Architectural Metaphor's Live Album, Other Music

Architectural Metaphor, hailing from Western Massachusetts, are one of the top American Spacerock bands combining the musical visions of synthesist Paul Eggleston and guitarist/effector, Greg Kozlowski.

As a point of disclosure, Greg has appeared live with my solo Church of Hed project and on record with Quarkspace, whilst both Quarkspace and Church of Hed have done shows with ArcMet. Hey, we only work with musicians whose art we respect, and I only write about things I appreciate and want to tell folks about, so no conflict of interest here! Another hey, Eggleston is a bastard Yankee fan and I still want to write about his band, so there!

ArcMet's latest CD, Outer Music, features the lads in a live setting with drummer, Murph. Yes, that Murph from indie rock legends Dinosaur Jr. and the Lemonheads. His drumming provides ArcMet with sense of SpaceRock rhythmic propolsion and power that wasn't present in the band before.

Deb Young, their original drummer/vocalist, had a more psychedelic, Nick Mason-esque feel for the skins which gave the band an interesting, almost chaotic, feel. Now, they are a refined spacerock machine, rivaling Ozric Tentacles in power, but surpassing them in depth and variety of musical expression.

The live performances on Outer Music span various original instrumentals, some newer and some old, along with a couple covers: Pink Floyd's "On the Run" from Dark Side of the Moon and a strange take on Hawkwind's Hassan I Sabbah, where Eggleston's Kurzweilian timbres reveal perhaps a long-supressed Keith Emerson influence.

Outer Music was audience-recorded during a live performance. Its sound quality is typical of a high-quality DAT recording.

While I still think the ultimate ArcMet live album would span their recorded history at Baltimore's Orion Studios in full multi-track glory, Outer Music definitely scratches the live spacerock itch.