Search - Roger Powell :: Air Pocket

Fine Electronic-Pop Music From A Terrific Musician

Donald A. Bauer | San Francisco, CA USA | 06/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As most of you reading this review already know, Roger Powell is the dude who played all the keyboard's in Todd Rundgren's UTOPIA band/project -- from late `75 until the band broke up in 1985. This record, AIR POCKET, which is a real mother_____ to actually FIND, was released in 1980. As I recall, it too was released the same week as Utopia's "Adventures In Utopia." Editorializing momentarily (and spontaniously !), I hereby rate "Air Pocket" a better overall musical project (than "Adventures"). But I digress ...



The obvious comparison this record must live up to is Roger Powell's first album, "Cosmic Furnace." Personally, I am an even bigger fan of that record than this one -- however both recordings are among the most original and well-conceived records of their genre in their time. Both also have lasting power. Too bad "Cosmic Furnace" has never been released on CD. An oversight that needs to be corrected, indeed! (NOTE: It was finally re-issued in 2005 -- buy it while it's still in print!!!)



"Air Pocket" contains mostly instrumental passages of electronic music, rich in texture and imaginative arrangements, composed by a well-schooled and highly-original musician. Roger is a true master of his art at this juncture, and lets his audience in on some of his most intimate musical ventures. This was certainly a very fruitful period for a truly fine (retired?) musician, one who I enjoyed seeing play live more than 2 dozen times during "the heyday of Utopia," circa 1977-1981."

More "New Wave than Cosmic" Furnace

Tacitus | Worcester, MA USA | 03/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're even looking at this album, you know who Roger Powell is and probably at which arc the Todd / Utopia set was in at this given moment.



If you've heard Cosmic Furnace, you realize that, like Todd's Initiation, it was something more of a "Wow, look at this synthesizer -- pretty soon we'll have flying cars!" moment in music history. You and I can appreciate the finer aspects of it, and enjoy it in all its techno goodness, but let's be honest, in the final analysis, that's really what we're looking at.



What we see here is a much more refined synth project, produced by Todd, more new wave, including a very good reworking of Utopia's "Windows" -- and Mr. Triscuits, for that matter. I might put it somewhere inbetween ...Oops and Adventures for the feel of it, just more heavy on the synth, and you already know what Roger Powell sounds like, so hey, if you want even more of it, here you go :-)



Highly recommended!"

A Retro Keyboard Essential

Robert H. Knox | Brentwood, NH United States | 03/28/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those who enjoy keyboard-based, mostly instrumental recordings from the past, Roger Powell is a name to which one needs to pay attention. Along with LarryFast (Synergy) and Dick Hyman (MOOG), Powell's music was certainly cutting-edge material for the time (back when it was called"synthesizer music"), and stillholds up well today. My standouttrack from AIR POCKET is "EmergencySplashdown", but all are excellent.The fact that this record has neverbeen released domestically on CDis a shame; even moreso is the unavailability of Roger Powell'sincredible COSMIC FURNACE, whichhas been tops on my CD want listfor many years. I believe it was onthe Cotillion/Capricorn label, andhope that someone in a position toright this wrong reads this review.In short: if you love modern keyboard music, you need AIRPOCKET."