“At times jazzier and more melodic than their previous offering Aperiodic Grok, Basal Ardor
finds our duo (and guests) creating magic in the studio once again. 

From the opening track
"King Koln" (a re-imagining of the track "Koln" from the prior album) Paul and Tenk rip off
the knob and tear it up! "Cappy's Sledge" features Heinrich Scheisshausputzer & Klopfen
Kleinwuchsiger (?) on beastly vocals, and monstrous krautrock backing.

 "Head Scratcher" and "1amGeary Street" are harmonic little beauties

(the latter with vocals by Courtney Odom), leading
us into the fully improvised "Land Of The Free" which features Paul Sears' bandmates from
"Cho-Zen Few" Steve Mitchell and Ruben Riera, starts out ethereal and leads into a real jazzy
rocker. "Tandem Trike to Tiburon" moves smoothly through various changes in under 4 minutes,
showing tasteful restraint. The next track, "Tribledation," brings some early Muffins flavor
(no surprise, as Dave Newhouse guests on woodwinds). On the home stretch we move into a track called "From The Hearth" which opens with some tasty, homey guitar and keyboard punctuated by tasteful percussion. Less than 2 minutes in length, but it says all it needs to. "Fake Lawns" is next, with a triple tracked bass by Steve Mitchell. It's a reserved little treat that makes
me smile every time. "Katie and Natalie" has Ruben Riera on woodwinds and Clara Belle Hembree
on vocals, and is a delightful little bit of storytelling. The album wraps up with "Souls"
which soothes us and leaves us hungry for the next release! Well done once again!”

Jack Porcello - WAYO FM

 "From dual paradises (also known locally as Arizona and California) comes this hefty collaboration between my good friend / multi-instrumentalist Tenk van Dool and master percussor Paul Sears, with a little help from assorted friends. I still enjoy revisiting the Temple of Switches album , which had the advantage of prepping me for this ‘primal instinct’ example of musical lunacy. Since I despise the very notion of labelling (it’s only good for food products!), let us limit ourselves to state for the record that Tenk and Paul navigate in some inventive sonic realms that may include a wide variety of endearing as well as bludgeoning sequences, scales and sequins, also known in more conventional terms as jazz-rock, improvisations and psychedelia. The solos are instinctive, the mood cerebral and the expounding virtues emit impeccable originality. Eleven vignettes , astutely opened windows within a collapsing universe.

“King Koln” has nothing to do with the Rhine valley but easily provides some mechanical kling-klang that would confound the remaining Kraftwerk crew (RIP Florian), a steel foundry of puncturing guitar vacillations, billowing synthesized smokestacks, with punctuating and puncturing drum tutelage. Lovely noise. The Teutonic mood is maintained on “Cappy’s Sledge” featuring seething vocals from Heinrich the ‘fecal house cleaner’ and Klopfen ‘the pigmy dwarf’, somehow recalling some Zomby Woof Italian-American, surely a modern version of the Flo and Eddie skit, but with severe Gothic overtones. Thankfully, the Van Dool axe solo is a pungent blitzkrieg that does the trick. What better way to comb one’s bald spot than with “Head Scratcher”, a velvety scrutiny of tasty twirls on the guitar, spiced by keyboard sorcery and the kind of percussive backbone that comes straight out of a sweaty jazz cavern somewhere downtown. How about a cinematic survey on the late-night lizards roaming the urban decay well after midnight on “1am Geary Street”, replete with Courtney Odom hushing her vocalizations! Dazed and confused, tired and spent, a “yes I’m lonely, wanna die” mood, exacerbated by some quarrelsome electric guitar frittering, bickering drum slaps and splashes and some nighttime dissonance to help with the paranoid insomnia!

Epic track time with an 8-and-a-half-minute romper “Land of the Free”, a perfect and completely improvised basal platform for the choo-choo train to unload some progressive passengers at Union Station. Steve Mitchell guests on guitars and bass, while Ruben Riera blows forcefully on pan flute as well as woodwinds. The ambient drowsy nature is intoxicating, with a real bludgeoning of the senses without resorting to any violent interactions. Tenk brings out his African bongos to complement Paul’s fluctuating pulsations, and a merry time is had by all. Really enjoyable, in a semi-masochistic manner.
“Tandem Trike to Tiburon” may hint at Spanish-speaking sharks riding bicycles in some obscure way but comes across as almost accessible after the previous medicated bliss. A relatively immediate groove is put in place, an unblushing piano shuffle, with outright jazz implications and a viscous bass travelogue roaming unfettered. Affectionately warped. “Tribledation” keeps the onus on the black and white ivories (Tenk is a real talent, I will admit!) and could have lasted a bit longer. But connected with the next two brief pieces, I get the idea, as the pace flows rather concisely!

I have no idea (nor do I need to know) who “Katie and Nathalie” are but it’s another vocal piece that has Clara Belle Hembree warbling in a wistful style that exudes heavy psychedelics, I guess it’s hard to get the California dreaming thingy out of one’s mind. As such, the track is a consummate slice of fluffy genius, with a deliriously perfect sax solo (yeah, baby!), slithering guitar flickers and adhesive melodies to boot. Me gusta muchissimo!

The album terminates its course in some detached realm, where “Souls” find their eternal rest, a finale that sweeps all the turmoil away in a sweep of delicate sound and distant thunder. Guitars, keys, bass and drums settle the score.

This was fun. "

-Thomas Szirsmay - Prog Rogue 

"With a title that essentially means a “primal or foundational passion,” Basal Ardor is the work of two unjustly unheralded jazz-rock musicians who make a joyful noise together. Arriving not too longer after 2024’s nonsensically titled Aperiodic Grok, this 11-song collection of mostly jazz-leaning instrumentals showcases the breadth and dexterity of Tenk Van Dool (Temple of Switches) on guitars, bass, mandolin, keyboard and various synths and Paul Sears (The Muffins) on drums and percussion.

While Aperiodic Grok covered more ground stylistically, Basal Ardor is more streamlined in that it sticks primarily to jazz and sounds like something gone rogue from the prolific MoonJune Records label. In the duo’s own words (via its Bandcamp page), “the music ‘breathes’ and is not necessarily set to metered time. There are more spontaneous solos and improvised instrumentation. However, like Aperiodic Grok, the album is cerebral, melancholy and has a strong focus on mood and texture.”

At one extreme, there is “Land of the Free" -- the album’s longest track, at nearly eight-and-a-half-minutes -- a sprawling improvised piece with opening sound effects recorded at a California campground and featuring guest musicians Ruben Riera on woodwinds and pan flute, and Steve Mitchell on guitar and bass. Think The Doors on a productive ayahuasca trip. At the other end is a song like “Cappy’s Sledge,” with Heinrich Scheisshausputzer and Klopfen Kleinwuchsiger on harsh German vocals, who help turn this stomper into sort of a Led Zeppelin/Jethro Tull mashup. With cowbell.

As with Aperiodic Grok, Basal Ardor won’t be for everyone. But that’s not the point. This record is the sound of two musical friends (and a handful of their friends, including some well-chosen female vocalists) taking their time exploring how elements from their own musical backgrounds can morph into something wholly original. Basal ardor, indeed.

 - Michael Popke - Sea of Tranquility

"Tenk and Paul: The New release jumps out as a master theatrical yet smokeless presentation. There is so much fire in this music, let alone touches of early decades endearing Psychedelic, jazz and rock. There is also a feeling of experimental lagging lightly behind its interior. Nothing to shake a stick at just let it come and get you! "

Ron Marquiss - Friday Night Progressive

 "Really enjoyable. I like the variety. All over musically which is a good thing to my ears. Favorite tracks so far would be “Land Of The Free” and “Katie And Natalie”. Great stuff! 

Steve Sly - ProgDay  

“No need to say anything about these two excellent American musicians if you already explored their previous album called ‘Aperiodic Grok’ released in 2024. For those who don’t know, Paul Sears is a Veteran drummer who is well known with his Canterbury influenced American band called ‘The Muffins’ and his work with many great musicians including Steve Hillage, Cyrille Verdeaux, Tim Blake - Crystal Machine, Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Fred Frith etc. On other hand, Tenk Van Dool is a multi-instrumentalist who founded the Progressive Rock band called ‘Temple of Switches’. Well, coming to this album, this new offering ‘Basal Ardor’ is the second collaboration between these two musicians which surprised me a lot as the sound and approach of this album is very much like it was recorded in the 70’s. The album starts with ‘King Koln’ which boasts some drooling Minimoog sounds played by Tenk with excellent support of Paul Sears on drums and the second song ‘Cappy's Sledge’ is really surprised me with brooding ambience doubled with excellent vocal support by Heinrich Scheisshausputzer and Klopfen Kleinwuchsiger. Another outstanding track of the album is ‘Land of the Free’ where Tenk Van Dool played an excellent Mandolin solo using Guitar effects through Fender amp which added fantastic character to the song. Founding ‘Muffins’ member Dave Newhouse guested on ‘Tribledation’ and played Woodwind instruments. I wouldn’t compare, but this album's music reminds me the great legacy of Terje Rypdal’s early 70’s music with unbelievably great darker themes and that’s a compliment. In a nutshell, all the 11 tracks of this albums are quite impressive and true to the album title, this is a promising and welcome album with great passion and old school ambience and I must congratulate all the musicians involved in this album for their great passion and dedication in creating this modern masterpiece. By the way, the album’s cover artwork was actually a painting drawn by Tenk’s Godfather Frank Raia in 1961. In my opinion, this album is an absolute treat for those who prefer to listen 70’s kind of darker and brooding Progressive Rock/Fusion. Damn recommended and play it loud. –" Raaj DSV

 "Really enjoying this. Some parts sound like something from the long lost archives of a past psychedelic band, which I quite like. Very cool. Very unusual compositions and arrangements."

-Dave Newhouse

 "Eclectic resp. Avantgarde approach, this non-conform duo invites us to follow their sophomore sonic expedition, never losing its orientation, to make it clear, yes, it's rather unusual again, attractive especially for those who are searching for something not composed in this way beforehand."  - Rivertree 

 "Seems like just yesterday, but in fact it was two years ago that the duo of Tenk van Dool and Paul Sears released their debut collaboration Aperiodic Grok. Sears of course was previously the drummer for The Muffins (as well as a number of other bands and projects), and van Dool is from the Southern California based project Temple of Switches, playing guitar, bass, keyboards, and synthesizers, as well as being the primary songwriter (all the drum arrangements are by Sears, of course). Basal Ardor is their newest release, and it seems as if the partnership will continue onward, although both have a whole lot of other musical endeavors going. Various guest players are present on this track or that, most notably two members of Sears’ other current band Cho-Zen Few, woodwind player Ruben Riera and bassist / guitarist Steve Mitchell, as well as Dave Newhouse on woodwinds  on one cut, singer Clara Hembree (who sang with Temple of Switches at one point) and singer / lyricist Courtney Odom on another cut. All taken there’s a good variety of ideas here, going in a lot of different directions, but the gist is predominantly the instrumental work, beginning with the opener “King Koln,” an aggressive avant rocker that is a reworking of the track “Köln” from Aperiodic Grok, and naturally it’s king sized, a couple minutes longer and more cutting edged. The eight-and-a-half minute improv “Land of the Free” is one that involves van Dool, Sears, Riera, and Mitchell, with some wordless voice parts from Tenk; it’s a truly engaging ambient dreamscape with all sorts of unidentifiable sounds emerging throughout, it stands beyond classification; the rock elements are strong, but the improvised elements approach Sun Ra territory. Hembree lends her crystal clear voice to the remarkably progressive “Katie and Natalie,” seeming to elicit some of the album’s jazziest ideas, with Riera contributing a superb sax solo, while the instrumental “Tandem Trike to Tiburon” takes off in some unexpected psychedelic jazz directions. Odom is the featured singer on “1AM Geary Street,” a piece that seems to start at least partly improvised, but finds a trippy rock sound around its midpoint, while the instrumental “Head Scratcher” will indeed have the listener scratching their head wondering where this piece is going next. “Tribledation” features Newhouse on a track that sounds like it well could have been written just for him. In summary, with Basal Ardor, the listener gets a grand tour of a lot of interesting sounds bristling with creative energy."  -Peter Thelen