Mark DuBerry
Electronic ambient rock
with a jazz flavour

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              Reviews of 'Head Room'

Road Records, October 2006:

“Mark DuBerry is a Dublin based songwriter blending the likes of jazz rock, electronic, prog rock and synth based compositions. This 8 track album is released through his own label. The album is a lovely blend of jazzy electric guitars, some almost classical acoustic guitar sounds and lush washes of synth. The overall sounds range from the almost Steve Reich like repetitive guitar sounds of opening track Tribute to a much more prog rock sounding version of the likes of The Future Sound of London, take in a bit of seventies breezy jazz rock along the way and you end up with a highly entertaining album.”

David Hammond, CD Baby: 

"This album is a delicious feast - dig in and enjoy!
Mark's new album is dynamic, in all senses of the word; it travels from meditative, sensitive and gentle to steaming, brash and energetic, and all manner in between - I love it! Although mostly instrumental, the album is also spiced with some gorgeous vocal offerings. This is an album that grows on you, with rich, varied and deep textures that invite repeated listening. Mark has a strong melodic sense, drawing from classical, jazz, folk, world music and atmospheric influences, and he's enormously skilled at transitions - moving from one mood to a new one while carrying the listener with him effortlessly. This album is a delicious feast - dig in and enjoy!"

Graham Thomas, CD Baby:

"Head Room takes you on a personal tour of your imagination.
From the soft, consistent guitar chords that open Tribute to the final atmospherical progression that fades out Passage, Head Room keeps the listener engaged and entertained throughout. While elements of DuBerry's previous work can be heard on the album, he has also introduced something new and exciting. Often it is hard to put your finger on but the feelings that the music evokes need to be experienced. Every listen of the album reveals more sonic secrets that keep the music sounding fresh. Following his first album Escalate, Head Room has confirmed Mark DuBerry's place as a strong, imaginative composer with a talent for catching and holding the listeners attention."

Alex Willem from ‘Prog Resiste’, a Belgian magazine of Progressive Rock, Issue 48 April 2007. Click here for their website.:

"Mark DuBerry’s album Head Room brings a breath of fresh air which reminds me of many years ago when there weren’t very many new progressive rock releases and I turned my attention to other types of music. At the time I discovered Jazz-Rock which was then still called New Age, not to be confused with New Wave, which later in certain cases became known as World Music. This is the great era of Pat Metheny or that of Windham Hill Records who produced (and still produce by the way) artists like William Ackerman, Mark Isham or George Winston. Head Room is an album which is totally in line with a lot of these artists. More particularly and personally, it reminds me of the very fine Indian Summer by Friedemann Witecka or the more classical music of John Themis, even if in this case it is a lot more varied and doesn’t contain a lot of the pure New Age soothing or relaxing type of music. The music of Mark DuBerry without doubt owes that variety to his numerous stated influences which range from Peter Gabriel to Weather Report, while passing through Mike Oldfield. It is a mixture of Jazz, Rock, ethnic music and many other styles. Electronic sounds produced on the keyboards are followed by the acoustic sounds of a Spanish guitar or bagpipes. Nervy Rock or Jazzy rhythms alternate with other more soothing ones, or again folk singing from diverse origins (Africa, the Middle-East or Japan). Head Room is a good instrumental album which invites you on a voyage, exterior or interior and in time or space. An album which it is good to let yourself be taken along with…" (translated from French)

Indie-Music.com, reviewed by Travis Dow, July 2008:

"As the title suggests, Head Room takes the listener on a tour of several psychological states, including creativity, love, loss, and self-discovery. That it does so in such an engaging and entertaining manner is a tribute to Mark DuBerry’s instrumental gifts. From a base of Dublin, Ireland, DuBerry, who plays everything on the album, crafts synth and guitar-based music with a truly international flair.

Beginning with the first track, "Tribute," an ode to the creative process, the album alternately builds and deconstructs tension, using an astounding variety of sounds, including searing electric guitars, wild keyboards, an array of human voices in various tongues, and even, at one point, bagpipes. From the Asian touches of "That Time of Year" (written for DuBerry’s father) to the slinky rhythm of Slide (just try listening to this without moving), the music veers from progressive rock to new age to jazz.

The album kicks into high gear with Track 4, "High Flyer," where a driving beat and a wah wah pedal start heating things up. In fact, the sequence of the album greatly assists in keeping the music fresh: just when the ear needs a new sound or a new rhythm, there it is with the next track. Head Room rocks when it needs to, and creates contemplative moods when they’re called for.

With its opening few notes, the album bursts out with a clear vision. DuBerry is an artist with something to say and the skills to put it across. It’s impossible not to be drawn into the message, and amazing to realize how much emotional information can be gleaned without lyrics to spell it out for us." - See the 'official' version here.

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