Not surprisingly given all of the conjecture last spring, Neil Peart has officially announced his retirement. Thanks to Ultimate Guitar for posting this.
Neil Peart Retires
Review: Lanes Laire – Resurrection of Black
Lanes Laire has been active as a solo artists for years, and as his short biography on the Facebook suggests, he has been involved with various bands around USA. “Resurrection of Black” is surprisingly Lanes’ debut release, and it’s placed deep into the amotspheric, melodic side of progressive rock with influences from the ‘70s, the ‘80s and some contemporary ones. He adds plethora experimental, pop-rock, and ambient elements to his music. He will surely bring some of the big progressive rock bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s on your mind that is not a bad thing at all.
One can feel that Lanes Laire plays it safe, and that in the end his music is not “forward thinking” or “progressive.” But that’s because Laire is an apt craftsman, and he knows how well to make a song sounds catchy, but still complex enough. There are tons of great moments on the album that contribute to the final outcome, which brings nostalgia and innovation together. This prog rock music is easy to digest, but hard to predict.
The musicianship is very strong and the production is warm. “Resurrection of Black” doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it is more than a decent album. There is a lot to explore here, and it’s waiting for you.
Rikard Sjöblom: Solo Album
Swedish progressive rock purveyors, Beardfish have been one of the most prolific bands on the scene for almost two decades. Founded by multi-instrumentalist Rikard Sjöblom, the band has been on a winning streak since 2001.
However, Sjöblom has been a part of different music projects over the years, most notably he released albums under the name Gungfly, and he has also been a part of UK progressive rock band Big Big Train recently.
Over the past few months, Rikard worked on a solo album which will be released in February 2016. Titled “The Unbendable Sleep,” the record brings eight songs which certainly possess quality to appeal to music fans of different genres. Sjöblom has once again created a diverse album, but in a more intimate format than we are accustomed to.
Speaking about his decision to release an album under his name at this point of his career, Rikard says: “There are a number of reasons why I did this, but the main one is that Gungfly which started out as a solo project later became more of a band with members and all that and it’s a really good band and I love it and all that but I guess to really be solo you almost have to use your birth name?
He continues: “I’ve only released one album under my name before and that was recorded in 2003, released in 2006. It’s called ‘Cyklonmannen’ and it’s an instrumental, musical interpretation of a novel with the same name written by Sweden’s only beatnik writer Sture Dahlström. It’s pretty obscure stuff! But, the guy who made quite a lot of the book covers for Sture is called Bernt Daniels and he’s the same guy who has painted the cover painting of ‘The Unbendable Sleep.’ So that was another reason, because when I asked permission from Bernt to use the book cover back in 2006 he sent me this postcard with this painting on it and it was Beste Schweizermilch, the very same painting you see on the cover of ‘The Unbendable Sleep,’ and I just fell in love with it and decided that I wanted to use it someday. So, it’s quite fitting that Bernt Daniels has made the cover paintings of the only two albums I’ve made as Rikard Sjöblom, don’t you think?
“It also feels like it’s the right time to do it because right now I’m involved in many different interesting projects and I’ve longed to make something that is completely me now for a while, so it’s the right time!”
Thematically, “The Unbendable Sleep” goes around the usual subjects: love, life, death, and it deals a lot with self-esteem and believing in yourself. “Sounds cheesy, I know, but it’s pretty important stuff,” Rikard continues. “I found myself singing about mirrors quite a lot and that’s also referring to just that, looking into the mirror and not recognizing the person staring back at you.”
Sjöblom says that he has plans for performing these songs live. “I really want to take this music out on the road,” he admits, “but I don’t want to lock myself in with just doing band-stuff. At the moment I’m very much into to doing solo shows as well with just an acoustic (and maybe an electric too) guitar and my voice, but you can’t do that with all of the material, so there will be a full on band as well. Hopefully I can book something in the near future!”
“The Unbendable Sleep” will be available starting February as digital download and CD via Gungfly Productions. The vinyl version of the album will be available from Plane Groovy.
The Unbendable Sleep track listing:
01. Love And War Part One: I Am Who You Are
02. Realm of You and Me
03. Rhyme and Reason
04. Will We Cry?
05. Under Northern Skies (Villemo’s Song)
06. Building a Tent for Astor
07. Anna-Lee
08. Love And War Part Two: Lucky Star
RochaNews: Renman
 STEVE RENNIE TO HOST FREE “HOW TO LEARN THE MUSIC BUSINESS” WEBINAR NEXT WEEK
Enroll today for the chance to win a Renman U ‘Mentor’ scholarship
|
 LOS ANGELES – Music industry veteran and Renman Music & Business founder, Steve Rennie (aka “Renman”), will host a free webinar next week, “How to Learn the Music Business,” on Tuesday, December 8 beginning at 12 p.m. PST / 3 p.m. EST. The live broadcast will explore all the options for learning the music business, from traditional four year universities, to online courses, free resources and more. Head over to Renman Music & Business at: https://renmanmb.leadpages.co/free-webinar-learn-music-biz-tw/ to sign up for free. One registered participant will also be chosen at random at the end of the webinar to receive a Renman U ‘Mentor’ scholarship ($499.99 value) which will grant access to Rennie’s “Renman U Insider’s Guide to Today’s Music Business” online course, complete with 10 personal Google Hangouts sessions with the Renman himself. Head over to: www.renmanu.com for more information on both the Renman U ‘Solo’ and ‘Mentor’ courses.
Keep up with Renman Music & Business on the Renman MB app for iOS https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/renman-music-business/id912847478?ls=1&mt=8 and Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beachfrontmedia.renmanmusicandbusiness and online at: www.renmanmb.com.
-###-
|
| About Steve Rennie…
Over the last 36 years, Renman Music & Business mastermind, Steve Rennie, has become one of the most successful and respected professionals in today’s music business. He has amassed a broad swath of experience as a concert promoter (Sr. VP Avalon Attractions now Live Nation 1984-1990), record company executive (Sr. VP GM Epic Records 1994-1998), internet entrepreneur (ArtistDirect 1998-2000) and artist manager (Incubus 1998-2014). Now, he is dedicating himself to mentoring this next generation of artists and music pros who will shape the music industry of the future.
Earlier this year, Rennie launched Renman U, an online course designed to be “an insider’s guide to today’s music business”: www.renmanu.com. Once enrolled, Renman U students receive an interactive set of online video lessons designed to teach aspiring artists and music business professionals what it takes to succeed in the music industry. Course lessons are based on Rennie’s more than 36 years of experience at the highest levels in the business, and include quizzes, written exams and more. An introductory Renman U video can be seen on YouTube: http://youtu.be/Q-GQyl5zNk8, while a free demo is available at: http://renmanu.com/course/renman-u-free-demo/.
Steve Rennie founded Renman Music & Business: http://www.renmanmb.com in 2012, an online education portal for the music industry featuring a YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/renmanmb with over 500 video clips with tips from industry pros, a web show, Renman Live: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaCGuUBKBfsuEGSchAEyI9fFuMXzJVuun, which has livestreamed over 100 episodes so far, and more.
Renman Music & Business online…
|
Review: Sound Struggle – Rise
Sound Struggle are a wondrously talented band. Their 2014 self-titled album was one of the gems of the year. The pressure to create something equally incredible, or to even come close, would hurt many bands but much like their music, Sound Struggle are calm, collected, precise yet a titanic force to be reckoned with.
“Rise” follows a similar vein to its predecessor and whilst it can appear to be a smooth and methodical affair, it is not without its barbaric complexities and penchant for brutality.
‘Strongth’ followed by ‘The Disease’ show this songwriting proficiency; the former is a precise rhythmical piece, before the latter demonstrates the subtleties of the album momentarily until it opens wide into the surging, manic and violent rhythmic adventures and soaring majestic vocals.
“Rise” is as good as its predecessor, and it certainly possesses the quality to overtake the debut. “Sound Struggle” was on another plane that any follow-up by any band would struggle (pun intended). “Rise” is definitely one of the best things you’ll listen to this year. They reach a perfect middle ground with this release that fans of djent, metal, progressive rock and fans of music in general can appreciate.
Sound Struggle can create marvellous melodies, and soundscapes that can be listened to is one continuous passage of play. Time will tell where this album will land, but it is still far more exceptional than what many musicians can muster.
Get “Rise” from Bandcamp.
Review: ZAYN – Fields of God
“Fields of God” by ZAYN is huge, superbly brilliant, and an absolute joy to listen to, though it may sound as a very dark release. Combining post-metal with a progressive rock vibe, psychedelia and tons of other elements, Zayn’s new album is a masterclass in the creation of music and throughout its playtime, it will encapsulate the listener and give them an extraordinary piece of music, even though this is an instrumental album.
“14,1” is the album opener, and it starts the chain which never really ceases. Clever ambient patterns trace the way for the rest of the material presented on “Fields of God,” which is accompanied with plethora of heavy riffs in a doom metal way, and shrieking guitar solos that are right between psychedelic and space rock, on steroids. Take “Ungodless” for example.
“Vicarivs Filii Dei (Animal Rituals)” and the title song are among the gems of this album, perfectly crafted in every sense with fan(t)astic swirling patterns and spiralling drumwork. These tunes invoke more than just appreciation for music, and talent, but unearth attitudes that few songs can manifest.
“Fields of God” is incredible, it’s only detraction is that it isn’t longer. But, considering that the band is already working on a new material, this is great while in transit.
Purchase “Fields of God” here, stay tuned for more ZAYN news on Facebook and via their official website.
Chris Cornell on the making of songs and the craft of singing
The Australian site MusicFeeds recently posted an extended and very interesting interview with singer and songwriter Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog) about his new album Higher Truth (Progarchy rating: 5 stars). A couple of excerpts:
Well going through the actual lyrics on the record, I seemed to find a lot of recurring themes of love and heartbreak and the passage of time. Where were you drawing from emotionally and ideologically when you were writing the record?
I sort of let that happen kind of on its own and then I sort of have a better perspective on what it all means to me a couple of years later, usually [laughs]. It’s moods and ideas that just sort of occur to me is the best way to put it and I tend to not put that under a microscope too much and the closest that this comes to a concept record really is in that I wanted it to be stripped down and I wanted it to kind of feed this type of acoustic touring that I’ve been doing over the last several years and I wanted that to become a kind of a living thing with new music and generating new ideas, as opposed to always a look back.
So I think like anything else – like a Soundgarden album or like an Audioslave album, the lyrics are often and the lyrical ideas are often inspired by the music and by the mood of the whole thing. And that ends up in this case being love and loss and heartache and the things that everybody goes through.
Has your approach as a song writer changed much over the years or is it similar to how you first started?
I’ve always pretty much done the same thing, which is whatever works [laughs]. So, that is always a moving target I think. Whatever it sort of takes to feel like not only am I writing but it feels good and it feels like I’m writing something that means something to me. I don’t think I’ve ever had writer’s block, I think I’ve just gone through periods where I’ve written things that I don’t particularly like. I guess that’s what writer’s block is maybe, I don’t know. But for me the process is always a moving target. …
When you read a lot of the reviews surrounding the record so far, a lot of the talk has been about just how strong your voice is shining through. How do you rate your voice at this stage of your career? For a lot of artists it can go away and become weaker and for others who work at it it can get stronger and it seems to be the general consensus that your voice is almost as strong as it ever has been.
Well I think it’s different and I think that mostly to do with what I try to make it do and what I want it to do and what’s important for me that it does. You know my approach to singing and what I want it to sound like and the songs that I write are really very different than 20 years ago or 30 years ago even. Really I think it’s more of an artistic issue than anything else. But I also think that there’s a dedication to craft in a sense and maybe that’s not fair and everybody’s different but I think of singing – I approach it as an instrument because it is, it’s a reed instrument really.
There’s a lot of factors that go into creating the particular tones that you want to try to create. The same that there would be if you were a trumpet player or if you played strings or you played the saxophone. Over the years with the amount of experience that I’ve head I’ve figured a lot of things out and have become a lot more experienced and getting a lot more out of what I believe it can do – getting my voice to do things I didn’t think it would do. That sort of learning curve never really goes away.
The entire interview is well worth reading. (Soundgarden fans: the band is planning a 2016 album.) And, as a bonus, here is Cornell performing “Josephine” from the new album; I happen to know it is one of TimeLord’s favorite Cornell cuts—and rightly so!
Review: Below A Silent Sky – Corrosion
German progressive/post-metal band Below A Silent Sky have been around since 2012, and the quartet from Ilmenau released their debut album titled “Corrosion” this September. The album showcases that the band doesn’t afraid to explore their creative abilities and to push the boundaries and definition of their style of progressive metal.
Below A Silent Sky have managed to come up with an album which represents a mental journey that transcends the listener onto a whole another planet. The multi-dimensional, multi-layered six-track release should ideally be perceived as a single track rather than six individual. The creative brilliance of the band oozes through this masterpiece and it should definitely earn the band a level of respect from fans and critics alike.
Below A Silent Sky’s “Corrosion” is an enjoyable piece of music for just about any setting but it’s perhaps the best “travel album” released in 2015. When you are traveling, this album makes for the ideal companion, and before you realise it, the album compels you to loose yourself in an introspective world. A work of genius highly recommended for fans of progressive, experimental music.
Album Spotlight: Anathema – “We’re Here Because We’re Here”
Read my thoughts about the lyrics to Anathema’s classic album.
http://theprogmind.com/2015/12/02/album-spotlight-anathema-were-here-because-were-here-2/
Album Of The Year 2015 – Number 30
Here we are again, at year’s end. I can’t believe that another 12 months has passed since I began my countdown for 2014, it doesn’t seem that long ago. And yet, in the intervening period, a lot has happened. My eldest daughter has started nursery whilst my youngest has changed from a new born baby […]
https://manofmuchmetal.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/album-of-the-year-2015-number-30/
Progarchy 