Mark Jenkins was initially inspired to make music by hearing Mike Oldfield and Tangerine Dream in the 1970s. In 1985 he progressed to founding his own label – Amp Records – and has since played many solo concerts at venues around the world, and released almost a dozen albums.
Jenkins claims that his latest disc This Island Earth is like Cluster and Tangerine Dream. Well, having listened to a lot of krautrock in my time, I can tell you that this album sounds nothing like Cluster, and only superficially resembles some of Tangerine Dream’s 1970s/80s work. Mark Jenkins has copied some of Edgar Froese’s trademark sounds and styles, but seems to have completely missed the adventurous, surreal, psychedelic spirit at the heart of TD’s greatest work.
This Island Earth contains three suites of music: ‘New Jersey Shore’; ‘This Island Earth’; and ‘The Graveyard of Dreams’. Most potentially interesting to an erstwhile (oh, alright then – not so erstwhile) sci-fi nerd is the central suite ‘This Island Earth’. This is themed around the classic 1955 film of the same name starring Jeff Morrow and Rex Reason. I had high hopes for this – but the opening track ‘Flight Through the Green Ray’ sounds like really bad 80s funk-lite – complete with horns cheesier than a ripe gorgonzola. Next track ‘Exeter’s Challenge…’ loses the lame beats (one is grateful for small mercies) and goes in a more ambient direction. ‘At War with Zagon…’ has some cool dialogue excerpts from the movie, but the synth sounds, tunes and arrangements are just so uninspired that it’s hard to keep listening. ‘Crash Landing Earth’ closes the piece with cliched-sounding strings and more forgettable melodies.
I have nothing against good old-fashioned synth music, but really, don’t waste your time on copies – go for the originals – Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre.
Ewan Burke
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