Month: November 2014

RochaNews: New Pineapple Thief Now Out

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock music2 Comments

I’ll have a review of Magnolia soon, but let me state it’s the best TPT album since WHAT WE HAVE SOWN.

Thanks, Brian Rocha!

****

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF LAUNCHES “MAGNOLIA” ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE VIDEO

10th album “Magnolia” out now on Kscope

ENGLAND -U.K. rock troupe, The Pineapple Thief, has launched a clip of the beautiful title track from its new album Magnolia being performed acoustically by frontman Bruce Soord. Check out the video on the band’s Kscope page at:http://www.kscopemusic.com/artists/thepineapplethief or directly on Vimeo at:https://vimeo.com/110921949.

“Here’s a stripped back acoustic version of ‘Magnolia’ I performed in my studio recently,” commented Soord. “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.”

Magnolia, which released last September on Kscope, can be purchased on iTunes at:https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/magnolia-deluxe-version/id905388556, Amazon.com at:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LVH0SW6/ref=dm_ws_ps_cdp?ie=UTF8&s=music or through the Kscope web-store at:https://www.burningshed.com/store/kscope/.

The new album is currently streaming on Soundcloud at:https://soundcloud.com/kscopemusic/sets/the-pineapple-thief-magnolia-album-stream/s-tlChQ.

A music video for the single “Simple as That”can be viewed on YouTube at:http://youtu.be/V3GMvXXd8a8.

Magnolia follows the acclaimed 2012 album All The Wars and marks an important turning point for The Pineapple Thief, as it expands its musical horizons beyond the progressive sphere.

Recorded at Snap Studios and mixed at Strongroom Studios in London, Magnoliarepresents the ultimate culmination of Soord’s ongoing quest to raise spirits and connect. A devastating yet uplifting collection of 12 beautifully crafted songs, it showcases the band’s intuitive chemistry and soulful demeanor, cramming a vast array of emotional shades and inspirational ideas into its 47 mesmerizing minutes.

1. Simple as That (04:01)

2. Alone at Sea (05:21)

3. Don’t Tell Me (03:35)

4. Magnolia (03:47)

5. Seasons Past (04:14)

6. Coming Home (03:06)

7. The One You Left to Die (04:19)

8. Breathe (02:35)

9. From Me (04:31)

10. Sense of Fear (04:31)

11. A Loneliness (03:22)

12. Bond (04:31)

“‘Magnolia’ is a gorgeous album – immaculately produced, and assembled with real love and imagination” – Classic Rock Magazine (U.K.)

“This is a fearless, consistently lovely and beautifully executed album that’s sure to be cherished” – Prog Magazine (U.K.) – Lead album review

“‘Magnolia’ proves that The Pineapple Thief is still at the top of its game” –RebelNoise.com

Formed in 1999 by founder and chief songwriter Bruce Soord as an experimental bedroom project, The Pineapple Thief has since continued to evolve and refine its sound. The group is seen by many as one of the most interesting and innovative rock bands the U.K. has produced in recent years. Previous albums like Someone Here Is Missing (2010) and All The Wars (2012) have made The Pineapple Thief’s reputation and fan base stronger, resulting in interest from a wider audience.

With a new, expanding sound, Magnolia has all the potential to bring The Pineapple Thief to the masses. This, the band’s 10th record, could not only be a milestone, but also a mainstream breakthrough for the band. With Magnolia, The Pineapple Thief has created 12 musical gems that defy all classifications – anthemic, catchy, intense, honest and straight from the heart.

The band will head out on a European tour later this month in support.
Stay tuned for more information on The Pineapple Thief and Magnolia.

-###-
The Pineapple Thief online…

www.kscopemusic.com/tpt

www.pineapplethief.com

www.facebook.com/thepineapplethief

www.twitter.com/pineapplethief

The Pineapple Thief is…

Bruce Soord – vocals, guitar
Dan Osborne – drums
Jon Sykes – bass
Steve Kitch – keyboards

Philosophical Reflections on the Scorpions

On By Time LordIn ProgarchyLeave a comment

Gregory Sadler, The Heavy Metal Philosopher, reflects on the career of the Scorpions and asks the Heraclitean question about whether the same band can exist twice. His conclusion? It makes a key metaphysical distinction about privation:

I’ll say this much though — perhaps we can speak of two overlapping musical periods after the Scorpions really got their sound together and coalesced in the mid-70s:  a serious and formative early metal period from Fly to the Rainbow (1974) to Taken By Force (1978), capped by their first live album (Tokyo Tapes) and the first Best of The Scorpions compilation — then a simply meteoric period from Lovedrive (1979) to Love at First Sting (1984), also capped by a live album (World Wide Livein 1985).  And then, for years, more and more touring.

Even though one can hear a difference between what let’s anachronistically call the 1970s Scorpions and the 1980s Scorpions — and one can hear analogous differences between earlier and later Judas Priest (compare, e.g. Sin After Sin with Defenders of the Faith), and despite a key lineup change on lead guitar from Uli Roth to Matthias Jabs,  there’s still a really vital and robust continuity, an ongoing incorporative development one can hear across this body of work.

Savage Amusement marked a shift of sound and ethos whose radicality wasn’t entirely apparent at the time — it needed additional albums to come along and confirm that something was really different.  Even though it came out — after a lot of anticipation on the part of their fans — in 1988, I’d say it’s already the 1990s Scorpions composing and producing it (key word there for that time — producing, not playing, not building, not hammering it out).

I remember listening to it at the time, and having to make a kind of emotional effort to find the new songs as exciting, as well-crafted — really simply put, as captivatingly interesting as those from the earlier albums.  It was competent, to be sure.  It rocked. . .  more or less.  Crazy World — and particularly the ballad “Winds of Change” — confirmed that something had indeed happened.  Something had gotten lost, was going missing — metaphysically, we’re not just talking about alteration, breakdown, movement from one thing to another, but rather that difficult to conceptualize reality of privation.

So, although we could certainly buy tickets and show up at the venue, and see at least some of the guys — Klaus Meine, Rudolph Schencker, Matthias Jabs — who carved out such new sonic spaces in the 1980s, compositions that retain their freshness and complexity decades later, in several important but difficult-to-clarify senses, it would no longer be the same band that created and played those songs who we’d get to witness covering them on stage.

We can, however, continue to enjoy those great albums from the 1970s and 1980s — there is a kind of complex continuity preserved partly in the past, but reenactable in the present, continuing even for generations yet to come in the future.

ProgSphere News: Opus of a Machine

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

OPUS OF A MACHINE to Release Debut “Simulacra” on November 16th

Upon their inception in 2013, Opus of a Machine has been stripping away the macho pretence of modern metal unlike any other band today. Their debut, “Simulacra” is fast, energetic, expressive and emotive. An explosion of high-energy heavy rock and colourful, progressive elements that infers little of the current paradigm of heavy music today. Taking with them the raw conviction of bands separate from the zeitgeist of progressive rock, Opus of a Machine bends the traditional, stares down the barrel of experimentation and explores sonic landscapes too fearful for most.

Formed in 2012, Opus of a Machine began as a labour of love for guitarist Zac Greensill and vocalist/guitarist Mitchell Legg, who over a large period of growth, laid the foundations for their debut LP. With bassist Dale Prinsse and drummer Trevor Gee joining in mid 2013, the energy and passion that lifts their recorded work made it’s way to the live arena. Following a string of successful, high-intensity live shows with the likes of Caligula’s Horse, Jericco, Guards of May, Mass Sky Raid, The Orchard and other outstanding bands throughout 2014 in anticipation of their debut album, Opus of a Machine is forging a path onto the Australian and international stage.

With influences such as Opeth, Tool, Radiohead, Devin Townsend, Karnivool, Metallica, Dead Letter Circus, TesseracT, Thirty Seconds to Mars, A Perfect Circle, 12 Foot Ninja, Oceansize, Rage Against the Machine, Voyager, Alter Bridge, Katatonia, and many others, Opus of a Machine is a limitless exploration of the vigour and intensity of metal fused with the subtleties of experimental rock.

Opus of a Machine’s debut “Simulacra” is out on November 16th. The album is available for pre-order on Bandcamp, where two songs taken from the album are available for streaming.

Opus of a Machine is:

Mitchell Legg – vocals, guitars

Dale Prinsse – bass

Trevor Gee – drums

Zac Greensill – guitars

Opus of a Machine online:

https://opusofamachine.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/OpusOfAMachine

Press contact:

Nikola Savic / Prog Sphere PR

info@prog-sphere.com

Gentle Storm Cover Art

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

Everyone’s favorite Arjen has just released this on Facebook.  Looks gorgeous.

I’m very proud to present you the front cover of our upcoming The Gentle Storm album with Anneke van Giersbergen! The album title is “The Diary” and the image was made by the very talented Alexandra V Bach. More about the concept soon!–Arjen Lucassen, November 4, 2014

535926_10152330324271152_1844977060644700570_n

Andrian Belew Power Trio in Boulder

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment

Adrian Belew Power Trio

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014

7:30pm

Boulder Theater

maxresdefault

http://www.bouldertheater.com/event/adrian-belew

Adrian Belew (born Robert Steven Belew, December 23, 1949, in Covington, Kentucky) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is perhaps best known for his work as a member of the progressive rock group King Crimson (which he has fronted since 1981) and for his unusual impressionistic approach to guitar playing (involving arresting, yet frequently melodic sounds more akin to animals and machines than to standard instrumental tones).

Widely recognized as an “incredibly versatile player”, Belew has released nearly twenty solo albums for Island Records and Atlantic Records which blend Beatles-inspired pop-rock with more experimental fare. His 2005 single “Beat Box Guitar” was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category. In addition to being a member of King Crimson, he is also in the more straightforward pop band The Bears and fronted his own band, “Gaga”, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He has worked extensively as a session and touring musician, most famously with Talking Heads, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, and Nine Inch Nails.

Belew has recently moved into instrument design, collaborating with Parker Guitars to help design his own Parker Fly signature guitar. This guitar is noticeably different from the standard design, containing advanced electronics such as a sustainer pickup and a Line 6 Variax guitar modelling system. It is also MIDI-capable, allowing it to be used with any synthesizer with MIDI connectivity.

[A huge thanks to Laura Kriho, one of my colleagues at CU, for letting me know]