitar playing on the finale to the song is some of the best work he's ever committed to recording. In fact, his guitar playing all over the album is remarkably good and perfectly suited to each song. So there is a lot more collaboration between the two artists as instrumentalists as well as their more obvious singing and it make this album absolutely shimmer with an other-worldly brilliance.

Since 1996 and the break up, both professionally and personally of Brenda Perry and Lisa Gerrard, Dead Can Dance has been a richness of memory and longing, of nostalgia and yearning. Fans have followed these two incredibly talented and utterly unique musicians closely and all this time secretly wished for something more from a band that really is meant to be. "Anastasis" goes way beyond expectation and may yet be hailed as the greatest Dead Can Dance album of all time. This is an absolute MUST.

Brendan Perry, the distinctive male voice and guiding light of Dead Can Dance has created here, with his second solo album, a work worthy of that band's name. In every way this is total Dead Can Dance. Perry's accomplishments in the band that he shared with his former music and life partner, Lisa Gerrard were often overshadowed with Gerrard's incredible vocal talents. Together they created something, with DCD, that was far more accomplished than anything the've ever done apart. Nevertheless, Perry's efforts on their own bear more of the Dead Can Dance feeling than those of Gerrard's. With his excellent solo work he makes it quite clear that he indeed is the power centre and guiding light of the infamous duo.

"Ark" begins with the grand, magnificent "Babylon" which washes over the listener in a slow, majestic wave of dark beauty. With it's percussion and mile-wide synthesizer sweeps you are immersed in a piece as powerful as any of the greatest works of Dead Can Dance. The production, as always, is immaculate and rich, creating a depth and grandeur worthy of Perry's vision. He plays all the instruments: keyboards, synthesizers, electronic and acoustic percussion and guitars each to great effect. This is something I think that often gets overlooked on his solo work and with Dead Can Dance - that his talent for very finely crafted arrangements and tasteful, unique playing is just as much a part of the greatness of his music as is his legendary voice, whether he is doing his own work or recording with Gerrard.

His playing and arrangements on "Ark" are both what you would expect of all his work but he has also added elements that are new, expansive and beautifully appropriate. In particular the second track, "The Bogus Man", one of the strongest tracks on the album, features a haunting almost disconcerting synth line that sounds like overdriven french horn. It's hair-rasisingly fitting to the song's lyrics and musical context and pushes Perry's sound into new territory.

"Wintersun" follows with lush string synth and harpsichord treatments in Perry's mord balladic style. His grand lyrics in a dark candor, confessional style are well worth paying attention to. In fact if there is one draw back to the album it is the omission of the lyrics, even though it is generally quite easy to understand what Perry sings. And here, again is another element of Perry's artistry that can be overlooked - the dark splendour of his word crafting. The strength and uniqueness of his deep baritone voice is so distinct, and his arrangements so carefully constructed and played that one easily gets lost in the richness of the full picture. But for fans of his work and of Dead Can Dance his lyrics are something quite worth paying attention to because for all its celebrated dark grandeur his work is drawn from deep feelings of a kind of noble vulnerability. Whether he is asking big, existential questions of the meaning of life's sufferings, revealing the wounds of love or declaring an unending will to spiritual aspiration amidst the many darknesses of this life, his lyrics hit a very deep chord.

WIth all that power and talent, however, there are moments when his voice falters in its pitching. It seems to appear in the slower, less rhythmic tracks like "This Boy". It took me a long time to sort out whether his sliding around uncomfortably between notes is an effect of personal style or if it was a flaw in his abilities. Unfortunately I think it's the latter. For all the incredible, beauty, power and depth of his rich voice that one drawback exists. It is slightly distracting but as a fan of his work and that of Dead Can Dance, you overlook it even while finding it at times just a bit unfortunate. On "Ark" that only becomes noticeable on "This Boy", where the arrangement is more melodic and static than the more rhythmic tracks on the rest of the album. When the fantastic "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" comes in after "This Boy", though, with it's clear and definite percussion and more structured arrangement Perry's voice is right on pitch. The album's closer, "Crescent", too, even though the song is more low-key and moves on top of a definite snare figure, punctuated by a gloriously Dead Can Dance harpsichord finds Perry's voice wavering on and off pitch again. He uses glissandi as a way to find his way back to the notes so there's a bit of 'sliding around' there as well but the song still provides a nice finish to the album. It is, despite the flaw, a magical and signature closing of the album.

Perry's talent, no matter what, is solidly in place and always greatly impressive. One thing he is not often credited for is his impressive talent for composition and arranging. At these he is an undisputed master. This is evident here and with Dead Can Dance. One only has to listen to this or to the new Dead Can Dance album, "Anastasis" to hear that in shining evidence.

WIth repeated listenings "Ark" gets better and better. It starts from a very good place to begin with and is totally fulfilling despite its relatively short length of 55 minutes. For fans of Perry and Dead Can Dance, this is a beautiful thing. I think most of us have come to accept slight flaws in this great artist's work because his other strengths are all so magnificently impressive.