The Return of the King …

On By kruekuttIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

… Crimson, that is.  From Discipline Global Mobile:

“King Crimson will be returning to America later this year. The dates see the group performing in some states and cities that have not been visited in a while. Atlanta in Georgia, for example, last had live Crimson music in 2001, while Texas has experienced something of an epic Crimson drought since 1974, not counting ProjeKct Three’s week-long residency in the Lone Star state during March 1999.  The dates posted today on the tours page are as follows.”
19 Oct Bass Performance Hall, Austin
21 Oct Music Hall, Dallas
23 Oct Center Stage, Atlanta
24 Oct Center Stage, Atlanta
26 Oct Duke Energy Centre for the Performing Arts, Raleigh
28 Oct Lisner Auditorium, Washington D.C.
29 Oct Lisner Auditorium, Washington D.C.
31 Oct New Jersey Performing Arts Centre, Newark
02 Nov Merriam Theatre, Philadelphia
03 Nov Merriam Theatre, Philadelphia
06 Nov Orpheum Theatre, Boston
08 Nov The Egg, Albany
09 Nov The Egg, Albany
11 Nov Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown
17 Nov Beacon Theatre, New York
18 Nov Beacon Theatre, New York
22 Nov Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor
24 Nov Hard Rock Cafe, Cleveland
26 Nov Riverside Theatre, Milwaukee

“Purchase details will follow.”

 

Speaking of Crimson droughts, the band last played anywhere in Michigan in 2003, with the last Ann Arbor gig in 1995.  Of course, I have an unavoidable conflict on November 22 (which is also Thanksgiving Eve).  Ah, well, I’ll always have the Chicago Theatre …

Sad News from Los Angeles band “Heliopolis”

On By Adam SearsIn Progressive rock2 Comments

In the midst of working on their second album and planning their next show, Los Angeles Prog band Heliopolis is calling it quits. The following, plus an unmastered 14-minute piece from their upcoming album, was posted on their Facebook page today.

Hey, Kerry here.

Well, this isn’t easy to say but Heliopolis have decided to throw in the bowel. I wanted to at least play the gig in August and then assess things; bummed but that’s life. Please know this wasn’t my call, one of us decided to quit and I respect their decision.

As for me personally it’s simply not financially feasible, nor enjoyable, to have a 170 round trip commute to LA every weekend. Also, most of the guys in the band have been going thru significant life issues and we feel it’s not worth continuing on at this point. It’s a hell of a lot of work for all of us, not to mention the expense.

We’ve played RoSfest, MEXICALI PROG, Berkeley, San Francisco, Thousand Oaks and multiple Los Angeles area gigs. We’ve had a damned good run with 10T Records and Bad Elephant Music. I gots no complaints, please believe.

Truth be told, when I was in Mrs Hollow I wanted to record a 3rd album and then quit at the top of our game; I consider Heliopolis’ debut to be the 3rd album in my personal prog-rock trio so my mission is complete.

Now I’m going to take it easy for awhile and watch all the other prog-rock bands at our level spend their money and store their unsold CDs and t-shirts in the basement. 🙂

To our fans and promoters, we’re very sorry. As a token of appreciation for all the support over the last five years here’s the latest and, sadly, final version of the “Barney Miller” song.

It’s called “The Challenge” and it’s a true band collaboration. Believe it or not, this is the scratch vocal from the day we did the bass/drums session last October, we had some beautiful vocal harmonies worked out but we never got around to recording them. It’s also unmastered. This song was going to morph into another 10 minute song for a 24-minute suite, and we also had a crazy 10-minute thing called “Cluster B” that I am VERY bummed we’re never gonna record. We had a killer 2nd album happening but it’s just too much effort anymore, for all of us.

To my brothers Michael, Matt, Scott and Jerry – thanks for being the best band I’ve ever had. I’m gonna miss writing music with you guys so much. 😦

To our friends and fans – thank you, sincerely and respectfully, from all of us. It’s been a blast. Be kind to yourselves.

 

 

Ivanka and Fripp: Tweet of the Week

On By Time LordIn Progressive rock1 Comment

Sgt. Pepper’s at 50. Meh.

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rock5 Comments

I turn fifty in two months.  I’m about six months younger than SGT. PEPPER’s.

As almost all of you surely know, Apple/Parlophone/EMI/Capitol/Universal has released a new stereo mix of the uber-famous 1967 album.  Just as the convoluted name of the company suggests, the new album comes in a variety of packages from one disk to innumerable ones.

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Growing up in a family that loved music of all types and genres, I’ve had the Beatles running through my head from my earliest memories.  No one in the house was a fanatic, but we certainly appreciated the music.  My two older brothers tended to like the pre-REVOLVER Beatles best, but I always loved REVOLVER through ABBEY ROAD the best.  For about a six-to seven-year period in my life—mostly in college and early graduate school–I was obsessed with the band.  I bought and read all of the books about the band, and I knew every song and every lyric from REVOLVER through ABBEY ROAD.  I knew the most minute details about the recordings, the controversies. . . well, everything.

Continue reading “Sgt. Pepper’s at 50. Meh.” →

soundstreamsunday: “Wardenclyffe” by S U R V I V E

On By Craig BreadenIn electronic1 Comment

rr7349Scored by S U R V I V E’s Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, the Netflix show Stranger Things can at times seem written around the music, such is the importance of its soundtrack.  The duo’s band creates very similar music but in longer form, developed stories in contrast to Stranger Things’ vignette accompaniments.  If they recall the European progressive synth work of Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream, as instrumental narrative S U R V I V E’s tropes, fresh as they are, are the well-heeled scions of horror and suspense soundtracks of the 1970s and 80s — those coveted analog burblings so influencing rock archetypes that today a band like S U R V I V E can be embraced by a culture that may not have looked so warmly on the be-caped japes of synth lords in their keyboarded cathedrals of yore.  This is a good thing, as is S U R V I V E’s 2016 album RR7349.  The punky, catalog number-as-title approach is embedded in the band’s music, in its wordlessness plain spoken, symbolic of itself, its images so strong — or perhaps its ability to conjure notions and memories of images we’ve grown used to associating with such music — that there’s an enjoyable lack of heavy lifting here.  As instrumental albums go, it’s a seamless ride through the horrorshow.

“Wardenclyffe” is the heart of RR7349; it is an opus of classic thrash metal rhythm, a slow burn, slow bleed psychedelic nod off, an American folk opera circa 2016.  It is everyman music, an electronic field holler to the collective national iThumb and Assemblage of the Hallowed Streaming Box.  Like its mothership album, it is so woven into the now that it’s a blip on the screen; but mark it, for when the future civs recreate our campfire dances, this is the soundtrack.

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 above.

Do Hours Pass? The Timelessness of Newspaperflyhunting’s WASTELANDS

On By bradbirzerIn Progressive rock2 Comments

There are few things in the world of music more pleasurable to me than listening to the philosophical-art-drone-wall of sound-innovations of Poland’s newspaperflyhunting.  The band is probably the greatest unknown band in the world.

Yet, they do nothing if not without utter and complete excellence.  So very prog.

To my shame (and business), I have had their latest album, WASTELANDS, for a few months now without formally reviewing it.  Admittedly, I’ve been a bit selfish, hoarding this grand and glorious music all to myself.

Continue reading “Do Hours Pass? The Timelessness of Newspaperflyhunting’s WASTELANDS” →

Rick’s Quick Takes: Captives of the Wine Dark Sea by Discipline

On By kruekuttIn Progressive rock1 Comment

by Rick Krueger

As a Detroit native, it’s a bit embarrassing that most of my Motor City progressive rock knowledge has come from — you guessed it — Prog Magazine.   That’s where I first came across Tiles and their fluent, anthemic take on mid-career Rush and 1980s neo-prog.  From Tiles, it’s been just a hop, skip and jump to their darker, more Gothic peers, Discipline.

There’s definitely an edge to this band, springing directly from Matthew Parmenter’s lyrical “Magic Acid Mime” vision, honed by music that channels and modernizes the gloomy flair of Peter Hammill & Van Der Graaf Generator, the plummy drama of Gabriel-era Genesis, and the hypnotic counterpoint of 1980s King Crimson.  Stirring in just enough alt-rock crunch resulted in two minor classics, 1997’s Unfolded Like Staircase and 2012’s To Shatter All Accord; Parmenter’s fatalistic narrative drive and the band’s inexorable momentum shake you up and sweep you along — usually toward an unavoidable crash landing.

For Captives of the Wine Dark Sea, Tiles’ guitarist Chris Herin joins the veteran roster of Parmenter on vocals and keys, Matthew Kennedy on bass and Paul Drendzel on drums; Terry Brown (yes, he of “Broon’s Bane” fame from Rush’s Exit Stage Left) produces.  Clocking in at just over 45 minutes, the new album doesn’t waste time or motion, as Parmenter fires off sardonic verbal volleys at the futilities of aging (“The Body Yearns”), the white collar working world (“Here There Is No Soul”), desire (“Love Songs”) — even creativity itself (“Life Imitates Art”).   The music, subtly powerful and accomplished, carries the words with an appropriate gravity.  Herin’s licks and tone provide plenty of style and color, Parmenter weaves enticing, compelling keyboard webs, and the rhythm section is rock solid.

Building from lullaby to anthem to fiery guitar/synth playout, the 15-minute finale “Burn the Fire Upon the Rocks” aptly sums up Discipline’s aesthetic: rage against the dying of the light — but keep moving as you do it, and find comfort where you can.  Not exactly fun or even contented, but triumphant on its own stubborn terms.  On Captives of the Wine Dark Sea, Matthew Parmenter and company stoically look failure and frustration in the face, leaning into the understated strength of their music to make it through.

 

You can listen to (and buy) Captives of the Wine Dark Sea at Bandcamp: https://lasersedge.bandcamp.com/album/captives-of-the-wine-dark-sea

 

Soup – Remedies

On By Frank UrbaniakIn Progressive rock3 Comments

a3913523140_10Norway-based Soup has been around since 2005 and has released 6 albums since then.  Their last full length CD released in 2013, “The Beauty of Our Youth” really grabbed me at the time with the overwhelming sense of melancholy in the songs, accented by fragile vocals offset by understated instrumentation. With the number of new releases since then I must admit they have not been in my listening rotation in a few years, which is pretty typical of most of my collection.

This makes the release of their new CD Remedies such a pleasant surprise. Their indie post-rock sound has grown tremendously and has a much more progressive feel with a new drummer and production by Paul Savage  ( who mixed their last and has produced Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand).  Lasse Hoile, Steven Wilson’s visual collaborator, has been a long-time fan and friend of the band and provides some stunning visuals.

Skjermbilde-2016-11-20-kl.-20.28.24Remedies is short-three songs are 8, 11, and 13 minutes, with two shorter numbers totaling just over 40 minutes. The music typically begins softly-the melancholy remains, and builds to a wall of sound over repeating themes building to heart-wrenching finales. The vocals remind me of Grandaddy (Jed the Humanoid on the Sophtware Slump) and The Flaming Lips (Yoshima Battles the Pink Robots) overlaying their sound which has hints of God Speed You Black Emperor, Snow Patrol, Mogwai and Porcupine Tree.

The three longer songs-Going Somewhere , The Boy and the Snow and Sleepers are the highlights, while the shorter tunes Audion and Nothing Like Home , allow the listener to decompress after the intensity of the extended tunes . Sleeper and The Boy and the Snow really showcase the power of the new rhythm section, adding to the ‘progressive’ feel of Remedies.

The music is a collection of ear worms that make you want to hit repeat as soon as it ends. Highly recommended.

Click on the link for the Youtube video-at about 3 minutes the band really kicks in.

Soup is signed to Crispin Glover Records distributed by Stick-Man Records.

Soup’s Bandcamp Page

 

 

 

Dutch Progressive Rock Page Debuts New Facebook Page

On By Bryan MoreyIn Progressive rockLeave a comment

The DPRP has just released a new Facebook page to replace their old FB Group. For those of you so inclined to participate in the book of face, check it out, like, and follow to keep up-to-date on everything that great website is doing.

https://www.facebook.com/dprp.net/

Rick’s Quick Takes: Is This the Life We Really Want? by Roger Waters

On By kruekuttIn Pink Floyd, Progressive rockLeave a comment

by Rick Krueger

When it comes to Pink Floyd, I usually prefer the atmospheric to the polemic: i.e.  “Echoes,” Wish You Were Here, and even A Momentary Lapse of Reason to Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut.  True, Roger Waters’ growing desire to beat the listener over the head with his irascible critiques of modern life brought the Floyd to new heights of popularity — but they also helped poison relationships with his collaborators and blow up the band, leading to a solo career with much lower impact.  Until, that is, he pulled out the vintage Floyd warhorses and started touring them again, to deserved acclaim.

For me, Is This the Life We Really Want?  strikes a welcome new balance between the prototypical Floyd sound and Waters’ ongoing preoccupations.   It’s the most listenable and perhaps the most effective of his solo albums, harking back to Dark Side of the Moon in its precision and its muted (but undampened) fury.

Nigel Godrich’s lean, colorful production helps immensely here, keeping the musical tension on the boil throughout.  Ironically, it also helps that Waters’ voice has aged; no longer able to bellow with his previous venom, he insinuates and rasps instead. Especially when his singing is paired with acoustic guitar or piano, you can more easily hear the blunt, direct expressiveness he admires in his heroes — early Dylan, Neil Young, John Lennon circa Plastic Ono Band and Imagine.  Funnily, lowering the volume of his complaints makes them more compelling.

Another surprise: Waters owns the culpability he so thoroughly excoriates in the world around him (notice the pronoun in the album title).   The songs still take plenty of scabrous, deeply profane potshots, earned and unearned, at Stuff Roger Thinks is Bad and at People He Utterly Despises.  But he’s also quick to call himself out, and to stand in solidarity with the masses, even if he believes they’re dead wrong.  “Broken Bones” and the title track are the best examples; they pull no punches, but Waters makes no excuses for himself, laying out his own neglect and indifference, calling himself to accountability along with everyone else. (The judgmentalism is diminished; the ambition, not so much.)

In sum, Is This The Life We Really Want? comes from a Roger Waters who seems more vulnerable and less inclined to condemn humanity wholesale — but not soft by any means.  After 25 years without an album of new rock material, it’s good to know that there’s life in the old boy yet.