Category: progressive rock

Review: Obiymy Doschu – Son

On By NickIn progressive rock2 Comments

OD

Ukrainian Progressive Rock six-piece Obiymy Doschu have just put out their new release titled “Son” (Ukrainian for ‘dream’). The first thing that is quite obvious is that the band sing in Ukrainian, and I would say that it makes the difference indeed.

As Progressive as Progressive Rock can be, long lingering guitar solos with chords that stretch past the count of an individual musical bar blends with softly played keyboards and piano, and beautiful vocals are earnest, and in top form. The music of “Son” is hauntingly beautiful, moving, strange, and cosmic. Fans of Nosound, Lunatic Soul, Gazpacho, Sylvan, No-Man and Blackfield will want to add this release to their collections.

Obiymy Doschu - Son

What an extraordinary collection of music this is. From the atmospheric symphonic intro of the opening track “Ostannya Myt’,” to the gorgeous acoustic guitars of the gentle, “Razom,” to the supernatural, eerie, dreamlike sequence of “Son,” the listener is transfixed, almost as if staring into the darkest regions of outer space. What Prog Rock is, Obiymy Doschu does it perfectly, and this release is proof. The longer this CD plays, the more real the music becomes, and it quickly becomes clear that the members of the band have some supreme talent in composing music that is moody, atmospheric, layered and intensely technical. Each track takes the listener on a voyage, of sight, sound and sensations. String and woodwind instruments, as well as choir, are used to their fullest potential to create that sound that is neo-classical, while the drumslay a steady backbeat, but a closer listen reveals syncopated rhythms.

“Son” is just downright amazing. Listen to the title track that when hearing it, one will feel as if they are suspended somewhere between a dream and reality. Close your eyes when hearing this song, and as the song fades into black, you will be left with emotions that don’t come to often when hearing music – breathless, spent, and moved. The title track in parts is soft, in others loud, at others heavy, while music that is bizarre but passionate as hell plays havoc with your sense of what is real and what is made up.

Again, this was downright marvelous. The mixing, courtesy of Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief), is incredible, the sound astonishing, with every note crystal clear. The vocals are audible and easily understood. The lyrics make sense (no, I don’t speak Ukrainian, but the band took care of it), and the musicianship was breathtaking. Not a bad track to be heard, no “fillers” to have to worry will come along and ruin the progression of sensations that are felt during this CD’s playing time. For lovers of the intense, the heartfelt, the reflective, and the sincere type of Progressive Rock that Obiymy Doschu plays – and plays so perfectly – this is a must have.

Visit Obiymy Doschu’s official website for more information.

Portnoy [ProgSphere]

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Mike Portnoy talked about being a member of so many bands at once – specifically the Neal Morse Band, Flying Colors, Transatlantic, The Winery Dogs and Sons of Apollo – explaining to Metal Wani about how he handles the whole situation: “I have to approach each of them differently because there’s so many different styles…

via MIKE PORTNOY Talks About Being in Many Bands — Prog Sphere

Toto’s “Africa” Turns 35

On By Kevin WilliamsIn progressive rock4 Comments

toto-africa

The song was great in 1982 and it’s still great in 2017.

The band is, too – fellow progheads would do well to check out their last album, “XIV.”

Jessica Furseth of Motherboard weighs in on its allure while taking a few jabs at it…no matter, read on!

New Wave Revisited

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock5 Comments
the swing
INXS’s Fourth Album, 1984.

I have absolutely no idea why, but I’ve spent the last few weeks re-visiting music I’ve not listened to in decades.  Perhaps it’s because I turned 50 this year, and I’m trying to explore some of my past.  Recapture elements of my youth?  Play the historian?

I honestly have no idea why.  The past is my business, though.

Regardless, I’ve been drawn back to what was once called “New Wave.”  If you ask me to define “New Wave,” I couldn’t.  I remember from my junior high and high school years that it was that type of music that was not prog, not rock, not pop, and not punk, though it often had elements of each, usually mixed around driving beats, minimalist guitats, and wild keyboard flourishes.  Well, at least the kind of New Wave I’ve been listening to.

Let me offer a few thoughts and maybe even a few suggestions and warnings.  I picked up my old INXS albums.  KICK, to my mind, is way too overproduced and slick.  LISTEN LIKE THIEVES is too monotonous.  SHABOOH SHOOBAH has some glittering moments mixed with some mediocre ones.

But, THE SWING.  THE SWING.  THE SWING is a work of sheer genius.  The catchiness of the tunes, the variation from song to song, and the intriguing lyrical content all make this  an all too forgotten work of excellence.

I also re-listened to The Monks, BAD HABITS.  It is just weird.

I re-listened to B-Movie’s FOREVER RUNNING. It is just quirky and a little too poppy for my tastes.

But, then I go back to THE SWING.  I think I’ll stay there for a while.

Review: Fabrizio La Piana – Almond and Coffee

On By NickIn progressive rockLeave a comment

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Fabrizio La Piana is a guitarist and composer who is well versed in a lot of styles having played with jazz, rock and metal bands in the past. His new solo CD, “Almond and Coffee,” covers a lot of ground ranging from grinding jazz rock to progressive rock, with addition of ambient music here and there.

Several tunes here have him sounding like a spiritual heir to the guitar guru John McLaughlin. “Funky Song” features him winding up wobbly chords along a lurching beat in the company of bassist Bernhard Hollinger and drummer Niels Voskuil, making for a power trio that is on fire throughout the record.

Almond and CoffeeOn “Almond and Coffee” (the song) La Piana delivers series of spacious licks, with rhythm section providing depth to the overall airy tune. “Forte” has shimmering washes of guitar playing into a sinister theme, while “Pulice” kicks off with tribal drum pattern and La Piana’s noodling.

“50-50” is arguably grooviest piece on Almond and Coffee, which also features La Piana and Hollinger exchanging solos. “Rokin” feels as a slice of laid back guitar noodling with La Piana chipping out springy, twisty notes. After it lulls you in, the song takes a fusion route before eventually closing the album with dreamy, delay-laced washes.

Fabrizio La Piana uses plethora of techniques and abilities here to make a varied and enjoyable record. With “Almond and Coffee” he may not reinvent a wheel, but the record is surely one of the most enjoyable jazz rock releases to come out in 2017.

“Almond and Coffee” is available from CD Baby.

Interview: SPURGE

On By NickIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Spurge

Drawing parallels to the work of mighty Frank Zappa and David Bowie, as well as Isis, Cult of Luna, the Mars Volta and the Dear Hunter, the Atlanta-based band Spurge seems like a promising act. But delving deeper to their most recent release, an EP simply titled “Four More Songs” reveals plethora of different sounds and vibes.

The creator of the band, bassist Jen Hodges gives us an insight into the world of Spurge, their writing process, and more.

What made you go for the name Spurge?

When I first got players together in Nashville, this was just a solo project and I was releasing material as Jen Hodges.  My musicians were wanting like a “Jen Hodges and something or other” name.  I told them I was down and whatever they picked was good for me.  My drummer at the time had a very endearing lisp and excited called out “Sthpurge!”  We were all kind of unsure what he said at first. He said it again and told us it was a kind of weed.  We all dug the double entendre.  For a while we called ourselves Jen Hodges and Spurge.  We dropped the Jen Hodges this year because the band feels like a total group effort at this point.

How do you usually describe your music?

I like to call it progressive post rock.  Most of the time people have no idea what that means so I end up explaining that we play post rock type textures but add in guitar/bass/drum solos.  I’ve heard people call it neo-classical rock, experimental,  ambient, and fusion before.  I believe someone called us a jam band once as well.

What is your writing process like?

Whenever I’m noodling around on the bass or guitar by myself I’ll come up with a few riffs I dig.  I’ll usually collect 15 or so riffs over the course of six months and start stringing them together using theory to craft transitions.  I record a scratch take with me playing all the instruments and send it out to my band.  My band are all top tier at what they do, so I tell them whatever guitar/drum parts they write is cool with me.  They always come back with some pretty sick stuff.  We rehearse it, record it, then I’ll go back in and record my bass solos as the finishing touch.  It’s an odd approach but I like how loose and open it is.  The creative process is my favorite part of playing.

Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?

There are a lot of players I admire.  Their music inspires me to contribute to humanity’s little collection of sound.  I’ve never been able to duplicate other people’s styles.  Mostly due to my bass being upside down and backwards.  However, I like being a part of the musician community and hearing other people’s music motivates me to keep writing.  Some of the musicians who influenced me at an early age are Flea, Buckethead, Jimmy Urine, Layne Staley, David Gilmore, John Paul Jones, Victor Wooten, and Thundercat.

Four More Songs

What is your favourite piece on the new EP “Four More Songs” and why?

Oof.  That’s tough.  I like the bass solo best in Amphibian.   I like the verse in Om the best.  I like the piano solo in Rain the best.  I like the guitar riffs in David Bowie the best.  I like Miles’ vocals in Amphibian the best.  I don’t think I can pick an overall piece I like best though.

What makes “Four More Songs” different?

Different than my other albums?  Or different in general?  Different than my other albums because I had an idea about what I wanted before I started writing.  I knew for sure I wanted to write a 7 minute song, a David Bowie tribute, a schizophrenic piece with a metal bridge, and I wanted to finish Rain.  I had been in the process of writing Rain for five years at that point.  It was a reject song from a previous band.   The record is different in general because it’s got my style in it.  All my music is different than most stuff out there.  I am proud about that.  I feel like I finally found my sound.

What should music lovers expect from “Four More Songs”?

Beauty, ugliness, groove.  A lot of texture.  Some experimentation in recording techniques.  We recorded Wayford’s vocals on Om by putting a box fan between him and the mic.  I broke a major rule and stacked 4 bass lines on top of one another in David Bowie.  My poor producer wasn’t too happy about it.  He’s the man though and heard my idea and made it work.   I think this is a record you can listen to all the way through and be sucked in enough not to skip any parts.  There is no filler.  And you never know what’s coming next.

What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?

All of the emotions.  (I just made myself laugh.)  I’d like them to feel content, relaxed even.  I’d like them to forget about their phones and their responsibilities and allow themselves to be taken through the story.  Maybe hype during the more exciting parts.  Entertained.  I’d like them to feel entertained.  Whatever emotion produces that outcome is fine with me.  As long as they are indeed feeling something.  Then I’ve done my job.

Spurge band

Which do you like most, life in the studio or on tour?

I’ve never been on tour where we don’t sleep in the van or on the floor or in someone’s basement so I’d have to say studio life.   I’d love to experience tour where we get a hotel room each night.  That might change my mind a little bit.  Tours have been fun, yet exhausting.  Studios are sacred spaces.  The creative process is my favorite part of playing so the studio is hard to beat.  I know a lot of people can get stressed out in the studio, but I’ve always been comfortable not having control so I just let people be themselves on the tracks.  If I don’t like it, I’ll edit it later.  I think the music reflects the positive vibes in the studio.

Pick your three favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.

Wow that’s tough too.  Only 3?  John Prine Live, Dark Side of the Moon, and RHCP Mother’s Milk.  I just looked those choices over for about two minutes and I’m sticking with my answer.

“Four More Songs” is available from Bandcamp. Stay in contact with Spurge via Facebook and Twitter, and visit their website for more information and news.

https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4034617188/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/

soundstreamsunday #87: “Melt!” by Siouxsie and the Banshees

On By Craig BreadenIn goth rock, post punk, progressive rock1 Comment

siouxsieA commanding presence in British punk since the later 1970s, and creating out of that — along with Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus — an overpowering, dark music that came to be known as goth, Siouxsie and her Banshees moved their music towards romantic intoxication.  Siouxsie brought light to the dark, deftly drawing rich melodies from the shadows draping the songs.  Bassist Steven Severin foregrounded the twilight with a nervy, often high-up-the-neck playing, while Budgie’s tribal pounding gave the band’s work a pulse-quickening danceability at the edge of chaos.  A rotating cast of like-minded souls added instruments as needed, and fans of the band’s various guitarists across its 17-year recording career can be fairly territorial regarding the shifting lineups.

You can hear in Echo and the Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain (1984) a fascination with the Banshee’s A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982), with “Melt” maybe having some direct influence on “Nocturnal Me.”  (Although — it would probably be just as fair to say that both bands were obsessed with “Venus in Furs”-era Velvet Underground, a goth cornerstone.)  “Melt” is a dirge of self-immolation — loss of identity — in being consumed by a lover, its explicit sexuality dealt as poetry from the view of a succubus.  Appropriately, the vampyric backing is suggestive of an older, more eastern, Europe, but with a restraint that sends a chill rather than a horror show laugh (something to which goth rock is all too susceptible).

This live version of “Melt” is from an episode of the Old Grey Whistle Test in December 1982, and captures Siouxsie and the Banshees with the Cure’s Robert Smith, who stepped in to replace John McGeoch on guitar and would stay to help write and record 1984’s Hyaena.  The performance is notable for Smith’s presence, of course, but also for the kind of sound and vibe the band could get live while staying fairly lean.  A lament, a shake and a shiver — “Melt!” is a key to the goth rock kingdom.

soundstreamsunday presents one song or live set by an artist each week, and in theory wants to be an infinite linear mix tape where the songs relate and progress as a whole. For the complete playlist, go here: soundstreamsunday archive and playlist, or check related articles by clicking on”soundstreamsunday” in the tags section.

Meditative Prog: The Genius of Nosound’s LIGHTDARK

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock2 Comments
Lightdark Nosound
Listening to this album is more of an affair than an adventure.

Ten year ago this fall, the brilliant Giancarlo Erra was in the studios writing, recording, and mixing what would become his magnum opus, LIGHTDARK, one of the first releases from the then-brand new KScope Records.  Nothing Erra writes and records is unimportant, of course, but nothing he has done has quite matched the flawless LIGHTDARK, in its composition, its harmonies, its reach, and its flow.  Never could this be wallpaper music.  It is music that demands full immersion.  As with T.S Eliot’s Four Quartets, Erra’s LIGHTDARK demands that we the listener stand within the art itself, seeing the world form the perspective of the art.  As such, Erra is a genius, bringing us fully into his music.

As with some of the best composers of the past century, Erra eschews all forms of bombast as he whispers longingly toward the true, the good, and the beautiful.  He is not afraid of silence, knowing that the notes that surround silence, do so affectionately and even passionately.

Imagine Mark Hollis writing music for Pink Floyd while serving as the backup band to Arvo Part, and you might get close to the genius and talent of Giancarlo Erra.

Tin Spirits News

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment
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The first.

It seems way too long since we heard from one of the best bands too few folks know about, Tin Spirits.  Adventurous poppy prog with seriously meaningful lyrics.  The first two albums are must owns, and I’m sure the third will be as well.

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The second.

Here’s the post that appeared on social media about an hour ago:

Dear Tins fans, we are delighted to let you know that after a lengthy leave of absence, work on the new album has begun. Will keep you updated but it’s so great to be back in a room making music

Let me offer a hearty: “Amen!!!”

 

Kevin J. Anderson’s Complete Bibliography

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Kevin J. Anderson is not only our greatest living science fiction writer, but he’s also a great progressive rocker.  Now, he’s released a complete bibliography of his works.  Enjoy.