RALPH BEAUVERT
STAGES
(Mooncow Records)
This is the live album taken from two main shows. The first show catches Rudra
(Ralph)
with Will Strehler
on guitar at London’s Astoria (1992) and Wintherthur (1993). The second brings
us forward a year to a much more ambient sounding solo show at Rheinfeld Casino,
Switzerland. To my own personal taste, the second show is the classic one, it
has a quality of gentleness
and complexity that is
entrancing.
Part One: Astoria London/Winterthur
With a “hello!” the album brings us to
“Fools Paradise”.
The sound quality of these first songs is not as rich as the second part of the
album. Still a good track. But I think the best of the songs in this first part
is a good version of “The
Unconscious Life” that sounds
like a sea-shanty sung by a space rocket scientist and has some good Will
Strehler. Or maybe “Time and
Distance”, which this time
around has morphed into a
Hawkwindesque epic. But as
with most of Rudra’s music, dynamics and pacing are to the fore, and there is a
great guitar
playing from Will on this track.
Part Two: Rheinfelden Casino, Switzerland 1994
This was some gig, or collection of tracks from different shows. It’s like being
flung into the cosmos with a rush of samples, strange bleeps and washes of
sounds, right from the beginning. Completely fascinating and, as far as I am
concerned, exactly the kind of music that should be played from every rooftop.
Most of the tracks are from
RITE OF PASSAGE but the way
they are sewn together seamlessly is a fascinating process.
“Tune In”,
the introduction, is one of the very best things Rudra has done. It sounds as
fresh as the day it was laid down.
Hard to top the intro, but
“Green”, with a wash of
birdsong, Rudra sings about the colour of green and the duties we have to
protect the environment.
His voice is very well supported and treated in the mix, it sounds full and
appealing. The track also shows Rudra’s mastery of programming as layer on layer
of sound is added..
The next tracks comprise
Rudra’s “greatest hits”,
including excellent versions of
“Fools Paradise”
and “Rite of Passage”
– again, Rudra is in good voice.
“Time and Distance “
lopes along with a light feel to it, sort of like a spiritual Jean Michel Jarre
and it is a good version. It’s the one track where Rudra’s voice sound uncannily
like someone, and I’m trying to think who it is. Whatever, it sounds good. “This
is flight 107 to Melbourne Australia” begins
“The Good Times”
, an uncanny foretaste of his later link with Shiva Jones. This is a subversive
take on the aboriginal plight.
The album ends with “I Believe”
, a Rudra epic love song – either to God or to a loving partner.
Reviewed by Professor Cornelius