Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics

The Heliocentrics make music that sounds like their collaborator and they have been joined at the hip forever and the result is always pretty damn wonderful.
Last year they were working with Mulatu Astatke and they took his Ethiopian roots and rhythms into their sound and create d a fabulous piece of funk-laden Afro-Jazz. This time around they are linked with Dr Lloyd Miller and the result is a music that reflects his Pan-Asian musical studies and which is, at times, utterly compelling listening.

This isn’t music that is entirely rooted in Millers core area (he has degrees in Asian studies and Persian studies) but rather adds Miller to the Heliocentrics own music and makes a sound that is both rhythmically driven and has the flighty swirl of Arabian and Asian flutes and horns providing the counterpoint. Add in what sounds like an Oud and the kicker ‘’Electricone’ is a dense and stirring piece that lifts the heart and gets your mind working at the same time.
‘Pari ruu’ begins with a gently played tabla with the flutes coming in again to bring us back to the Soukh; as with the best instrumental music it takes you on a journey and the stops on the way are what makes the piece.

Every piece here has some life and a close attention to the spirit of the music – even a short piece like ‘Salendro’ takes you deep into the playing and completely obliterates any surrounding activity.
‘Lloyd Lets Loose’ has a totally different element to anything else on the album as Dr Miller speaks (rants?) over and piano and horn jam and manages to break up the intensity of the rest of the album – a fine piece but I’m not sure that it is in the right place on the album. On the other hand it signifies a change in location as ‘Bali Bronze’ move the music across to the Poynesian Islands and a totally different type of sound – equally compelling but in a totally different way.

‘Charhagah’ brings us back to the Middle East and with a harsh piano over a drone and skittish cymbals and drums has all the feel of a caravanserai – easily my favourite track although there isn’t a track I don’t enjoy here.

‘Sunda Sunset’ seems to bring both worlds together – the Middle East and the Far East – and is a great way to close the album with a strident flute carrying the tune away into the far distance.
The album is a brilliant pairing of a lone voice with a collective and the result is a collection of music that is never less than fascinating and often brilliant and exciting – another winner.