Marco Minnemann - Eeps

(CD 2014,79:16, Lazy Bones Recordings)

The tracks:
  1- Cheap As F**K And Awesome As Hell
  2- Oc Dc
  3- Eeps
  4- Live Ghost
  5- Soul Dance
  6- Obvious
  7- Right On Time And Out Of Tune
  8- Sushi Cat Doll
  9- Sunshine
10- The Split
11- Painter
12- Dead Ghost
13- Douche
14- Synthetic Swans
15- When I Was Gone
16- 360 Degrees
17- Talking About LMR
18- Villain Vultures

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Writing an intro and explaining who Marco Minnemann is, only would provide you with information the majority of our readers are already aware of. What is a very interesting part, is the fact he's not “just” a drummer. Along with his solo career, he has proven to be a versatile guitar player, vocalist and basically a multi-instrumentalist with a lot of potential.

Judging by the projects and bands Marco was or still is involved in; Paul Gilbert, The Aristocrats, Steven Wilson, you might get an impression of what his solo work could sound like. Okay, just forget about these names, his solo projects are to say at the least “something else”.

Listen to his 2014 album Eeps: an album filled with music that covers a wide variety of styles, moods and experiments. Songs like the opener, Cheap As F**K And Awesome As Hell, aswell as Dead Ghost and Right On Time And Out Of Tune, are good samples of the way Marco likes to experiment with different instruments on top of his unique percussive drum style. Songs like When I Was Gone and Soul Dance are structured in a more conventional way, here elements of King Crimson appear, embedded in a poly rhythmic foundation of drums. On the other hand, we find music like the album's “epic” Sushi Cat Doll, a - clocking over eleven minutes - progressive based composition. A solid base of drumming opens paths for weird passages, but also for a Pink Floyd style guitar solo. The outcome is a more than impressive composition. Interesting is the loop-based Douche, where a single word gently grows into a rock composition with a minimalistic finale. Again, taking another turn, we find a song that could have been released on a Paul Gilbert solo album; the ones with vocals. Sunshine comes closest to a pop song, Minnemann style. During songs like Painter and The Split, you might even find some references to bands like Porcupine Tree or Dream Theater.

Without a doubt, Marco Minnemann is one of the most impressive, innovating drummers at present, and the only reason I can imagine why he didn't get enlisted in Dream Theater, is because of the way he would put his mark on future compositions. On Eeps,  Marco displays his expertise on other instruments besides his drums. Not afraid of challenging you as a listener, to push your boundaries by his experimental structured - or should I write “un”structured - compositions. In the end, this album is good for almost eighty minutes of Minnemann and Minnemann only, except for the closing composition Villain Vultures, where all instruments besides the drums, are played by co-producer Scott Schorr. Eeps is an album for people who are interested in aforementioned bands and not afraid of an experiment.

***+ Pedro Bekkers (edited by Esther Ladiges)

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