What to do while you’re waiting for Haken’s new album Affinity to be released?
I recommend you make good use of your time by listening to the awesome new album from Oktopus, as well as watch the online videos released in advance of the new Haken. Here’s the latest:
A personal journey, Part I.
Twenty-five years ago this fall, progarchist editor Craig Breaden and I were in Waterloo Records, Austin, Texas. There it was on the shelves—the final Talk Talk album, LAUGHING STOCK, in all of its James Marsh-esque glory. Of course, I purchased it as quickly as possible. After all, it had just come out, and Craig and I were living in pre-internet days in northern Utah. We had a music store nearby, but however good it was—and, frankly, it was pretty good—it wouldn’t have dreamt of carrying anything by a band so strange as Talk Talk.
So fortunate we were at a history conference in Texas at the same moment as LAUGHING STOCK’s release.
Craig and I were not only officemates and apartment mates, but we were best friends and music mates. How many hours flew by with Craig and I devouring music—old and new—and then discussing and analyzing every bit of it. I still cherish these nights and even weekend-days as some of the best of my life. Though I’d grown up in a house that respected nearly every form of music, I had never been introduced to some of the great psychedelic and experimental rock acts of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Unless it was by Yes, Genesis, or Jethro Tull, I really didn’t know it. Craig played Procol Harum, Soft Machine, Spooky Tooth, and Traffic for me. I fell in love with each. As the time Craig and I (and another close friend, Joel) were spending so much time together, the music scene itself was going through a bit of a psychedelic revival—with World Party, Charlatans, and others—and this only added to our excitement.
As soon as we returned from Austin, I recorded the full album of LAUGHING STOCK on each side of a double-sided TDK cassette and enthusiastically played this tape over and over and over and over. . . . Even though Craig and I had shared many enthusiasms with each other, this obsession with Talk Talk seemed more than a bit too enthusiastic to Craig.
Understandably so.
By sheer force of will, I fear, Craig had to accept this or our friendship would suffer! Of course, here we are, a quarter of a century later, still very close friends and co-editors of progarchy. . . . You know the story ended well.
For nearly thirty years, I instantly answered the question of “what is your favorite band” with Talk Talk and Rush. If pushed a bit more, I would add Tears for Fears and, depending on my mood, Genesis or Yes or XTC. This rote answer became almost proudly knee-jerk on my part.
When challenged about this opinion, I rather haughtily pointed to THE COLOUR OF SPRING, SPIRIT OF EDEN, and LAUGHING STOCK. After all, who could top fourteen months a shot, recording in dark, deserted churches, challenging every single bit of corporate conformity in the music business.
Mark Hollis, Tim-Friese-Green, and Phill Brown were not just three more musicians in the industry, they lingered as demi-gods at the very edge of Valhalla itself, ready to release Ragnoräk at any moment. And, power to them! As far as I was concerned, the music industry needed and deserved a revolution.
Recently, I’ve realized that Talk Talk no longer holds top spot in my mind when it comes to bands (Big Big Train has finally replaced Talk Talk in my mind and in my soul), but it will always be in the top three for me. For too many years, Talk Talk was my go-to band, my comfort and my first love in the world of music. To this day—and, I presume, to the end of my days—the final three albums the band made will always be the three by which I judge every other release in the music world. Few albums or bands, then or now, can measure up to such heights. But, such is my mind and soul.
Part II to come soon. . . . In the meantime, enjoy 19 minutes of Hollis talking about LAUGHING STOCK.
Riverside just posted this on its Facebook page, about 4 hours ago. Much to look forward to.
I’m continuing with my Jonas Munk kick from two weeks ago, when I posted the fabulous Sun River stream, “Esperanza Villanueva”. “Sonnenblumenstahl” is a beautiful piece of Moebius/Roedelius/Plank-style krautrock from Munk’s and Ulrich Schnauss’s highly recommended 2011 full-length collaboration. Munk the guitarist and Schnauss the keyboardist have both left their influential mark on ambient techno, and together they make music that is generous, melodic, and open, combining the best of both their musics. This song could be from Cluster’s Sowiesoso (or Zuckerzeit, OR Grosses Wasser), but has a character uniquely its own.
Several weeks ago Progarchy contributor Bryan Morey posted an article, Keep Your Politics Out of My Prog, regarding musicians and the commercial risks they take when speaking their minds politically. Bryan is a passionate writer and has deeply held beliefs; nonetheless, I took exception with what he said and how he said it, and made my comments in the honest and positive forum that is Progarchy. All good. But…it stayed with me, and thanks to Bryan for spurring me to further thought, and now to writing more.
I also feel compelled to write now, this evening, because a musical icon yesterday made a political statement regarding recently passed legislation in North Carolina, the state in which I live, where I was married, and where one of my children was born. What has become known as HB2 is a law destructive of not only the Civil Rights Acts but of the grassroots, everyday work that millions of people in the South have undertaken in the last 70 years, to ensure that all are equal before the law. In canceling his show in Greensboro, North Carolina tomorrow, Bruce Springsteen made the following statement:
As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.
I think as humans and citizens we should use the voices we have to speak out for what we believe to be the truth, what we believe to be right, and I admire Springsteen (someone whose politics, admittedly, I generally agree with) for using the voice he has and sending a message that needed sending to an increasingly retrograde Southern political establishment, on whom the shadows of segregation are again creeping. It would be the poor artist who would shrink from using their total voice, to contain themselves only to their primary medium, regardless of the size of their fan base. In digging deep, artists and musicians push boundaries, often at great personal and commercial cost, and the ones who are successful are without fail also the ones who are compelled to speak their minds in all aspects of their lives. It might be messy, it might not look great on paper, it might not live up to the images they can magically conjure in their art or the idealization we, their fans, have built up around them or integrity we ascribe to them. But we don’t get to have the one without the other, and any artist worth their salt, that I can think of, would not change their point of view or what they choose to say based on the sales of albums or tickets. In taking the action he did, Bruce Springsteen showed again why his band and his fans call him the Boss and why, over his 40-odd years as a professional musician, his artistry has remained so vibrant.
Fractal Mirror, SLOW BURN 1 (Third Contact, 2016).
Tracks: Prelude; Miracle; Numbers; V838; Floods; Mist; Enemies; Embers; Fading; Artifacts; Universal.
Mixed by Brett Kull, and mastered by Larry Fast.
If you’re looking for some intelligent, thoughtful, and melodic rock, you’ve arrived at the perfect place. The aptly titled, SLOW BURN 1, offers 11 contemplative tracks, each flowing elegantly from one to another. While the first two Fractal Mirror albums possessed strong gothic-Prog elements, this album, as a whole, is rather Beatles-eque, especially in its vocal melodies.
Continue reading “Not Bauhaus but World Party: Fractal Mirror’s SLOW BURN 1”
Not long ago I gave Oktopus a hard time over their name change, but now it’s time for me to report back on their new album after listening to it for a week solid. After enjoying tremendously the album’s stunning debut single, “Eyes Open,” I soon ordered a physical CD copy of Oktopus’ new album, World Apart, because the “Eyes Open” song was so awesome that I couldn’t stop listening to it.
Continue reading “Album Review: Oktopus — Worlds Apart ★★★★★ @OktopusUK”
So Album 18 from Marillion finally has a release date (9 September) and a title – and the latter is a surprise. Here’s Steve Hogarth’s explanation:
What’s in a name?……
All worthwhile human impulses come from love. And all negative and destructive human impulses come from fear.
This album is called F*** Everyone and Run or F.E.A.R.
This title is adopted not in anger or with any intention to shock. It is adopted and sung (in the song “New Kings”) tenderly, in sadness and resignation inspired by an England, and a world, which increasingly functions on an “Every man for himself” philosophy. I won’t bore you with examples, they’re all over the newspapers every day.
There’s a sense of foreboding that permeates much of this record. I have a feeling that we’re approaching some kind of sea-change in the world – an irreversible political, financial, humanitarian and environmental storm. I hope that I’m wrong. I hope that my FEAR of what “seems” to be approaching is just that, and not FEAR of what “is” actually about to happen.
Artist: October Tide Album Title: Winged Waltz Label: Agonia Records Date Of Release: 22 April 2016 I simply cannot believe that I don’t have any of the October Tide discography within my collection currently. It beggars belief on three counts: Firstly, I’m a bit of a sucker for that whole melodic dark/doom/death sound. Secondly October […]
via October Tide – Winged Waltz – Album Review — The Blog of Much Metal
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