…the next move, after Manuel Gottsching’s E2-E4, pulls the thread of that piece’s guitar work and comes up with Gabor Szabo at his funky six-string best, in Stockholm in 1972. From the album Small World (available as a compilation with its sister album, Belsta River, as In Stockholm), “Impressions Of My Country / Foothill Patrol” is a duel with Janne Schaffer — a Swedish guitar hero known mostly for his work with Abba. In 1972 Szabo, a serious jazz cat with a penchant for interpreting pop tunes (and riding that line between elevator music and the sublime), might have been primed to explore this Hendrixian territory. The previous year his “Gypsy Queen,” from the album Spellbinder (Impulse, 1966), had been adapted to round out Santana’s cover of “Black Magic Woman” on the album Abraxas. That song reached number four on the charts, while Abraxas went to number one. Szabo’s approach on Small World may have been, in no small part, influenced by Santana. The usually clean tones are fuzzed out, wah-wah pedals are employed, and there is a freer, funkier feel to the proceedings. Coming from Szabo, though, it’s no surprise, and his experimentation with tone and feedback in the 60s, coupled with the use of his native eastern European melodies, helped define a psychedelic sensibility that lent itself to the jam.
Pink Floyd’s The Wall – The Best Ever?
I go back and forth between naming The Wall the best album ever, or Genesis’ Selling
England by the Pound. They are both worthy of the title for different reasons. Selling England moves beyond the mere genre of rock and grounds itself in the western tradition. The Wall, though, tugs and pulls on our emotions while telling a timeless story. Does this make The Wall the better album?
Today, I say it does. If you ask me tomorrow, I may tell you that Selling England by the Pound is the best ever. I’m annoying like that. The Wall has so much going on, and it all fits together so perfectly. In a way, it really is just one very long song, like Thick as a Brick. It tells a story beginning with Pink, a rock star, as a young man. It continues with his story as a rock star, living a life of debauchery and drugs, and it ends with his trial. Throughout the whole story, he gradually builds a wall around his emotions to protect himself from his pain.
We can’t all relate to having a crappy, oppressive childhood, but some can. We don’t all live like rock stars, surrounded by drugs and sex, but some do. We don’t all find ourselves standing before a judge after our wall has collapsed, but some do. We don’t all build a wall inside of us to hide from the rest of the world, but a lot of us do.
Even if we can’t relate to all or any of those things specifically, in some way, we either understand them or we have experienced something similar. That is the brilliance of The Wall. Every time we listen to it, it connects with us in some new and exciting way. Some days, we throw our fists in the air to “Another Brick in the Wall Pt.2” as a way of sticking it to the man. Other days, we close our eyes and sing along to “Comfortably Numb,” as we enjoy those fleeting moments of carefree protection within our walls.
From undertones of anti-progressive governments to emotional despair, this album has it all. Furthermore, what it means to me is likely much different than what it means to you, and it is probably different than what inspired Waters to write it in the first place (the death of his father and grandfather in the two World Wars).
That is why, today, I say The Wall is the best album ever made. It defies time and genre. It makes us ponder our own existence and whether or not we too are building emotional walls to protect ourselves. Were Pink Floyd the best musicians in the world? No, not by a longshot, but they managed to compose their music in such a way that it conveyed the emotions they were getting across in the lyrics. This album will persist long after we are gone, in part, because it connects with people at a deeper level than most music. That is why The Wall truly is the best.
Radiohead and Prince
I think it’s awesome that Thom Yorke pulled rank on Prince and kept this on Youtube!
By the way, Prince’s best album, IMHO, is Lotusflow3r.
Steven Wilson and Prince
Just as Nick Beggs told us in his interview with Progarchy.com, Steven Wilson is a huge Prince fan.
Wilson confirmed Beggs’ report when Wilson posted on Facebook on April 21:
Just 30 minutes before we went on stage in Vienna tonight I heard that Prince had died, I couldn’t believe it. It was a very tough show for me to play. The word “genius” is used a bit too often and loosely within the music world, but I think Prince was the real thing, perhaps the most naturally gifted performer of all time. I saw him play live several times, and his show at The O2 Arena in London in 2007 I would rate as the greatest concert I ever saw (Craig Blundell is agreeing with me now, he was there too).
The run of albums from Dirty Mind in 1980 through to Sign ‘O’ the Times in 1987 matches anyone in its sustained brilliance, and it was such a big part of my soundtrack as a teenager (some of you will know that The Ballad of Dorothy Parker from the latter album was on the mixtape made by my character in Hand.Cannot.Erase., which is pretty much what my mixtape would have been at that time in my life).
Tonight I made a humble attempt to sing his song Sign ‘O’ the Times, in fact just before we played David Bowie‘s Space Oddity. It’s been a while since I recorded my version so I couldn’t remember it very well, but I wanted to at least try it, it would have seemed strange to pay tribute to one unique musical genius and not the other. Farewell strange purple one, and thanks for it all.
In Mourning – Afterglow – Album Review
Artist: In Mourning Album Title: Afterglow Label: Agonia Records Date Of Release: 20 May 2016 In Mourning is a name that that have flitted around the very edges of my consciousness for a few years now. ‘Afterglow’ however, takes the Swedish quintet out of my personal periphery and re-positions them at the very forefront of […]
https://manofmuchmetal.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/in-mourning-afterglow-album-review/
Bits and Pieces of Big Big Train
If you dig around a bit, you’ll find that Big Big Train has been slowly but surely releasing parts (big and small) of the new album, FOLKLORE.
The band has sent review copies out to print magazines, to British radio stations, and to a few others, but not yet to websites.
For us North American die-hard fans–just remember: STONE AND STEEL will eventually make it here, and so will FOLKLORE. We just have to be patient and trust the band’s release and marketing strategy.
Here, below, are a few snippets available now.
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About 13.5 minutes into this podcast, you can hear a single from the new album.
http://www.progzilla.com/podcast-francis-dunnery-radio-show-edition-012/
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Johan Reitsma has heard the full album, reporting this on Facebook:
UPDATE – APRIL 22)
Davids voice sounds a little different at times. He still sounds very much like, well, David. But sometimes he’s a bit more gravelly. There are moments in ‘Brooklands’ where some might confuse him with Peter Gabriel. It fits the music and his storytelling on the album very well.
As David hinted in his first blog (http://bit.ly/1VpDzCT) Folkore is really all about storytelling. That’s in the lyrics, the delivery but also very much in the music. Greg wrote (http://bit.ly/1T37HxC) about how the subtext of ‘London Plane’ is the passage of time. Well, you can HEAR that. (Or maybe that’s just my imagination.)
Yesterday I wrote that Folklore might be Big Big Train’s best work to date. While I wrote it, I thought maybe it’s a little early for such a big conclusion. Today I think, although it indeed was early, it’s the right conclusion.APRIL 21)The crow has landed! Folklore. We all know Big Big Train’s music needs a little time to sink in and to unfold and bloom completely. That’s why I will review the album ten times. Or, better, I will take ten days to complete this review. I will write about my first impression today and will update this tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow after tomorrow. Etc. Up to ten updates. (Today: 1/10)I’ve heard the album twice and I can say two things: BBT is proggier than ever on Folklore. And (dare I say it?) poppier. I mean that in a positive way, I keep humming those melodies. They are very (!) catchy at times. “Telling the beeeeees.”I don’t want to be too enthusiastic yet (i have nine review-days to go wink emoticonWho knows, maybe i’ll get bored with this music on day three.) But I’m afraid I have to tell you that Folklore is BBT’s best album to date! More tomorrow. http://youtu.be/U8MzlCvQqn8
Digital Ayreon
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Prog and the Death of Prince
The word is out that Prince is dead at the age of 57.
What does Prince have to do with prog?
Listen to the Progarchy.com interview with Nick Beggs from February 26 to hear part of the answer to that question…
Happy Birthday Mike Portnoy
Progarchy would like to wish a very happy 49th birthday to the one, the only MIKE PORTNOY! Thank you so much for all you do, Mike. Your music astounds us, connects with us, and inspires us. Your work ethic is *ahem* next to none (sorry, couldn’t resist that one), and we look forward to your future endeavors.
Interview with THE LAST COLOUR
Instrumental progressive metal duo from Montreal, The Last Colour, released their debut album “Beautiful Apocalypse” in February. The release, full of twists and hooks, provides an interesting experience for everyone who enjoys instrumental and prog metal combined. We talked with the band about their work.
Alright, first thing is first. Before we dive into all the music stuff, how’s life?
It’s going very well! We’re happy with our first album, which by the way is completely self-produced. We’ve had great feedback from the public since the launch on February 29, 2016.
Speaking of new music, you have an album. What can people expect from “Beautiful Apocalypse”?
People can expect some instrumental progressive metal that moves! Our music incorporates various styles of rhythmic complexity, polyrhythm, but also trippy melodies that are easy to listen to. We each have a varied musical background so it will certainly show in our music.
What was it like working on the album?
It was a great experience to produce this album. It’s been a while that we wanted to create music pieces in this genre, so as soon as we had the opportunity, we jumped on it. It’s a self-produced album, so we had the freedom to go at the pace that suited us. We started by doing some jams that we recorded and we kept the best moments or interesting riffs. Later, we worked each on our side to develop some ideas and make arrangements for different parts. Finally we did a quick pre-prod to remember our ideas until the final versions were ready to be recorded.
Are there any touring plans in support to “Beautiful Apocalypse”?
Not at the moment, but it’s in the planning. We work hard to promote our album to have it discovered by the rest of the planet. Thereafter, if the opportunity arises we will play wherever possible.
While we are on the subject of touring, what countries would you love to tour?
Anywhere in the world where people want to get their eardrums banged! 😀
Who and what inspires you the most?
There are a lot of people or things that inspire us. We admire the rebels, those who do not follow the movements but are exploring their own way. We love the intensity and excess but we also like when the job is well done; we are probably perfectionists, like many musicians.
What other genres of music do you listen to? Have any of the other genres you listen to had any impact on your playing?
Jazz music as a whole, old and modern. It is certain that the influence is there and we can hear it in our rhythm and in certain melodic phrases. There is no attempt to hide these influences; on the contrary it is used as inspiration. The orchestral music is part of our influences too. We can probably recognize typical harmonic progressions from this kind of music.
I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Is there anything else you would like to tell us and the fans before we wrap things up?
We hope you’ll like our music and that you will come to see us when we’ll be in your area. Also, give us your feedback on our Facebook page and share the world.
Progarchy 