Posted on: January 3, 2009 Posted by: Jay NeuFutur Comments: 0

“Change is Inevitable” is a marathon track in its own right. This is not necessarily the type of music that individuals will be filing into dance clubs to hear, but for those slower, more low-key house parties what Ian Allen commits to disc here might just be the ticket. What is nice on “Nova’s Lounge” is that there are a mix of short and long tracks; if individuals start to get tired of track, all one needs to do is fire up a different song and individuals will be placated.

There is no need for vocals on “Nova’s Lounge”, but Ian Allen really makes this album for those individuals who want to trip out for about fifty minutes. The slower tempo of these tracks might turn off some individuals, but for what it can be used for it is fairly solid. Perhaps a little more differentiation between some of the tracks would help out Allen’s cause; for example, it is hard to really distinguish the differences between “Change is Inevitable” and “In Sync”. In much the same way, there is little in the way of differences found between “In Sync” and “At Night”; this really brings up the point that while it may be great to create an album that has a high amount of cohesion, one needs to watch out for making everything to cohesive and essentially repeating the same composition a number of times.

While the compositions are interesting to some degree and the production is beyond reproach, Ian Allen seems to fail to continually innovate and impress eir fans; even when there is a track that changes things up (such as “Meet Me Halfway”, the ennui that has built up during the track is nigh-insurmountable. What is seen as a positive during the earliest parts of this disc (the extended runtime of most of the tracks here) quickly turns into a negative when one considers the similar-sounding tracks that dominate “Nova’s Lounge”. Again, there is no doubt that Ian Allen has a tremendous amount of ability in regards to the creation of music, but what really seems to be the stumbling block present during “Nova’s Lounge” is a lack of vision concerning the arrangements. Pick this up if you are a fan of the individual, but maybe only pick up a single or two to really get an idea of what one is to expect on “Nova’s Lounge”.

Top Tracks: Meet Me Halfway, In Sync

Rating: 3.5/10

[JMcQ]

Ian Allen – Nova’s Lounge / 2005 Nova 53 / 11 Tracks / http://www.nova53.com /

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