PROG-RESISTE (Belgium) no. 14 (Fall/Winter 1998), p. 22

Magnetic Oblivion Records USA ’97 52:37

Ed Macan is first of all the author of an excellent book, Rocking the Classics, which places progressive rock in its historical-cultural context and which analyzes its interactions with the counterculture of the late 60s/early 70s. The book is warmly recommended to readers who can manage even a bit of English, as the reading of it is not easy for a reader not fluent in English. The author knows of what he speaks, for he is an established music instructor, an experimenter, and what is more, he is open to a great variety of musical genres. One therefore looks forward to his disc, a combination of five of his own compositions and three covers (Curved Air, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Gustav Holst–the inescapable "Mars"). A first look at the composition of his group surprised us: vibraphone and marimba (Ed Macan), bass, drums, triangle, gong, glockenspiel, and sundry other percussives. The instruments utilized are inevitably linked to jazz. The complex musical structures, on the other hand, lean towards progressive and classical. The impression of the ensemble’s arrangements makes one think of the current known as "chamber rock" (Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, and company). This is a new, creative music which owes nothing to anybody. Even the covers are entirely individual and I have personally much appreciated that of Gustav Holst. In short, a release that isn’t for everyone, but for those who are adventurous and who aren’t allergic to mallet percussion instruments. (Denis, if you are not nice, I will put on three straight minutes of it!)

Gilles Arend