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Review by
Cesar Inca
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
As some fellow reviewers have stated before me, 'Between Flesh and
Divine' is a
masterpiece of the prog genre, as well as Asia Minor's top achievement.
This album is one
of the best things that came out of France (though 3 quarters of the
band were actually
Turkish) in the symphonic prog area. As quartet now, the fourth member
Robert Kempler
handled the duties of bass player and keyboardist, which gave the band
the opportunity
to expand their sonic potential with a more prominent addition of
synthesizers, organ,
pianos, and even occasional layers of mellotron - all this in 1980! Of
course, the electric
lead guitar and the flute are still the major features in the
instrumental passages, being in
charge of the solos and the main melodic lines. Beltrami's drumming is
still as polished and
energetic as on the band's debut album, displaying his jazzy vein under
the guise of a rock-
oriented attitude. The sound production is more refined, which makes
every instrument
show itself clearly amidst the band's overall sound. The contrast
between the strong
passages and the soft ones is handled more naturally, which allows the
band to go deeper
into their Camel-esque explorations, without letting go of their
penchant for Asian-based
exotic textures. The repertoire has a somewhat accentuated tendecy
towards the
creation of serene ambiences, locating the rockier passages in the shape
of gently
incerpted interludes or preambles. Tracks 1, 2 and 4 are the best
examples of this clever
arrangement strategy, and may I add that I consider them their best
tracks ever,
specially 'Dedicace', which is catchy, yet keeping a typically
progressive
sophistication. 'Nightwind' kicks off on a vibrant ethnic mood,
ultimately leading to a main body set on the standard of spacey-driven
symphonic rock, not unlike Pulsar or "Moon Madness"-era Camel. 'Northern
Lights' states a more pronunced atmosphere of introspection, generally
speaking, while the aforementioned 'Dedicace' brings a solid dynamics
that fuses the heritages of Pulsar, Focus and Pink Floyd in a sort of
way that only teh guys from Asia Minor can. 'Boundless' is a beautiful
ballad, a not too long passage of melancholy. That same melancholy
resurfaces in a more eerie context during the almost 8 minutes of 'Lost
in a Dream Yell': the intensity incarnated in the extended flute solo is
like an evocative dream made of musical matter. You have hear it to
believe it... It is long but never tiring, it bears a free-flight
attitude yet it never gets meandering; the eerie keyboard layers sustain
the overall mood quite effectively, with the guitar arpeggios and
moderately energetic drumming filling the source of tightness. Finally,
'Dreadful Memories' is nothing but a jam construed from a simple chord
progression on guitar, with the bass and drums following, and an
increasing number of keyboard layers subtly being summoned in: its
abrupt ending makes it the perfect coda for a perfect album. I just wish
it wasn't so short, or at least, that the album as a whole would last a
bit longer thatn it actually does. It wouldn't take long before the
bloody blade of 'musical differences' beheaded Asia Minor's career,
while they were preparing material for a following album that was never
to be. 
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, even prog groups that had attained some level of success - ie made a living
from their releases and live performances - were leaving the industry, dispatched in a fit of expletives by the
arena rock, punk and new wave movements while reflexive critics hailed the long overdue demise of the genre.
Well, history has been lenient in the intervening decades and many of those artists have reformed for at least an
album or two if not a more extended run. Even more miraculous is the return of groups who, by combination
of poor timing and lack of promotion, never even managed cult status at the time. Such is the case with ASIA
MINOR, a France based Turkish act, who issued two albums around the turn of the 1980s, and sadly had to leave
this dream behind in favor of a proper career.
Their 1981 production, "Between Flesh and Divine", has gained well deserved minor classic status with its artful blend of CAMEL, JADE WARRIOR, KING CRIMSON and middle eastern influences, and probably sold far more as a CD reissue than it ever did in its initial run. Still, after nearly 40 years of recorded silence, reformation in 2014 notwithstanding, only the most optimistic could have even uttered hope of anything new, but love of music is still love, and this devotion has gifted us "Points of Libration" in 2021. Setrak Bakirel and Eril Tekeli are back, with their distinctive voices, guitars and flute still defining the ASIA MINOR sound and yet updating it in meaningful ways. This is apparent from the opening segment of the thoughtful "Deadline of a Lifetime" with its heavenly fretless bass and only gathers pace from there.
Incorporating aspects of both of their prior productions, "Points of Libration" is shaded towards ASIA MINOR's mellower side, conveying a dreamy ambiance to many of the pieces, directed by melodic lead guitar and flute soloing but filled out with keys including mellotron strings, at their best on the self referential "Crossing in Between". Tunes like "Urban Silk" and "Oriental Game" are bathed in a jazzy arrangement, while others like "Twister" and "Melancholia's Kingdom" manage to generate a suave swing which drives the diversity, fully compensating for the complete lack of hard rock interludes. The vocals may not be in perfectly accented English or supporting a wide technical range but they do consummate the arrangements and vice versa. The final number is the breathlessly accomplished "Radio Hatirasi", which is the only one sung in Turkish and accentuates the group's roots musically as well.
I cannot over emphasize how impossibly good this sounds, as triumphant a reunion as can be hoped for let alone imagined, and proof of the irrepressible spirit of prog. Take that, critics.
Milkbone - Milkbone
Having previously worked together in Matt Berry and The Maypoles, the seeds of the idea of a group coming together on the band’s tour bus where they shared their mutual admiration for 1970s-era progressive and electronic music. “We decided to make an instrumental album that channeled/referenced our shared love of Canterbury era prog mixed with European electronica, Electric period Miles Davis as well as a love of the instruments, both acoustic and electronic, associated with those genres,” explains James Sedge.
“We were aspiring to get some of the atmosphere and ‘wonkiness’ of the recordings of that era rather than the sterile precision you occasionally encounter in contemporary production. We all enjoy the sound of real instruments playing with sequenced synths - the perfection of the sequencer with the imperfections of live drums and bass. We left in all the quirky feel things, so it wouldn’t sound overproduced and polished.”
credits
Phil Scragg: Keyboards, Bass, Guitar
Matt Berry : Keyboards, Guitar
James Sedge: Drums
Graham Mann: Trombone (Tracks 1,2,5 and 11), Percussion (Tracks 2,8 and 9)
Cecilia Fage: Vocal samples (Track 10)
Music conceived and produced by Milkbone.
Recorded at:
RedLodge studios
Peach House
Musicstation
Original artwork: Matt Berry
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