Paranoise - Private Power



1. Evil Vs. Evil (3:15) 2. Instability, Containment, Rollback (5:01) 3. Tetrahedral Metaphor (6:28) 4. Mechanical World (4:59) 5. International Monetary Fun (4:59) 6. Constant Fear(4:46) 7. Structural Adjustment (8:44) 8. Private Power (6:11) 9. Tarana (3:52) 10. Not There (5:11) 11. Centerless Grinding (2:39) 12. Monuments (9:06)

Total Running Time: 65:11

There is a Darwinian maxim out there that has pretty much defined the way things work for human beings in general: adapt or die. Adaptation, of course, can be changed for the much braver process of invention, which in turn can embody the discovery of something completely new or the adoption of different ideas and its subsequent development and amalgamation. In the case of Paranoise, the latter one's just a perfect description of what the band has done on Private Power.

By way of its third record, the Jim Matus-led outfit has combined world music and progressive rock in a manner that results not only challenging, but also impressive due to the fact that it has managed to retain the most intimate elements of the world music elements it utilizes, while conferring them a more occidental developed harmony and the sheer distortioned strength of King Crimson racing against King's X at its heaviest. The result is a host of tracks that work away at the listener's most primitive level through trancelike repetition, while engaging one's brain with clever rock structures that could cause an earthquake with just the correct amount of volume.

And at the heart of such intensity are the numerous samples that Paranoise uses in order to incorporate world music into Private Power, those samples originating mostly from Morocco. The approach, however, is much more than just a mere pasting of samples above progressive rock. This is true integration, understanding, and enthusiasm. Not to mention the band's sharp left wing stance, which boldly defies forces such as multinational entities, defenders of capitalist neoliberal policies, and basically anyone who stands in the way of freedom and respect for other cultures. In other words, these guys mean business.

And business that shakes the listener to the core through key moments such as Rohan Gregory's primeval violin solo in "International Momentary Fun," the desperate and pseudo-tribal cries of Thorne Palmer on "Private Power," or the perfect epitome of the band's style that is "Evil Vs. Evil." Basically put, progressive world music is one hell of an idea. It rocks, it hypnotizes, it moves, and in this case it might just be more informative that watching CNN (and a lot more fun as well!).

-by Marcelo Silveyra

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