The fun started early. Fans were eager for rehearsal information, opportunities to just shake hands with the band. We’re all so grateful they are back in the area. Looking amazing too…check out these pictures. Many thanks to Rob Waller who was on the ground for a quick hey to Good Man Curt Smith. Nice photos! […]
Put a couple of decades on the protagonist of “Lush Life,” put him on the West Coast with some other wicked habits, and you’d come up with something like “Babylon Sisters,” from Steely Dan’s final masterpiece, Gaucho. A commercial success but critical dud at the time of its release, Gaucho has grown in stature, but still it lingers in the shadow of its forebear, Aja. Gaucho, though, is the perfect extension of Aja, a further distillation of Steely Dan’s trajectory towards its God-in-the-details hybrid of jazz and rock. Its slow, studied strut, coupled with a bell-clear production, supports the record’s stories of 70s California decadence, delivered in Donald Fagen’s most pronounced ironic drawl. Drug use and sketchy sexual adventure are linked to characters who are too old, too rich, too emotionally distant, and even so the oily discomfort they evoke is dispelled by the deeply funky, freewheeling grooves — courtesy of such players as Bernard Purdie, Mark Knopfler, Chuck Rainey, Joe Sample, Rick Derringer, the Brecker brothers, Don Grolnick, Larry Carlton, and on and on — and the sense that this is sharp character study and cool observation. “Babylon Sisters,” the album’s opener, cycles through first, second, and third person, appearing on its face to be an old dude telling the story of his hookup with (perhaps more than one) much younger woman, with veiled references to cocaine or meth use, but other voices intrude, those of the women and also those of his friends, the latter warning him away from a life that he himself recognizes is beyond him. As in many of Steely Dan’s songs, narrative clarity isn’t the point as much as the delivery of the words with the music, an impressionistic approach which brings a dark tonality, towards sadness, to the characters in “Babylon Sisters” and to Gaucho as a whole. It’s less Hotel California and that album’s obvious metaphors, and more the tricky psych-scape of film noir L.A., set even more ominously to music that is bright and sunny and colorful, with a distinct slither. Classic Rock’s Less Than Zero.
*Above image, detail of Israel Hoffman’s Guardia Vieja, used for the cover of Gaucho.
The very first episode of Backstage with Iris! The interviews you will hear are with Adam Holzman (Steven Wilson, Miles Davis), and a duo interview with Michael Bearpark (Darkroom,Tim Bowness, no-man) and Elif Yalvaç (Cloudscapes). You can listen to the show here (NOTE: this Mixcloud link is NOT the end of the post, please scroll down for more […]
Wow wow, wow wow, you have to read this fun list over at the Telegraph. It starts off like this:
From the moment 18-year-old Kate Bush stepped on to the stage at Top of the Pops and gave a career-defining performance of Wuthering Heights, she has beguiled and baffled with her every unhinged shriek and wild, wide-eyed gesture.
Since that extraordinary 1978 debut, she has released a further 30 singles, despite being anything but your typical singles artist. Bush’s greatest hits – and even those that failed to much trouble the charts – all display a creativity and variety unparalleled in pop music.
Artist: Karmakanic Album Title: Dot Label: InsideOut Music Date Of Release: 22 July 2016 Karmakanic have been around for a good few years now, formed in 2002 by Jonas Reingold, the bassist for the arguably more familiar band The Flower Kings. Also involved with Kaipa and The Tangent, Karmakanic was conceived to be the vehicle […]
via Karmakanic – Dot – Album Review — The Blog of Much Metal
This is one of the bands who actually discovered me through my review work, and asked me if I was interested in writing an album review for their second album named Rise Of The Waterfowl. This was a though album to review, because these gentlemen made something quite brilliant. I love the album sleeve, the […]
via Farmhouse Odyssey – Rise Of The Waterfowl (2016) — Grendel HeadQuarters
Italian metal sextet Rome in Monochrome has recently presented their EP titled “Karma Anubis.” In an interview with Prog Sphere, the band tells us about their work. Define the mission of Rome In Monochrome. Write music to feel alive. Tell me about the creative process that informed your new EP “Karma Anubis” and the themes…
Prog reports:
Bassist and producer Steve Babb tells Prog: “This is pure Glass Hammer. Fred Schendel and I are handling more of the vocals than we have in several years.
“But Susie is front-and-centre throughout most of the album – and our fans have not been shy in telling us that’s the way to go. Guitarist Alan Shikoh and drummer Aaron Raulson complete the Valkyrie lineup.”
Describing it as a concept album in the vein of 2002’s Lex Rex and 2005’s The Inconsolable Secret, Babb adds: “It’s the story of a soldier’s struggle to return home from the horrors of war, to the girl who loves him and must ultimately find her way to him.
…
“The burden was on Susie to bring the lyrics to life, and build an emotional crescendo for the album’s finale. Like a live show, it has to end with a bang.
“She delivers. The whole album builds till that final track and then – we’ll see you soon and I hope you’ll agree: it’s an epic finish.”
Read more at the link, including the track list.
If there’s one thing that is always welcome in any album, regardless of genre or style, it is variation. A varied sound in a record is proof that the band has an imagination, and is willing to take risks in their recording process. Showing some creativity will earn you points. It is for this reason that Excellion from good ol’ Mexico have earned points. A lot of points.
“Unsean” is an EP (the band’s fourth) that is difficult to predict, and constantly whips the carpet from beneath your feet. As soon as you think you know the structure for a song and are expecting the chorus to begin, the track takes a sudden turn in a bizarre direction and you’re left feeling impressed and lost at the same time, like suddenly finding yourself sat surrounded by crates of beer; you might not know why they’re there, you just go with it because it’s a good thing.
It’s not just the individual format of each song either; the release as a whole incorporates lots of different styles and isn’t content with maintaining one sound. “Unseen Pt. I – In Search of Infinity” seems to kick things off in a standard fashion, opening the album with some flashy guitar riffs in a djenty manner and theatrical vocals of singer Frozen Chava. But very quickly it becomes apparent that this is something special, as the song frequently bounces between this ordinary Metal sound and a chirpy, Rock-like style. The track is something of a strange medley; two songs colliding and becoming one fantastic entity, resulting in perhaps the most memorable track on the record.
The album continues in a similar fashion, with the lead single “Unlucky Charms” beginning with tech-y riffs.
When it comes to drums, there is something to be said for the beautifully strange timing of the percussion across the record, as well as the way it gels so perfectly with the guitars. Hearing one of these two instruments alone would sound bizarre and unnatural, but the two combined genuinely become the sum of their parts.
The EP’s production is also worthy of praise, with every powerful note of the guitars as well as each and every drumbeat being crystal clear. The vocals, while coarse and full of rage for the most part (with a number of creative exceptions), are distinguished nicely from the instruments, having their own room to breathe and take centre stage in the cleaner sections when the lyrics are actually audible.
“The Courier” takes a number of twists and turns during its five minutes, becoming just another notch on the band’s bow of experimentation. The frequent clean vocal sections make for some wonderful choruses, and only add to the sheer amount of variety on offer here.
“Diablo Jr.” shows the band’s technical proficiency; it’s a track that proves that if the band were inclined towards more complex styles of music, they could just as easily kick arse at that, too. “Unsean Pt. II – The Heart of the Sapphire” closes the album nicely with some ambient elements and more chilled atmosphere, and the track’s length (clocking in at just above six minutes) means that it has more time to transition gently between tempos, making for a well-rounded song.
This is an EP that comes highly recommended to anyone with an open mind, or simply to those who love hearing something slightly different. This is the type of band that deserve their shot at fame, and I for one hope that they make it, if only just to make people aware that creativity is still alive and kicking in the music industry.
Visit Excellion online:
https://www.facebook.com/excellionband/
https://twitter.com/excellionband
https://instagram.com/excellionband
Intrigued?
For more McLuhan, check out the man himself on The Medium is the Massage (2011 CD reissue).
Progarchy 