Baron - Illegitimate Nephew

Thought I was in for another ambient treat when I fired up this Baron CD. It begins with the most blissful arpeggiated chimes of the like I could happily listen to unaccompanied for hours. Though not totally unfortunate, I was a little disappointed when the vocals and traditional songwriting arrangements kicked in. That's no reflection on the music though as Baron appear to be tasteful, forward thinking composers. A quick skim through the press release explains this matter as Baron is a project conceived by Alex Crispin - ex-singer and keyboard player of Brighton progressive rockers Diagonal. 'Illegitimate Nephew' is well prog, albeit of the folky 'Canterbury' kind, and features guest appearances from the majority of Diagonal's members bringing with it a high standard of musicianship and a natural consistency throughout. This is a lovely collection of songs that showcase Crispin's warm vocal tones that sit somewhere between Greg Lake and Robert Wyatt. Standout track on first listen has to be the wild 'Infinity Variations' that sounds like early Frank Zappa jamming with The Meters. It's an amazingly well produced track too, very funky! The concept of there being only 50 of these on the planet is strangely maddening. If it was the mid-seventies Reverb Worship would be selling this by the bucket-load. Easily the most hi-fi thing I've ever heard on the label.