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Subtle Matter — Aural Innovations, Issue #10, June 2000 (USA) Before proceeding, do me a favor and read the St. Elmo’s Fire review from AI issue #5. Ok, read it? So now you know that St. Elmo’s Fire was a King Crimson influenced progressive band from the late 70s. Paul Kollar played guitar, bass, keyboards and tapes with the band, and due to his infatuation with the loop work that Robert Fripp was doing would open Elmo shows by performing his own music using a setup similar to what Fripp had been using at the time. All the tracks on Subtle Matter are improvisations taken from these performances and feature Kollar “using the Fripp & Eno style tape loop system” playing guitars, organ, various synths effects and delays. Just for fun, after listening to this CD, and prior to writing the review, I dusted off my copies of Fripp & Eno’s “No Pussyfooting” and Fripp’s “God Save The Queen” just to get back into the spirit of the thing. Now nobody respects Robert Fripp more than I do. But his guitar soundscape stuff gets a little tiresome after a while. Kollar has clearly learned well from the master and made this process his own. While tracks like “Point Blank”, “The Ring And The River”, “I Heard You Were Leaving”, and “Subduction” incorporate the classic Frippiod sounds, most of the music on Subtle Matter focuses on pleasing ambience rather than what I consider to be the coldness of Fripp’s soundscapes (Fripp probably does it deliberately). Tracks like “Subtle Matter”, “The Ring And The River”, and “Searching For Food” highlight majestic orchestral work with multiple keyboard lines that produce a mass of sound rather than focusing on melodies, though certainly the recognizable Frippiod guitar work is present. Another standout track is “She Painted Her Face”, with its brain piercing synth and soundscape guitar lines and sampled voices. This has really high-pitched synths that made me turn down the volume (headphones y’know). Kollar explores a world that straddles the line between floating Tangerine Dream styled-electronica and more abstract textures. Finally, “Subduction” features standard Fripp loops combined with freakier rocking guitar bits. Multiple layers of guitars make this one of the more complex tracks and the one I kept returning to. In summary, Kollar’s music will appeal to those who enjoy Robert Fripp’s guitar experimentations but feel he long ago took it as far as he could. I also think this is a good starting point for those who dig King Crimson and classic progressive rock, and are interested in the more abstract prog world yet want to wade in slowly. – Jerry Kranitz |
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Subtle Matter — Eclectic Earwig (USA) Indeed, Subtle Matter is an appropriate title for this disc, which consists of delicate Frippian soundscapes produced in real-time by bassist/guitarist/keyboardist Paul Kollar. Kollar, of course, was also the bassist/guitarist for the criminally underrated American prog band St. Elmo’s Fire, and these pieces date from the same era as Elmo’s incredible live LP. Kollar performed these “spontaneous compositions” at St. Elmo’s Fire gigs before the full band entered. Although I can imagine the contrast between the ethereal, free-floating solo pieces and Elmo’s aggressive Crimsoid attack would make these works click even better, an entire album’s worth of just this style holds up fairly well. The first and longest (nearly 11 minutes) composition, which the album takes it name from, is probably the most “subtle” – one gets the feeling of otherworldly exploration, a seeking of the unknown made more poignant by each sparingly used note. Occasionally a hint of doubt or some other emotion presents itself, usually through the choice of a single unexpected note. This piece really shows off Kollar’s skill at making every single note count. Although the otherworldly feel is apparent throughout the album, there are myriad different moods. “She Painted Her Face” feels exotic and lonely, “The Ring And The River” evokes a sense of peace, even terror and confusion on “The Lie” (which incorporates segments from what sound like a soap opera, with bizarre effects). Bottom line: Not a good buy for those with ADD, or for that matter those who like a lot going on in their music. But for those who enjoy soaking in this kind of atmosphere, Subtle Matter comes highly recommended. – Jon Dharma Murphree |
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Exposé Magazine, Issue #20 (USA) Kollar is the bassist/guitarist of St. Elmo’s Fire, a five piece who were active in the Cleveland area in the late seventies/early eighties – and have since reformed (see our review of the re-issue Splitting Ions In The Ether – Issue #17, p58). In those days, whenever the band would perform, Kollar would start the show with a 15-20 minute set of solo guitar looping improvisations, which were recorded but until now never released. There is no doubt (and Kollar makes no attempt to hide it) that the main inspiration for this was Robert Fripp’s spring 1979 Frippertronics tour. The liner notes even detail how after seeing the tour, Kollar was able to “assemble a reasonable facsimile of the one I had seen Mr. Fripp using”. Yet the spirit of the music herein is a bit different, a slightly different creative approach – far more fluid and emotional than the more cold and academic (yet still very innovative) Let The Power Fall. Subtle Matter comes closer to the pioneering Fripp & Eno collaboration Evening Star. The slower evolutionary sounds approach and decay on a number of levels with far more subtlety and elasticity; very relaxing it is, shimmering with tonal color and glowing with energy. The disc contains nine tracks of varying length, and absolutely beautiful computer generated cover art. Much to recommend herein. – Peter Thelen |
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Ground & Sky, October 2000 (USA) This is the first disc that I’ve gotten to review for Ground and Sky as a “promo”. So I decided to go in blind – listening to it without knowing anything more than the artist, title (neither of which I had heard of before) and what the cover looked like. The title and cover art give a strong hint about the music. At first I thought it was a solo artist using several synthesizers to build each song up layer by layer in a studio. Entirely instrumental, it reminded me a bit of Tangerine Dream, and of a CD I bought from ProgDay keyboard tech Dennis Haley. After listening to the whole thing, I read the back of the CD case and was surprised to learn that some of the sounds were generated using guitar loops. Then I was stunned to see that the whole album came from improvised live performances in the late 70s and early 80s in what the notes describe as the “Fripp & Eno” style. Kollar performed this music as a warm-up at the concerts of the band he was in, St. Elmo’s Fire. He describes Subtle Matter as a companion to that band’s Splitting Ions In The Ether. With the Fripp comparison in mind, I re-listened to the music on Subtle Matter and could definitely hear the similarity to the one Fripp & Eno album that I own (No Pussyfooting). Slow building layers of sound that float in and out, passing by in particular hurry to get anywhere. Not quite new-age, but close. It’s not music for active listening on a regular basis, but for my first listen I played it in the car while driving at sunrise, and it fit that situation nicely. Kept me sane during the traffic jams. As I mentioned, the album is instrumental but there are a few “spoken word” passages. They sound like dialog captured from TV shows and looped. Particularly interesting is “The Lie”, which alternates snippets of conversation about love and lying. Oddly creepy and beautiful at the same time. I don’t know that this is an album that I’d run out and buy – I’ve already got the same sort of music on that Fripp & Eno album. But I’ll be a little unhappy about having to pass this one on to the next reviewer. If your really into this sort of improvised, ambient music, this disc would be worth picking up. – Bob Eichler |
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Prog-Net, 26 May 2000 (USA) — Rating: ***½ Subtle Matter is a collection of tape loops from guitarist/keyboardist/bassist Paul Kollar from the band St. Elmo’s Fire. Those familiar with that band's King Crimson inspired prog mayhem might be a little surprised at the complete 180 degree turnaround on this solo set. What Paul serves up are Brian Eno/Robert Fripp influenced electronic tapestries utilizing the now famous tape loop technology. Using various guitars and keyboards, Paul creates a bubbling array of sounds that chirp, whoosh and whistle while trying desperately to keep enough variation to sustain the listener. According to the liner notes, these nine tracks were recorded live between 1979-1981 during various live performances where Paul opened up the St. Elmo’s Fire concerts with a brief solo spot. At times I find this kind of thing extremely fascinating, especially when I am in the mood for a rather unique piece of music that is not too busy and can help set a mood. However, as with the aforementioned Fripp & Eno, after a few songs the listening experience can get a little tedious due to the lack of additional instrumentation or song structure. Still, this is a recommended release for all into ambient and electronic music, and the crisp sound quality makes for a fun listen. – Peter Pardo |
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Progression Magazine, Issue #34, Spring 2000 (USA) Positively hypnotic and haunting ambient/space dronings here. This album is subtitled “The St. Elmo Loops”, because all nine tracks are drawn from various live gigs by proggers St. Elmo's Fire circa 1979-81, using the Fripp & Eno style tape loop system. All these composistions by St. Elmo’s Fire member Paul Kollar are improvised via electric guitar and keyboards, including the deeply resonant Moog. Kollar attended several performances of live loop-making by Robert Fripp in 1979, and was so impressed he set up his own system “to explore this continuous overdub style of spontaneous composistion,” as explained in the liner notes. Kollar would typically perform these tracks for about 20 minutes before St. Elmo’s began its evening performance, or before the second set which typically opened with King Crimson covers. So, it follows that Subtle Matter should be considered a companion disc to the group’s disc, Splitting Ions In The Ether. The starkness and deep vibrational feel to these tracks tends to stir the emotions, but it depends on the approach Kollar favors at the time. “The Ring and the River” is deeply relaxing, for example – perhaps even transcendent. Other pieces possess an unsettling edginess that’s equally effective, as in “Point Blank” and “The Lie”. The latter has some weird, angst-ridden voice clips apparently lifted from a television show or movie. Subtle Matter might seem subtle in it’s ambient approach, but the impact it has on your emotions will be anything but. That certainly makes it an effective piece of work. – John Collinge |
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Paul M. Kollar is the bassist/guitarist/keyboard player for the legendary late 70s prog band St. Elmo’s Fire, who released one album titled Splitting Ions In The Ether (a.k.a., Live At The Cleveland Agora). Back while the band was touring, Kollar would occasionally open the show with a solo performance utilizing Robert Fripp’s tape loop technology with guitars and keyboards. This collection is culled from those various dates, and comes across like one seamless recording. Those familiar with the Fripp/Eno sessions of the mid-1970s should find much of interest here. While there is much electronic music out there today, this CD has an aura of mystique to it that rises above the generic. Another point of comparison would be early Tangerine Dream, as these tunes seemingly sizzle with chirps, beeps and electronic whooshes. Kollar uses electric guitars, Moog, Korg, organ and various effects to create a huge wall of sound that depicts a kinetic sense of atmosphere and mood, rather than melodies and solo spots. On a few occasions, though, as on “The Ring And The River”, the Moog actually has an almost haunting melody line that is rather poignant. According to the liner notes all of the songs were improvised with little or no overdubs, and the spontaneity is rather refreshing. Listeners who like a lot of diversity might get a little antsy about three-quarters the way through this CD, but give it a few listens and it will grow on you. This is a good companion to the St. Elmo’s Fire CD, as both have Fripp influences that will please all Crimson fans. – Peter Pardo |