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By NANCY QUAEGEBEUR
Staff Writer

I’ll be the first to admit that Ian Collins’s “The Map Is Not The Territory” is not a CD I would have picked off the shelf of a music store to add to my collection. With its gypsy-like influences, and jangley guitars, it is exceptionally different from much of the music floating on the mainstream airwaves today. However, being a Pink Floyd and Flaming Lips fan, its psychedelic pop sound peaked my interest in giving it a thorough listen.

Summer 2006 saw the worldwide release of Ian Collins’s “The Map Is Not The Territory,” on Constant In Opal Records, which he, himself, formed in April of 2000. He has been submersed in the music industry worldwide for over a decade and is also a highly skilled, accredited professional development and business life coach, who specializes in working within the music and entertainment industries.

Collins’s title choice coincides well with the music, leaving people to create their own meaning, perception and understanding of the songs. Everyone creates their own map of the world and these songs represent Collins’s map of the world, expressing them to anyone willing to listen.

“The Map Is Not The Territory” highlights Collins as a master of harmonics, and provides an English pop experience that is new and refreshing. Songs like “Beautiful”, and “Under Blue Skies” are enchanting, providing the feeling that you are being taken back to a time long ago. The sounds and sights of this time you have been taken to transfix you and your only escape is the end of the CD. The choruses live in your mind.

Although not a typically a CD that I would select to add to my collection, if you are looking for something different, definitely give “The Map Is Not The Territory” a whirl. Perhaps Collins will spark the inspiration for Canadian and American artists to take their music in a similar direction.