2004 was an amazing year for Jason Forrest. His Sonig debut, The Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash, surprised many with its revolutionary rock-disco sample ideology. The album received a massive amount of supportive press internationally, the video for "Stepping Out" was named video of the year in Res magazine, and he performed 90-plus concerts at music festivals and clubs throughout Europe and Canada. Now he's back with Lady Fantasy, a moody and expansive new EP. The tone is set on "The Work Ahead Of Us," a tense, abstract collaboration with avant-garde songwriter David Grubbs reminiscent of the drone-krautrock of Neu or Berlin-era Bowie. Then the title track, "Lady Fantasy," hits hard like a prog-rockfueled interstellar collision of massive synths, overdriven freejazz/ breakcore drums and cellphone bleeps. Then "The Lure Of You," co-written with Italian singer songwriter Margareth Kammerer, with its strangely light pop/rock feel surprises with subtly and mass-market appeal. The EP ends with "Sperry and Foil," a song in many parts, in many different directions, like a sprawling '70s prog epic. The song jumps between electro, bucolic rock, and anxious digital soundscapes yet holds a somewhat sweet and nostalgic feeling throughout. This eventually builds into a final rocking crescendo that prepares the listener for the big rock sound to be found on Forrest's full-length album due later this year.
