Ako Doma
Aliens Are Good For Sale

It’s not easy to dwell on the meaning of the title of this work, yet it somewhat conveys the idea of the alienating blend of sounds, heterogeneous but compact, contained within it.

The Ako Doma hail from Slovakia. "Aliens Are Good For Sale" is their third work, released by Lizard Records in 2003.

There are several differences compared to the group's previous two works, besides the record label. It initially involves a clear change in formation, lacking the singer and flautist Petra Pavlicková. The band remains a classic Rock formation where the sounds are directed towards a more experimental side at times, yet not devoid of classic melodious-guitar openings typical of Prog, with some hints of late seventies Jazz-Rock, and the most surprising and evocative component represented by the references to Eno-Frippian Ambient of the track "IX".

Among the elements of the album to be highlighted, we find "The Mead", 5 short sections that constitute a microscopic Suite of about 6 minutes, supported by a guitar with a Heavy-Prog flavor in the style of the best Rush, somewhat like the first half of "Socks Dressed Lover" which suddenly turns into a romantic sound carpet with the camel-flavored taste of the snow goose. "Igor The Hairdresser", on the other hand, is the moment where especially the bass parts tend to evoke the Soft Machine of the albums following the numbered ones. As already mentioned, "IX" is centered on guitar effects that inevitably recall the experiments of the bright "evening star" of the Fripp & Eno company, a central moment that acts as a watershed for the second half of the album, which will close in the most dynamic way with an almost oriental-sounding finale.

The most important element of this release is undoubtedly the photos inside the booklet depicting the band members happily playing in the recording studio; these depictions indeed make the product in question even more Prog. Unfortunately, they are limited to only one essential album release; if they had filled stadiums, we would all have been happier to have the triple edition with the other two empty discs or better yet with some very useful covers, which we would have happily paid for. But unfortunately, they limit themselves to a measured and balanced work as Fripp commands, in seven delightful tracks.