This is such a great song. Watch the first episode of Sonic Highways (on HBO) and then you will understand the lyrics to it. Rolling Stone has a fascinating acoustic version up today.
Month: November 2014
The European Dream Team
Well, the time has finally come. It really has. I cannot believe it has crept up so fast, but there is now only just over a week to go until one of the greatest adventures of my entire life.
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine going on tour with two of the hottest and most happening European prog bands but as the days get closer, the anticipation gets progressively amplified. Will anyone turn up? Will everyone go away well and truly astounded? Of course they will, my inner voice constantly reassures.
So, this is it – Moon Safari and Lazuli, two bands who know each other very well, and whose contrast in styles makes for a perfect double bill. On the one hand, there’s the wonderful smooth melodies and close harmonies of the cool Swedes and on the other, there’s the complex, unique sounds of the French five, originally inspired by the Beatles, and if you listen intently to a couple of their songs, I Am The Walrus comes right back at you.
Moon Safari have carved a significant place for themselves in the British prog psyche, having won two of the Classic Rock Society’s 2014 annual awards, the Overseas Band and Live Band. How much these awards meant to them was borne out by the essay length acceptance speeches in perfectly modulated English they sent over and were read out by CRS supremo Stephen Lambe back in February.
Also, the redoubtable Jon Patrick, Master of the House of Progression, readily admits that Moon Safari is the band which helped him keep the faith after they appeared at the legendary but now defunct The Peel in September last year. If you want a taste of what to expect, check out their new two CD Live In Mexico album, full of some of the most heart-warming, uplifting prog around.
To describe Lazuli requires something of a personal testament. It was Friday evening at the Summers End Festival 2011 and there were some last minute changes after Sunchild were unable to perform due to visa issues. We were conscious of some guys resembling Legolas and Aragorn mingling with the audience. The next minute, they were on stage and like Prince Husain with his flying carpet, everyone was transported off to Lazuliland, a magical place where the musical rulebook was turned on its head.
There was no bass player: but there was a keyboard player who plays bass parts, drums and French horn; a drummer who also plays marimba; a guitarist who uses a screwdriver across his fretboard; a frontman/vocalist with flying hair and plaited beard who doubles up on guitar and mandolin, and a seated serious figure with an extraordinary instrument called the Léode which resembles a Chapman stick, and out of which can be coaxed an endless range of amazing sounds.
Though all their lyrics are in French, they completely captivated festival-goers and for my part, my musical landscape changed forever. Fast forward to last year and the word is they are back to conquer Lydney again at the 2013 Summer’s End Festival, following Oliver Wakeman and Gordon Giltrap’s wonderful Ravens and Lullabies. Theirs was another electric compelling performance rounded off by the brilliant instrumental Nine Hands Around A Marimba.
Before the weekend, I had mentioned to my dear friend and fellow lady of the prog Nellie Pitts that she ought to see Lazuli for the above-mentioned reasons. To say she was stunned, captivated and mesmerised is something of an understatement. The Mistress of the Merch Desk was well and truly Lazulied and her parting words were “I am going to get them back over here.”
As good as her word, Nellie started planning out the tour at the start of the year, having decided a double bill with Moon Safari would be something of a major event over here. Knowing our love of Lazuli (and our admiration for Moon Safari), she very kindly invited Martin Reijman (my other half and prog photographer) and yours truly as publicist and chief cheerleader to join her and the 11 players on the tour.
And here we are now, just a week away with months of pre-publicity behind us, Press releases to national music journos and local papers duly distributed and many many postings via social media uploaded to capture everyone’s imaginations.
Just for the record, the dates they are playing here are:
The Talking Heads, Southampton, on Wednesday 26 November
The Globe, Cardiff on Thursday 27 November
The Sound Control in Manchester on Friday 28 November
The Borderline in London on Saturday 29 November (A House of Progression promotion)
The Robin2 in Bilston on Sunday 30 November
Sponsors of the tour are The Merch Desk and Prog Magazine.
The response so far has been incredible and our biggest personal wish – indeed a dream – is for everyone there to have the best time and enjoy some of the best music our crazy little world of prog rock has to offer. As one particular prog disc jockey remarked on his show last night, this is going to be the tour of the year. We shall do all we can to make it so.
Smashing Pumpkins — “Tiberius”, from Monuments to an Elegy
The Smashing Pumpkins have released a three-song sampler EP from their forthcoming new album, but it is only physically available if you pre-order from an indie record store! Excellent news. What a great way to support these retro outlets. And what better way to buy music?
The sampler contains: “Being Beige,” “One and All” & “Tiberius.” See the accompanying videos to this post if you want a listen.
And here’s more info:
In support of their eighth studio album Monuments to an Elegy, available December 9, The Smashing Pumpkins will play a series of special shows in select cities around the globe. …
The special lineup for these performances will include Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine) on drums and Mark Stoermer (The Killers) on bass joining The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and Jeff Schroeder. “We’re absolutely thrilled and humbled to have Brad and Mark helping us out with these shows,” said Corgan “and if our rehearsals are any indication they should be one-of-a-kind.” …
Yesterday, Vice.com premiered the new track, “Tiberius” which they called “intimate” and “expansive” while Noisey.com declared the track “sounds like a return to form—a nod to the beloved Pumpkins sound of old with a modern twist.” Monuments To An Elegy features Tommy Lee on drums and was recorded in Chicago. The album is produced by Howard Willing, along with Corgan and Schroeder. Monuments to an Elegy is “an album within an album,” part of their ongoing work-in-progress Teargarden By Kaleidyscope (with Day For Night as the project’s last work).
Seizing Galahad: The 3 2014 EPs
Review of Galahad, the 2014 Trilogy of EPs: “Seize the Day”; “Guardian Angel”; and “Mein Herz Brennt.”
Birzer Rating for all three: 9/10.
Two caveats as I review these three EPs. First, I’d not come upon Galahad as a band until being introduced to them just a few years ago by the first lady of prog, Alison Henderson. When Galahad first emerged in the U.K., we Americans missed them for some reason. I’m not sure why, and I think this is an American failing. At the time Galahad came together as a band in the U.K., I was firmly listening to Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and The Flat Earth. But, this failing is now thirty years in the past.
Second, the moment I started listening to the band, I felt an immediate kinship. I love these guys, and I love what they’re doing. Exploring their back catalogue has been one of my sonic joys of the last several years.
I hope they don’t mind the comparison, but they sound like the legitimate successors to the Midge Ure-era of Ultravox (pre-Uvox). For me, this is not just a great thing, it’s a grand thing. I loved the songwriting and flow of Vienna, Rage in Eden, and Lament. Each moved me immensely, and I’ve always wondered why a band didn’t embrace the Ultravox sound and prog it up. An album such is Rage in Eden is so full of ideas, it could easily have been three times as long as it was. One could readily take Ultravox toward more electronica and minimalism, or one could beef the sound up, making the pop elements a part of the sound rather than the core of it. Galahad is that second band–Ultravox on steroids, beefed up and presenting the music as a deep work of art, immersed in gravitas, and willing to be profoundly adventuresome.
I was happily surprised when Stu Nicholson announced that the band would spend 2014 focusing on just a few EPs rather than on a full album. After the 2012 barrage of two albums—each astounding in its own right—the band had to be exhausted. The release of three EPs seemed a good idea. Of course, I’d love another Galahad album, and I assume we will get one. So, let the guys do what they need to do to get ready for the next big one! I can be patient, especially when it comes to excellence, and I’m positive Galahad will deliver. These are guys who–thankfully–never do a thing half way.
Now that the last of the three EPs has been released, we can readily assess just what Nicholson and co. have accomplished in 2014. And, frankly, it’s quite a bit.
I’ve already reviewed Seize the Day at progarchy. This is the longest of the EPs in terms of songs. Six total. Two versions of “Seize the Day,” including the definitive “full version”, two versions of “21st Century Painted Lady,” and two versions of “Bug Eye 2014,” including a live version.
The second, “Guardian Angel,” came out this summer. It presents the title song in four different versions, two of which appeared on the album, Beyond the Realms, It also contains a piano version of “Beyond the Barbed Wire.” Stripped down to its essence, the song reveals the delicate beauty and versatility of Nicholson’s voice.
The final EP, “Mein Herz Brennt,” presents this title song in four versions as well. I’m not familiar with the original song, and I’m still digesting this EP. Though I was once fluent in Austrian German, I have a hard time appreciating the German vocals here. They seem harsh and spooky, though this might very well have been Galahad’s intent. The EP will probably grow on me. When it does, I’ll report back.
Regardless, I’m really, really happy with what Galahad has done. They’ve managed to remain prog while also being truly progressive, exploring new areas and sounds.
I’m truly sorry they’ve not been a part of my life for thirty years, but I’m thankful they’ve been a part of it as long as they have. A huge thanks to Lady Alison for sharing her love of this band with me. Thank you, equally, to Stu and Co. for keeping alive the spirit of playful and meaningful innovation. Galahad has always been the favorite knight of this Arthur-obsessed man, and Galahad has quickly become a favorite of this same prog-obsessed man as well.
Long may they continue!
One may purchase each of the three EPs at amazon.com and at Galahad’s official site: http://www.galahadonline.com/
Boom! Making Clockwork Angels Even Better.
Clockwork Angels by Neil Peart, Kevin J. Anderson, and Nick Robles (Six-issue comic series from Boom! Studios, 2013-2014).
By any reckoning, Clockwork Angels has done rather well. It is a prog-rock album, a concert, a live concert album and video, a novel, an audiobook, and now a six-book comic series from the relatively young publisher, Boom! Studios. Soon, I’m sure, Boom! will collect these six issues into a graphic novel, perhaps with a new introduction by Peart.
As the great Rob Freedman has argued at his website, Rush Vault, it could readily become a movie or a tv-series. Maybe even complete with action figures. No, I’m not exaggerating, and I’m not being sarcastic. Clockwork Angels has done very well, and I couldn’t be happier for Peart.
The novel, co-authored by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart is, in and of itself, quite stunning. At essence, the story is little different than the one Peart told with Hemispheres. Chaos and order vie for power, with the individual—armed with integrity, intelligence, and creativity—making his own path. Yet, Peart and Anderson have made this story as fresh as fresh can be by adopting the form of a fairy-tale. It’s a rather Chestertonian and Tolkienian fairy tale at that. Peart even inserts himself (but, not by name) as the grandfather-narrator, well pleased with his children and grandchildren.
Adorned with color prints by Hugh Syme and printed on the highest quality of paper, the ECW novel is a wonderful thing to hold and behold.
At the time that Rush began to plan the tour for the album, Peart stated in no uncertain terms that certain aspects of the story could not be produced visually, as he hoped to keep them in the imagination. In particular, he was talking about the actual Clockwork Angels. Far better to leave them to the individual imagination than to the visual artists. Additionally, they needed to remain in an aura of mystery.
I must admit, when I first heard that the story would be produced in comic book form, I was apprehensive. I have nothing against comics and graphics novels. Indeed, I think the work of such giants as Frank Miller and Alan Moore probably inspired and certainly anticipated the iPads and other tablets we know all wield—a perfect blending of word and image. But, I wondered, wow could Peart’s desire be adhered to, when transferring the story to a visual medium. Would the art do justice to the story, or would it simply detract? I realize I’m in the minority in this view, but I firmly believe that Peter Jackson has come close to destroying the beauty and integrity of Tolkien’s world. Tolkien’s world is too strong to be destroyed by such technological mimicry, but still. . . I didn’t want Boom! to do the same thing to Peart’s work.
Now that all six issues have appeared, I can render judgment. The artist, Nick Robles, has done admirable work. True to the fairy-like intent of the story, Robles presents all of his images as something between a water-color painting and modern (think Jim Lee of DC) superhero art.
While Robles attempts to illustrate the Clockwork Angels, he does so in a way to minimize the destruction of imagination. Various lights and shadows, thankfully, obscure the more mysterious parts. Equally important, Robles not only draws the human face beautifully, rendering each with personality, light, and emotion, but his coloring makes some of the expressions jump off the page. His reds and blues are especially good. In other words, Robles really does augment the word with image, and I found myself appreciating this story in different ways than I had the original album and novel.
Robles and Boom! have done something I didn’t expect: they’ve made a brilliant story even better. Or least, they made me look at it in a very new way. What’s not to love? Gorgeous art; Peartian wisdom; and a story that mixes the best of Chesterton, Tolkien, and Ray Bradbury.
For ordering information, go here: Boom! Studios.
Steve Babb’s Lay of Lirazel is Now Available
Progarchists, it is well worth owning a copy of Steve Babb’s first book of poetry, The Lay of Lirazel.
Not surprisingly, given his intelligence and creativity as revealed over and over again in his work with Glass Hammer, Babb has tapped into the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien with this book. Indeed, imagine Tolkien as a lyricist for a prog band, and you’d have Steve Babb. It would not be hyperbolic to claim this Lay is the sequel to Tolkien’s earliest writings, begun almost exactly a century ago–much of it in the trenches of France during the First World War.
Babb’s book has everything: drama, mystery, love, horror, and honor. In particular, though, one can sense the rhythm and lilt of the poem. I’m not sure if it makes me proud to be a lover of poetry or a lover of prog? Of course, it makes me proud to be both. Still, I’m not sure if the flow is prog, or if prog’s flow is poetic.
Too little poetry is published and almost never in the form of a lay. Babb has proven his creativity repeatedly in his music and his lyrics. As I’ve gotten to know Steve over the past two years, I can also state he is a man whose integrity matches his creativity.
What I now hold in my hands is a thing of beauty. Congratulations, Steve. Like Neil Peart, you never stop. You not only get better and better in your craft, but you also take your experience into other realms.
All to the good.
Space Rock from the Comet Landing
It doesn’t get much more prog than this. “That Comet We Landed On? We Just Got Back a Sound Recording – And It’s Terrifying.” So, while you are waiting for Cailyn’s cosmic Voyager album to be released, enjoy these space sounds:
RPC consists of five instruments on the Rosetta orbiter that provide a wide variety of complementary information about the plasma environment surrounding Comet 67P/C-G. (Reminder: Plasma is the fourth state of matter, an electrically conductive gas that can carry magnetic fields and electrical currents.)
The instruments are designed to study a number of phenomena, including: the interaction of 67P/C-G with the solar wind, a continuous stream of plasma emitted by the Sun; changes of activity on the comet; the structure and dynamics of the comet’s tenuous plasma ‘atmosphere’, known as the coma; and the physical properties of the cometary nucleus and surface.
But one observation has taken the RPC scientists somewhat by surprise. The comet seems to be emitting a ‘song’ in the form of oscillations in the magnetic field in the comet’s environment. It is being sung at 40-50 millihertz, far below human hearing, which typically picks up sound between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. To make the music audible to the human ear, the frequencies have been increased by a factor of about 10,000.
The music was heard clearly by the magnetometer experiment (RPC-Mag) for the first time in August, when Rosetta drew to within 100 km of 67P/C-G. The scientists think it must be produced in some way by the activity of the comet, as it releases neutral particles into space where they become electrically charged due to a process called ionisation. But the precise physical mechanism behind the oscillations remains a mystery.
“This is exciting because it is completely new to us. We did not expect this and we are still working to understand the physics of what is happening,” says Karl-Heinz.
RPC may also be able to help in tracking Philae’s descent to the surface of 67P/C-G on 12 November, in tandem with the lander’s on-board magnetometer, ROMAP .
The sonification of the RPC-Mag data was compiled by German composer Manuel Senfft (www.tagirijus.de).
H/T: Leah
Review: DROPSHARD – Silk
The last decade has brought us a rise in interesting progressive metal and rock with its roots not in the 1970s, but instead in extreme metal, alternative rock, and even punk. The musicians from this era still love classic progressive rock, but they are not producing music based only on that one foot. Instead, modern prog is a diverse, entertaining movement which has given us Haken and Leprous.
A band that gives signs of “should-be-added” to that list is Dropshard, and of that “Silk” is proof in kind. “Anywhere But Home,” which was released in 2011, was the band’s debut and it bore a striking resemblance to the work of Riverside, Anathema and/or Porcupine Tree. Despite this undeniable likeness, the record was chock full of fat grooves, great writing, beautiful vocal performances from singer Enrico Scanu and great performances from all the musicians.
Dropshard’s sophomore offering “Silk” is a clear improvement. The record is a menagerie of the best things about “Anywhere But Home,” plus new dimensions in terms of performance and writing. Like so many of the best bands, what makes Dropshard work is the combination of an original sound – in this case, keyboards driven music and airy riffing – with effective use of dynamic songwriting that plays on all of the band’s strengths. Dropshard does both ‘heavy, syncopated and groovy’ and ‘delicate and melancholy’ with extreme ease. Songs move smoothly between these two modes, often hooking on Enrico Scanu’s vocal performances to make the transitions work. Top this off with an instinctive understanding for melody, which is displayed in soaring choruses that feel like the synthesis of the heavy and melodic, and you have a recipe for excellence.
“Silk” is a more progressive record than its predecessor. Moments like the bridge in “Insight” and the verse in “Tied Together” show off a side of the band that works extremely well – syncopated rhythms, driving melodies and intuitive groove. Bursts of genius and variation are often perfectly differentiated from a bed of tom driven groove, juxtaposed with epic choruses – what comes as one of the Dropshard’s greatest strengths.
And while I love the truly heavy moments this record offers, I cannot deny that a huge part of the appeal of Dropshard is, here quite a lot mentoned, Enrico Scanu’s performance. He particularly shines when the band moves into the lighter material. For me, this is best exemplified by “Memento,” which may be the track that I come back to the most these days. Wandering firmly into Anathema territory, Scanu’s performance is heart-wrenching and the composition is the perfect music for shortening Autumn days. Scanu’s use of harmonies – a style already heard on “Anywhere But Home” – continues to be something that is very effective. These moments of delicate harmonies litter the album on so many occasions, and they add tiny moments of piercing perfection that push cerebral music to the emotional plane – and from great to excellent.
It is finally the fact that “Silk” is so artfully crafted and emotionally evocative that pushes it to the next level despite the audial limitations. As the record slopes towards its conclusion, I am struck over and over by the mastery of the melody and feel that Dropshard has. These moments of piercing beauty combined with the epic writing, the powerful performances and the next level of heaviness is sprinkled across the record makes “Silk” special.
“Silk” is out now. Get it from Bandcamp. Visit Dropshard’s official website and like them on Facebook.
Watch: Bruce Soord performs acoustic version of “Magnolia”…
… the title track from The Pineapple Thief’s excellent new album.
On the clip Bruce Soord comments “Here’s a stripped back acoustic version of Magnolia I performed in my studio recently. All the songs on Magnolia began their life this way, on acoustic guitar and vocal, so it was really nice to go back and play this song again, in the form as it was when it was born”
Much more about the band and the album on the KScope Music site.
Progarchy 