Michael Bernier Ritchie DeCarlo - 2017 "Strangers"

Michael Bernier, known for his virtuosity on the Chapman Stick, is also no slouch on the guitar, bass, keyboard, or synth. All coalesce intricately on this third effort with drummer extraordinaire and Percy Jones collaborator Ritchie DeCarlo. Bernier was a founding member of the Stick Men with King Crimson alums Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto, both of whom make their mark on this driven and atmospheric, space-prog odyssey. DeCarlo and Bernier are monsters, both pushing and pulling the music, completely capable of holding one's attention without superstar guest appearances. But then along comes Ed Mann of Frank Zappa fame with a trippy electronic mallet percussion performance. Matte Henderson, Billy Sherwood, John Wesley play guitar; Dean Pascarella brings Theremin; and Kandy Harris and Madeline Kott add vocals. Fans of Adrian Belew, King Crimson, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Allan Holdsworth will all find a place to hang their hat on Strangers.

Ritchie DeCarlo is as good as any drummer who you care to name. He also plays other instruments, including keyboards, Theremin and Chapman Stick! He has worked with Percy Jones, not just one of the best bassists to ever have come out of Wales, but one of the best bass players ever.
Michael Bernier is as good as any Chapman Stick player you could name. He is also a really good drummer, as you can hear on the track Scrambled Eggs that is shown in the snappily-entitled little video: “A visit with Chapman Stick player and composer Michael Bernier – two-handed tapping”, which you can find HERE. It is enlightening. Once I remind you of what a Stick is – that weird instrument that Tony Levin plays – many people would struggle to name any more Stick players. In fact, Michael was in the original Stick Men line-up with Tony Levin and some bloke called Pat Mastelotto who is best known for his drumming on the theme tune to that rather successful T.V. show; Friends (I thinKC Mr Mastelotto may have gone on to do some other things…).

Michael Bernier’s solo work on albums such as Leviathan and Veil shows just how capable and versatile a composer and musician he is. Michael cites Alan Holdsworth as one of his influences, in fact Mr. Holdsworth has given his secret recipe for guitar sounds to Michael. You can hear it on some of the tracks, I think.So Ritchie and Michael are astonishing musicians, both multi-instrumentalists, both used to rubbing shoulders with other astonishing musicians. This album, therefore, has pedigree. It references some great work by other artists, but crucially, it is fresh, original, provocative and multi-faceted.

Right from the start Cattrophist grabbed me and shook me, violently. It took a few listens before a pattern started to emerge. Even then when I think I have a handle on it… “Ah it’s 7/8! …wait…er… no… Damn… YES! 7/8 again – NAILED IT”! It is almost as if Ritchie is playing in one time signature, Michael’s left hand a second and his right hand a third. But I Chapman Stuck with it (see what I did there?) and heard that it was good.
Still reeling, but intrigued, I was rewarded with a more conventional feeling jazz-rock-fusion track, reminiscent of Brand-X, Electric Sheep, complete with fretless bass a la Percy Jones.

Canterbury Undertow, or as I like to call it: “In-your-bloody-face-in-probably-9/16” is just downright heavy in many places and in all ways. If you proudly state that you like music to be challenging then you should love this! This isn’t a track-by-track analysis, but if you make it to Fugue you should have an idea of whether this album is for you. Even if you find the music too challenging [EDITOR: That there’s fighting talk!] this is worth having just so that you can marvel at the technical brilliance of it all. If all you do is marvel at the technical brilliance, however, then you are missing the melodies that emerge from what initially sounds like chaos in the bass-lines and lead lines.
The solo drumming (note solo drumming, not drum solo) on Cyber Toothed is, frankly and for want of a better word, awesome.

Finally, the soundscapes created in the last track, Approaching The Gates, with loops, effects and bowed stick, plus the tabla and other percussion, show another dimension to this duo that should just tip the balance for you. I think it is the best track on the album.
I want to hear more collaborations from Bernier-DeCarlo.

Fulcrum opens with ominous picking so close to the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Dance Of Maya it sounds at first like a cover version, then they race off into a faster section with an untrammelled guitar solo by Bernier (who also plays Chapman Stick and bass), then decelerate back into the opening section with Pat Mastelotto on second drum kit upping the intensity.

Like all the music here, dynamics are key and Eyes, a seemingly straightahead rock song, shifts through lyrical moods, bursting open in a blur of exultant guitar and drums before putting on the brakes for a melodic finale. On Backward Towne Bernier plays perpetual motion Stick and guitar patterns with DeCarlo occasionally playing accents against the main lines in a completely different tempo in a way that will have you winding back to figure out exactly what it was you just heard. Most of the material is instrumental and Tony Levin plays electric cello on the balladic Amrhán Do Ana. Two of the most effective tracks are the most eclectic: Trans Am is based on former Zappa side man Ed Mann’s electronic mallet percussion section, while the lengthy Broken Museum is a strange brew of acoustic and electronic percussion, bass, keyboards, Stick and Theremins.

Track listing:

1     Fulcrum     5:19
2     Strangers     4:38
3     Eyes     4:24
4     Trans Am     6:19
5     Backward Towne     5:14
6     Monkey Biznis     6:56
7     Amhran Do Ana     6:04
8     The Vile Queen     4:20
9     Broken Museum (Scot Solida Mix)     9:31

Personnel:

    Chapman Stick, Guitar, Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Soft Synths, Producer – Michael Bernier
    Edited By, Mixed By – Ritchie DeCarlo
    Electronic Drums, Acoustic Drums, Percussion, Moog Taurus, Producer – Ritchie DeCarlo

  with:

Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotoo, Ed Mann, Billy Sherwood, John Wesley, Matte Henderson, Kandy Harris, Dean Pascarella