Lucette Bourdin - Breath Of Grace

Dark Duck Records/Fantasy Enhancing: 2012

Back to Bourdin, then. Huh, took a little longer than I thought it would. Like, a box-set with twenty CDs in it is gonna' take up hefty chunks of my alphabetical queue no matter where they're slotted, but I suppose it shows just how large the queue currently is regardless. Dealing with another box-set between Ancient Memories and this probably didn't help with the gap.

Breath Of Grace has the distinction of being the final album of Lucette's work, released well over a year after her passing. There's actually a number of such albums, including A View From Afar and the four-LP Nordic Waves set - yes, they're all accounted for in this box-set. While it's not surprising that she'd have some music in the vaults, I do wonder what the process in releasing the posthumous albums was. Were they already in the works, and just never got to see a proper release before passing on? Did someone within her estate cobble together assorted unreleased tracks on her behalf? I suppose it doesn't matter in the long run, but whenever we're dealing with ambient music of this sort, it's nice to have some inspirational frame of reference going in. Perhaps one need not delve too deeply into such concerns, but it cannot be denied her experiences offered a unique perspective on reflective music, tragic though it may be.

If there is a theme to Breath Of Grace, it's that of entering a calming state of mind. While opener Turbulent Seas maintains a typically droning style of ambient tone, it's far from a relaxing sort. Almost ominous with heavy, spacious synth swells, impossibly distant sounds echoing from the furthest reaches of one's memories. Always those nagging reflective moments, when gazing upon foggy coastlines through cottage windows.

Waters Of Life goes more minimalist, synth drone supporting burbly, dubby field recordings, letting you feel more lost in the moment rather than trapped in memory. Following that, the titular track is pure synth pad drone, layered to such a degree the timbre is rather muddy. Can't help but keep thinking of fog while listening to this. But hey, things seem to pick up a little with Quiet Cats, a lighter tone and brighter synths emerging from the haze. From there, tracks like Finding Peace and Setting Sun only grow brighter, the former even dipping rather close to the realm of New Age with its shimmering angel bells. The relatively short closer Remembering thus feels more like a coda to Breath Of Grace, having settled into some sense of tranquility despite whatever was troubling the self at the start. And hey, a little light Arabian synth noodling in the middle of it too.

I almost feel like I'm overselling this album, with such a expansive write-up of what goes on. Eh, gotta' burn word-count some way, but as far as ambient albums go, Breath Of Grace is a nice little offering of such. Will the rest of Lucette's works compare? Stay tuned...

Private Mountain - Blue Mountain

Neotantra: 2019

Fun thing about following labels will always be discovering new artists. True, I get these Neotantra albums because my OCD compels me to grab the gradient cover art, lest my CD collection look incomplete, but the music's usually pretty darn good too. And while many familiar names have released here, several more are complete blanks to me, my purchasing decision little more than having a good hunch over some audio clips. So it went with Private Mountain, a name I'd never seen before, but ooh, that's some nice, soothing, minimalist ambience coupled with field recordings. Sure, I'll give it a go.

Then I look into the names behind the moniker, ones Dimitar Dodovski and Toni Dimitrov. I'd love to claim I recognized them straight-off, but no way I could have, even if I have encountered Dimitar before. In fact, the project he was on was quite instrumental in opening the doors to where my ambient techno interests currently lie. It was a pairing with a chap by the name of Lee Norris, under the pseudonym Moss Garden.

Yeah, that Moss Garden. You'll forgive me for not immediately remembering that factoid, for Mr. Dodovski's career was still in a relatively embryonic stage back then. He's put out much music since though, including a team-up with Toni and Martin Geogrievski as Post Global Trio. They've put out some half-dozen albums now, but on the side Dimitar and Toni started another project as Private Mountain, this here Blue Mountain the debut.

Taking in some Post Global Trio works for a frame of reference, I can confidently claim that Private Mountain sounds quite similar, just lacking any rhythmic momentum. The abstract ambience, the immersive field recordings, the hazy feelings of memories past, wandering back road regions in solitude. Like, a hillside path, all to yourself. I just find it amusing that two-thirds of a mostly ambient project took it upon themselves to make extra-ambient music.

Opener Ainmount 1 mostly maintains a fuzzy, day-glo vibe, while Ainmount 2 opts for more night-time tranquility, a surprising contrast so early in the album. Usually you wait for the end to go twilight. The titular third cut really gets my Andrew Heath triggers going, early dronescapes gradually melting into sounds of idling about cottage dwellings. Just A Strange World gets a little fancier with the drone effects, while the eponymous track (longest at over twelve minutes) gives more of a Boards Of Canada interlude vibe. If BoC ever included sounds of running water while exploring deep caverns, sounds echoing across damp stone walls, that is. A tidy, tranquil closer in Coming Back Home wraps things up, and if you don't feel utterly blissed out after listening to Blue Mountain, I really don't know what else to say.

I suppose the only quibble I can offer is this album's rather short. Six tracks, only half of which break six minutes, doesn't feel long enough wandering this mountain. Pretty sure I said the same of Moss Garden too, heh.

Unusual Cosmic Process - Between Continents

AstroPilot Music: 2016

It's been a spell since I checked out AstroPilot. Let's see what he's been up to! *clickity-clickity clack* Ooh, started his own label. With lots of artists getting rep' on it. Most of which I'm not familiar with in the slightest. Welp, better get to it. *zzi-i-i-ip* What? That's the sound of me opening my digital purse to splurge on some new music. Why, what'd you think that bit of onomatopoeia was?

So, Unusual Cosmic Process (or UCP from here out, because whoof, that's a mouthful). This is a project from Alexander Akopov, who's been making music in the psy sphere for the past decade. A few aliases had some traction on Ovnimoon Records (Optical Report, Psypheric), but UCP has been the most fruitful of them all (so sayeth Lord Discogs). Makes some sense, this alias being his primary outlet for music on the down beat. Of the twenty items Mr. Akopov has released as UCP, the bulk are LPs. His early ones floated about different labels (Ovnimoon, Uxmal, Sentimony, Gliese 581c), but has mostly settled in with AstroPilot Music for the last while. This here Between Continents was his debut with Dmitriy's print.

Whenever a producer starts their own label, the tendency is to cultivate artists of similar style, so I wasn't surprised that UCP would sound somewhat like AstroPilot. I didn't expect his sonic palette to go quite so opulent though, exceeding even the cosmic grandeur of the Solar Walk series. Mr. Akopov says this album's meant to be something of a sight-seeing tour, taking in various vistas of our planet from its highest regions to its deepest depths, carried along by acoustic airships. Sounds like fun, and opener Acoustic Levitation certainly holds little back in its lift-off, wide-screen synth pads with spritely treatments such that even 36 would get weak in the knees. A psy-chill rhythm joins the action midway through as the track keeps building and building until... oh, it just kinda' ends on pads, a bit abruptly at that.

Wendall Sea carries on with the extra-ultra backing pads, with a heavier beat in support, but mostly plays out like the opener. Sekki opts for something a little more mysterious (bathyscaphe submersion will have that effect), while Atolla Wyvillei... gosh, this sure sounds a lot like Weddell Sea again, the same beat and everything. Granted, the psy scene often recycles rhythms, but this is practically a copy-and-paste here. Not that the tracks are bad, it's just a very apparent thing with two so close together in an album.

As Between Continents plays out, it never lets off the gas pedal in sonic splendour – even the Ambient Remix of The Clouds has an aggressively groovy bassline. It's almost too much, if I'm honest, seldom letting the listener take a breather, save at the start of every track. Imagine the tour-guide insistently telling you how awesome all these sights are, when I sometimes just want to lay back and take them in at my own leisure.

Robert Rich - Below Zero

Side Effects: 1998

I bought Equal Stones' Below Zero from Ultimae's online shop. When I received my order in the mail, I somehow ended up with two albums with that title, the other this particular item from Robert Rich. How did that happen? Did the folks at Ultimae HQ not know which Below Zero I wanted, and hedged their bets? Or did they figure, if I wanted one Below Zero, why not have another? This isn't the first time I got a 'bonus' disc from them either, the last time introducing me to Simon Heath's Krusseldorf project. That led me to some... interesting music tangents, believe you me.

And honestly, it's about time I dive into Robert Rich, isn't it? I've known of the man's seminal contributions to the minimalist side of ambient drone works for a while, but like others in this field (Steve Roach, Vidna Obmana), his catalogue runs vast and ancient. Where does one even begin with such a discography? Agreed upon classics? Multi-disc retrospectives? Blind leaps based on eye-catching cover art? Yes to all, but I'm starting out with the 'unexpected extra CD from online order' method.

I've also kinda-sorta stumbled upon a compilation at that, Below Zero a gathering of a half-dozen tracks from other compilations Robert contributed to. Simple idea, but quite odd in execution, as this comes care of Lustmord's industrial print, Side Effects. The two had collaborated for the Stalker album, but Rich was mostly a Hearts Of Space kind of ambient composer, with little dabbling in the darker side of the genre. There must have been enough stray works out there for such a collection as this though, but releasing it on Side Effects, a label shutting its doors so shortly after? Was no one else willing to do the deed of scouring obscure ambient compilations for Robert Rich material?

Anyhow, Below Zero opens with Star Maker, a multi-part cosmic dark drone piece lasting over twenty minutes that traverses cosmic desolation before morphing into something a little less sinister. Feels like we're bearing witness to the birth of a solar system, or at least its primary life-giver. Eleven-minute follow-up Dissolving The Seeds Of A Moment (apparently never released before) goes for the atonal assault of dark drone, the sort of sound that's right up Lustmord's alley. A Flock Of Metal Creatures Fleeing The Onslaught Of Rust and Termite Epiphany mostly follow suite, though are shorter excursions, and even have moments of respite in their runtimes.

Then things take a turn for the ...benign? I wouldn't go so far as to say Liquid Air is all calm and soothing as traditional ambient can go, some of the pad layers still somewhat discordant. That gentle keyboard tone though, acting like a settling rudder for the ominous feels lurking about, does ease the frazzle mind-state some. And despite a rather melancholic mood, Requiem's voice pad timbre almost sounds like an exhale of pent-up emotional tension. Goodness, a 'journey' album, out of a compilation? Wonders never cease.

Equal Stones - Below Zero

Glacial Movements Records: 2019

We inch closer to Proper Winter now, the weather growing ever colder in our annual tilt away from solar warmth. Yes, even my seasonally smug corner of the world. Atmospheric rivers aside, we've been extra cool 'round these here parts, dipping below freezing temperatures. Sometimes. Usually at around 4:14am. By about one or two degrees. Honest, that's unusual for us, plus counts as a tie-in to this album's title and theme!

Yes, in my ceaseless need to chill the f' out, I've taken the most logical step in scoping out another of Glacial Movements Records items, an album titled Below Zero. Why, it even has a derelict boat on the cover art! Well, maybe not completely derelict, but certainly in no condition to travel, ensconced within foggy frost as it is. Interestingly, despite growing up in a port town well into the northern latitudes, this is not a scene I'm familiar with. In fact, that town is somewhat famous for having one of the deepest harbours that never freezes year round, which is handy when you want to move cargo without running into hull-carving islands of ice. Now if only it wasn't located in such a remote part of Canada's west coast, maybe it'd have grown larger than it did.

Anyhow, Equal Stones. One Amandus Schaap, he started out making droney, melancholic ambient music for the obscure net-label Hidden Vibes. Well, not that obscure anymore, as a few noted names have had releases out on it (SiJ, The Green Kingdom, Chihei Hatakeyama, Halftribe). They also aren't strictly a net-label anymore either, having gained enough clout to offer limited CD runs as well. Equal Stones was there at the beginning though, and remained fairly exclusive to Hidden Vibes for half a decade. He started branching out into darker strains of the genre as Death Star, and has now (well, a couple years ago) hooked up with Glacial Movements for a conceptual album of ice-cold drone.

Below Zero opens up with Presence, and if that doesn't immediately trigger feelings of unease that lumbering icebergs are about, the bitter cold sounds definitely will. With sounds of biting winds and grinding ice enveloping your headspace, Amandus does an effective job in putting you in a most inhospitable of arctic clime's. Even Ugasanie would shiver.

It's mostly industrial drone-tone from here on out, which is fine for what it is, but I feel loses some of the album's theme along the way. It's not until the final sixteen-minute track Fragmented Ice that things get back to something truly icy. Aside from an intermittent 'exhale' from sickly machinery, we're treated to desolate white noise for many minutes. Discordant tones and flickering electronics gradually swell in prominence, even getting on some '70s style flange. It's like being isolated in some remote science station, adrift on islands of gravel and ice. And always that heavy exhale, as though the deep freeze makes the simple act of breathing torture. Maybe best to hibernate, for a while...

Various - Balance 005: James Holden

EQ Recordings: 2003

So this was one of the big ones. Even if the music didn't hold up (spoiler: it does), it cannot be denied how much James Holden's contribution to the Balance series marked a prominent shift in the way the prog-house series, um, progressed. Prior, each volume mostly stuck with the dark, tribal prog of the era, save a single CD flirtation of prog-breaks by Phil K. After, Balance became known as the premier DJ mix series, where disc jockeys could indulge themselves with unconventional sets. Not to say that happened all the time, but such a rep started here.

Beyond that though, James' set marked a radical shift in the scene at large, ground zero for a splintering that would be felt for much of the next decade. Not only did Balance 005 firmly state the old Bedrock Records sound was done and dusted, but gave us a taste of what was to come. Obviously the Border Community style from Holden and his cohorts is what gets prominent focus here, but there's ample examples of the sort of prog folks initially expected of James, and got co-opted by Coldharbour instead. Grumbly basslines, side-chained melodies, poppy vocals, and whatnot.

Nowhere is this more apparent than right in the middle of CD1. Leading up, there's still a sense of the dark, dubby prog lurking about, even if a track like Petter's All Together enjoys throwing some robo-clank into the mix. Infusion's rub on JASEfos' Do What U Want is pure proto-McProg though, with a big vocal supported by a rumbly groove, the sort of tune you'd almost expect Holden to lead into his own Nothing (93 Returning Mix). Instead, it goes into the twee electro-fuzz of Nathan Fake's Outhouse (Fluffy Mix), its rhythm nothing more than twitchy clicks n' pops. And while the more traditionally thumping original version follows, this debut from Fake is basically what Border Community would heavily promote for much of its run. As I say, quite the little moment of contrast in hindsight.

Anyhow, disc one plays out with more of this push-pull between old-prog and BC-prog. Cannot deny I tend to favour the old (mmm, PQM cut), but Holden ends things off pleasant enough. CD2 kicks things off with some sleaze house in Meek's Happy (because electroclash was still kinda' a thing in 2003), then we're right back into more dark, dubby prog, with twinkly melodies sprinkled about (Epsilon 9's Lifeformation; Ficta's Eli; Kosmas Epsilon's rub on FC Kahuna's Hayling ...why does it sound like my CD's skipping during the breakdown?).

There's some bits and bobs of other sounds thrown in (acid in his own The Wheel, future-shock electro in Carl Finlow's Ghetto Server ...was Anthony Rother not available?), and Holden takes a long lead-down for the finish, each track growing ever more chill and Border Community-ey after the other. I honestly find my attention drifting, but only because the mid-set peak was so high. I'm not ready to come down yet, Mr. Holden!

Derek Carr - Arrival

FireScope: 2021

Man, it feels good seeing Derek Carr getting his due. Not that I can claim to be some long-standing fan of the man's work, as if I've been listening to his music since the Copper Beech E.P. I only stumbled upon him by happenstance with The Digital Space Race, and while enjoyed that album, didn't reconnect until he connected with FireScope for Distant Systems.

He's released a fair amount of material between those moments, but it seems his profile's quite taken off since releasing Contact on Subwax Excursion (Model 500 artwork nod likely helped). Many EPs on many labels have since come out, plus a four-record retrospective on For Those That Knoe, and man, have the plaudits ever blown up on Discogs. Seems Mr. Carr felt it was a good time for a revisit to FireScope, a full LP outing in Arrival. Which means two vinyl records. Or two CDs etched with vinyl grooves. FireScope sure loves its FOMO-triggering mediums.

Let me get this out of the way: if you're familiar with FireScope's brand of techno tunes, there isn't much different going on here. This is a lane Steve Rutter's print has firmly made for themselves, and are resolute in adhering to their musical manifesto. Intelligent techno for our doe-eyed gazes into the future, rhythms for cruising interstellar highways, melodies for sci-fi city-scapes. I cannot deny hoping Derek would branch a little more from this, maybe provide a banger, or even an ambient interlude for a more complete album experience, but 'tis not to be. This is a label that still has traditional vinyl as its primary listening format (however many records that may take per release), which will forever lead to LPs being rather tracky as a playback.

Ehgh... I felt icky typing that, but it needed to be said, the little naggy knit in my head demanding it. For as much as I enjoy Derek's Detroit vibes throughout Arrival, I cannot deny it being a bit samey throughout too. For sure there is some difference between the two halves (or both records; or both CDs). If anything, the second part has more rhythmic heft, Haemoglobin providing a nice little trunk-rumbler of a bassline with its spritely melodies and floaty synth sweeps. Droidworld features a funky little bassline of its own in support of an almost melancholic musical lead, while Apollo does a laid-back low-slung shuffle while synth pads and future strings cruise about. Inside Out and MCR get more on vintage Detroit vibes, about what we can expect out of most Derek Carr tunes these days.

If it seems like I'm writing off the first half (sides A & B; disc one), don't get it twisted. I like it just fine, in that I like mostly everything out of FireScope. There's even some fun playfulness in tracks like Alaska Blue and Anoat System. I just felt things picked up when the beats picked up, which gets back to my annoyingly incessant desire for diverse long-players.

Council Estate Electronics - Arktika

Glacial Movements Records: 2016

Ah, it's good to be back in my familiar wheel-house: obscure ambient drone from an artist I have never heard of before. At least, I think that's my familiar wheel-house. Sure feels like it sometimes, especially after I discover a new label that piques my interest, going on a mini-splurge of material. Like this here Glacial Movements Records, a print that's been around for fifteen years now, housing such recognizable names like Rapoon, bvdub, and Celer. What good is such discovery without broadening one's exposure to new artists though?

So it goes with Council Estate Electronics, the sort of egg-headed alias that has me remembering such geeked out projects like Higher Intelligence Agency, New London School Of Electronics, and Institute Of Frequency & Optical Research. I have not a clue what this is all about, but tickle me intrigued for some polar drone with that kind of name.

Opening track Urals kicks things off on a rather brittle, dubby foot. A heavy, languid beat moves things along as distant percussion rattles in the distance, all the while what sounds like a muted fog horn pierces the murk. At nearly eleven minutes long, there's enough time for subtle tones and harmonies to weave about that noise, making the track rather laid back and chill for its runtime. Don't get too relaxed though, as follow-up 567 foot 33,500 ton goes quite abrasive, a noisy, buzzy sound dominating over another heavy, slow dub techno beat. Man, it almost reminds me of the industrial sonic grind from The Bug's collaboration with Earth on Concrete Desert. Say, who's behind Council Estate Electronics anyhow?

*one Discoggian dive later*

Hah! There is a connection after all! Turns out one-half of C.E.E. is Justin Broadrick, who frequently works with Kevin Martin under many aliases (Techno Animal, Zonal, The Curse Of The Golden Vampire, God). He's also been part of many industrial noise and death metal bands over the years, including founding Godflesh. There's many more, of which I'll be here forever name-dropping them all. Suffice to say, Justin's done a lot. Along the way, he paired up with former Godflesh member Dermot Dalton to make analog-based experimental music. Right, the background sorted, let's carry on with Arktika.

Actually, there isn't much more to say. If The Bug association wasn't a dead giveaway, we're firmly in industrial dub's domain. Big, cavernous beats, sometimes with distortion redlining way beyond reasonable levels (Rosatom, Polar Star), other times going as minimalist as dub techno of the '00s (Type LK-60YA, 60 Megawatts). 50 Let Pobody does a shimmery, cascading effect upon its dub treatments, while Liquefied Natural Gas edges out on the fringe of spaced-out reggae dub, but by and large, Arktika is mostly a clinical take on the genre. Just, y'know, performed in a noisy, industrialist sort of way.

Honestly, I'm quite surprised by this album, in that I had no idea Glacial Movements Records would also offer dub techno of this sort. What else might I uncover with this label?

Neil Young - Archives, Vol. 2: Disc 10 - Odeon Budokan (1976)

Reprise Records: 2020

What a strange way to end Archives, Vol. 2. True, nothing could beat the triumphant cap of Vol. 1 that included all the chart-topping and critically lauded Harvest material, but a live album? And not just a live album, but recordings from overseas shows in London and Tokyo? I guess in keeping with the 'three Performance Series per Archives' theme, we'd get one exclusive to the box-set like Live At The Riverboat. This wasn't separately released prior, and I see no official plans to do so after.

If the timeline is to be believed, these shows were performed after Neil had joined Stephen Stills in Miami for their Stills-Young Band sessions, but before abandoning Crazy Horse to tour with Stephen instead. So in the course of a couple months, ol' Shakey had travelled from California, to Florida, to Japan, to the U.K. and back to Florida. Long may you run indeed, but not if you're gonna' burn both ends while burning your friends along the way.

As this disc is a cobble-lation of two shows performed literally half a world apart, it's appropriately broken up between the two. Oddly, they're not in chronological order, the London shows first, followed by the Tokyo jams after. My only assumption here is Odeon Budokan wants to recapture the same sequencing as Rust Never Sleeps, acoustic numbers opening the LP, then closing out with Crazy Horse 'rawkers'. To be fair, that's how Neil's concerts with Crazy Horse went regardless, I just have no idea why all the acoustic material comes from Odeon, and all the rock from Budokan. Just a happenstance of where the better recordings were?

So the acoustic set has some familiar tunes (Old Man, The Old Laughing Lady, After The Goldrush ...I'm honestly quite burnt out hearing that one on these live albums), plus a couple then-unreleased songs in Too Far Gone and Stringman. What's funny about these is you can really tell the unfamiliarity of them with the London crowd. Exuberant cheers upon hearing the first notes of the recognizable songs, then almost dead silence with the other two, save a polite applause after they're finished. Considering they wouldn't be officially released until way later, I'm sure Neil got a kick out of confusing the casuals in the crowd with them.

I'm not sure how familiar the Japanese crowd was with the freshly released Zuma record either, but they seemed to enjoy the rowdy rockers just the same. They also get a version of Cowgirl In The Sand, which isn't quite up to the epic outing as heard on Live At The Fillmore East, nor as tight as heard in later live albums with Crazy Horse. It was Frank Sampedro's earliest concerts with the group though, so just needed a little more time to fully mesh. Either that, or this was one of the supposed shows he'd taken acid at. Oh, hippie-rockers, never change.

And that's a wrap on Archives, Vol. 2! Join me again for Archives, Vol. 3, due for release ...whenever it gets released, I guess.

Neil Young - Archives, Vol. 2: Disc 9 - Look Out For My Love (1975-1976)

Reprise Records: 2020

Full confession: the period between Zuma and Rust Never Sleeps is mostly a blank for yours truly. Granted, only two albums came out in that time (well, two and a half, but I'll get to that), with only two songs from them considered 'Essential Rustie Material'. One of them is the guitar epic Like A Hurricane, which I already have on the live album Weld, so no point in getting the scattershot American Stars 'n Bars just for that. The other is the country-leaning Comes A Time, from the album of the same name. I don't have that, but am not in any real hurry to ever get it. The tune's fine, just not on my 'must have' list, much less the record it comes from.

Disc nine of Archives, Vol. 2 doesn't reach quite that far though, capping this collection off in 1976. The first few tunes that open things are more Crazy Horse songs that likely would have featured on the vaporware album Chrome Dreams, including Like A Hurricane. Following that are two love songs, Lotta Love, and Look Out For My Love. The most surprising thing about these, at least for me, is they actually sound different from each other, Lotta Love more a loungy tune while Look Out For My Love inching closer to country.

Actually-actually, what's really surprising is Look Out For My Love was chosen for the title of this disc, and not just because Like A Hurricane is the more obvious choice. No, it's odd because this disc heavily features songs from the short-lived pairing between him and Stephen Stills, The Stills-Young Band.

Yep, despite quite the on-again, off-again musical relationship, the former Buffalo Springfield lads decided to give it another go in the studio. Story goes Mr. Stills was already in the works with a solo joint of his own, then had Neil over to hear some of the songs. Neil apparently got quite inspired with the tunes, such that he abandoned a tour with Crazy Horse to work with Stephen. Harsh, bro, but hey, maybe some truly kinetic jams would emerge from these sessions to rival even their work with Crosby and Nash. They even brought them in for some backing tracks, perhaps leading to a full-on CSNY reunion, but it was not to be, Stills and Young scrubbing their voices from the finished product. Harsh, bro, but hey, at least the forthcoming tour featuring Stephen and Neil would lead to some dynamite guitar action to hear. Except in typical Neil fashion, he flaked on his friend mid-tour, with one of the most classic kiss-off notes left behind. HARSH, bro!

As for the resultant songs, they're mostly pleasant rock, some leaning blues, some leaning country, but all sounding quite clean and polished compared to most of Neil's body of work. So much so, that songs like Ocean Girl and Midnight On The Bay could even be considered... *sigh* Yacht Rock. Of course Neil did a Yacht Rock.