artist Melodic Energy Commission

"Xaliman has brought together from the distant shores of the galaxy an excellent supporting cast of fellow space-time travelers. To bluntly summarize the shifting moods and constantly evolving textures of any of the pieces that make up 'Time Is a Slippery Concept' would be a grave injustice to the album's dreamy eclecticism. Still, there are common threads that weave their way through the shimmering arabesque the Melodic Energy Commission has constructed. Any number of the songs on 'Time Is a Slippery Concept' would be fitting accompaniment to an excursion through the great pyramids of Giza - if, that is, they'd been jettisoned into space to orbit the Earth forever. Combining the ancient lyrical mysticism of Egyptian tomb music with the cyberdelic ethos of contemporary electronica... and the astonishing variety of instruments employed: flute, theremin, violin, gongs, kulintang, dijeridu, santur, dulcimer, conch shell, kalimba, bongos, not to mention the more traditional instruments such as guitar, bass, synthesizer and drums. ...Xaliman is at his best with sound construction and ambient texturing, particularly on deep space voyages such as 'Lifting Wave' and 'Underground Summit.' 'Time Is a Slippery Concept' is one of those rare discs that deserves, and indeed rewards, repeated listening, particularly in the long quiet nocturnal abyss between midnight and dawn." From Aural Innovations #31 (June 2005) Reviewed by Charles Van de Kree

Don Xaliman Bass guitar, electronics
George McDonald electric guitar, theremin
Thom Evans Percussion
Paul Franklin Percussion
Randy Raine-Reusch Ancient acoustic instruments