" A powerful, cinematic release, with haunting moods and heartbreaking melodies. An album that's more Pink Floyd than Jaco Pastorius, from artist/bassist best known for his work with Sonia Dada and Alice Cooper". (Echoes.org) See also Erik Eski Scott.
There have been a lot of virtuoso electric bass albums released over the years. Musicians like Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke tried to become gunslinging front men with an instrument that's usually holding down the bottom end of a groove. But bassist Erik Scott has taken a different approach. To say that his solo debut, Other Planets, is a bass guitar album is to miss what a powerful, cinematic release he's created. It's an album that's more Pink Floyd than Jaco Pastorius. Scott isn't a frustrated electric guitarist. He's a composer as much as a bass player who dives into the deep soul and nuances of the bass, extracting sensuous melodies and atmospheric moods.
Scott untethers the bass and heads into space. The title track started life as "Sundogs" on Test Pattern, the last album from Chicago alt-rockers Sonia Dada, which whom Scott has played for nearly two decades. It's a spacious track with rolling mallet tom-tom drums underpinning Scott's rubbery fretless bass lead as synth choirs soar through the background.
Although Scott plays most of the instruments, including keyboards and drum loops, he brought in some key musicians, notably, John Pirruccello on pedal-steel guitar. He adds some celestial glissandos on "Other Planets" and then brings some cosmic country to the serene "Peace on Saturn." You can hear echoes of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's sustained guitar leads in many of Pirruccello's lines. And remember, Gilmour played lap steel on Dark Side of the Moon.
Erik Scott gets some driving, trancy grooves going on "Proper Sun" and he evokes Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western sound on "Donnie & Sancho."
Besides Sonia Dada, Erik Scott is best known for playing with Alice Cooper in the early 1980s and Flo & Eddie (singers from The Turtles and Frank Zappa) just before that. None of that really prepares you for the sensitivity and depth of Other Planets. Erik Scott's Other Planets is a bass player's album, if your idea of a bass player's album includes haunting moods and heartbreaking melodies.
All the above reviews are true, but that doesn't make a cd a good purchase. This cd breaks so many "rules" that seem to be out there not only for an instrumental cd, but also a solo cd, and a bass cd. There are usually 2 ways a solo instrumentalist effort goes 1) the player just incessantly solos and over plays, and 2) where its just the bass players name on the album, but all he is doing is playing bass like you would on any other cd. this cd features bass and bridges the gap between the bass as a melody instrument and a solo instument without ever sacrificing the bottom end or ever being pompous or pretentious as the case usually is.
every note on this cd is played with the intent that can only come from a musician, not an instrumentalist. this cd also showcases Erik's flawless production ability, creating song-scapes that build and develop the integrity of the song instead of keeping the bass out front. you can usually tell what instrument the producer plays, as it will inevitably be in the fore-front of the mix. one of the strength's "Eskie" has is that he remains objective as an engineer, producer, and musician (not "bass player") building songs and emotions without ever comprimising the integrity of the song.
not being familiar with his stuff with flo and eddy, or being a huge 80's alice fan, i am a huge supporter of his other group from Chicage Sonia Dada, and encourage everyone else to be, as this is where the "musician" in Erik really comes out to play and paves the way for Other Planets. This cd is so well produced that you actually forget its an instrumental cd. to get more of a feel for his style and sound, I encourage you to check out Sonia Dada's live stuff because thats where Eskie's true self comes out.
So now your homework assignment is to get 2 copies of Other Planets as you will want to turn someone else on (please don't burn this one) and get a copy of Sonia Dada's Lay Down And Love It Live. from there you can get the 5 studio lp's in order and finish with the 2 "instant Live" shows from Boston and SanFrancisco. ANY fan of rock, funk, jazz, gospel, R&B, and soul will have their minds blown. not only will this give you a better taste of Erik's playing style but also his production style that all cumulate and erupt as the celebration known as ERIK SCOTT - OTHER PLANETS.
OK, when I first heard that Erik Scott, the Bass Player for one of my favorite bands, was coming out with a solo album, I was happy. I knew something was up, listening to a headway into another song off of the album Test Pattern, I liked it. Sure enough, it's on Other Planets, "Sun Dogs", and the rest of the album is fantastic.