Labyrinth

Kit Watkins' solo album Labyrinth is one of those projects from a former group member (in this case, the group is Happy the Man) that attempts to demonstrate the many talents of that artist, thus overcoming the notion that he was only one part of a whole. Watkins uses Coco Russel for drums and percussion, but otherwise performs all the music himself. On early tracks such as "Glass of Time" and "Mt. St. Helens," he fills up the sound picture with thundering drum and bass sounds, over which he plays majestic melodies to stirring and rhythmic effect. On "Spring 1980," however, he suddenly turns light and lyrical, continuing to maintain a pop feel on "While Crome Yellow Shine" before plunging back into gothic structures for "Spooks." But with the album's last three tracks, "Cycles 1," "Cycles 2," and "Cycles 3," he abruptly changes to a slow-moving, quiet, ambient approach. This is not, in other words, an album to put on expecting that the mood will stay the same, or even change gradually. It's as if Watkins had at least three different albums in mind but for some reason was forced to put them all together. Maybe, if the listener is sufficiently pummeled by what has gone before, the final tracks will come as calm relief. One is impressed with Watkins' range, even if he tends to go to extremes.