In my recent attempt (scattered–some with a three- and a five-year old happily crawling all over me as I typed–and completed too hastily) to improve the progarchy website, I neglected to list one of my all-time favorite bands, an essential element of third-wave prog, THE REASONING. To Matt and Rachel, my sincere apologies. The love continueth from this side of the Atlantic!
Here’s to brilliant Welsh Prog!!!
Looking for a new, interesting label?
We’ve spent so much time chasing down Kscope over the past five years that some other labels might have gotten too little attention. Kscope has certainly been distracting for us, serving as a kind of Pixar to the prog and post-prog world.
Here’s one that definitely demands watching. And, demands because it’s going to be an interesting ride with them.
At a time during which the major, big player, colossal labels of the last three decades are crumbling under the weight of radio formatting changes and imploding because of the extreme decentralization of the market–due to the release and outreach of the work and through the fundamentally democratic ethos of the internet–it’s great to see some new innovative and entrepreneurial labels realizing and offering the positions of ombudsman, muse, and midwife. Kscope has that in spades.
This label I want to introduce to you now, has it well–again–in spades. This one is Karisma Records. Good solid, interesting, innovating lyrics and intense music. Prog, psychedelic, bass-blues, funk, real funk, funkadelic., nineteenth-century folk instruments . . it’s fusing and combining in ways you might not be expecting.
Dang, does it work.
Karisma seems likely to be the next big label, ready to step in where the old have failed to adapt to such a fundamentally altered marketscape.
If you have time for nothing else at the moment, please set your browser to stun and at least visit the magical and mythic snow world of Norway: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Even the website makes my brain swirl with Pink Panther-like effects.
[Updated, June 16, 2014: fixed ca. 10 typos]
Karisma &
Dark Essence Records AS
Postboks 472
5805 Bergen
Norway
Tel: +47 95 74 92 19 (Martin)
post(a)karismarecords.no
Tel: +47 922 66 316 (Bjørnar)
+47 412 11 208 (Kristine)
kristine(a)karismarecords.no
American genius. Susie looks like she’s having a blast.
The bidding on one of Neil’s original Slingerland 12″ concert tom drumheads has surpassed $1,000 with three days remaining in a charity auction.
DrumsforCures is using the auction to raise money for people with cancer and their support network. The organization hosts Drumstrong events, which are rhythm and arts festivals that raise money for cancer education, research, and survivorship help.
Neil played the Slingerland in his early years with Rush and the drumhead was part of that set. “Up for auction [is] a very rare historical piece of music memorabilia for any Rush fan or collector,” the auction description says. “An original 12” concert tom drum head that was mounted on Neil Peart’s first drum kit with Rush (1974 chrome Slingerland). This head was used during “All the World’s a Stage” tour and was later signed by Neil Peart himself on 9/26/2010. A Certificate of Authenticity will also be provided.”
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Artist: Anathema
Album: Distant Satellites
Year: 2014
Label: Kscope Records
Review: Diego Camargo
Thoughts:
Anathema, Nosound, Steven Wilson, Frequency Drift and thousand of other bands from Kscope has a sound that for me… doesn’t work.
They have everything but Rock on their music, they have Ambient, Post Rock, Alternative Rock, Indie Pop, Electronic…. but not Prog ROCK.
I tried several Anathema albums, including the ‘everybody’s love’ last album Weather Systems (2012). I told myself that this music wasn’t for me and that I wouldn’t listen to it again, but what can I say, I’m a hopeful guy, so I gave it a try on their new album Distant Satellites (2014).
For the fans, that mainly are not Prog fans but Post- Prog-Kscope fans, it’ll hit the nail, right on the head. It’s Pop but full of ‘somber-teenager-dark-angst-don’t-know- where-I’m-going’ kind of music. But this time without excitement. I admit that even if…
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One of the best and most interesting Englishmen I’ve never actually met in person, Richard Thresh, recommended I check out a Norwegian band, Airbag, about two summers ago. Richard’s views and recommendations are almost always (in fact, I can’t think of one with which I’ve disagreed) spot on. He cautioned me that a lot of prog folk in the U.K. have dismissed them as warmed-over Pink Floyd, but that I should still listen to them anyway.
I did. But, appearances first.
Their first album cover—the best in my opinion—could be the sequel to Talk Talk’s The Party’s Over. This has James Marsh written (illustrated!) all over it. A single bulbous blue eye cries a teardrop of blood. It is equally disturbing and artistically enticing.
Before even talking indepth about the music, let me add up a couple of things. A recommendation from Richard Thresh, a band from Norway, and a cover painting inspired by James Marsh. Three for three.
What about the music? Yes, they wear their Pink Floyd (mostly Gilmour) influences rather dramatically on their psychedelic sleeves. In fact, they do so really loudly. And, the cover of their most recent album, Greatest Show on Earth, has a very 1980s Floydish look. The guitarwork could be done by a student of Gilmour’s, and the organist possesses a rather Wrightish touch.
Comparing them to Floyd, though, isn’t enough. Not surprisingly, especially given the artwork of the first album, a rather strong air of Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene hangs over all in a thick entangled and shifting haze as well.
Some reviewers also have heard some A-ha in Airbag. Granted, each band begins with an A, and each is from Norway. Otherwise, I hear no similarities at all between the two. This, though, is quite possibly a limitation on my part, as I own all of Airbag’s music, while I’ve listened to only two of A-ha’s albums—each years ago.
Whatever influences these guy wear openly, they are their own band. The musicianship of Airbag is simply outstanding. For proof of this, listen to their two-track live album, Live in Oslo (2008). Holy smokes, this is great stuff. Though only 24 minutes long, Live in Oslo ranks, at least in my mind, as a live recording up there with Rush’s Exit Stage Left and Anathema’s Universal. These guys can really, really, really (I could keep going here) play.
It was listening to this short live album that convinced me of their excellence. The two songs sound almost conducted in the sense that Bruno Walter conducts the Viennese Philharmonic.
A point about the lyrics. I know absolutely nothing in any personal way about the musicians in Airbag. If they vote socialist or if they worship Freya—I have no idea.
But, I really (yes, multiply this word several times) like their lyrics. The lyrics are more Hollis than Floyd. And, that’s a good thing, as they reach a very poetic level. One could easily listen to the vocals merely as another instrument in the Airbag’s music–the singer is this good to be a standalone instrument—but one should really attempt to bring the lyrics and their meaning into he music. As just mentioned, they reach poetic levels, but they also deal very interestingly with what might be called, apolitically, libertarian themes. Meaning, they lyrics explore very nicely and intelligently the role of community, individuality, rights, artistry, creativity, and conformity.
My final word in this post. Don’t let the comparisons to Pink Floyd throw you off. Yes, the band is rather proudly and openly Floydian, but in terms of skill, musicianship, harmony, purpose, and lyricism, they reach toward great heights.
When your monthly budget allows you to purchase that next cd and you’re in the mood to try out a new band, don’t overlook these guys.
I almost did, but Richard Thresh prevented me from making this mistake. Start with the two-song live album. If you like it, purchase any or all of their three studio albums: Identity; All Rights Removed; and/or The Greatest Show on Earth. You won’t regret it. In fact, you might even need to send a thank you note to Richard.
From Detroit’s Classic Rock station, WCSX:
Foggy skies may have stood in the way of Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from receiving their honorary doctorates from Nipissing University yesterday (June 12th) in person, but it didn’t stop them from recording very insightful speeches for the graduating class.
Embedded below, Lee and Lifeson’s speeches reflect on their past experiences, both personal and as bandmates, and drove home to the graduates the value of hard work and perseverance.
Clocking in together at just over five minutes, their speeches are short and straight to the point but pack a heartfelt punch. If anyone in your family is set to graduate soon (or just needs a boost of inspiration), you’ll want to pass these videos on.
Enjoy: https://progarchy.com/2014/06/12/dr-geddy-lee-the-university-of-rush-studies/
[Review of Anathema, Distant Satellites (Kscope, 2014). Reviewed from digital files and without liner notes or lyrics.]
NOT RECOMMENDED.
I would give much either to have the opportunity to write a different review or avoid writing a review of this album altogether. The latter is my usual M.O. when I don’t like something or when I think something is subpar. Though other progarchists would justly and properly disagree with me on this issue, I think it important to spend our time writing and thinking about beautiful things. Life is simply too short to waste on mud, muck, and decay, and art is too precious and rare to squander or abuse it.
Also, simply put, I’m not good at writing about things I don’t like. I would also guess that spending time with things that are poor or corrupt damage my soul (and yours) irreparably.
But, I can neither ignore the new Anathema nor write a positive review of it without being dishonest. Distant Satellites is not corrupt, but it is, for the band, sub par. I wish Anathema would have taken more time with the writing of this album or simply have taken time off for a rest. Or, perhaps, the band could have released just a few of the best songs as an EP rather than as a full-fledged album. As an album, it can’t hold together.
A year ago, if someone had asked me to discuss the present state of rock music, I would have sung the praises of Big Big Train and The Tangent, correctly claiming that each band was reach so far and attaining so much that they were very close to becoming untouchable. 2014 wouldn’t change this assessment. BBT and The Tangent are not only at the very top of their game, they are at the very top of THE game. Outside of North American bands (I’m intentionally excluding Rush and Glass Hammer), I would have gladly said that Cosmograf and Anathema were so close to untouchable as to be nearly at the level of the top two. 2014, thus far, has drastically changed the prog landscape. Whereas Cosmograf has moved into the top three with its new masterpiece, Capacitor, Distant Satellites reveals a broken or, at best, wounded, decaying Anathema.
How different a year ago was. Looking at the trajectory of Anathema—from A Natural Disaster to Universal—I would have placed good money on the rise of the band. Well, not really, I think gambling is a waste of time and money. But, you get the idea. I mean, really, Universal has to be one of the best live albums of the rock era. In terms of intensity and significance, this was a band with everything. While I would not have rated the two lead vocalists of Anathema—Vincent Cavanaugh and Lee Douglas—at the level of, say, David Longdon, Susie Bogdanowicz, or Leah McHenry, they would be close.
As mentioned above, I really wish I could write a different review for the new album. I have now listened to Distant Satellites close to a dozen times in hopes of coming to love it. Every listen, though, only makes realize how poor it is compared to their previous releases. Not that it’s terrible. Overall, it’s ok, but it’s, unfortunately, not much better than ok. I find myself wanting to skip through almost every song. There are two exceptions to this. Track Four, “Ariel,” has to be one of the single best songs Anathema has ever written.
The second best song on the album, “Distant Satellites,” is fascinating, but not necessarily for the right reasons. I’m fairly sure that if I allowed 100 dedicated prog fans to listen to it for the first time without giving them a single piece of information about the track, 75 to 90 of them would claim it to be a never-before-recorded track from Radiohead’s Kid A sessions. Indeed, I won’t be totally surprised when my physical copy finally arrives from the UK, if the liner notes reveal that Thom Yorke actually wrote the track and sang lead vocals on it. It’s one thing to pay homage to an exemplar, it’s a very different thing to mimic them. I really don’t know what to make of all of this, or why Anathema decided to pursue the course it did.
I really wish I could proclaim Distant Satellites to be the finest work yet by Anathema. I would be lying, though.
If you’re an Anathema or Kscope completest, buy this. Otherwise, I simply can’t recommend it. Other than tracks 4 and 9 and, possibly, 10, it’s not worth the price. Purchasing it would be kind of like putting stock in the Skylab project a few days before it crashed into Australia.
Let’s all hope the band’s followup puts them back into orbit.
Progarchy 