Mood Swings

Archive for the ‘2 stars’ Category

This is a project created by cellist Sebastian Lepine. He has got together with a bunch rock/fusion musicians to explore a musical direction which deviates from his normal classical repertoire.

I’ve got to say right at the start that the melancholy sounding cello isn’t an instrument that I particularly enjoy listening to on a regular basis. The closest thing I have in my collection is Ed Alleyne-Johnston and I haven’t listened to that in ages.

This album is a strange combination of jazz-fusion meets progressive metal, with the cello adding a classical feel. Most of the time there is a lot going on in the tracks, making them seem claustrophobic and I found listening to them becoming more of an endurance test, rather than a pleasurable experience.

If you like classical music and a slightly discordant sound, then this might be for you, but I found it hard going. The playing is pretty amazing and I’m in awe on that front, but it is an album that I found I could only listen to in small doses.

I’m a bit mystified by this release as it is very similar to the “Live in Madrid” that was released in 2009. In fact, the set listing is pretty much identical.

He is a confident sod and he likes his funk as much as he likes his rock. Therefore his concerts tend to combine the two, so your tastes better not be restricted to rock only With plenty of material to draw upon, JSS frequently does medleys of songs, rather than straight versions of individual songs. In the live setting these work well, but sitting at home you can find youself wanting a complete version of one of your favourite songs, rather than just a snippet. However, the funky medley which finishes the show is an example of a medley working out well.

JSS is a great singer, who maybe gets a bit carried away on the funk/medley side of things. If you are a long time fan, that won’t worry you too much, but then this won’t be of much interest as you probably already have “Live in Madrid“.