Category: Progressive rock

Interview with Erez Aviram of Anakdota

On By NickIn Progressive rock3 Comments

anakdota

Anakdota is a progressive rock band from Israel who this year came up with the release of their debut album titled “Overloading.” The band admits that they make “highly intensive, ears demanding and jaws breaking music.” Pianist Erez Aviram spoke with us about the meaning behind the band’s name, the writing process, “Overloading”, and more.

What made you go for the name Anakdota?

Lots of brainstorming, we searched for a name to describe our music. By definition, an anecdote (Anekdota in Hebrew) is a tale which usually contains a comic twist or a message. We added our own comic punch line in the name itself, we misspelled the word so it shows “Anakdota”.

How do you usually describe your music?

Our music is like a really fast japanese super high tech train driving through beautiful enormous fields of tulips.

What is your writing process like?

Painfully slow. Satisfying though. Usually Erez Aviram (Piano guy) writes all the material including the arrangement but the parts are given new life by Guy Bernfeld (Bass) and Yogev Gabay (Drums) and they add their own ideas to the mix. Then we press “Randomise” in Cubase and hope for the best.

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

Daily life, lots of stuff going on every single day. Emotions and thoughts which you never seem to notice too much, but they exist and present all the time. So that’s my inspiration mainly.

overloading

What is your favourite piece on the “Overloading” album?

We all have different favourite tracks, but mine (Erez Aviram) would have to be track no’ 4 “Mourning”. It’s a soft ballade sung by Ayala Fossfeld and she really does a great job delivering these painful lyrics, it moves me each and every time I listen to it.

What makes “Overloading” different?

Different from what? I believe it is new and that it was never done before, mainly because it’s us and we’ve never existed before. Sure, we’re influenced by lots of music, old and the new, but I can assure you that this album is something you’d want to listen to at least a couple of times just to understand it and really let it get inside you.

What should music lovers expect from “Overloading”?

Nothing and everything. Expectations ruin everything, it’s better you’d be surprised.

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

All the emotions they want to have but I think everyone would like to discover new feelings and sensations they never had before. I strongly believe music has the power to do so.

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

Never went on tour so life in the studio for me!

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

An album with a toothpaste, an album with a sleeping bag and an album with a satellite phone.

https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2741213045/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/

Johnny Unicorn and his marathon recording session!

On By russellclarkenzIn Prog, Progressive rockLeave a comment
Many of you will know Johnny Unicorn as an artist featured on several of the awesome Phideaux Xavier’s greatest musical moments. He also has a rich catalogue of his own mostly quirky and always interesting music. His album Angels In The Oort Cloud was one of my favourites from 2014!

And he’s about to extend his catalogue significantly by performing a marathon recording session from 4am on the 31st of December to 4am on January 1st.
Madness? Probably, but no doubt lots of fun to be had.

So if you’re the type of person that can’t pretend that an incremental change in an arbitrary measurement of an abstract concept such as time is more worthy of faux celebration than any other, you may yet find solace with Johnny at his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/junicorn.

Video Interview Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson, Frost*) Part 1 — Permanent Music Damage

On By IrisIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Iris interviewed Craig Blundell via Skype on 21 December 2016. They talk about Steven Wilson‘s upcoming album, John Mitchell‘s upcoming album, and more! Please stay tuned for part 2!

NOTE: Apologies for the bad video quality, and for things popping up all over the screen. My usual video recording software didn’t work so I had to use another recording program very quickly. Luckily the sound is good!

via Video Interview Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson, Frost*) Part 1 — Permanent Music Damage

Follow Permanent Music Damage, the new website of roving reporter Iris: https://pmdamage.wordpress.com/

Review: As A Conceit – Frown Upon Us

On By NickIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

as-a-conceit-frown-upon-us

Ten songs on a debut album by Italian metallers As A Conceit, will give you exactly 40 minutes of something that is brutal, complex, heavy, noise and hardcore with a slice of melody. Imagine The Dillinger Escape Plan with peaces of less complex stuff but more melodic metal parts and you got As A Conceit.

I don’t know how to describe this kind of music but I can imagine where the term/genre ‘noise’ made its entrance. I can also understand that a lot of people can’t take this longer than one minute. But I still wouldn’t describe it as noise. They use these melodic, ‘listenable’ parts in it. That just give you the few, but very needed seconds, to take a breath and protect you from mental damage.

Still, I’d rather see the balance between the melodic metal parts and the brutal noisy complex parts a bit different. Yes, it’s very impressive that they can play it this tight and well controlled. I also think that it’s great to play. But the fact that it takes this much energy to listen to it. A bit less complex would be great, but hey, isn’t that just a matter of taste…

Rick Wakeman interviews Mistheria on Vivaldi’s 2016 Album of the Year @VivaldiMetal

On By Time LordIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

The Vivaldi Metal Project is arguably the Album of the Year for 2016.

Part of that argument involves adopting an historical perspective. To that end, here’s an extract from the interview that on January 2015 (at Blue Train’s studio, Venice) Mistheria gave to Sir RICK WAKEMAN.

Rick wants to test his theory that Vivaldi was the first rock star, and that the Four Seasons was the first concept album. The Croatian musician Mistheria, who is behind the Vivaldi Metal Project, confirms Rick’s thesis.

Rick Wakeman on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Antonio Vivaldi’s the Four Seasons is the most popular piece of classical music of all time. There have been over 1000 different recordings , selling tens of millions of copies.   It’s become so ubiquitous – in lifts, as phone ring tones or on call-centre answering machines – that it has been denounced as Muzak for the middle classes.

Rick Wakeman – platinum-selling prog rock keyboardist and television Grumpy Old Man – thinks the critics are wrong. He believes that the Four Seasons was so far ahead of its time that it was actually the first ever concept album – and that Vivaldi was the world’s first rock superstar.

But how could a sickly 18th century priest create the prototype for Rick’s very modern genre? And why did Vivaldi and the Four Seasons disappear into obscurity for more than 200 years after his death ?

Rick turns detective to solve the mystery: his journey takes him to Venice – in the 18th century the most debauched city on the planet – where he encounters some of those who have devoted their lives to studying and worshipping Vivaldi … and uncovers the whiff of a very modern rock star sex scandal which may have contributed to Vivaldi’s downfall.

Rick talks to Scottish virtuoso Nicola Benedetti and genre-hopping British composer Max Richter. In Venice he tracks down a Vivaldi super fan who relocated from France to pay homage every day; he meets Vivaldi scholar Susan Orlando and author Dr Virgilio Boccardi who writes about The Red Priest. And he learns about the composer’s involvement with Pieta, an institute for abandoned children to whom he taught music, from former Wimbledon photographer turned Venetian Micky White.

But the investigation also leads Rick to unexpected places and people.  He meets fellow prog rocker Mike Rutherford from Genesis and debates whose band Vivaldi would join; and he encounters the Croatian arranger and keyboard player whose multi-national assembly of musicians is turning the Four Seasons into heavy metal.

Along the way Rick also discovers the only existing original score for the Four Seasons – in just about the last place anyone would have thought to find it ….

Directed/Produced by Linda Brusasco/Tim Tate

Watch the whole documentary online if you can.

NPR Interviews Glass Hammer

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rock1 Comment
glass-hammer-2015
Glass Hammer from PROG, 2015

A really insightful interview with Steve Babb and Fred Schendel of Glass Hammer–about the band, the state of prog, the state of technology, and the state of culture.  The interviewer is not only intelligent, but he also knows which music to play.

http://wutc.org/post/glass-hammer-rock-stars-everywhere-their-hometown#stream/0

 

7Sleepers

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rockLeave a comment
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7Sleepers

So, what happens when you mix one extremely talented musician with one extremely ditzy professor?  You get a notice about some amazing music six months too late!

As I was going through some research papers tonight, I found this package from Ann Arbor, Michigan– a CD (beautifully packaged, by the way) and a number of postcards from 7Sleepers.

Make sure you check them out.  I’ll be reporting on them a bit more in the near future. . . .

In the meantime, my apologies to Robin and to all progarchists!  Also, make sure you check out Iris’s reviews at GrendelHQ.

A Partridge & Some Monkees…in a Prog Tree??

On By Jay WatsonIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

Good Times! (The Monkees) (Front Cover).jpg  Image may contain: 1 person, sunglasses

As December 31st draws closer and the days to add my own “Top Ten” or “Favorites of 2016” dwindle…it’s time for something completely different (well, not totally, as our hero Dr. B routinely extols, and properly so, the merits of Tears for Fears, XTC, and other notable artists on the “fringe” of prog).

I don’t know about most of you but I still listen to CDs the majority of the time and love having a disc in my car as I drive around–especially summer.  I routinely have my one “Summer Album” that is on constant drive-time rotation.  And though the album is usually prog, this past summer of 2016 my cherished moving music was the splendid album GOOD TIMES.  I highly recommend this work for its pure fun.  Those who were pre-teens when the Monkees hit their peak know what I mean.  The reason for this particular post on Progarchy is to make a tie-in to Brad’s love of the great Andy Partridge.  Mr. Partridge pens the albums second track “You Bring the Summer.”  Micky sings and it’s 1966 all over again.  And check out this wonderful video.  Not prog, sure…but c’mon.

Mellotron set to 11