 
If you are
looking for a band or music that is in a
league of its own then go out and find
yourself the music of The Psychedelic
Ensemble. This band, or more accurately one
man show, really rocks the house. In front of
me lies their, or should I say his, debut
album called The Art Of Madness. As the album
came without any press info whatsoever and the
liner notes with the CD mostly reflect his
ideas for the album and not much about
himself, I have had to find out everything
about this guy from the net. I must say this
is not an easy task. There is a site, with
very little information other than where you
can find his music. He has however created
wonderful mini sites - absolutely stunning.
Mr "no name"
plays all instruments himself the only
assistance he gets is help on vocals on one of
the tracks. The rest is him. This all sounds
magnificent and he is one good
multi-instrumentalist to be able to create
this.
The Art Of
Madness is more or less a concept album as the
artist himself writes about on his website: .
. . I thought it best to just write in the
review what he says himself rather than making
my own version of the concept. The concept is
as follows:
"The Art of
Madness is a 56-minute, continuous cycle of
songs, each based on a different manifestation
of madness . . ."
Seeing what the
composer and artist writes himself I can say
no more than it could not have been described
better. The only remarks and additions I want
to make to this are - how is it possible that
only one man is capable of making a musical
concept like this? We have not seen this since
a certain Mike Oldfield stepped up to the
platter back in the seventies, bringing
Tubular Bells and the likes.
Now The
Psychedelic Ensemble's concept is very
different, with the musical direction having
many pointers towards the direction of Pink
Floyd, although conceptually, and also reading
the text, I would say it is more like Camel or
Genesis - if you will. The whole musical
intonation and sphere also breathes the
seventies, but then in a modern jacket. There
is little point doing a track by track as all
the pieces float into one another and have a
certain cyclical nature, which of course is
also common to many concepts.
Now this review
comes rather late as The Psychedelic Ensemble
have recorded a follow up to this beautiful
trip into the Art Of Madness, a psychedelic,
eclectic trip into the world we all know. As I
have a very distinct feeling listening to this
masterpiece - it is our everyday life
encapsulated in a nutshell of music.
Ever since this
album fell on my doormat it has had regular
spins, yes the whole thing, not bits and
pieces, but the album. I find it absolutely
awesome. The artwork from the booklet, where
various painters give "their view" of the
story of a song can be found on the mini site
- this is a must see.
Really
outstanding, but there are always ways to do
better so my concluding rating therefore will
not be 10 out of 10, but just under. I cannot
wait to listen to the follow up.
Conclusion: 9.5 out of 10
Gert
Hulshof
Vol.
55 Dutch Progressive Rock
Fall
2010, The Netherlands
Apparently a one-man project,
the Psychedelic Ensemble has created a
progressive masterwork that explores the
nature of creativity and artistic production
through the psychotic adventures of its
protagonist. Inspired by the artwork of
patients at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center
in Queens, N.Y., this music is
extraordinarily ambitious, taking cues most
noticeably from Pink Floyd, but also bearing
subtleties reflecting the Alan Parson
Project.
According to liner notes
these tracks were largely improvised. That's
surprising, given that the songs sound well
crafted with little hap-dash feel to them.
The production is of a uniformly high
quality; clearly, this self-produced
musician knows how to twist and turn the
knobs. There is a dreamlike quality
throughout, alternating between pastoral
ballads and spacey explorations into
folk-rock territory. The vocals and guitars
will surely bring to mind David Gilmour.
While contemporary in nature,
the 11 songs on The Art of Madness would not
sound out of place on an album from the
1970s, which speaks to the talents of its
unnamed creator.
Mark Newman
Autumn 2010, Issue 60
Well, this is a rare beast! A “one man band”
album that, despite the misgivings roused in
me when I saw the “band” name, making me
fear yet another “retro” journey, turns out
to be one of the best releases of the year!
The music actually does what it says “on the
tin”. The music may be rooted in Pink
Floyd’s Meddle/Dark Side of the Moon/Wish
You Were Here period but the effect of its
other influences - ranging from The
Beatles’s . . . to modern classical music –
means that this conceptual cycle of songs
sounds refreshingly new, as well as being
highly enjoyable. My misgivings soon gave
way to a broad smile when I listened to this
for the first time. The concept tells the
story of an ordinary man who, without
warning, experiences a psychotic ecstasy.
The attractive booklet features artwork
painted by patients of a psychiatric centre
in New York; these works being the
inspiration behind this music. Do not be
afraid - this is rather special!
9/10
Alex
Torres
Fall 2010, U.K.
One is therefore intrigued by
all these elements and a little anxious to
discover if the result is merely smoke for
advertising, or a pretentious work that has
escaped the control of its creator.
Not at all. The Art Of Madness held
all its promises: this is a rich album,
varied, inspired, melodious, and
resourceful. And very
surprising.
First, because it is difficult
to believe that a single artist has himself
produced alone all of these titles. There is
an abundance of instruments making some very
symphonic pieces. We hear in turn acoustic
and electric guitars, bass, piano, organs of
all kinds, drums, sax, flute, harp--even
musical saw and accordion which are probably
derived from a synthesizer. In addition, the
music is sometimes very different from one
song to another and does not appear to come
from the same voice. For example, in
Ecstasy, the voice resembles that of David
Gilmour, while one would swear on Moon Mad
we hear Rod Stewart sing.
Furthermore, how can we believe
that this music is largely improvised? There
is both a great overall coherence, but also
a beautiful variety with a perfect balance
between the titles of the more intimate
symphonic harmony in moments and more
discordant harmony between sung and
instrumental passages. Far from
improvisation, the overwhelming impression
is rather that all elements have long been
matured and carefully arranged.
The concept of the album
describes the various manifestations of
madness faced by an individual. This
provides an opportunity for the artist to
switch parts and pieces from the quiet to
the more agitated and even slightly
dissonant. It would be tedious to describe
the mood of the music, as it is varied. We
could summarize by saying that if we were to
recognize a major influence, we would quote
certainly one of Pink Floyd, especially the
period of The Dark Side Of The Moon. The
introductory piece follows the same
construction as Speak To Me / Breathe, the
insane laughter that returns in several
titles in the style of Brain Damage, and
guitar and vocals are often reminiscent of
David Gilmour.
But simply to compare this album
to those of early Floyd would be unfair and
too restrictive. The Art Of Madness has its
own originality and inspiration of the
author that sometimes leads to strange
melodies reminiscent of Prokofiev or Art
Zoyd. Ecstasy is aerial, Panic is chaotic
and frantic, Fantasy languishing, Delusion
hippie-esque, the experimental Mad Moon, the
worrisome and disenchanted Despair, the
structured and ghostly Apparition, the
aggressive Breakdown and the majestic
Revelation. There's something for everyone.
Do not miss this disc for any reason.
9.0 of 10
November
2010, France
Prolusion.
THE PSYCHEDELIC ENSEMBLE is a solitary
US-based composer and
multi-instrumentalist who has deliberately
chosen to stay anonymous. His debut effort
was initially self-released in 2009, but
following negotiations with a number of
record labels the artist decided to sign
for Musea Records, which issued this CD in
2010.
Analysis. The
subject of art and madness has been an
ongoing topic in the world of art for a
long time, and at least most modern
cultures readily acknowledge that there is
a thin border that divides divine
creativity and insanity. The mysterious
figure behind the moniker The Psychedelic
Ensemble apparently became intrigued by
the topic following an exhibition at the
Living Museum in New York in 2008, and
subsequently started working on what was
to become his debut album after that
experience. The Art of Madness is a
concept album dealing with that topic, and
much to the joy of aficionados of this
kind of production it's constructed as one
continuous composition. The chosen genre
for this venture is probably best
described as art rock, mostly made up of
relatively laidback symphonic progressive,
often closing in on a sound rather similar
to what a band like Pink Floyd explored in
the second half of the ‘70s. More
energetic symphonic territories are
explored as well though, and with
Apparition we're also treated to a piece
with classical chamber music as the
stylistic foundation, albeit liberally
spiced with keyboards and featuring a
myriad of subtle dissonant and disharmonic
textures not that prevalent in the genre
at the core of this particular part of the
composition. Most of this creation has a
strong emphasis on harmony and melody.
Richly textured arrangements are common
features throughout, where dampened
guitars and lighter, often lush, tangents
provide the main contrasting element.
Careful but frequent use of dissonances
and disharmonies is the main effect
utilized, mostly to give a musical voice
to the state of mind and soul we commonly
describe as insanity or madness, which by
and large is a rather logical choice I'd
imagine. Heavy guitar riffs take the lead
on a few select occasions to add
additional darkness and gloom to the
proceedings, first and foremost on the
part named Moon Mad, while instrumental
bursts are effectively used throughout,
adding dramatic flair. The various parts
and themes explored contain many fine
passages that might be described in minute
detail, like some intriguing guitar and
organ harmonies and clever use of spirited
bass lines supporting gentle but richly
layered keyboard textures, but overall
this isn't essential when describing this
composition. Details worth noting are that
the distorted electric guitars tend to be
placed back in the mix, while the acoustic
and undistorted electric forays are given
a more prominent place in the
arrangements. The soloing tends to be of
the atmospheric variety, with ones
provided by the guitar often reminiscent
of David Gilmour's in sound and
expression. The overall sound is warm,
tends to be somewhat subdued, and the
composer opts for the use of a
sophisticated approach rather than a
boundary-breaking and highly challenging
one.
Conclusion.
The Psychedelic Ensemble has made a
promising and rather intriguing initial
effort with The Art of Madness, and
in terms of a target audience I'd imagine
that those who have a soft spot for
mid-70s Pink Floyd might be ones who will
find the CD to be most interesting. But
those with a general liking for elaborate
art rock made with subtle finesse might
also want to find out more about this
disc, in particular if they are generally
interested in concept albums.
 (5.5
of
6 Stars)
Olav M
Bjornsen
August 2010,
London, England
The
Psychedelic
Ensemble is essentially a one man project,
but his name remains a mystery. According to
the website, this musician has performed and
recorded with major players since the 1970s
and has garnered over twenty-five awards. The Art Of
Madness is his first album and it
is an impressive debut to say the least.
The Art Of
Madness mostly recalls classic
progressive music of the 1970s and for the
most part gives off a mellow vibe. I do not
want to paint this music into a corner but I
was mostly reminded of early to mid 70s Pink
Floyd, especially some of their acoustic
stuff. What really impresses me about The
Psychedelic Ensemble is that it is only one
person. Believe me, this does not sound like
a one man band. The skill of this musician
is evident as he handles all the instruments
himself, including some excellent guitar
work. Another plus are the vocals which are
quite good throughout.
This is
a concept album inspired by the musician's
visit to the Living Museum which features
the art of patients of the Creedmoor
Psychiatric Center in Queens, New York. The
song titles suggest different episodes of
madness, and chaotic laughing and haunting
screams adds a feeling of unease as the
listener is pulled into the chaos. The
eleven songs bleed into one another making
this an ideal album to listen to in one
sitting.
The
album's first song is the serene
"Prologue/Ecstasy" that ebbs and flows like
a dream with lovely organ and crisp, clean
electric guitar giving it an early Floyd
feel. The tempo increases, as well as the
chops, in the progressive rock of "Panic"
with frantic keyboard play and some searing
electric guitar. The gentle guitar melody in
"Fantasy" invokes memories of classic 70s
prog, while the ominous "Moon Mad" with its
psychedelic edged guitar and slow plodding
riffs creates an atmosphere of doom with
strategically placed screams adding to the
sinister sound. The spacey intro in
"Despair" is very nice, leading to acoustic
guitar reminiscent of Floyd's "Wish You Were
Here". "Apparition" is a classical based
piece heavy on the keyboards, while the
album's last song, "Revelation/Epilogue",
ends the CD with a bit of folky prog that
has a nice acoustic melody.
This is
an impressive debut loaded with melody and
just plain good songs. If you like 70s prog,
in the vein of bands like Pink Floyd, you
will probably want this in your collection.
You should also be on the lookout for the
band's upcoming release The Myth of
Dying. I know I will.
 (4 of 5
stars)
John Neudorf
March
2010, U.S.
One might assume that
because The Psychedelic Ensemble's album was
released on Musea in France that the artist behind
the project is French. In fact, the artist remains
anonymous and worked in a solo capacity to
compose. perform, and record the album, The Art of Madness.
We know simply that the artist chose to remain
anonymous, but since the 70s has collaborated with
some of the biggest musical artists.
Also mysterious is
the album itself, The Art of Madness, which is a
concept album based on insanity. In 11 titles, the
artist developed a musical and psychical journey
reconstructing the evolution of madness. The story
is that of a man who experiences an ecstasy,
seeing tears in the sky transformed into light
that shows him a new form of art and music. You
must understand this is not the album played on
Saturday evening while watching football on the
television with mates drinking beer. It is better
to re-listen to the integral music of Pink Floyd
before plunging into this work that is as
disconcerting as it is exciting. The influence of
Roger Waters and David Gilmour is present from the
first notes of Prologue-Ecstasy, which starts the
disc.
There is a
progression following a musical and psychological
course which evolves in panic, (Panic), fancy
(Fantasy) and the more oblique dream (Dream),
disenchantment (Delusion), lunar madness, (Moon
Mad) and then despair (Despair). But such a
Dantesque course amidst Hell, one finds the path
of purgatory, then paradise with stages that
uplift the protagonist towards a revelation that
his madness is, in fact, a gift and key to
artistic creation (Apparition, Breakdown,
Sedation, Revelation-Epilogue).
Mystical and
introspective, this disc quickly shows
extraordinary qualities of writing and
ambience. The content is primarily
traditional progressive [rock], very Pink
Floydienne, also making one think of Italian
groups of the 70s (PFM [Premiata Forneria
Marconi], The Trip, The Elms, …). No name is
credited for the writing except the generic name
The Psychedelic Ensemble. But if it is true that
it is only one artist who composed the whole, then
I take off my hat to him because the work is
completely extraordinary. One feels this artist
has dozens of years of experimenting behind him.
The musical voyage fully works and the listener
feels transported in the various mental phases. It
is undoubtedly with Despair, right in the middle
of the voyage, where one is most invested in the
music, sailing on a fragile cloth of flute and
accordion which leads suddenly to a gathering of
beautiful acoustic guitar and cool organ.
Breakdown is the most agitated work on the disc
with a dissoluteness of organ like Emerson, Lake,
and Palmer. The finale is much calmer to resolve
the strange voyage and mysteries of the mind.
Connoisseurs of
progressive [rock], and particularly of Pink
Floyd, will by happy with this disc, which harkens
back to the purest traditions of the 70s and which
always reveals on successive listenings more
details in the music. Nothing is really new, but
the old is wonderfully recycled.
(4 of 5 Stars)
François Becquart
August
2010, Belgium
The Art of
Madness is the initial effort of a
US-based composer and multi-instrumentalist
who prefers to stay anonymous, and was
initially self-released in 2009. Musea Records
would subsequently sign the artist. And if
this debut album is an indicator of what's in
store later on, fans of sophisticated art rock
have quite a lot to look forward to. A concept
album dealing with the topics of sanity and
insanity - madness if you like - and its
relation to art. A number of stylistic
expressions are covered, from a laidback
gentle version of symphonic rock to more
richly textured atmospheric creations with a
nod or three in the direction of late 70's
Pink Floyd. There's even room for a chaotic,
dissonant slightly embellished classical
chamber piece in the shape of Apparition.
Those who love
concept albums, find pleasure in songs lasting
for an hour and have a soft spot for late 70's
Pink Floyd should make up the perfect audience
for this album. And while perhaps not quite as
breathtaking as the masters of old this is a
good quality production through and through,
and a very promising first CD from this US
artist.
(4 of 5
Stars)
Olav Martin
Bjørnsen
July
2010, Norway
A generic band
name, a one-man-band who keeps his name
under wraps – it annoys me, so I came to
this CD with a not particularly good
disposition. Yet, I have to admit that The Art of
Madness is a very strong album, and
an ambitious concept album to boot, in the
vein of Dark Side of the Moon with
neo-progressive overtones. Pink Floyd is
definitely a major influence, but I also
hear the kind of arrangements Steve Thorne
favours. An album about mental illness,
where tracks segue in suite form. Tempi are
slow, but the music doesn’t drag on.
Melodies are efficient, the recording is
skillful. In this genre, this is a great
piece of music, and it’s easy to be seduced
by it. So may The Psychedelic Ensemble step
out of anonymousness, that we can laud his
efforts appropriately!
François Couture
August
2010, Canada
When
this album [The Art of Madness] fell
into my hands, it got placed a fairly
large stack of CDs that I had to discuss.
Eventually, it found its way into the CD
player. But the danger, of course, was
that this record would be lost in the
abundant pile of music, because originally
I had--in contrast to the rest of the
material in the changer--no plan to
discuss this CD. But rather than going to
the works I had to discuss, I somehow
always came back to this album. A good
sign. A very good sign!
My first spontaneous impression was that
it is a very diverse album. It included
several songs--such as a bluesy
title--that are not my particular taste.
In any case, my curiosity was aroused, and
I continued to investigate the album. And
lo and behold - at the end I liked even
the songs that I originally didn't care
for. This is evidence of high quality!
More remarkable is that I would have never
suspected that this is a one-man project.
That this musician has performed
everything can be described as quite
spectacular--guitars, keyboards, acoustic
and electronic percussion (not
programmed). The way in various sections
styles are combined such as psychedelic
rock, neoclassical, symphonic prog, blues
-- is a great feat! In addition, there is
still a very pleasant manner and
intonation--and even the vocals sometimes
give the impression that different singers
are at work.
At times, early 70s Pink Floyd influences
are evident, then again it enters a purely
classical realm. Also, it sometimes
reminds one of the psychedelic trips on
the Second Hand album, Death May Be
Your Santa Claus; or some organ
passages also produce a certain Egg or
National Health feeling. But also
the delicate acoustic guitar parts belong
to the sound of The Psychedelic Ensemble.
Although at first this seems to be quite a
wild mix, the American musician managed to
merge everything to create a really
interesting, homogeneous whole, where the
melodic and almost avant-garde equally
coexist. Great! And now that I have heard
the album often, I adjust the marks
awarded to the top again, as I still
discover something new.
13
of 15
Jürgen Meurer
Issue 70, November 2010
A
mysterious musician lies behind "The
Psychedelic Ensemble." He chose to remain
anonymous so as not to be directly linked
with his successes in the 70s, that seems
to be certain. Is it Alan Parsons? Here in
the newsroom, we also thought Andy Ward,
ex-Camel, who has become a
multi-instrumentalist and is also known
for having had all sorts of psychological
problems. And that is what The Art of
Madness is about. Or is Gordon Giltrap
reverting to his folk albums from his Fear
of the Dark period? The male image on the
[The Art of Madness] CD cover seems
similar to the male image of Giltrap's
Perilious Journey. It could be because all
these influences, in addition to Floyd,
are present on The Art of Madness. At the
center, there is traditional symphonic
rock.
The
work is fodder for psychologists, and we
have three of them at ProgLog Afterglow.
The tracks are different manifestations of
madness such as psychosis and they succeed
very well. Listen to the desperation in
Despair and the terrifying Breakdown. But
there is hope and a new beginning in the
beautiful Revelation-Epilogue.
A
psychiatrist suggests on the album that
"creativity and artistic production are
almost a symptom of mental illness." The
experience of the main character on the
album is not ruined by the madness but it
manifests itself precisely as
unprecedented creativity. I just had to
think about others, including Syd Barrett,
Brian Wilson, and Peter Green.
Beautiful
album. Now, on to the new album, The Myth
of Dying, by our "musician without a name"
released this month.
Harry
de Vries
Fall
2010, Netherlands
. . . I
would like to say that I have
listened to this album completely,
several times over. When I first
started listening to it I thought to
myself, Wow! This is really weird
and trippy! But the more I listened
and started paying closer attention
to it, I quickly became totally
fascinated and completely overwhelmd
with the enormous amount of feel and
great depth of artistic
expression. Each song has an
indepth meaning, that is extremely
intense and visually
intoxicating. This album
is much more than just music, it is
a totally brilliant work of
creative arts, that will blow your
mind, while it takes you on a
psychedelic journey full of genius
imagination! I highly recommend this
album to those looking for something
different, that is really far out
there!
Psychedelic
Central
Fall
2009,
U.S.
At what
point does the reputation of a
musician influence his success? This
disc is a curiosity, initially given
its release in 2009, without mention
of its author and only his
collaboration with some big names in
progressive rock since the
seventies. . . . Musea decided to
give a second chance to this concept
album that consists of eleven
contiguous songs. . . .
. . .
Musically, the style ranges from the
soaring progressive, acoustic and
chamber rock, evoking Pink Floyd,
ELP or Pulsar. It is the influence
of the legendary Dark Side of the
Moon that is most resonant. Voices
are treated well and have a dense
warm sound. . . . The album proves
to be a nice achievement, especially
that this work was done alone is
stunning. With its awards gleaned in
2009 and its Musea distribution,
comes this anonymous artist's highly
anticipated new musical epic, now
fresh out, The Myth of Dying.
Florent Simon
Fall 2010,
France
I don't have to elaborate on
this, it's sufficient to say that
the hour of wonderful music passes
by in a flash while leaving a deeply
satisfying feeling of memories to
the wonderful seventies, the heyday
of prog. It's nice to know that
there are still musicians who burn a
candle for those days.
André
de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen)-The
Netherlands
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