Ian Dadon - Out Of Orbit

Hear The Track Here

Now that we've finally got the mammoth that has become the Stevies out of the way, the first track in this brand new year from my review list is Ian Dadon whose Chameleon (November 2009) was a excellent introduction to this musician. A strangely complex piece of music which reminded me somewhat of the Soundclick artist JPC (NZ), but probably only because of the overall sound. Like the aforementioned John Paul Carroll (for it is he) Ian Dadon is a songwriter first and foremost so here's one he dashed out over New Year, then stood waiting at my doorstep until the review list opened and - believe me - it was bloody freezing out there. Now that, my boggled friends, is what I call dedication.

Or more insanity (Ed: inanity, surely?) on my part...

Ian insists, in the song comments that this is not 'anything serious' and 'just for fun really' and given that it's in my most vulnerable area - Prog rock - I think I uttered a small prayer for those words to be true. There again, I WAS pleasantly surprised at the simple yet effective way this guy put across Chameleon and this also proved to be the case with Out Of Orbit - once I'd got through the electronica intro. That threw me a bit after the acoustic impression from the previous track but once in the body of the song that Ian's acoustic comes into play. So, this track has lots more instrumentally in play than Chameleon - by a long way. Does it add in any way to the experience? On that, I'd have to give a maybe yes, maybe no. For sure the performance and energy Ian puts into the track speaks volumes, but is let down by some bad flaws in the sound levels.

This is most notable when the mix becomes a left-right divide, with a high volume string section on one side, the vocal appearing on the other. Sorry, just doesn't work for me, but I understand that my taste isn't normal with this stuff. Moreover, I think what I hear has to do with 'bouncing' tracks as much as actually making a mix sound like this. Sometimes you have to work around limitations, and there isn't much you can do about that. However, let me make this clear, these are technical quibbles and maybe most people who listen to this track wouldn't notice the looseness of the arrangement from time to time, and that is a fixable problem. Nonetheless, songwise, this is a good representation of what Ian Dadon has to offer.

Recommended (for the energy) prog-rock.