Dream Theater, A CHANGE OF SEASONS (Eastwest, 1995)
This morning, immediately prior to my 9:30 seminar, several students and I started talking about the sheer brilliance and super-human tenacity of Mike Portnoy. This guy just never ceases to amaze me. Watching him play on the fantastic new Flying Colors DVD just reminded me yet again of what a master musician the guy is.
He brings so much to the art, all of it good.
I even admire his temper, especially when he uses it righteously. He simply does not suffer unprofessional foolishness. The world would be in much better shape, frankly, with a million more like Portnoy.
After the fond discussion with my students about Portnoy, I pulled out an EP from twenty years ago, A CHANGE OF SEASONS. Of course, a very young Portnoy wrote the lyrics and the rather moving story for this twenty-three minute epic. It tells the tale, somewhat symbolically, of the education of a child—formally in the classroom as well as informally in the halls of school—and the loss of a beloved parent. Much of the story reflects the then crazily popular Robin Williams film, Dead Poets Society, and the epic even samples from the movie.
When A CHANGE OF SEASONS first came out, I listened to it (as well as Spock’s Beard, THE LIGHT) obsessively. Lights out, headphones on. Picking it up today, it sounds as fresh to me know as it did two decades ago in Bloomington, Indiana. Once again, I am in awe of Mike Portnoy and in his debt.
Like the supercollider, Drummond seeks to smash two dissimilar things together and see what the results are. Naturally, and experiment by mad scientist, composer and guitarist from New York to combine jazz fusion and metal into one would of course create some explosive outcomes. Not to mention some pretty phenomenal musical pieces.
“Getting Comfortable” is a debut EP by Drummond, and it’s here now and ready to take you to unparalleled heights. Look to the skies: that is where Drummond is going to take you.
For a totally instrumental release (except for a small vocal part in the closing song), this thing is four tracks of expansive, experimental and wholly gripping fusion music. Take EP opener “New Paint” for a fine example: starting off so minimally, guitars and cymbals meekly registering their presence in the room before their flamboyance bounds forth from them with a burst of self-confidence.
If there is one enduring thing to take away from listening to this release, it’s that experimentation is the key to success: be it “Getting Comfortable’s” (song) flowing, flying musical escapology, “Second Self’s” Holdsworthian chemistry, or “Ecotone’s” otherworldly, ethereal ambience leading to space explorations. Everything on show here is made to play with the musical form and to evoke a response from your mind. And Drummond’s music is what makes you want to explore.
My pick would have to be the closing piece “Ecotone,” clocking in at five minutes. It’s frantic, for one thing: everyone is really laying down some serious licks on this, striving for the very best in their playing abilities and pulling it off with aplomb. It has to be said that Sithu Aye is on this song. Masterful work and a treasure for any fan of the indefinable yet oddly marvelous.
To say what Drummond and the company have done is prog is inaccurate; to say that it is metal is too vague. Rather, they have thrown into “Getting Comfortable” all their passions, excitements and inspirations and cooked up something that is beyond compare. This is music without boundaries, without barricades and without limits.
Buy “Getting Comfortable EP from Bandcamp. Drummond is on Facebook too.
Technically, I don’t know if this really qualifies at metal. It’s more just standard fare mid-70’s American hard rock, simple and straightforward. And very good for headbanging and air guitar. You can probably skip over 50 seconds to avoid the unnecessary intro, which I refer to as the “sick pterodactyl” section of the song. But once it gets past that, it puts the pedal to the metal (pardon the pun) and does not let up until the end.
It was previously announced that Dream Theater will embark on a European tour in February 2016 where they will present their upcoming studio album “The Astonishing” in its entirety. After that, more information on the album itself followed, where the concept of the double album was explained. Dream Theater‘s website ever since the first announcement…
ARCADE MESSIAH release new track “RED WIDOW” from forthcoming second album “II” that is released on 27th November.
“RED WIDOW” can be heard at – https://soundcloud.com/arcademessiah/red-widow
“RED WIDOW” is from the highly anticipated album “ARCADE MESSIAH II“, a Metal/Stoner/Prog hybrid Instrumental project from John Bassett (the singer, songwriter and producer of UK Progressive Rock Band KingBathmat)
It is available on both CD and as a Digital Download. The CD has a bonus 9th track, “The Four Horsemen”, a 19 minute cover version of the famous track by Aphrodite’s Child. This track was recently released by Fruit De Mer Records on a vinyl compilation album “Side Effects”.
1. Moon Signal
2. Red Widow
3. Black Dice Maze
4. Gallows Way
5. Fourth Quarter
6. Via Occulta
7. Read The Sky
8. Start Missing Everybody
9. The Four Horsemen (CD only)
CWR: You are a famous critic of modern pop music. How were you able to construct such a sympathetic and insightful portrait of one of the main characters in your novel, The Disappeared, who is both an ardent fan and performer of heavy metal music?
Scruton: I wanted to enter the soul of someone whose sense of his masculinity had been damaged, and who compensated through this kind of dramatization of the primordial male. I also think that metal is the creation of people with real musicality, who have developed the muscle of music as though by weight lifting, and lost that beautiful, inner, female thing, which is the sung melody.
…
CWR: How can young people be best introduced to good music at an early age? What is the optimal way to inoculate them against the adverse effects of bad music on their souls?
Scruton: I think it is very important to learn to sing in choirs, and if possible to learn an instrument, even if only the recorder or the guitar. To read music, to play for yourself, to sing melodically — all these establish the link between music and the inner life which will serve to inoculate the young person against the worst kind of musical influenza.
And now you can listen to an MP3 of Scruton on BBC Radio 4 on “The Tyranny of Pop.”
Keeping in mind that Scruton is talking about bad music, how is it possible to disagree with him?
Pearly Gates hail from Finland and they bring us music that picks up influences from plenty of musical styles. They released 6 EP’s so far, with “Unchained” being their most recent one. Pearly Gates songs interact a lot with metal, jazz, and even pop.
“Unchained” is comprised of four songs that show influences from likes such Tool and Graveyard. Fans of both mentioned bands will find something interesting in this release. Besides, a great chunk of Porcupine Tree’s influence is channeled through “Unchained.”
The opening piece “Glass Eyes” is a true masterpiece of the EP. It starts with a calm guitar voicing and is plastered with prog-y clean vocals. “Sİnk Hole” comes along with far more aggression in its structure. The most striking thing about “Unchained” are Jonne Nyberg’s vocals. The stylistic change towards more grungy and alternative rock vibe is emphasised through this piece. The title song is recorded live, and is an acoustic piece that slows things down and gives this recording diversity. Its folkiness makes the overall sound of “Unchained” a little bit warmer. The closing “Free Fall” crosses over pop and rock almost constantly during its 5-odd minutes; it’s another piece that’s nothing like the previous songs, what speaks a lot about how much “Unchained” is diverse.
Pearly Gates’ “Unchained” is a perfect mixture of popular culture of rock music and progressive rock. There is no clear line between modern and vintage on this EP. Definitely worth a listen!
Buy “Unchained” from Bandcamp, and make sure to follow the band on Facebook.
Have you ever longed for personal instruction and quality time with people that have been involved with the creation of some of your favorite music ever? Have you wished that there was a way for you to not only learn but gain experience in the arts in a really cool and fun environment? Have you ever wanted to come to Nashville and have a killer time? Now you can do it all in one shot!
(drumroll please…)
Ladies and gentlemen I introduce to you for the very first time…
Neal Morse’s Radiant School of
the Arts Summer Sessions 2016!
You will receive instruction and have special clinics with such world-renowned artists as: Phil Keaggy, Nick D’Virgilio, Bill Hubauer, Randy George, Eric Gillette, Casey McPherson, Jerry Guidroz and MORE!!!
(some instructors will only be at the school for a few clinics)
(some instructors will only be at the school for a few clinics)
The program will include 3-weeks of hands on training, clinics, and classes in:
Composition
performance
recording engineering
songwriting
musicianship
video
technical instruction
All of this will take place in the heart of the American Music City
Scene!!!!
Spend your summer in Nashville with Neal Morse!
The Radiant School of Arts will be located at The Contemporary Music Center in Brentwood, TN. The school has over $1 million dollars in gear, a green room, rehearsal room, lounge, photography studio, 2 writing rooms and pre-production rooms, conference room, studio control room and studio tracking room!!!!
Student’s will be staying in apartments that are located across the street from The Contemporary Music Center. The apartments are 3 bedrooms with 2 bath, and fully furnished with all you need for your 3-week stay. There will be a total of 8 students in each apartment.
Be one of the FIRST Radiant School of Arts students next summer. There is a limited number of spots available, so if you would like be considered for the audition process, all interested applicants must email us by December 4, 2015 at: school@radiantrecords.com. We will contact you in the coming weeks with details on the audition process and requirements.
APPLICATION FEE: $125 (due when audition process begins)
AGE REQUIREMENT: 18+
WHERE: Contemporary Music Center in Brentwood Tennessee
How did you go about forming viseMenn? Tell me about the distance you passed to shape the band as it is today?
We all come from different parts of the country and we all had been involved in different musical projects before we met, ranging from blues, rock, experimental, metal, classical, punk, pop, church-music, session-work, art-projects.. We met through the improv project «a Crack in Time and the Break of Dawn», we started playing together in relation to a couple of gigs and our individualities slowly started to shape into a band.
If I am not wrong, all of you guys worked before viseMenn on other projects. How do your previous experiences reflect on your work with viseMenn?
It is a growing process where you learn about who you are and who you are not, becoming aware of your own individual style helps keeping focus. We like the freedom of expression moving unrestricted between styles and perceive music more in terms of atmospheres and moods rather than musical genres. From «a Crack in Time and the Break of Dawn» jamming and improvising has made us better instrumentalists and improved our ability to be present in the musical performance. The pure spontaneous joy of performing/creating music is an essential part of our musical motivation.
Tell me about the creative process of the “Begging You Please” single. How would you describe the sound of it, or how would you describe your music in general to someone who didn’t listen to you before?
We wanted the song to have it’s own signature. We wanted it to reflect a bit of who we are and where we come from. We don’t come from a big city metropole and we felt that a fashionable urban sound would not be right. Where we come from is a place with few people and lots of nature that can shift from extremely dark, heavy and depressed to indescribable beautiful, bright and blissful. In a way this is our cultural inheritance. In many ways this is also the best way to describe our music.
Did you guys equally share songwriting duties for the single?
When we come together Helge brings a sketch for a song, everybody brings their interpretations and personal style to the table and together that is what makes viseMènn.
Are you satisfied how “Begging You Please” turned out to be? Is there anything from this point that you would change or do differently?
Yes, we are very happy. Cenzo Townshend of Decoy Studios did a tremendous job of mixing it all together and enhancing our intentions. Precious is the experience that we bring onwards to the next project.
I suppose that “Begging You Please” is an introduction to your upcoming full-length release. If so, what can we expect from the album? When do you plan to release it? How much will it differ from the actual single?
Yes, we are working on an album, shape and form constantly evolving and time being a relative measure has to be related to us being artists, but shall we say next summer? Hopefully it will differ, in a brotherly fashion.
How do you see the Norwegian rock scene today?
Norway has lots of very talented musicians. The rock scene is generally shifted towards the heavier more aggressive sides. Original bands often struggle to find an audience as most people prefer cover/party bands.
“Begging You Please” is available from iTunes. Follow the viseMenn on Facebook.
Progarchy 