KEVIN O'NEILL - YGGDRASIL (Direction Music DMC 22) MC 66mKevin O'Neill has consistently been one of the most fascinating and unique of indie synthesists. His instantly recognisable visionary style, on the edge of both melodic and cosmic fields, blending a refined concoction of the accessible and the strange, has won him an ardent following. Kevin has never attempted to imitate anyone else. True, there are sequential and spacious sounds that remind one of 70's Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese, use of more unusual and sequential and melodic junctures as popularised by French synthesists: Richard Pinhas, Bernard Szajner, et al. Maybe the occasional lyrical tune that one could almost whistle too, a la Kitaro. Yet, with a forte for injecting mystery, depth and visual presence, it's often the atmosphere of Kevin's music that rides to the fore, a rich palette of electronic sound, intermingling sonic patterns, tones, intermodulations, etc.YGGDRASIL is certainly one of his finest to date, featuring 41½ minutes of new recordings, as well as 24½ minutes in concert from June 1990. Of the new works, the 23 minute Yggdrasil itself is liable to challenge some, true it starts off calm, melodic and inviting, but by the time we reach the underworld Kevin's picture music becomes vivid, disturbing, quite menacing in fact, all without leaving a melodic focus. Kevin's talent for melodic "doodling" takes us through a wide range of feelings, every note with either a touch of pain, pleasure, anguish or consolation, whilst the backing sonic tapestry oozes, flows and glides around. In contrast, the three shorter studio recordings are not so unusual, offering a counterbalance, notably Taliesin with its long spacious tones, almost magical dancing melodies, vibrant arpeggios dancing on a mystical synthetic mist. This one is sure to delight MIRAGE era Schulze fans. Finally onto the live material. These three tracks offer an insight into his more structured performance mode, due to the essentially of backing tracks. However, this isn't to say that Kevin's live music is just a repeat of his recorded work, he still gives himself plenty of room for expression and improvisation with the solos and other sound-fills he cares to choose, and the expression given by these tracks is wide-ranging, with the richly sonic Katharsis Pt. 2, the anarchic and abstract Cziltang Brone Pt. 2, and the almost meditative, even new-agey (especially so for Kevin) The Game which often promises to break out, yet never does so - a great exercise in restraint.So, again, Kevin has put together a fascinating album, full of invention and some surprises. Well done! review by Alan Freeman (Audion #22. July 1992)