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Trap — Insurrection
(NXU Music CD001, 2001, CD)

Insurrection Cover art

Led by Gary Parra, the former Cartoon and PFS percussionist and composer, along with Warren Dale on “hammers” (keyboards, one assumes) and winds, and Chris Smith, guitars and other strings plucked and bowed (such as mandolin and violin), Trap churns out some dazzling and compelling music. There are so many points of reference, including 5uu’s, Tiemko, Keith Tippett, Peter Frohmader, Zappa, Spaceship Eyes, Henry Cow, Pascal Comelade, and many, many others. To say that the proceedings are quite eclectic is mere understatement, yet the music is of the highest quality. There are straight ahead progressive references and gestures, a la ELP / Yes / King Crimson, as in the brief “U B 6 I B 9” or “Presage,” but Trap rarely engages in conventional prog. Instead, one gets little doses of non-Western music, Cageian aleatory, even bits of bluegrass, hoedown, hip-hop, and who knows what else. “Tunnels, Traps, Landmines” combines space prog, Zappa, textual non-sequiturs, and erratic machine gun rhythms and group interplay in a crazy quilt of a piece that is somehow coherent and unified, not to mention great listening. Minimalist guitar harmonics, with repetitive, interlocking modules, simple percussion, environmental sounds and a smidgen of keyboards make up “Enharmonic Convergence,” a piece unlike anything else Trap does. And these represent just a mere fraction of their stylistic repertoire. If you love the edgier, more experimental side of progressive rock, as I do whether zeuhl, RIO, Canterbury, or incursions into avant garde jazz or experimental “classical,” Gary Parra’s Trap does it all with aplomb.

by Dean Suzuki, Published 2001-12-01

I wasn't as impressed with Insurrection as I was hoping I'd be. The keyboards really lead the show, drawing upon various European influences from the last 20 years: Zamla, Henry Cow, Etron Fou, etc. Trap are at their peak when they walk through the prog side of things. A Happy the Man-styled tune provided a welcome surprise. Not to mention an interesting klezmer-inflected instrumental, and even a droning percussion piece that hints of Korean pansori music. All well and good — excellent music no doubt, but it is camouflaged by drastic style leaps, and some goofing around, that seems like filler, something I find all too often in this day of 80-minute recordings. I prefer the old days: limit someone to 35 minutes and he gives you his absolute best shot. I really wanted to like this CD more, but since no definitively coherent direction surfaces, I'll wait patiently for next time.

by Mike Ezzo, Published 2001-12-01

Gary Parra has been listening to a bit of Kit Watkins (keyboard god from Happy the Man). That seems like a safe bet given the opening track on Trap's sophomore release, Insurrection, that features more prominent keyboards than the group's 1999 album on Musea (courtesy of Ex-Infinity and French TV tour support man Warren Dale). In fact the entire album is a mesh of influences as disparate as Cartoon to Thinking Plague and even a bit of 5uu's, to name a few. Plus the bass player's slot is held by no less than three guest stars, including Mike Sary (French TV), Enrique Jardines (Absolute Zero), and Craig Polson from San Francisco's Puppet Show. The best tracks merge keyboards and bass clarinet generating a sort of warped sideshow which has run amok. A prime example is "Mandolism vs. the Wrong of Winter" with its spoken word intro which leads into "Tunnels, Traps, Landmines" that spotlights intense guitar phrases from Chris Smith. Then to confuse the listener further there's a hoedown in the form of "Uncle Trap-a Billy Ripe n'Wild on His Way to Kentucky." Don't think these guys have a sense of humor, please! That's not to say the new group doesn't have a grasp of the experimental, since a hopeful target home for this wonderful recording could be Chris Cutler's ReR in the UK or closer to home, Cuneiform. Mr. Parra and new cohorts have lived up to their potential with an endearing work that easily stands with 5uu's Abandonship as one of the most enjoyable releases of the year.

by Jeff Melton, Published 2001-12-01

Filed under: New releases, Issue 23, 2001 releases

Related artist(s): Trap

 

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