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Sea Of Tranquility, USA |
Paul M. Kollar is the bassist/guitarist/keyboard player for the
legendary late ‘70's prog band St. Elmo's Fire, who released one album
titled Splitting Ions In The Ether (a.k.a., Live At The Cleveland Agora). Back
while the band was touring, Kollar would occasionally open the show with a solo
performance utilizing Robert Fripp's tape loop technology with guitars and
keyboards. This collection is culled from those various dates, and comes across
like one seem less recording.
Those familiar with the Fripp/Eno
sessions of the mid-1970's should find much of interest here. While there is
much electronic music out there today, this CD has an aura of mystique to it
that rises above the generic. Another point of comparison would be early
Tangerine Dream, as these tunes seemingly sizzle with chirps, beeps and
electronic whooshes. Kollar uses electric guitars, Moog, Korg, organ and
various effects to create a huge wall of sound that depicts a kinetic sense of
atmosphere and mood, rather than melodies and solo spots.
On a few
occasions, though, as on "The Ring And The River", the Moog actually has an
almost haunting melody line that is rather poignant. According to the liner
notes all of the songs were improvised with little or no overdubs, and the
spontaneity is rather refreshing. Listeners who like a lot of diversity might
get a little antsy about three-quarters the way through this CD, but give it a
few listens and it will grow on you. This is a good companion to the St. Elmo's
Fire CD, as both have Fripp influences that will please all Crimson
fans.
[Paul Kollar phoned us a few weeks ago to report that a brand new
St. Elmo's Fire album is nearly completed, and will be released soon. We're
eagerly awaiting it. - Ed.] - Peter Pardo |
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Eclectic Earwig Reviews USA |
Indeed, Subtle Matter is an appropriate title for this disc, which
consists of delicate Frippian soundscapes produced in real-time by
bassist/guitarist/keyboardist Paul Kollar. Kollar, of course, was also the
bassist/guitarist for the criminally underrated American prog band St. Elmo's
Fire, and these pieces date from the same era as Elmo's incredible live LP.
Kollar performed these "spontaneous compositions" at St. Elmo's Fire gigs
before the full band entered. Although I can imagine the contrast between the
ethereal, free-floating solo pieces and Elmo's aggressive Crimsoid attack would
make these works click even better, an entire album's worth of just this style
holds up fairly well.
The first and longest (nearly 11 minutes)
composition, which the album takes it name from, is probably the most "subtle"
- one gets the feeling of otherworldly exploration, a seeking of the unknown
made more poignant by each sparingly used note. Occasionally a hint of doubt or
some other emotion presents itself, usually through the choice of a single
unexpected note. This piece really shows off Kollar's skill at making every
single note count. Although the otherworldly feel is apparent throughout the
album, there are myriad different moods. "She Painted Her Face" feels exotic
and lonely, "The Ring And The River" evokes a sense of peace, even terror and
confusion on "The Lie" (which incorporates segments from what sound like a soap
opera, with bizarre effects).
Bottom line: Not a good buy for those
with ADD, or for that matter those who like a lot going on in their music. But
for those who enjoy soaking in this kind of atmosphere, Subtle Matter comes
highly recommended. - Jon Dharma Murphree |
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Expose', Issue No. 20 USA |
Kollar is the bassist/guitarist of St. Elmo's Fire, a five piece
who were active in the Cleveland area in the late seventies/early eighties -
and have since reformed (see our review of the re-issue Splitting Ions In The
Ether - issue 17, p58). In those days, whenever the band would perform, Kollar
would start the show with a 15-20 minute set of solo guitar looping
improvisations, which were recorded but until now never released. There is no
doubt (and Kollar makes no attempt to hide it) that the main inspiration for
this was Robert Fripp's spring 1979 Frippertronics tour. The liner notes even
detail how after seeing the tour, Kollar was able to "assemble a reasonable
facsimile of the one I had seen Mr. Fripp using". Yet the spirit of the music
herein is a bit different, a slightly different creative approach - far more
fluid and emotional than the more cold and academic (yet still very innovative)
Let The Power Fall. Subtle Matter comes closer to the pioneering Fripp &
Eno collaboration Evening Star. The slower evolutionary sounds approach and
decay on a number of levels with far more subtlety and elasticity; very
relaxing it is, shimmering with tonal color and glowing with energy. The disc
contains nine tracks of varying length, and absolutely beautiful computer
generated cover art. Much to recommend herein. - Peter Thelen |
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Aural Innovations #10 (June 2000) USA |
Before proceeding, do me a favor and read the St. Elmo's Fire
review from AI issue #5. Ok, read it? So now you know that St. Elmo's Fire was
a King Crimson influenced progressive band from the late ‘70's. Paul
Kollar played guitar, bass, keyboards and tapes with the band, and due to his
infatuation with the loop work that Robert Fripp was doing would open Elmo
shows by performing his own music using a setup similar to what Fripp had been
using at the time.
All the tracks on Subtle Matter are improvisations
taken from these performances and feature Kollar "using the Fripp & Eno
style tape loop system" playing guitars, organ, various synths effects and
delays. Just for fun, after listening to this CD, and prior to writing the
review, I dusted off my copies of Fripp & Eno's "No Pussyfooting" and
Fripp's "God Save The Queen" just to get back into the spirit of the
thing.
Now nobody respects Robert Fripp more than I do. But his guitar
soundscape stuff gets a little tiresome after a while. Kollar has clearly
learned well from the master and made this process his own. While tracks like
"Point Blank", "The Ring And The River", "I Heard You Were Leaving", and
"Subduction" incorporate the classic Frippiod sounds, most of the music on
Subtle Matter focuses on pleasing ambience rather than what I consider to be
the coldness of Fripp's soundscapes (Fripp probably does it
deliberately).
Tracks like "Subtle Matter", "The Ring And The River",
and "Searching For Food" highlight majestic orchestral work with multiple
keyboard lines that produce a mass of sound rather than focusing on melodies,
though certainly the recognizable Frippiod guitar work is present. Another
standout track is "She Painted Her Face", with its brain piercing synth and
soundscape guitar lines and sampled voices. This has really high-pitched synths
that made me turn down the volume (headphones y'know). Kollar explores a world
that straddles the line between floating Tangerine Dream styled-electronica and
more abstract textures. Finally, "Subduction" features standard Fripp loops
combined with freakier rocking guitar bits. Multiple layers of guitars make
this one of the more complex tracks and the one I kept returning to.
In
summary, Kollar's music will appeal to those who enjoy Robert Fripp"s guitar
experimentations but feel he long ago took it as far as he could. I also think
this is a good starting point for those who dig King Crimson and classic
progressive rock, and are interested in the more abstract prog world yet want
to wade in slowly. - Jerry Kranitz |
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Progression Magazine issue #34, Spring 2000 USA |
Paul M. Kollar: Subtle Matter (CD, 58:46): Sprawling Productions
Ltd. SPL9901
Positively hypnotic and haunting ambient/space dronings here.
This album is subtitled "The St. Elmo Loops", because all nine tracks are drawn
from various live gigs by proggers St. Elmo's Fire circa 1979-'81, using the
Fripp & Eno style tape loop system. All these composistions by St. Elmo's
Fire member Paul Kollar are improvised via electric guitar and keyboards,
including the deeply resonant Moog. Kollar attended several performances of
live loop-making by Robert Fripp in 1979, and was so impressed he set up his
own system "to explore this continuous overdub style of spontaneous
composistion," as explained in the liner notes. Kollar would typically perform
these tracks for about 20 minutes before St. Elmo's began its evening
performance, or before the second set which typically opened with King Crimson
covers. So, it follows that Subtle Matter should be considered a companion disc
to the group's disc, Splitting Ions In The Ether. The starkness and deep
vibrational feel to these tracks tends to stir the emotions, but it depends on
the approach Kollar favors at the time. "The Ring and the River" is deeply
relaxing, for example-perhaps even transcendent. Other pieces possess an
unsettling edginess that's equally effective, as in "Point Blank" and "The
Lie". The latter has some weird, angst-ridden voice clips apparently lifted
from a television show or movie. Subtle Matter might seem subtle in it's
ambient approach, but the impact it has on your emotions will be anything but.
That certainly makes it an effective piece of work. John Collinge |
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Ground And Sky, 10-4-00 USA |
This is the first disc that I've gotten to review for Ground and
Sky as a "promo". So I decided to go in blind - listening to it without knowing
anything more than the artist, title (neither of which I had heard of before)
and what the cover looked like.
The title and cover art give a strong
hint about the music. At first I thought it was a solo artist using several
synthesizers to build each song up layer by layer in a studio. Entirely
instrumental, it reminded me a bit of Tangerine Dream, and of a CD I bought
from ProgDay keyboard tech Dennis Haley.
After listening to the whole
thing, I read the back of the CD case and was surprised to learn that some of
the sounds were generated using guitar loops. Then I was stunned to see that
the whole album came from improvised live performances in the late ‘70's
and early ‘80's in what the notes describe as the "Fripp & Eno" style.
Kollar performed this music as a warm-up at the concerts of the band he was in,
St. Elmo's Fire. He describes Subtle Matter as a companion to that band's
Splitting Ions In The Ether.
With the Fripp comparison in mind, I
re-listened to the music on Subtle Matter and could definitely hear the
similarity to the one Fripp & Eno album that I own (No Pussyfooting). Slow
building layers of sound that float in and out , passing by in particular hurry
to get anywhere. Not quite new-age, but close. It's not music for active
listening on a regular basis, but for my first listen I played it in the car
while driving at sunrise, and it fit that situation nicely. Kept me sane during
the traffic jams.
As I mentioned, the album is instrumental but there
are a few "spoken word" passages. They sound like dialog captured from TV shows
and looped. Particularly interesting is "The Lie", which alternates snippets of
conversation about love and lying. Oddly creepy and beautiful at the same
time.
I don't know that this is an album that I'd run out and buy -
I've already got the same sort of music on that Fripp & Eno album. But I'll
be a little unhappy about having to pass this one on to the next reviewer. If
your really into this sort of improvised, ambient music, this disc would be
worth picking up. - Bob Eichler |
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Prog-Net, 5/26/00 USA - Rating: ***½ |
Subtle Matter is a collection of tape loops from
guitarist/keyboardist/bassist Paul Kollar from the band St. Elmo's Fire. Those
familiar with that band's King Crimson inspired prog mayhem might be a little
surprised at the complete 180 degree turnaround on this solo set. What Paul
serves up are Brian Eno/Robert Fripp influenced electronic tapestries utilizing
the now famous tape loop technology.
Using various guitars and
keyboards, Paul creates a bubbling array of sounds that chirp, whoosh and
whistle while trying desperately to keep enough variation to sustain the
listener. According to the liner notes, these nine tracks were recorded live
between 1979-1981 during various live performances where Paul opened up the St.
Elmo's Fire concerts with a brief solo spot.
At times I find this kind
of thing extremely fascinating, especially when I am in the mood for a rather
unique piece of music that is not too busy and can help set a mood. However, as
with the aforementioned Fripp & Eno, after a few songs the listening
experience can get a little tedious due to the lack of additional
instrumentation or song structure. Still, this is a recommended release for all
into ambient and electronic music, and the crisp sound quality makes for a fun
listen. - Peter Pardo |
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