Tom Penaguin self-titled album

Tom Penaguin's self-titled album, released in 2024.

In this review, I describe a journey of discovery into a new artist, beginning with reading what's available online about his work, even with a certain haughty skepticism, and concluding in the best possible way, with a deep admiration for him.

I read the following in this artist's official biography: “French based multi-instrumentalist and composer Tom Penaguin presents his spectacular self-titled debut album. The album showcases some of the most impressive Canterbury Scene progressive rock sounds since the genre’s inception in the 1970s. Tom (guitarist of Djiin and former keyboardist of Orgöne), began playing guitar at the age of 6 and later learnt how to play drums, piano and organ to a professional standard by the age of 15. Influenced by the likes of Frank Zappa and the Canterbury Scene, Tom set out to build an analog music studio in his house in 2020, where he recorded the entire album using a plethora of vintage studio hardware and equipment. The result is a masterful ode to bands like Egg and National Health. The songs are complex in structure, with Stravinsky-inspired patterns, glorious melodies, whilst allowing room for lengthy improvisations akin to the fusion scene of the early 70s.”

Let's first look at the music: five tracks totaling approximately 38 minutes, three of which are approximately 14, 7, and 9 minutes long. I'll share my impressions and the details Tom provides track by track on the album itself.

- The Stove Viewpoint Introduction opens with ambient sounds and ethereal atmospheres that linger, followed by a beautiful instrumental section with a beautiful melody with a jazzy feel, interrupted only by the start of the next song.

This is what Tom tells us about this track:

"The Stove Viewpoint Introduction originates from a tape collage (Uher 4000 Report Monitor) made up of sounds I recorded in a shared house I used to live in. Most of the tapes are not played at the speed they were recorded at, so most of it is pitched and speeded up/down. An organ chord creeps up from behind and then it gets to the next song.
Brillant Rodrich : slowed down glassware
Marie Le Pohon : kitchen laughters
Ki : echoed flute
Inkus : dog"

- Housefly Leg is a track that starts brightly with a positive, sunny mood, quickly giving way to a tense, electric theme with notable dissonances and interludes, and numerous complex breaks. The electric piano is beautiful in a tense ride full of counter-tempos and almost disturbing dissonances, followed by a beautiful atmospheric section with great keyboard and drum interaction, a thrilling piece with a delicate guitar solo and a remarkable drum part. This beautiful section concludes with a remarkable opening, the tempo slows down, and the keyboards create long sounds until reaching a new, more rhythmic, caravan-style section, lively and with a beautiful melody, with a strong bass part when it builds, and it does so decisively, almost epically, over a carpet of keyboards that form a hypnotic substratum before the song's bright, sunny close. A tremendous work of composition and arrangement with a continuous, logical thread and never-disconnected atmospheres surrounding the central theme.
This is what Tom says about this track:

“Housefly Leg might be the oldest song of this album, as it was first recorded on a Tascam MSR16 16 tracks tape recorder back in December 2020. I then bought a Fender Rhodes MK2 in 2022 so I replaced the Hohner Pianet T track with it and added a few sections. I recorded the whole song on computer this time, allowing a more accurate mixing and spacing of the various instruments, but both the organ and guitar solos were kept very close to the originals from the tape recorder version as I thought they were very good from the start. There is a musical concept on this track that appears during the solos (and throughout The Stove Viewpoint Introduction but they were composed and recorded as a single track): by only selecting the 2 2/3', 2' and 1 3/5' drawbars from my Yamaha YC20 organ, I could play a whole triad chord using a single finger. Thus, by using two fingers I could easily play complex 6 notes chords and build up a seamless chord progression.”
 

- Aborted Long Piece No. 2 opens the album's B-side, immediately excellent with a haunting keyboard riff and a driving, syncopated drum beat. The mood shifts to a complex, extraordinary bass line that serves as the foundation for variations on the keyboards and drums. On the same theme, the keyboards enter forcefully with a powerful, predominant syncopated part, which builds the song chorally in a progression that culminates in an electric piano riff and then an organ solo in a slow, haunting solo that already marks the beginning of the next song.
This is what Tom tells us about this track:

“Aborted Long Piece no2 was an attempt to compose the entire length of side B with minimum instruments and with a very asymmetrical rhythmic approach. It failed so there is only three and a half minutes of it.”
 

- Arrival of the Great Hedgehog begins with a suspended and intense atmosphere, featuring extensive synth work before the song shifts into a rhythmic phase animated by a vibrant and virtuoso bass. The song grows in intensity with guitars and keyboards performing the same sequence in unison with slight dissonances leading to successive tempo changes and breaks, syncopations and counter-beats. New dreamy and ethereal phases follow, with guitar forays with a psychedelic feel but always with the same sharp and almost dissonant sound, culminating in an extended solo that continues the song's growing intensity in a triumph of virtuosity on the drums. The song's structure continues until the next song.
This is what Tom tells us about this track:

“Arrival of the Great Hedgehog was a play on dynamic composition. It begins very gently and ends up quite hard, after a very long guitar solo over an ever-changing chord progression.”
 

- The Stove Packed Up and Left opens with a dialogue between keyboards, drums, and bass, a sort of three-piece solo with a splendid sequence of tempo changes and overlaps that occasionally give way to complex, soft interludes before breaking into more intense and tense sections, with electric piano interludes, brilliant guitar passages that allow for melody without sacrificing complexity, or slower, more interlocutory sections, occasionally referencing the symphonic rock of the '70s, of a Genesis-like nature, but only briefly. This magnificent reference, in which long, melodic keyboard sounds provide a backdrop for guitar or piano warbles, closes and fades into the sounds of nature that opened this magnificent album.
This is what Tom tells us about this track:

"The Stove Packed up and Left includes a theme composed in 2018. I tried several times to add previously composed themes and sections to this album, but everytime I did, it didn't fit well, except for this one. It then ends up on another tape collage (Uher 4200 Report Monitor) made of recordings of birds in my garden (some of them sped up)."

Initially skeptical, considering the breadth of the references cited in the official biography, after listening to it, I'm overjoyed to confirm everything.
Tom's statement that "No virtual instruments were used on this album" is very important, along with a list of the instruments used. This further highlights the final result and the incredible production work behind the tracks, as is Tom's masterful performance of all the instruments.

Tom has enriched the album cover with numerous pieces of information, which I'm including here for completeness and because they provide more details and the artist's perspective on this work and its meaning.

Tom also reminds us that...

"I've been trying to make this album since I was 17 years old, but never quite had the knowledge, the instruments nor the gear to do it properly until then. It took me 10 years, but I know there are no compromises in here and it is now at a musical level that feels satisfactory to me. This album is very important to me, and I hope it will help to decorate the important moments of your life."

The list of thanks is beautiful and includes those to the record company, to Ryan from  Zopp, to Maureen Piercy's facial expressions and above all to the parents, I'll report them in full.

"I would like to thank Rafa from àMarxe for his help, his honesty, and for the chance he’s giving me with this album.
I would like to thank my parents for allowing me the time and the patience to educate myself in order to make records such as this one.
I would like to thank Ryan (Zopp) for helping me secure a deal and all the great tips he gave me promotion-wise. Without him, you wouldn’t have a record between your hands!
I would like to thank Maureen Piercy for the absolutely incredible artwork and for helping me finish this album (I often used her facial expressions to estimate if a part of a song felt good enough)."

The artwork features a photo of Tom immersed in a lush forest, photos of him working in his "analog" studio, and a lengthy text describing the tracks, instrumentation, and the aforementioned thanks.

The numbered and signed prints included with the album are also beautiful. The first (I believe) depicts a moment of piano repair, with a wiring diagram drawn on a piece of paper and screws scattered across the keyboard, and the second shows a friendly turtle looking at a microphone.

My conclusions could actually be summed up in a single word: Passion.
His passion for the Canterbury scene, a style that captivated Tom like many of us, but with one major difference: with the support of his family, his great tenacity in the studio, his dedication to setting up a suitable recording studio and the right equipment, his attention to every detail, and a ten-year process of self-development and preparation, born also from an innate perfectionism evident in the dissatisfaction that led him to search for the "uncompromising" sound he desired, Tom managed to realize his dream of making this album. I am sincerely in awe of the passion that drove this young musician to undertake this journey and achieve such rewarding critical acclaim.

This album is not only a masterpiece from a musical standpoint, but also from a human standpoint. An album that I consider Essential.

Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page.

Tracklist

1. The Stove Viewpoint Introduction (2:44)
2. Housefly Leg (14:25)
3. Aborted Long Piece No. 2 (3:35)
4. Arrival of the Great Hedgehog (9:16)
5. The Stove Packed Up and Left (7:29)
Duration 37:29

LineUp

- Tom Penaguin - electric piano, synthesizer, string synthesizer, bass, drums, electric guitar, tapes
With:
- Brillant Rodrich - slowed-down glasses
- Marie Le Pohon - laughter
- Ki - echoed flute
- Inkus - dog sounds