Jolly: The Audio Guide To Happiness Pt 1

Interesting to say the least! Jolly have come up with an idea of using binaural as part of their recording for The Audio Guide to Happiness Part 1, their second album, a process I believe they also used on their debut. For those not in the know, basically binaural is a sound process that is best heard through headphones, to help induce relaxation, meditation, creativity and other desired mental states. The version I heard was impressive, especially the shower audio. Don't ask! Does it work? Yes it does, the demo's I heard of this in the early 90's where very convincing. Does it work here? That I'm not to sure about, as the download I got of this album was MP3, a lossy medium, so the frequencies have already been manipulated. Having played the album several times through headphones, I wasn't convinced it worked, probably due to the earlier explanation. Let's be honest does an album warrant gimmicks like this?

So let's move onto what is presented here. The band offer twelve songs, that all sound vaguely familiar in their presentation, sounding like a bastardization of such bands as Tool, Mastodon, NIN, Muse and Porcupine Tree yet still walking that fine line of originality. Musically the band is cohesive with interaction that walks the boundaries of melodramatic prog mixed with elements of alt rock, which seems to be popular at the moment. The album kicks off with a spoken word segment that makes it sound like you are participating in some form of experimentation, which is the case several times throughout the album. Those fears are soon allayed when the music kicks in proper. It's not long before the band start plying their trade, a balance of light guitar work, with heavier sections woven in, ambient and interesting keyboard work and bouncy punctuation from the bass and drums, all tracked with some rather excellent vocals from Anadale, making it the equivalent of an aural rollercoaster ride. The album finds perfect balance of being assertive and staid in all the right places, which is what makes the whole affair work so well. ". The whole album is both fluidic and atmospheric with the standout tracks on the album being "The Pattern", "Storytime", "Still a Dream", "Radiae" and the haunting "Dorothy's Lament"

Whether you give any credence to the binaural hype, with an album title stating that this is part 1, be under no illusions that we can more than likely expect more japery from the Jolly camp.

Track Listing
1 Guidance One
2 Ends Where it Starts
3 Joy
4 Pretty Darlin'
5 The Pattern
6 Storytime
7 Guidance Two
8 Still A Dream
9 Radiae
10 Where Everything's Perfect
11 Dorothy's Lament
12 Intermission

Added: March 27th 2011
Reviewer: John OBoyle
Score:
Related Link: www.jollyband.com
Hits: 3210
Language: english

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