Artist: Athana
Title: Garden Of Bliss
Format: CD
Label: Forte Music
Rated: 
Buy from HERE
After the 2022 collaboration with Gary Husband, John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth released under The Trackers moniker, Alf Terje Hana is back with a new Athana album titled “Garden Of Bliss”. The seven tracks see Alf Terje Hana (guitars, octave guitar, sitar, electronics, keyboards, programming, edit), Torgeir Nes (electronics, programming) and Øyvind Grong (bass) playing with an incredible list of guests such as: Stewart Copeland (drums), Børge Fjordheim (drums), Gary Husband (keyboards) and Jody Linscott (percussion), to name a few. Listening to “Home Street Strut” featuring Stewart Copeland, “Endless Ripples” featuring Jody Linscott, “Dry Rain” featuring Jody Linscott and Keven Eknes, “Cry For Miles” featuring Gary Husband, “Nisco”, “Garden Of Bliss” featuring Gary Husband and “Two Foxes” featuring Gary Husband, the first thought that came to my mind was: this is organic music. You know, it’s like you’re listening to sounds made by something which’s alive. The seven tracks have melodies, rhythms and everything but we’re talking about people breathing jazz music, so we can’t properly talk about songs even if there are hooks and melodies. Sometimes its atmosphere reminded me of the record that Japan made under the Rain Tree Crow moniker in 1991 or “The First Day” that Sylvian and Fripp made in 1993, even if “Garden Of Bliss” is an instrumental album. Alf’s guitar glissando sounds like a distant voice and suddenly it turns into a fast phrasing like someone is talking to you. If you like King Crimson and all the aforementioned records, don’t miss “Garden Of Bliss” but if you have no idea of what I’m talking about and you think that music matters and you’d like to listen to something that is “talking” to you, well, you can check this record even on the streaming platforms and I think you won’t stop after the first track.
Noisebrigade 