Author: bradbirzer

By day, I'm a father of seven and husband of one. By night, I'm an author, a biographer, and a prog rocker. Interests: Rush, progressive rock, cultural criticisms, the Rocky Mountains, individual liberty, history, hiking, and science fiction.

THREE WORDS by Newspaperflyhunting

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Newspaperflyhunting, THREE WORDS EP (2015).

The band:

  • Michał Pawłowski: guitars, backing vocals
  • Jacek Bezubik: guitars, lead and backing vocals
  • Gosia Sutuła-Grabowska: basses, lead and backing vocals
  • Krzysztof Sarna: drums
  • Beata Grzegorczyk-Andrejczuk: Fender Rhodes piano
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THREE WORDS.

 

There’s something just so terribly infectious about the music of Newspaperflyhunting.

Granted, the name of the band is the weirdest thing since Annie Oakley shot three playing cards (ace of hearts, of course) at 100 yards while looking at the target through a mirror.  Yes, as with Oakley, Newspaperflyhunting brings a standard of excellence to every single thing it touches and produces.

The band’s latest EP, THE THREE WORDS, is a thing of wonder, beauty, and majesty.

Though the three-song EP has a familiar Newspaperflyhunting sound, THE THREE WORDS is different from their other releases and offers the long-time listener even new aural ecstasies.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the band’s music possesses much in common with the American and British neo-psychedelic wall-of-sound revival of the late 1980s which saw the rise and glory of such bands as Opal, Mazzy Star, the Cocteau Twins, and My Bloody Valentine.  Whatever the similarities, however, Newspaperflyhunting (as the name would suggest) is very much—maybe even absolutely—its own band.  Other than being from Poland and believing in the purity of art, Newspaperflyhunting evades any easy labeling or categorization.

At nearly 11 minutes in length, the opening track, “3 Words,” a song ostensibly about wisdom, tradition, and loss.  The song builds slowly but surely in the first two minutes, exploding at the 1:56 mark.  The voice drones (appropriately) as much as sings in a longing fashion, a plea for attention and contemplation.  The mood of the song changes numerous times through the 11 minutes, demanding the full immersion of the listener.

At just under 10 minutes, “Past Perfect (revisited),” track two, is a remake of an older Newspaperflyhunting song.  Never satisfied with the song, the band completely rebuilt it for the THREE WORDS EP.  The new version of the song is nothing short of stunning.  The female vocalist especially brings the song to life, drawing the listener into introspection as well as inspiration.

“Demolished Mansions” reflects the overall themes of the EP: the loss of tradition, replaced by heartless modernity.  There might also—though I speculate, nothing more—be something scriptural in the title, a loss and the death of God in our insane whirligig.

***

To order: http://newspaperflyhunting.bandcamp.com/album/the-three-words-ep

The band’s description of itself: “Formed in 2006 in Białystok, Poland. Prog/post/space rock. Longing, melancholy, and rays of light scattered throughout. Introspective music, disregarding trends or expectations.”  One of the most accurate self-evaluations I’ve encountered in my life.

Piotr Grudzinski, RIP

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock3 Comments

Piotr GrudzińskiIt is with immense sorrow that we report that Riverside’s Piotr Grudzinski has passed away.  This appeared this morning at Riverside’s Facebook page:

With great pain and disbelief, we inform you that our dear friend and brother Peter Grudziński left us this morning. We ask that you respect the privacy of the family and loved ones.

***

In our deepest pain and disbelief we would like to inform you that our dearest friend and brother Piotr Grudzinski has passed away this morning. We kindly ask you to respect the privacy of his family and friends.

May we all keep Piotr and his family in our prayers and best thoughts.  This is a terrible loss.

Steve Hackett North American Tour, 2016

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock1 Comment

stiff guitarist guy

 

 

WORLD-RENOWNED GUITARIST/COMPOSER STEVE

HACKETT RETURNS TO NORTH AMERICA WITH “ACOLYTE

TO WOLFLIGHT WITH GENESIS REVISITED – THE TOTAL

EXPERIENCE” TOUR 2016

 

SET TO INCLUDE HACKETT SOLO MATERIAL AS WELL AS GENESIS SONGS Continue reading “Steve Hackett North American Tour, 2016” →

Peter Gabriel, From Genesis to Growing Up

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock2 Comments

Quick review of Michael Drewett, Sarah Hill, and Kimi Kärki, eds., PETER GABRIEL, FROM GENESIS TO GROWING UP (Surrey, ENG: Ashgate, 2010).

Birzer Rating: D.

gabriel radical lit critDon’t waste your time.

I’ve had this book for five years, but I’ve just finally had a chance to read through (yes, just through) it.  What a disaster.  I’m so very happy that scholars realize how important Gabriel is, but this is one of those “apply theory, subject doesn’t matter” books.

It’s so theory-laden that it could be just as well about Jane Austen or John Updike as it is Peter Gabriel.  And, the theory isn’t even interesting.  Deconstruct the means and methods of entertainment by the politics of identity and the power structures of an oppressive culture.

“In his search for individuated identity, XXXX undermined the very structures of power as understood in a declining corporatist society.”

Just who is XXXX?  It really doesn’t matter.  Peter Gabriel, Mercy Otis Warren, Carl Olson, or Baby Jesus.  Write book, insert subject, publish as an academic book, and sell to every library around the world.

Frankly, this book is a total mockery of the actual and individual genius of Peter Gabriel.  He deserves better, and so do we.

RochaNews: Se Delan’s New Album

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment
SE DELAN DETAILS NEW ALBUM “DRIFTER”
Sophomore album out April 29 on Kscope
LONDON, England – Se Delan, the dark, alternative, new-wave duo made up of multi-instrumentalist Justin Greaves and Swedish singer Belinda Kordic will release its new album Drifter on April 29 (June 3 in France) via Kscope. Drifter is available to pre-order now on CD and 180g black vinyl via the Kscope webstore at: www.kscopemusic.com/store with a digital pre-order to follow.
The follow-up to 2014’s The Fall, the pair set about to make an album that felt raw, more natural and human. Together with their shared influences (“music, film and life”) and a mutual understanding of the way each other works has led to Se Delan creating an album that musically and lyrically looks at madness and how the line between sanity and insanity can at times appear frighteningly thin.
Vocalist Belinda comments: “Sometimes it can take a lot of effort and hard work to stay grounded and stay on the right side of that line. Life vs Death. The unknown (and cats).”
Drifter takes the slow and dreamy nature of the music from the duo’s debut album The Falland moves it to a far darker place through the lyrics and layers of sound that pulsate throughout the record. By giving up all pretentions and just following their hearts, Justin and Belinda recorded (with Ritchie Chappell at Tripdown Studio) in a way that simply captures how they felt as humanly as possible.
Justin states: “We don’t write songs in any way with this big concept in mind. We just put our thoughts into words and feelings into music, whatever they may be.”
Stay tuned for more information on Se Delan and Drifter, out this spring on Kscope.
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Se Delan is:
 
Justin Greaves – all instruments
Belinda Kordic – words & voices
guided by 1000 ravenous skulls.
Se Delan online:
Press on The Fall:
“A haunting piece that gets in your head and won’t go away” – Noisey
“You will become hooked to their haunting sound” – Never Enough Notes
“An impressive beginning” – Team Rock
“Few ears could resist the tractor beam of such beautiful and entrancing music” – Under The Radar Magazine
“Eerie prog-rock with a side of skull-splitting riffage and apocalyptically angelic vocal” – CMJ
“A deeply felt and hugely atmospheric record that speaks of greater triumphs ahead.” – Echoes & Dust

How GENESIS REVISITED II Informed WOLFLIGHT

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock7 Comments
wolflightFrontCover
WOLFLIGHT (Insideout Music, 2015).

Wonderful interview with Steve Hackett at Ultimate Classic Rock.  Just one good quote below, but it’s worth reading the whole interview.

I’ve always had a strong love of Hackett’s art (well, at least since 1978 or so), but that appreciation has grown exponentially over the past several months.  Can’t believe I’m finally listening to WOLFLIGHT.  Had I done so before, it would’ve been a top three album of 2015 for me.  So artistic.

I hate to admit it, but I avoided listening to this album simply because I thought the cover was cheesy.  Now that I understand the album, the cover makes perfect sense.  So much for not judging an album by its cover!

Yeah! I think the response to the whole Genesis Revisited idea was so strong, it really turned things around for me in every sense of the word. I still love the Genesis songs that we all wrote and crafted together, and I have been able to work with a wonderful band live for many years. The bass playing position, which is also a 12-string-playing position, had been somewhat flexible. So far, it’s been between Nick Beggs and Lee Pomeroy, both of whom are great players and lovely guys. So, sometimes it’s one, sometimes it’s the other. And it may be that this year I have to work with some other player live, because they’re much in-demand. I share Nick Beggs with Steven Wilson — so, some years, Steven gets the priority, and other years, I get the priority.

Read More: Steve Hackett on Rangy ‘Wolflight,’ the Joys of Collaboration and Genesis: Exclusive Interview | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/steve-hackett-interview-2015/?trackback=tsmclip