"Dave Pearson aka Computerchemist, the artist who describes himself as "more TD than TD" charges ahead on his new disk, Icon One, to solidify his unabashed love of analogue style by unleashing a furious stream of body-rocking old-school Berlin-influenced electronic joy. The ride kicks off with the far-ranging, 20-minute title track, an opus that attains maximum velocity straight out of the gates on urgent synths and rocksteady drumming, slows itself down nicely in parts, and in some spots reaches out toward the borders of jazz for its voice. That jazz tint rears its welcome head frequently across the course of the disk. From there we get "Timethorns," a pleasing, melodic drift on a raft of sequencer lines easing past breathy synth landscapes and tribal-feel drums. "Chaos Theory" sets out as a New Age-style piano-based stroll. But about halfway through it drops a tab of acid for a few minutes of wild guitar psychedelia before recovering its original tack and finishing out quietly. "Icon Zero" keeps things sedate at its outset, long-breath chords giving way to a soft flute-and-piano melody. At the 5-minute mark it launches into a gorgeously jazzy sax-and-keys section that feels and sounds like 70s-era Pink Floyd taking Traffic into the boudoir for a sweaty tumble. When they're spent, that TD sensibility rolls back in (in a Melrose-esque way) with more driving sequencer goodness. The last four minutes of this piece are like a separate work on their own, a dark fugue wherein I hear echoes of the deepest psychedelic parts of "In A Gadda Da Vida"! (Surely this is just me!) Pearson sits down at his piano for the beautifully dramatic closer, "The Message," then sets it afire with a ripping guitar line. There's a distinct cinematic/narrative overtone to all the pieces here, the longer ones clearly sliced into movements, and the sonic imagery comes across quite clearly. It's a very tasty ride, especially for the analogue-heads among us. Icon One is a Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD." - John Shanahan, Hypnagogue

"Powerful stuff. Hard Rock EM, anyone?... This is EM with a strong Rock edge. I guess if we take Tangerine Dream's instrumentation of the 1990's (keyboards, guitars, drums, sax etc) and take away most of the Pop / easy-listening sensibilities typical of their music from that era, we'd get something like "Icon One"... Dave Pearson is certainly an artist to look out for." - Artemi Pugachov, Encyclopedia of Electronic Music

icon zero: When I listened, I felt close to the inner feelings of hysteria, then calm, then peace... Victor Torres