Category: progressive rock music
New Rush Book No Longer Sold Out
Definitely a must own.
Thanks for the big show of support for my book, Rush: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Excellence
The book is my effort to show that Rush’s music is unique in just how consistent it holds to a few philosophical moral principles. Starting with the band’s bold statements in “Anthem” and “Something for Nothing” and ending with the 12 chapters of Clockwork Angels, the band over its 40 years has built virtually every piece it’s written on a bedrock of Aristotelian virtue ethics. This idea isn’t unique to me. Several of the contributors to Rush and Philosophy, which came out in 2011, talk about the Aristotelian connection in the…
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Brett Kull of Echolyn Co-Producing the New Fractal Mirror CD
News from a favorite band, FRACTAL MIRROR:
Our second album, Garden of Ghosts is being co-produced by Brett Kull and Fractal Mirror. We expect to release it in October/November 2014. Early buzz from friends and other musicians around the studio has been great!
- We will start a pre-order campaign in early September with an immediate download of one of the album’s tracks available at the time of the order.
- We also have been filming some of the recordings and we will be posting clips on our Facebook page.
The album is also being mixed by Brett, who has graciously added acoustic and electric guitars and is responsible for many of the background/harmony vocals. We can tell you that with Brett’s assistance the music sounds great (to us at least!) and we are excited to get to the finish line. There will also be special guest appearances by Larry Fast, Don Fast on guitar and sitar, Jacque Varsalona, and Charlotte Koperdraat on background vocals, with a special appearance by the Echolyn choir.
A brief history:
The origins of Fractal Mirror can be traced back to the mid-eighties when three friends from Amsterdam started to make music together influenced by bands from the famous 4AD label and artists like David Sylvian and Japan. At the same time a new wave of progressive rock was expanding its listening audience with bands like IQ, Pendragon, Twelfth Night, Marillion and Pallas but especially the virtually unknown Canadian band Terraced Garden having an influence on their writing.
Ed and Leo continued making music together into the 21st century, focusing on the Alternative or Progressive audience. They met their drummer and lyricist via the Big Big Train site and met the challenge of transatlantic recording and communications with the release of Strange Attractors to very positive reviews. Their music is song based and there are no long instrumental passages or difficult time signatures. The music has a dark, raw edge and they often use the Mellotron. In March 2014 Fractal Mirror signed a deal with Third Contact, a record label owned by Larry Fast (Synergy/Peter Gabriel). They released the physical album in US and Canada and digitally worldwide on March 18 2014.
For Garden of Ghosts, Frank wrote most of the lyrics while traveling and sent them over to Leo/Ed, who then write the music. Our ability to work together remotely has evolved, as has our music and recording skills. Garden of Ghosts will contain a full lyrics booklet and an explanation of the songs, which focus on how our memories evolve over time, how we connect and relate to each other in this new digital world.
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“Fractal Mirror have made a strong opening statement with a fine combination of upbeat, crafted pop rock songs nicely offset by the darker, melancholic and somber pieces. An album to return to often…” Bob Mulvey of The Progressive Aspect, UK
“One might call it New Wave/prog or alt rock/prog. I can, however, state unequivocally, it’s gorgeous, stunning, moody, intense, brooding, uplifting, inspiring.” Brad Birzer, Progarchy
“How do these guys manage to sounds so accessible yet so critically hypnotizing? “ Lady Obscure,
“Fractal Mirror gives the mid-tempo rock bittersweet without instrumental showboating , recalling much REM and Bowie, sometimes with touches of the Kinks. MusicSphere (France)
https://www.facebook.com/fractal.mirror
Happily PROG-ed.
August 11, 2014
Well, I admit it. Freely admit it. I was more than wrong.
Last week, I was pretty much banging my head on the wall trying to get the new PROG iPad app to work. Despite following the instructions, I just couldn’t get the thing to work. By the way, for those of you who know me personally, you won’t be surprised that 1) I couldn’t get it to work; and 2) I was frustrated.
Strangely enough, some technology comes to me immediately, and I can flow gracefully through, with, and around it. Other technology confounds me and makes me feel like a total idiot. Generally, I get along well with computers, but, equally, I can’t figure out cell phones worth a . . . well, you get the idea.
Part of my frustration came from the obvious fact that PROG is my favorite magazine, and I love basically everything that Jerry Ewing does. So, I wanted my PROG!
After some very kind help from Ally at TeamRock this mornin, I was able to get my first new, improved, and enhanced issue of PROG.
And, holy schnikees, was it worth the wait. Using the same format as CLASSIC ROCK, the new PROG app allows for deep reading, support for hunting through the maze of web information surrounding a band or album, and, graphically, jumps off the page of the iPad. In other words, TeamRock has figured out what most traditional publishers still don’t understand—how to explore and utilize the possibilities of the iPad to their very limits. Good for them. And, great for us.
So, I didn’t get immediate gratification last week. I am now more than satiated. Thank you, Jerry and Ally. Thank you very, very much.
My faith is restored. Yours, Brad
New demo from Ezekiel Graves/Gravaphone
Ezekiel (Zeke) Graves has a new demo out under the name Gravaphone. Graves’s music, which I’ve reviewed on the pages of Progarchy before (https://progarchy.com/2013/11/15/chthonic-journey-by-ezekiel-graves/) emerges from his North Carolina upbringing but is also informed by deep soundings of electronic music, British folk, and Krautrock. I saw him perform this song live a few months ago, accompanied by a Fender Rhodes and fiddle, which gave the song a unique coloration, but I like what he’s done with it here as well, made it darker, spare, and electric.
Rob Reed solo: SANCTUARY
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Sanctuary is the fulfillment of a lifetime’s dream and ambition in music Rob Reed has held since first hearing Tubular Bells in 1973 at the age of seven. Last year, he decided to focus his abilities on creating his own one-man project.
The album is played, produced, mixed and engineered by Reed and he’s brought in Oldfield collaborators Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth, who respectively co-produced and mastered the new work.
Reed learned to play all the instruments used on the record – grand piano, guitars, bass, mandolin, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, timpani, banjo, recorders, organ – and… tubular bells ! The Synergy Vocals choir, singer Anghared Brinn and some extra percussion by Tom Newman completed the picture.
Rob says: “I wanted to play all the instruments, and for them all to be real – no synthesisers. The next four weeks were a bit of a blur as the music just came out. It turned out to be the most enjoyable album I’ve made.” Conscious of the need to be inspired by Mike Oldfield’s iconic album, rather than just copying it, Reed adds “I worked hard to make the melodies stand on their own.”
And the result has reaped dividends, with Rob noting Heyworth’s reactions: “He told me that when he heard it, he closed his eyes and he was back in Manor Studios in 1973.”
Rob is hopeful that the two-part piece can be performed live with a 12-piece band soon.
Sanctuary was released on July 21 via Tigermoth Records on CD and DVD 5.1. A 180g vinyl is available via Plane Groovy, and each copy comes with a download coupon.
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New Book: Rush: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Excellence
I had a great time over the last four years writing Rush:Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Excellence, my book about Rush from Algora Publishing in New York City. Thanks to the work of lots of other people, including Chris McDonald and Durrell Bowman, whose books and Ph.D. dissertations paved the way for many of us who spend a lot of time thinking about the band’s music, I found lots of great work to draw on. The one thing that was missing, in my view, was an overarching narrative that put everything the band has done under a single, unifying theme. It was my intention to do that in my book by showing how all of the band’s music can be understood as an expression of classical liberalism rooted in Aristotelian individualism. Thanks to Ed Stenger of RushIsABand for writing the foreword and to John Patuto of Cygnus X-I
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Beautiful!
Dave Gregory delivers a stunningly beautiful solo in this new song from Tin Spirits’ upcoming album! Enjoy, progarchists! Enjoy!
I Come Here Not to Bury AC/DC, But to Praise Them
In recent days, the news has broke that it doesn’t look like rhythm guitarist Malcom Young will be returning to AC/DC due to an undisclosed illness. We wish you well, Malcom, and hope for a full and speedy recovery from whatever it is that ails you.
Now before I continue on, you are probably saying “why is there a post about AC/DC on Progarchy, of all sites?” Well, let me explain.
First of all, it’s true that AC/DC is nothing close to prog, nor are they the most artistic band in the world to put it mildly. But every yin needs its yang, and as much as I love the complexities and artistry of good prog rock, there are still times when I want to simply put the pedal to the metal, so to speak, and listen to something that is loud, simple, and just flat out rocks with no pretension of being anything else. AC/DC certainly fits the bill for that.
I’ve always thought of them as “audio testosterone.” As far as their sound, well, it hasn’t changed much over the years. To quote Malcom’s more visible brother Angus from an interview years ago:
I’m sick to death of people saying we’ve made 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we’ve made 12 albums that sound exactly the same.
Most of their songs are loud, rhythmically simple, and rely on a progression of three or four power chords or some other repetitive arpeggiated riff. There is some decent guitar soloing by Angus Young, made all the more impressive during live shows by his constant gyrations resembling something like that of an highly active four year old boy who just downed a double shot espresso from Starbucks. But mostly, it’s simple chords, simple bass, simple drums, 4/4 and all that.
Still, these self-imposed musical limitations matter not. As comedian Jim Breuer once stated, they could do the Hokey Pokey and tear it up (totally safe for work, and very funny):
How about lyrically? Well, here’s a phrase that has never, ever been uttered before in all of human history:
I’m not familiar with Greek mythology, therefore I don’t understand AC/DC lyrics.
Let’s face it, the song Hard as a Rock is not about the myth of Sisyphus. What Do You Do For Money, Honey is not a meditation on the writings of Adam Smith. And Hell Ain’t A Bad Place to Be has absolutely nothing to do with Dante’s Inferno.
And you know what? I don’t care. I love these guys anyway. If I was in my 20’s, back in college and heading for a party to blow off some steam after a hard week of studying, there are few bands whose music I would like to hear blaring from the speakers more than AC/DC.
I could go on and on trying to extol the virtues of AC/DC, but as the old saying goes, a video is worth a thousand words (it appears something was garbled in the translation). So indulge me here for a few minutes and watch this, or at least part of it. And what I want you to pay particular attention to is the crowd. After the break, I have a few more thoughts.
So let me ask you a few things about the people in the crowd? How many of them appeared to be wallowing in existential despair? How many of them were having a dark night of the soul? How many in that crowd are lamenting the injustices of life, indulging in self-pity, or stressing out about the next mortgage payment? The answer to all of those questions is a big, fat ZERO! No, what they are doing is having fun, getting their butts rocked off, and just simply living – truly living – in the moment. As the character Miles says in Risky Business, sometime you just gotta say what the … well, you know.
Getting back to the impetus for this piece, I again wish you well, Malcom. For those of you that include prayer as part of your daily lives, please send one or two his way. And to the rest of the members of AC/DC who plan to carry on and release another album later this year, what else can I say but … for those about to rock, I salute you!
Works Of Art
First there was the announcement of the new Flying Colors album, then the upcoming release from The Pineapple Thief was revealed, then Brad posted about this little beauty from North Atlantic Oscillation heading our way.
Did I miss something? Has 2014 been declared Year Of Gorgeous Album Artwork without me noticing?
Progarchy 