Echoing the focus on a live, jazzy feel of contemporary works by
As One,
Ian O'Brien, and
Carl Craig,
Spacetime Continuum's
Double Fine Zone includes sax player Brian Iddenden on several tracks plus
Spacetime himself, Jonah Sharp, contributing just about everything else (that is, drums, synth, sampler, and Rhodes piano). Though the "live" feel is mostly a non-event (Iddenden's smooth late-night sax solos are, to be kind, unnecessary), Sharp saves the day with some inventive programming, reminiscent of his last proper full-length, Emit Ecaps. The bubbly effects and lo-energy trance breaks on "Microjam," the static chords mirroring a set of cloudy synthesizer breaks on the highlight "Biscuit Face," and the unsequenced drums and Rhodes shards on "Beveled Edge" all prove that Sharp doesn't need the gimmick of a "jazz" album to make fine music that's more innovative than derivative. ~ John Bush