So, I was sent some CDs recently by my good friend Thierry Sportouche from Acid Dragon in France, and included within the envelope were two CD-R’s with photocopied inserts, by the band Cave. Having played them I asked Thierry what he knew about the band so that I could have some information for the review, and he told me that he knew absolutely nothing. Not to be deterred I searched the web, only to quickly discover that “cave” is a very common word. Instead I then searched for the name of this five-song forty-minute-long album and discovered that they had both a Soundcloud account and a Facebook page. I have tried contacting them through both, but have met with no response. So, all I know for certain is that the line-up (according to FB) is Julian Walker, Dave Spowage, Mark Flood and David Littler (although I don’t know who plays what, or who was on this), and they come from Knaresborough. Oh, and their FB page hasn’t been updated in 2017 so they may not even exist anymore for all I know which could be why they aren’t responding to emails.
Recorded at Orb (which I think is Orb Community Arts in Knaresborough) last year, I think this might be a live recording, although there isn’t any audience sound. They describe their music as “electronic sonic goodness” and that’s as good a description as any, although early Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk could also be included. And there is the most frustrating aspect of the whole affair: this is very good indeed and I can’t even tell you where to get it from! Some all-keyboard albums can be quite sterile, but this has a warmth and depth, and instead of meaningless meanderings there is a feeling of purpose, as if they are building something together that is quite special. This is one of the reasons I believe this has been recorded live, as there is the impression that the different players are improvising based on the sounds being put out by the others. I’ve played this quite a few times now, and each time it comes across as both simplistic and intriguing, something quite hard to achieve. Try listening to some of their music on Soundcloud to see if you agree https://soundcloud.com/cave-502855304
