CD Reviews

Tunnels

Natural Selection | Buckyball

By TED DROZDOWSKI | October 2, 2006

2.5 Stars

Whether Tunnels will surge to the top of the current prog-rock/fusion renaissance remains to be seen, but the late-’90s addition of the legendary British bassist Percy Jones hasn’t hurt their standing. Although vibes player Marc Wagnon and drummer John O’Reilly provide the chops for everything from textural sound sculpting to beat-heavy percolations as disciplined and polyrhythmic as Kraftwerk’s, Jones — co-founder of Brand X, solo performer, and occasional sideman for Phil Collins, Suzanne Vega, and Brian Eno — is the distinctive voice. High singing melody lines full of rippling phrases are his signature, and they’re written all over Natural Selection. But he also knows how to rock the belly of the beast, and together with O’Reilly he gives Tunnels a rock-and-roll edge that keeps even their most opaque explorations grounded.

Tunnels + Protean Collective | Harpers Ferry, 158 Brighton Ave, Allston | October 9 | 617.254.9743

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