Jack Irons - Attention Dimension

Irons' previous work as a former drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam does nothing to prepare the listener for Attention Dimension. An appropriate title because if you listen long enough and attentively enough, your mind will travel to another dimension.

The album starts off with "Jackie Groove," a jazzy little number that features flute and soprano saxophone played by Irons' partner in crime, Alain Johannes, who plays on most of the tracks, co-wrote a couple of songs and was involved in the mixing and engineering.

Then we move into an interesting percussion piece, "Suluhiana," which means "make peace." It is one of the few tracks with vocals, but that doesn't mean it has lyrics except for when the title can be made out. Instead of singing, Johannes provides tribal chanting. Later in the piece, the vocals are reminiscent of qawwali vocalizing, which totally works with the song's world music flavor.

"Hearing It Doubled" was my favorite track, but that might be because it's as close to rock and rock as anything on the album. It starts with some intense, fast drum work that you would hear in a drum line. Then you hear the blues, which I first thought was guitar, but looking at the liner notes it turns out it was either an electric mridangam or a sigfiddle. Then the piano kicks in for a little boogie-woogie.

Almost unrecognizable is a part of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." The distinctive four-note guitar has been transformed, sounding as if it's underwater. The drums kick in strong, taking center stage and speeding up the tempo. Eddie Vedder sings the vocals and Les Claypool lays down some very nice bass. It won't supplant the original, but an effort was made to make something different out of it.

Article Author: El Bicho

This writer is a member of The Masked Movie Snobs, a collective that fights a never-ending battle against bad entertainment. Follow at twitter.com/ElBicho_MMS

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