GUNESH — Вижу Землю (I See The Earth) (review)

GUNESH — Вижу Землю (I See The Earth) album cover

Album · 1984 · World Fusion

4/5 · 2025-02-03
FunkFreak75

The second album fusing East-West musical styles and sounds from this Turkmenistani band. Funky, proggy Jazz-Rock World Fusion from Turkmenistan, the band's self-titled debut album from four years before is a personal favorite of mine, happily straddling several musical genres with their native folk melodies and instruments woven integrally into their jazz-oriented music, making them a real pioneer of World Fusion.

Side 1 1. "Байконур / Baikonur" (5:02) fast-moving funk-clavinet opens this one, alone, before flanged dynamic fretless electric bass and the rest of the band join in. The motif is fast and repetitive, with stop and go restarts almost every six or seven seconds over the song's first two minutes, and some cutesie percussion noises topping things off from time to time. Early in the third minute the funk motif shuts down and we're left with a spacey synth and electric piano sound over which percussives, rhythm guitar, and native traditional accordion-sounding instrument play a slow and frozen theme before horn section, bass, and the rest of the full band rejoin to celebrate a kind of mariachi-sounding ethnic jazz theme. Interesting! These musicians are definitely competent and dialed in! (9/10)

2. "Бу Дерды / Bu Derdy" (7:44) drums and percussive synth sound duet for the speedy, demanding opening half minute of this one. Then we interlude with some long "distant" sax notes over spaced-out chord hits following an unpredictable progression. It's like we're on a journey: first speeding down the road, then climbing up the arduous mountain, then enjoying the sights from the lofty, even above clouds heights--this latter performed by pixie dust synth flourishes over angelic synth washes. A god-like voice enters to make some announcement or proclamation (in a language I have no experience with) before backing off for an ensuing conversation between pixies and vocoder-fed voice. Then we transition into a synth- and electric piano-supported hand drum motif over which male vocalist sings in an style that sounds more akin to Islamic religious or Arabian dance music (sometimes I cannot distinguish between the two: both seem so celebratory, even religiously-charged). The melodies of the synth tracks are cleverly integrated into a weave with the vocalist's melody--which is later picked up by what sounds like a sarod or swarmandal before yielding back to the vocalist for the finish. Another very interesting song whose compositional construction leaves me a bit baffled--especially since I don't know the translations of the song title; they sound as if they're trying to compose something that conveys a variety of scenes from a journey. It is a very intriguing, entertaining, and even enjoyable song if a bit poorly recorded. (13.375/15)

3. "Восточный Экспресс / Oriental Express" (3:32) How would citizens of Turkmenistan know of the Oriental Express? Drums and flanged keyboard bass open this before horn section joins in to set up the next motif--which includes a flanged electric bass with all of the horns and big band. Halfway through there is a stoppage after which the band launches into a speedy funky space tune that sounds somewhat imitative of both Jean-Luc Ponty and German bands like ELOY. The bass lines are great, western-style kit drumming tight, and the native guitar playing quite melodic. (8.75/10)

Side 2 4. "Ритмы Кавказа / Rhythms Of The Caucasus" (8:25) another thickly grounded funk bass and drum tune over which violin, electrified guitars and native guitars take turns playing the rapid-fire riffs that make up the traditional-sounding folk-melodies. In the third or fourth minute things stop and a more faith-based tune is set in motion: with violin and male voice picking up the plaintive dirge while a subtly shifting chord of synth-male choir "aah/oohs" drone in the background. I really love this kind of music: it sounds so mystical and devotional. At the 5:00 mark there is another stop and reset, this time into a motif with a fast two-step rhythmic foundation over which violin, local percussion instruments, and guitars speed through their locally popular melodies. An extended hand drum solo in the seventh minute sets up a dynamic return of all of the other folk instruments for the high speed finish. Nice stuff but, again, how/why the three totally different motifs? (17.5/20)

5. "Ветер С Берегов Ганга / Wind From The Gang" (4:32) reverbed violin plays over tabla-like drums giving the opening of this song a rather early-Shakti sound--the main difference here is that keyboard synths are the other contributing soloist instead of a John McLaughlin guitar. Then Middle Eastern synth chords back sarod-like instrument before the synth strings takeover by themselves. Nice electric piano base takes over with the tabla before Indian- or Chinese-sounding bowed string instrument takes the lead. Very pleasant, engaging, and enjoyable song. (I'm a real sucker for this kind of music.) (9.25/10)

6. "Вьетнамские Фрески / Vietnamese Frescoes" (4:20) despite the electric bass and Western drums and electric violin presence, the melodies explored here by the violin, keyboard artist, and traditional string and percussion instruments definitely succeeds in the imitation of what sounds to my uneducated ears like music and melodies that could come from Vietnam. The choppy staccato keyboard-synth sounds taking over the song's second half are interesting--sounding more space-industrial like something from a Larry Fast SYNERGY or Patrick Moraz I album, but then full drum play rises into the mix and then the rest of the rock instruments, letting the song end strongly like something from a BRAND X or JEFF BECK Wired album. I adore the final motif, am intrigued by the middle synth one, and am impressed by the successful capture in the opening section of of Southeast Asian sounds and melodies. (8.875/10)

Total time 33:35

The music of these highly-skilled musicians is all over the place: with funky bass and drums, proggy electric keyboards, jazz-rock horns, and lots of local/ethnic instrumentation and melodies integrated into the music. At times it feels more a celebration of Islam, at others like we're watching Weather Report and Herbie's Head Hunters performing on stage together. It's often quite engaging melodically, rhythmically, and at others feels cheezy and contrived to show off rather than demonstrate song writing cohesion. I enjoy this album and it's diverse music but not quite so much as their previous album from 1980.

89.0 on the Fishscales = B+/four stars; another excellent collection of folk and traditional music infused Jazz-Rock Fusion from these excellent Turkmenistani musicians. I love the successful blending of Eastern traditional music melodies, instruments, and styles with those of modern technologized Western innovations coming from the 1970s Jazz-Rock Fusion world.