from MaineTimesOnline

ACIDRON THE VIEW FROM LEFT FIELD Kevin O'Reilly Kevin O'Reilly, Bethel   O'Reilly is a bass player. You can hear him playing bass as many as six overdubbed times on any particular track on either of these discs. This means that, aside from being a bass player, Kevin O'Reilly also plays his recording studio as if it were an instrument itself. He plays both very well. Also, just to be clear, he writes good tunes. Acidiron was first released in 1998, while The View From Left Field is of the year 2000. Both feature O'Reilly playing the bass in every way it can be played - picked, slapped, tapped, and plucked. Sometimes he'll create a bare piece, an etude of a single bass, minimal effects. Other times he'll add layer upon layer, evoking timbres that sound decidedly un-bass-like, using the recording studio to create a chamber group composed solely of his own instrument. In his notes, O'Reilly invokes both Chris Squire (of Yes) and Isaac Asimov. It is effective and intriguing. O'Reilly's compositional sense is sound in it's own right, but it's got the added intrigue of pushing the instrument and its technology into new spaces. It's the kind of experimentation that particularly excites me: narrow, but deep. A growth can be heard between the two discs, and I have to say I preferred Left Field to Acidron. The melodies seemed less chained to the harmonies and the harmonies themselves seemed to have more depth. The newer disc also had a sense of humor to it that I enjoyed. On some tracks O'Reilly plays with the type of ease you imagine when using the phrase, "Take it easy." Still, I'll hold on to both of these. They come from a similar place, take similar risks, and succeed in similar ways. I recommend them both.

C 2001 Maine Times Publishing Company