On The Raw
Big City Awakes

I trained on the inlays of J.S. Bach, I prepared my diploma on the witch "Baba Yaga" thanks to a drunkard like Modest(o) Mussorgsky and the transcription of "Pictures at an Exhibition - A Remembrance of Viktor Hartmann" by E.L.P. was the easiest step for me to take.

The approach to Prog Rock was natural (just like the approach to alcohol) and is still ongoing, thanks to newly formed bands like "On the Raw" (or breweries like "Baladin" or "32- Via dei Birrai").

Spanish roots and Barcelona as the musical operations base for the band formed by Alex Ojea (Harvest) on drums, Jordi Amela (Rara Avis, Dracma, Harvest) on keyboards, Jordi Prats (Rara Avis, Dracma, Harvest) on guitars, Pep Espasa (Apple Smell Colour and collaborations with Lidia Pujol) on saxophones and flutes, Toni Sánchez (The Wheels) on bass.

I dwell on some of the nine tracks that make up the first album of the Spanish band, but I clarify that this does not mean that the others I do not mention are mediocre:

- "Big City Awakes," the track that opens and gives the album its title, has passages that remind me a lot of the "Intro & Theme" of "House of Cards" written by Jeff Beal, while the exchange of themes between flute and keyboards is certainly melodically very pleasant.

- In "Day 49" the climax hits you in the last three minutes, a moment in which the dreaminess of the flute solo is broken by an energetic guitar entrance, to which the keyboard first connects, then the bass and finally the sax, all synergistically sustained by the advance of the toms and the screech of the cymbals.

- "On the Raw" is certainly the most rock track of all, the one that most reflects the identity of the three former Harvest members

- "Dreams in a Box" is probably the track that most satisfies my taste for rhythmic interlocks and sound clarity, then the turn towards Didier Malherbe-like melodies enhances my pleasure

- listening to "Everything Will Come" you might wonder if Ian Anderson and Spyro Gyra have made a recent collaboration

- in the last track, "Looking for my Mr. Hyde," Oriol Màs's harp and the voices of "Les Fourchettes" appear in the last minutes of the track, to grandly close a very good debut album.

The album distributed by Red Phone Events since March of the past year (2017) contains much of what Prog is, but it fuses Jazz structures with distinctive electronic elements. Amela's Korg and Novation keyboards are a perfect link between Prats's guitar riffs (many of which remind me of Larry Carlton) and the progression of Espasa's solos.

What I liked about this album is that it is full, but never feels "overplayed" (perhaps live this impression could decline); everything is in its place, every single break, every single instrument (here very good in mixing and production), every single idea is where it should be, all tastefully supported by Ojea. Beautiful melodies, rather immediate and pleasant harmonic progressions even for an ear that is not particularly trained.

It could support you while cleaning the house, accompany you in moments of study or work, satisfy you in 50' of listening... sipping a beer, but certainly won't disappoint you.