The Alps: Le Voyage

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Style into substance -- that's the magical feat of San Francisco trio the Alps on their gently affecting (and at times subtly unnerving) fourth album, Le Voyage. This instrumental record provides one visually stimulating track after another, but transcends the tired "imaginary soundtrack" realm; the Alps don't need anyone to shoot a film to go with their music, as powerfully evocative as it is. There are hints that the band knows how good it is, too -- from the title of the album to the name of the first track, "Drop In," a bucolic greeting of chiming guitar strings and piano. After one of the album's few short pieces that veer into collage-like sound-art, the dynamic "Crossing the Sands" weds that visual -- marauders stalking their way across a barren desert-scape on horseback -- to a hypnotic bassline and copious wah-wah guitar, like Sabbath spliced with Zeppelin's wanderlust fantasies. Le Voyage is clearly about that -- the journey rather than the destination. The Alps seem confident that this trip's terminus will come to life in your mind's eye. (M.L. Thrope)