Review of Prisoners of Freedom by Reed Burnam
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)The newest album from Finland’s Bogdo Ula (Prisoners of Freedom, 2011) is a mind-bender. Space-odyssey guitars, a cooking jazz-rock rhythm section, spot-on technical musicianship and an overall sense of total artistic freedom combine to make this disc a stellar listen. Light years away from any hint of pop conformity or herd-music mentality, Prisoners of Freedom is a sonic tour-de-force that relentlessly chases down its own muse and comes out the other end of the rabbit hole with some really beautiful and at times challenging compositions.
It’s been said that improv music is primarily musician’s music, and though this reviewer has always taken issue with the underlying presumptiveness of the statement, it doesn’t take much imagination to see the logic there. Bogdo Ula create a sound that, while perhaps not specifically aimed towards a musician’s demographic, is bound to generate plenty of technical oohing and aahing from those possessed of a musical predilection, both in tastes and abilities. However, one need not have any musical background to enjoy the fruits of these labors. Bogdo Ula crafts an unapologetically heady, jazzy maelstrom that pulls from a long history of experimental, psychedelic, and avant-garde influences stretching back over half a century. And they also rock, for good measure.
Present of course are the free-jazz spasms of Ornette Coleman, Peter Brotzmann, and late-era Coltrane, the freak-outs of Zappa and the Mothers, Metheny, and McLaughlin, the space rock explorations of Pink Floyd and Hawkwind, the ecstatic Kraut-jazz-noise of Can, neo-shredders like Vai and Satriani, not to mention a whole generation of Japanese day-trippers receiving psych-communion at the altar of the mighty Acid Mothers Temple. And of course let us not forget the overplayed but never overrated Hendrix and the Experience. The Experience’s most insane power trio moments are often referenced herein (see around 1:35 of “Sounds from the Moonbog”, for starters).
Guitarist Samuli Kristian, Drummer Ivan Horder, and Bassist Jean Ruin comprise a tight, communicative unit, quite adept at extended improvisational excursions due to the mainline running between Horder and Ruin’s propulsive, expressive rhythm lines and Kristian’s inquisitive, volatile fretwork. There’s a nice overall groundwork of call and response, ideas being hashed out in the open air, riffs and runs being allowed ample space to blossom and bloom; all that stuff that makes good improv so difficult to do, and for some of the less inspired amongst us, more difficult to listen to (hence the “musicians’ music” designation). Prisoners of Freedom works out in its twelve tracks a road-map of adeptly maneuvered and expertly played sonic and textural landscapes that constantly cross-reference and return one to the overall solidity of this formidably talented threesome. While the general field of cutting-edge experimental instrumental music (if there can be an actual corralling together of such disparate outfits) has moved on to embrace the outlandishly intense and downright confrontational in recent decades, Bogdo Ula’s brand of probing space-jazz weather reporting is always a welcome old friend at the table.
Individual tracks on Prisoners of Freedom are more or less distinct expeditions in their own right, compartmentalized units that stand alone as well as contain generalized sonic tangents which crop up across the entire album. Tracks like “Sounds from the Moonbog”, “Chicane Runway”, “Dolphian Scale”, and “My Heart is on My Sleeve” take on an edgy, frenetic tone that skews more towards classic free jazz and fusion, while tracks like “Lava Flow”, “The Sand of These Dunes is Recommended by the Sandman”, “From Now on we Move only by Night”, and the title track “Prisoners of Freedom” tend to align more with the flange inflected acid-soaked psych-jazz/rock of Hendrix’s finest on-stage moments. At times tracks take on an aggressive fuzz-drone buzz-bomb approach, such as with the fiery “Identify Yourself”, which comes close to encroaching on the scorched-earth policy of bands like Rhode Island’s mind-blowingly phenomenal Lightning Bolt. Peppered in for good measure are more atmospheric pieces like “Towards the Star” and “Pick up the Beams”, tapping into a collective unconscious of space-jazz-fusion rhetoric that is a well needed reprieve from the amazing yet near constant guitar heroics found most other places on the album.
Holding the whole thing afloat is the musicianship, which is animated and top-notch. Ruin’s bass work is flat-out amazing, and Horder’s percussion is agile and adept at fully committing to whatever the moment demands. Together the rhythm section is damn-near flawless, a powerhouse. Kristian’s guitar work, both in tone and technique, is fantastic, and his bag of tricks runs pretty deep. Coupled with the fact that 99.9% of what you hear on Prisoners of Freedom is both improvisational and single-take recordings (there’s only one overdub on the album), it’s safe to say that this trio is the real deal.
Overall analysis: this record is great. Really great. The only complaint is more of an opinion piece rather than any sustained criticism of the album’s contents, which are excellent. Still, it would be nice to hear on future releases a decision to experiment more with ambient space and more controlled and long-form atmospherics, as the technical side of what Bogdo Ula is doing is well established and could eventually be seen as more theatric than exploratory. Impressive as it is, the urge to shred is often an easier route to chart than the minimal, and a more nuanced blend of approaches would take Bogdo Ula to the next level. Can’t wait to hear what comes next from these guys.
Review by Reed Burnam
Review of Prisoners of Freedom by Justin Kreitzer
Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)Finnish avant-garde instrumental jazz-rock trio Bogdo Ula self-released Prisoners Of Freedom, their fifth album in as many years, on September 24th. The talented and very prolific band was named after a majestic mountain near the city of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and formed by guitarist Samuli Kristian and drummer Ivan Horder. To round out the rhythm section they added bassist Jean Ruin just last year. Inspired and influenced equally by John Coltrane and Frank Zappa, they create a transcending fusion of free jazz, punk and prog-rock with a free-flowing improvisational spirit. Prisoners Of Freedom was recorded live in the studio with the one exception of overdubbed guitars on just one of the songs. It was also produced, mixed and mastered by the band themselves, showcasing their broad talent and DIY approach.
The aptly titled “Lava Flow” opens the album with tumbling drums and winding guitar notes that flow just like liquid-hot lava down a mountain. “Sounds From The Moonbog” follows with flickering, funky Primus-like bass licks and scaling guitars while the drums careen wildly off of every note. The longest composition on the album lasting nearly eight minutes, “From Now On, We Move Only By Night” plays out like a suite with chiming guitar harmonics on the atmospheric beginning, while boiling slowly to a frenzied jam session in the middle, and culminating into a hypnotic end to the song. On the other hand, “Identify Yourself” is two straight minutes of furious, seemingly out of control jamming with traces of the flighty paranoia the title implies. “Chicane Runway” is built upon spacey guitar textures with a just a touch of early blues rock’s emotional weight that would surely make Jimi Hendrix proud. “Sacred Service” represents the middle of the twelve song album and this would be the point where the average listener would maybe start to lose interest, as the noodling may seem like it is starting to meander a little too much. And in fact, some of the songs are just begging for some sort of release or to settle into a head-nodding groove for even just a few seconds, but that is just for those uninitiated with the improvisational avant-garde art form. Either way, stand out track “My Heart Is On My Sleeve” and its more traditionally jazz-oriented sound and sweeping drum patterns, overdubbed guitars and an excellent bass line, pulls the listener right back in to the fold. And one of the more experimental songs, “Towards The Star” is highlighted by shimmering guitars that create the mellow melodies representative of cool Jazz along with an off-kilter rhythm and a plucky bass line for a nice contrast. “Dolphian Scale” proves to also be titled appropriately as the dueling bass and guitars seem to be having an atonal, underwater conversation while the frantic drums crash like waves on the beach. “The Sand Of These Dunes Is Recommended By The Sandman” is set to soaring guitars that sound more like confident, rock-n-roll soloing than the jazzy, up and down guitar runs of the previous songs for another standout moment. The energetic title track “Prisoners Of Freedom” continues with a more rock-leaning sound and some jittery, finger-tapping guitar shredding that showcases guitarist Samuli Kristian’s depth of range and the band’s excellent improv skills as a whole. The album closes out with the spaced-out and atmospheric breathe of air, “Pick Up The Beams”.
On first listen to Bogdo Ula’s Prisoners Of Freedom, your brain is almost trained to expect to hear a high-pitched, prog-rock vocal invade at any second but after a just few minutes, you forget all of that as the music captivates and transports you to another place altogether. And that is what great music does.
Review by Justin Kreitzer
Review of Charge by Julian Gorman
Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)Mystical melodies float freely from the improvisational wonder that is Bogdo Ula. Stirring up crazy jams of guitar, bass and drums, the Finnish trio works in the psychedelic rock space left behind by the likes of Pink Floyd or Frank Zappa, minus a singer. Beautiful minor key knots are untied in unexpected ways as the band progresses from abstraction to a seemingly well-organized song that should have taken months of practice. Charge is an album on the brink of transcending, pushing the boundaries of rock to its limits and beyond exploring the outer space in the genre.
Many of Bogdo Ula’s songs are abstract works of art, meant to be experienced with patient ears. The progressions are well worth the while, swelling to the point of powerful crescendos indicating their vast technical abilities. The epic nature of Bogdo Ula is immediately apparent from the start. The title track opens casually, introducing us to the jam theme. Little extemporaneous outbursts of sound are held back like the lid on a pressure cooker. By “Ultraviolet” the anticipation is already overwhelming as the band builds off each other’s energy. Lead guitarist Samuli Kristian is so intense that at times his tapping technique is on par with Eddie Van Halen, but with more blues and less ego. This is the stuff guitar legends are made on.
This is especially noteworthy on “Stratosphere” where the guitar climbs as high as it suggests and at blazing speeds. Yet, the intense forays into guitar madness are always balanced by a return to the jam, making bassist Jean Ruin and Drummer Ivan Horder the rock that brings Kristian back down to earth again. It is a well attuned band to be sure, that knows what the others are thinking and can anticipate the oncoming music, almost as though they all have a psychic connection to one another.
As all the songs on the album are jams, sometimes the lead guitar does get a bit repetitive, despite the level of proficiency. Similar themes running through a few of the songs make them difficult to discern as separate entities. The album does, however, listen very well as a collective work rather then a collection of singles; more like a rock opera. Almost like movements or modes in classical music, the melodies fit well together on the album, making it great for a long listen. Even with this slight redundancy, the common theme builds and the zenith is never disappointing. The amount of care being given to these songs is eminent and it’s hard to ask for more. However, the difficulty of the lead guitar parts may cause much of their artistic beauty to be overlooked, if not overwhelmed.
“Nautical Twilight” meanders a bit too much. Through intrepid and curious, the song at times sounds dissonant and random. Despite a high quality of performance from all the band members, it doesn’t sound as together as some of the other songs. However, as it is immediately preceded by “Ra-Union,” the songs make more sense together, with the build at the end really getting complex and intense. The break-down about 4 minutes into “Ra-Union” is truly mind-blowing, with all the artists thundering away on their instruments. Drums pound up the fervor of the band as the lead guitar rockets off of it, somewhere up into outer space, with agile slap-bass accentuating the intensity and bringing it all in for a landing. This style is truly soul searching, exploring and curious in nature, yet still abides to proper musical form and modern modus operandi of rock and jazz blues. Much experimental music borders on cacophony. However the relationship between these artists is so tight that most of the time one cannot even tell the music is improvised.
Bogdo Ula is playing some overwhelmingly technical music and creating it out of thin air. One might say it would be more difficult to actually transcribe this music on paper, as the unique quality of the freeform would be lost. It is the unique sense of mystery that makes Charge so intriguing, when the listener has no idea what is coming next and neither does the band. There is so much artistic ingenuity that this band has more potential then meets the eye, or ear for that matter. Despite some lulls in the album, the progressive builds in Charge make it well worth the time. This is definitely a band to watch as their creative insight into improvisational intergalactic rock grows.
Review by Julian Gorman
Review of Charge by Anthony Fantano
Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5)With an emphasis on composition and planning, most of today’s musicians seem to leave the idea of exploration behind. But the wish to experiment is what has brought music to the zenith it’s standing at today. Both musicians and listeners benefit from this desire to discover new sounds and ideas, but not everyone will make the bold attempt to find what’s truly novel. Only the brave will charge headfirst into uncharted territory, finding no use for fear or second-guesses. This is Bogdo Ula.
This trio’s music is something some may dub “unclassifiable.” Of course, Bogdo Ula isn’t coming out of left field. Every track on their new album, Charge, is rooted deeply into a rich history of jazz and rock fusions. It’s the free-wheeling modal exploration of John Coltrane’s latter years combined with the bold guitar work found on the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s quintessential debut, The Inner Mounting Flame. All of this exploration is more emotional than stylistic, but it’s exploration all the same. Sure, Bogdo Ula isn’t the first group to leave their music up to chance, but each musician probes sound differently. This makes Charge unique by default. Whether or not that journey is a preferable is for the listener to decide.
It’s not that rocky of a ride, though. Bogdo Ula’s final destination might not be known at the beginning of these eleven tracks, but this album’s full hour of material displays tight musicianship and dynamic interplay between the drums, guitar, and bass. It’s as if the band is slowly trudging through a sandstorm. What lies ahead is unclear, but they make sure to never lose track of one another. This band travels as a unit, listening closely to every step they make as a whole.
As far as the recording goes, the production here basically gets the job done. The drums and bass are dry, and though this album couldn’t be made without them, the guitar is really what gets the star treatment. All six strings are given a bright tone, a generous volume, and loads of shimmering reverb that echoes every sound, even the most dissonant chords, proudly. The musicianship is where the real meat and potatoes are. Ivan Horder plays like a true jazz drummer, and lets his cymbals do most of the talking on this LP. His fills are intricate, and his toms are always well-placed. If the guitar solos are telling the story, Horder is adding the punctuation. Jean Ruin’s bass is the band’s strongest foundation. Even as the drums and guitar play dangerously close to unintelligible, Ruin is maintaining sanity behind the scenes. Without him, Charge would make a lot less sense.
Last, but not least, Samuli Kristian must be mentioned. It’s clear his guitar has some sort of god complex going on, but this is one instance where the bark matches the bite. Even when there are no wrong answers, Kristian has a knack for making the right decision. He displays great technical ability in his solo work, but occasionally pulls back for a mind-bending jazz chord one might hear on a Bill Frisell record.
It can’t really be said what is and isn’t out of place on Charge. When musicians have given themselves complete and utter freedom to contribute whatever they feel at any given moment, all concepts of right and wrong are thrown out the window. In theory, the only possible fault would be letting hesitation set in, and there’s certainly not much of that here. This album doesn’t question or wonder. It sits at the pilot’s seat and wildly pushes every button, flips every switch, and pulls every lever. These tracks are a maddening tailspin, and it’s amazing no one’s been hurt. The craft has landed safely, but we’re missing a few pieces of luggage.
Review by Anthony Fantano
Mwe3.com review of Charge
Guitarist Samuli Kristian and drummer Ivan Horder are on a roll this year. These creative Finns form the basis of the instrumental rock fusion band called Bogdo Ula. The all instrumental Bogdo Ula broke down musical walls in 2009 with their CD Aerograd and they return in late 2010 with the equally fascinating sound of Charge. If anything the CD takes the Bogdo Ula sound further out there, creating hypnotic waves of cosmic, celestial guitar sounds in the spirit of David Gilmour, Syd Barrett, Terje Rypdal and Steve Hillage, who proffered a similar guitar sound in Gong during the mid ‘70s. With a keen fascinating for 21st century recording techniques, Finland’s Bogdo Ula bring the sound of cosmic instrumental rock up to date with often startling, cosmic results. Charge is a haunting roller coaster trip into the land of intergalactic instrumental rock guitar.
Mwe3.com review of Aerograd
What the Finns can’t sing about lyrically, they transform instrumentally via their usually vivid musical imagination and that concept stays true to form with a superbly recorded 2010 CD from Bogdo Ula — their second album entitled Aerograd. This kind of free form space rock sort of took form back in the ‘70s with several concept bands from Sweden as well as early ‘70s works from Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal and RTF guitar hero Bill Connors. Those comparisons say a lot of the the strangely titled Bogdo Ula — a group crafted by guitarist Samuli Kristian and drummer Ivan Horder. There’s even a trace of Pink Floyd style improv in Samuli’s guitar work (both Syd and Gilmour) which is also quite Hendrix-y in places too. Jimi would have loved this strange and beautiful electrifying guitar blend.
