This is hilarious. AI has been perfected when it can make you laugh.

Turing test question: Did the AI intend to make us laugh?

This one is for the stay at home dreamers, the zoom graduators, the sourdough bakers, and the essential workers.

“Hero” — the new single from Van Weezer — is out now.

Pass it on: https://Weezer.lnk.to/hero

Alex Lifeson plays on the title track of Big Sugar’s new disc, Eternity Now.

Gordie Johnson gives the details in one interview:

ME: How did the collaboration with Alex Lifeson of Rush come into fruition?

We’ve been pals for decades so all I did was call him. The title track ETERNITY NOW was heavily influenced by my love of Rush so it seemed like the time to make the call. I figured if he was involved I wouldn’t have to explain myself later. I asked him to play a guitar solo (he agreed) but he also sent a number of overdubs that made the song even Rush-y-er(?) He’s a total sweetheart and a mentor. We love Lerxst!

And also in another:

AC: I put the record on the other day and I thought I made a mistake. It sounded like I’d grabbed a Rush record from 1988.

GJ: [Laughs] Make no mistake, my friend. That was not an accident! [Rush guitarist] Alex Lifeson is on the title track. He’s on the title track of my life and career trajectory. He was one of the first supporters of Big Sugar and one of the greatest mentors that I’ve had. And he’s such a down-to-earth chill guy. He saw us coming up, liked our music, and would do things like “Hey, man, here’s a double-neck guitar. Why don’t you take the Xanadu guitar and use it for a while?” Like, who does that?
So I texted him and I had to explain myself because it’s such a Rush knock-off. I got the Taurus Moog pedals in there and gave it the full Moving Pictures treatment. But he not only sent me a wicked guitar solo but a bunch of overdubs–acoustic guitars and banjos and all kinds of other production to put in the track. It got way Rushier. And I’m good with it.

The Opium Cartel returns with their new CD Valor, released on June 5,  seven years after the release of their last CD Ardor.  As a refresher course, The Opium Cartel is songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jacob Holm-Lupo’s ‘vehicle for songs that capture a mix of sophisti-pop, dream pop, art-rock and synth pop’. Holm-Lupo is mainly known as the leader of White Willow, one of Scandanavia’s foremost progressive rock bands.  On their third album The Opium Cartel lists influences that include a variety of predominantly 1980s sources, from The Blue Nile and Shriekback, via late Roxy Music to the prog-pop of 80s Alan Parsons Project and Camel.  From the promo sheet provided  ‘the period feel is amplified by use of exclusively hardware synthesizers iconic to the era, like the Oberheim Matrix-6 and Yamaha DX7’.

Holm-Lupo describes The Opium Cartel’s 3rd album as a record ‘about naïve but brave dreams, songs about the hubris and optimism of childhood and youth… and also about that bittersweet moment when you start to realize that things may be a little different than you imagined’.

The music is a bit bipolar in that the two long instrumental standout tracks, A Question of Re-Entry and A Maelstrom of Stars,

A Maelstrom of Stars

with Airbag’s Bjørn Riis on guitar, capture a very proggy, Parsons/Camel spaciness.   The remainder of the tracks effectively capture the feel of the 80’s more reminiscent of Thomas Dolby, Dream Academy Cocteau Twins and The Thompson Twins with the heavy synth bass, electronic drums and ethereal vocals. Unlike much of that period’s music, melody is not sacrificed over texture. Featuring a variety of  singers poses some risks but the songs blend together nicely, especially with the reverb and 80’s dream pop mix.  The outstanding production and attention to detail shows that creating Valor was obviously a labor of love by Holm-Lupo. Ultimately it all comes together as a lovely tribute to a time long passed.

The diverse cast of musicians on Valor include Wobbler/White Willow keyboard player Lars Fredrik Frøislie on drums (!), Silje and Ole Huleboer on vocals and guitars/bass, and appearances by Bjørn Riis, Alexander Stenerud  (who sang on White Wolf, the highlight of Ardor to these ears), Israeli singer Leah Marcu, and Jacob’s 13 year old daughter Ina A, who provides the beautiful lead vocal on Nightwings. The stunning cover by Glen Wexler (Van Halen, Rush) with assistance by Cirque du Soleil captures a woman jumping through a ring of fire.

On first listening I did not find Valor as engaging as Ardor, but after repeat plays I can say it has proven worthy of the effort. Beautiful songs like The Curfew Bell and Fairground Sunday provide a welcome relief from the gravity of our current world situation. The 80’s have always been a strange period musically, when even progressive bands like Genesis got caught up in the production values that are served up here on Valor. It is up to the listener to decide whether they want to revisit that musical period, but The Opium Cartel does a great job of capturing that more innocent time with outstanding musicians and excellent production. If you found any musical pleasure in that period Valor will provide you with an interesting and rewarding musical flashback.

 

We’ve all had the experience of mishearing song lyrics, sometimes spending years or decades with our strange, faulty interpretations. The best examples are well-known, and sometimes humorous, like Jimi Hendrix singing “‘Scuse me, while I kiss this guy”. Occasionally, the meaning of an entire song can be misconstrued; according to Bryan Adams, the title of the song “Summer of ’69” is a reference to the sexual position, information which, given the overall innocent and nostalgic vibe of the song,  I choose to regard as disingenuous.

The song I’ve been most wrong about, though, also happens to be one of my all-time favorites—it earned that position even when I had a fuzzy idea (at best) of its content, and has maintained its rank even after the true nature of that content was made clear. Or at least, clearer.

One of the casualties of the digital revolution in music was a little thing called liner notes, and where a freshly pressed 1996 store-bought CD of Sing to God by the band Cardiacs might have provided song lyrics to puzzle over during those first exploratory listens, I discovered the band about 10 years later, via internet download— if I recall correctly, the album in question wasn’t even in print at the time. Listening to music mostly via iPod while walking or driving made finding a copy of the lyrics less of a priority; the thought only occurred to me in inconvenient places, and any mental note—”I really should look up these lyrics one of these days”—was promptly forgotten upon arrival at whatever destination.

Continue reading “Oh, You Dirty Boy” →

This video is an excellent meditation on classic heavy metal and it is well worth your time.

Like any serious course of study, it comes with significant homework: namely, this truly excellent discography, compiled by Gregory B. Sadler, Ph.D:

Black Sabbath
• Black Sabbath (1970)
• Paranoid (1970)
• Master of Reality (1971)
• Vol. 4 (1972)
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

Deep Purple
• Deep Purple in Rock (1970)
• Fireball (1971)
• Machine Head (1972)
• Who Do We Think We Are (1973)
• Burn (1974)
• Stormbringer (1974)

Led Zeppelin
• Led Zeppelin II (1969)
• Led Zeppelin III (1970)
• Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
• Houses of the Holy (1973)

UFO
• UFO 1 (1970)
• UFO 2: Flying (1971)
• Phenomenon (1974)

Uriah Heep
• Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble (1970)
• Salisbury (1971)
• Look at Yourself (1971)
• Demons and Wizards (1972)
• The Magician’s Birthday (1972)
• Sweet Freedom (1973)
• Wonderworld (1974)

Budgie
• Budgie (1971)
• Squawk (1972)
• Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973)
• In for the Kill! (1974)

Judas Priest
• Rocka Rolla (1974)

Scorpions
• Lonesome Crow (1972)
• Fly to the Rainbow (1974)

Flower Travellin Band
• Satori (1971)
• Made in Japan (1972)
• Make Up (1973)

Sir Lord Baltimore
• Kingdom Come (1970)
• Sir Lord Baltimore (1971)

Bang
• Bang (1972)
• Mother/Bow to the King (1972)
• Music (1973)

Alice Cooper
• School’s Out (1972)
• Billion Dollar Babies (1973)
• Muscle of Love (1973)

Blue Oyster Cult
• Blue Öyster Cult (1972)
• Tyranny and Mutation (1973)
• Secret Treaties (1974)

Granicus
• Granicus (1973)

Montrose
• Montrose (1973)
• Paper Money (1974)

Amboy Dukes (with Ted Nugent)
• Call of the Wild (recorded 1973)
• Tooth, Fang, and Claw (1974)

Aerosmith
• Aerosmith (1973)
• Get Your Wings (1974)

KISS
• KISS (1974)

Rush
• Rush (1974)

Pentagram
• First Daze Here (2001 release of 70s material)

Now, go do your homework! (Thus spake Progarchy.)

After you watch the above video, here’s a summary of the first lesson (also compiled by Gregory B. Sadler, Ph.D):

And here’s a link to the book discussed in the video above that approaches the subject with academic rigor:

Rock on, children of the grave!

While you are on a spending spree over at Bandcamp today, be sure to pick up a copy of Pallbearer’s amazingly proggy doom rock masterpiece, Heartless.

I love this album and have listened to it far more than most other albums I own. Everything about it is artistic perfection. Don’t miss it.

Pattern Seeking Animals will be releasing their sophomore album Prehensile Tales, May 15th on InsideOutMusic. The band consists of current and former Spock’s Beard members Ted Leonard (Guitar and Vocals), Jimmy Keegan (Drums), Dave Meros (bass) and Spock’s long-time contributing songwriter John Boegehold (Keys and Producer).   I had fun speaking with Ted and Dave about the new album, as well as their side-projects and how they’ve been keeping occupied during quarantine life.

Congrats on the new album. I’m really digging it, It’s quite different than the debut. I like the first one, but I definitely like this one better. It has more interesting ideas and sounds.

DAVE – I think that’s the general consensus with us too.

TED-  For me, I don’t know, actually. There are certain songs I really connect with, but there’s definitely a broader sound palette on this one for sure, which a lot of reviewers have pointed out as well. There’s also a lot of real instrumentation which sounds more authentic. It’s a bigger sound. It’s a bigger band than we are.

What’s your favorite track on the new album?

TED-  “Soon But Not Today”- It’s between that and “Lifeboat”.

DAVE-  It’s kind hard to pick one on this album for me, but mine is kind of a tie between “Lifeboat” and “Why Don’t We Run”. I really like that song for some reason.

TED-  That one appeals to me too. It’s super different. I played it for my daughter and she thought it was really cool, and I’ve played it for my boss who’s a super prog-head and he said  “That was different.” Haha. Like many of the songs on this album, it incorporates so many feels and in this case, it’s like a spaghetti western, instead of being filmed it Italy, it was filmed in South Korea.

Did you record this album, in the same fashion as the first, or was there a different technique or anything unusual for these sessions?

DAVE-  It was pretty much the same, except for John writing all of it this time. We’re all up here in our little man-caves recording our parts.

TED-  Everything’s isolated except for Jimmy, but that’s the same as the first album. The only instrument these days that really require a great sounding room is drums. So he records it at Rich’s (Mouser) studio.

    “Here in My Autumn” is the first single from Prehensile Tales:

RoSfest 2020 in May was supposed to be Pattern Seeking Animals’ debut live performance.  Since RoSfest 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic, how is PSA coping with the cancellation or changing their plans?

TED-  Yeah, we were bummed about that, but of course no one’s making plans. Obviously we’d like to perform for people in a live scenario. It’s going to be a fun line-up, especially with the two guys we have in mind to fill out the roster. We have Dennis Atlas, who we would bring on as the primary keyboardist, because John’s not going to come out and play live with us, and then we would require someone who can wear many hats, and that would Walter Eno. He’s a local scene dude who’s a really good guitar player, keyboardist, he plays some sax, and he apparently can sing very well too.

What’s the main reason John can’t perform live with you guys?

TED-  It’s just not in his interest.

DAVE-  Yeah, he doesn’t want to and he would have to develop a whole rig. He’s never played keyboards in a band live before, so that’s a whole different animal. You have to get all your patches all organized and split keyboards- I don’t blame him.

TED-  Yeah, I have nightmares about that sometimes. I’ve actually had real nightmares about someone sticking an instrument in my hands, repeatedly it’s Ed Platt from Enchant.  He says “You know what key it’s in, just go out there and play it!”  And I’m like “I don’t fuckin’ know this song!” Haha, yup just a weird dream I have.  But I’ve lived the nightmare of having to become a keyboardist- a better keyboardist than I am- very quickly. I’m glad it happened- it gave me a broader understanding. It’s a little easier to find my way around, if I have to.

I was super impressed when you did the keys for Transatlantic on the ship (Progressive Nation at Sea 2014).

TED-  Yeah, that was fun! That was a crash course! I’ve always been able to play chords and single-note parts, I know my scales and I know chordal theory well enough, but when Neal called me up and said “You’re gonna play this part and that part”, and I was like “Wait a minute- that’s a piano part!  My left hand doesn’t even touch this instrument!”

I know not much is happening as far as plans go right now, but is there anything you guys are hoping to get started with once the dust settles?

DAVE-  Nothing finite, but we’re always fielding offers.

TED-  Yeah, nothing specific, but we’d like to get in on some festivals, maybe get in on the cruise, if there ever is a cruise again. Of course we would entertain the idea of touring if we could find a way that was financially feasible. I think the only way to do that is to pair up with a band that makes for a good bill.

What’s going on in Spock’s Beard world?

TED-  So much! Haha

DAVE-  It’s kind of the same thing. Just seeing what comes up. We do have the cruise booked for 2021.

TED-   There’s that, and we just played a couple shows in San Pedro, but that was just a keep-the-wheel-greased gig. But that was fun.

Ted, what’s going on with Enchant these days?

TED-  Enchant’s supposed to be writing right now, and they were writing on a weekly basis as a group,  I live further away from them now, so I can’t really be a part of the group writing. But usually I’ll get demos which will or will not already have vocals on them. Or if we’re going to take a song of mine, it’s usually submitted as a completed piece, then they just sort of embellish or whatever. I can’t even say usually when you’re talking abut a band whose most recent album came out like 4 years ago, and the prior one was 10 years before that.

Dave, still working with Iron Butterfly?

DAVE-  That’s another one of those handful-of-gigs-per-year bands. We have stuff booked in July which I’m hoping works- fingers crossed.  We might all still be locked up in our houses then, who knows.

Is there a musician you haven’t got a chance to work with, but would like to?

TED-  Yeah.

Haha… and who might that be?

TED-  Sure, yeah! Most of them are dead. I would love to lure Casey McPherson out of the band [Flying Colors], and let me take over that spot. Haha, I was going to start with saying I love anytime I get to do anything with Neal Morse, and I would love to do something with Steve Morse someday. Anybody from Kansas, past or present. I would love to sing on something that Kerry Livgren wrote. There are a ton of guitarists I’d love to have on one of my future solo albums. Or just someone to be the guitarist, and I’ll just do my thing.  One of those guys is James Santiago who’s been a friend of mine since we were in our twenties and I just always wanted to have him be in a band with me. We did a Jellyfish video a few years ago. I’ve always fantasized about having that guy in a band. A lot of people know who he is because he’s been part of the build process for certain popular Line 6 products, but they haven’t gotten to hear how good he is as a guitar player. I would like to make a band for the sole purpose of getting that guy some visibility. Plus he’s the coolest guy in the world.

DAVE-  You know, I always say “no” to that kind of question and the reason is I can pick Peter Gabriel or Jimmy Hendrix or any of those guys; there are hundreds of them. But if I played with them, it wouldn’t be the same and I would probably end up being really embarrassed. So I’d rather not, haha.

TED-  Yeah, it’d be like when you’re talking about someone’s bass player you probably esteem as better than yourself, like Peter Gabriel’s, it’s kind hard to want to fill some of those shoes. That would be like me wanting to play with the members of Queensrÿche– yeah no, I’m not going to do that.

DAVE-  Yeah, and let’s say you get to play with Jimmy Hendrix and it turns out he’s just tripping on acid or something and it’s just really weird just to be there- your whole mystique about him would be gone then. It just wouldn’t be the same. Never meet your idols, I guess.

TED-  Same reason I’ll never have sex with a porn star, haha

Dave, have you met an idol you were disappointed in meeting?

DAVE-  Actually the ones I’ve met have been really nice. I’ve never met anyone who blew me off… oh wait! I actually I did! One of my big bass idols is Percy Jones, and on the last cruise when Brand X was playing and I was all tongue tied like you get with your idols, he just kinda blew me off-  that was really depressing, giving me a look like “oh no, here’s another asshole telling me I’m great- just let me go back stage and have a beer… come on!” you know?  But then I met him later that night, had a cocktail with him and talked to him for quite a while and he was super nice.

What have you been doing differently these days because of the pandemic stay- at -home orders? You guys picking up any new activities or skills?

DAVE-  I got some work actually. There’s this guy I play for, and he just records stuff all the time, so I have another album from him to record, so I have that, which is really good timing. And I’ve been working on my basses and building a speaker cabinet. I’m kind of a hermit anyway, so my life hasn’t really changed that much.

TED-  I work from home, so in many ways, it hasn’t changed much for me either, apart from the fact that I’m never home alone anymore. My wife just finished her masters-  she was seeing a bunch of clients, but she obviously hasn’t been able to see them now, but she has some physiology clients that get on the phone with her to do FaceTime, but a lot of them aren’t comfortable with that… yeah she’s been home a lot. All that means is… yeah… my life has… improved.

DAVE  Haha…  I know what that means.

What made you want to become a musician? Was there a moment in time that lead you there or a musician that influenced you to say “I wanna do that”? (Listen to soundclip below)

I’m on a Rush kick right now. I’ve been trying to listen to an album a day.  What is your favorite Rush album?

TED-  You’re gonna hate me.

Oh yeah?

TED-  Just by having said that, what would you guess?

Probably something in the late 80’s, early 90’s? Roll the Bones?

TED-  Presto

Nice! Actually, the very first Rush album I ever heard. So I actually like that album quite a bit!

TED-  Yeah, that was the first one I ever owned, but I listened to rock radio growing up, so I heard everything prior to that, that was a release. But when “Show Me Don’t Tell Me” came out, and I heard it, I just remember going “OK, I gotta get that album.”

DAVE-  The only album I’m familiar with, front to back, is 2112. All the rest of them I just heard bits and pieces from, which is really weird, because I really like Rush, but I’ve never been a person to buy all of their records. So I’d say 2112, that’s the only one I owned and used to play all the time.

TED-  I wasn’t familiar with the deeper cuts until I joined Enchant, and those guys were Rush freaks, so it was almost like required reading. The original drummer of Enchant, Paul Craddick, was especially a die-hard fan. Personally it was hard for me to get into Rush. If we talk through a list of bands that I’ve liked over the years, the one commonality is usually the lead singer. Not only do they have to strike my ears as something I like, a lot of time they have to be someone I can sing along with, otherwise it just loses my interest- part of being a lead singer, I guess.  It was always hard for me to get into Jon Anderson, which I know, that’s heresy, but his voice is unapproachable. Trevor Rabin is right in my wheel house, but Jon Anderson, not so much. I was more into the arena rock growing up, buying Triumph albums. Rik Emmett, has the same kind of voice as Geddy, but I think he’s technically a better singer, personally.

The last interview I did for PSA, I asked John and Jimmy what was their favorite food, so I’d like to get your answers for that as well.

DAVE-  Man, that is a hard choice for me.

TED-  Dave really likes cock.

Haha!

DAVE-  I like cock prepared anyway. Anyway you prepare a nice cock, I’m there.

TED-  Especially filleted.

Wrapped in Bacon?

DAVE-  Wrapped in bacon for sure!

TED-  Everything is good wrapped in bacon!

That’s right!

TED-  There’s a street near me, and apparently it’s a guy’s name, but it’s called Dick Cook Lane. Every time I drive by it, a whole scenario goes off in my head.

DAVE-  I have a hard time decided between three- Indian food, Thai food, and Mexican food. They all tie for my #1 spot.  For Mexican, I’ll eat anything. For Thai food, I always gravitate toward the spicy mint noodles. For Indian food, I really like Saag Paneer.

TED- Before Spock’s Beard, I would have said something completely different, but everyone would be going out on a night off or whatever, and we ended up at an Indian food in England,  which is the best place to get Indian food. And I didn’t want to be a dick or anything, so I said, ok I’ll go, and it was the best thing I ever tasted. So I’ve been on an Indian kick for a few years now. We made Chicken Tikka Masala at home a few times. It’s quite a process, but I love pretty much anything Indian. And with Thai, I hated curry as a kid, but now I just can’t get enough of it.

Thank you so much for meeting up with me! Congrats on the album! It’s really great!

Anything you’d like the Progarchy readers to know about about it?

TED-  It’s definitely going to be a step in a different direction. It has a big appeal for prog fans; it has a lot of prog moments, but also doesn’t shy away from non-prog moments. I think it will attract the mature prog fan. Not the ones that say, “If it’s not prog, I can’t like it”.  If it’s not Scottish, it’s crap! hehe. It has appeal for all the masses, including the North Koreans.

DAVE-  It’s very melodic. Like John said with the first release, you’re never more than like 30 seconds away from some kind of a hook.  If you’re into musical rather than shredding, this is for you.

Pre-order Prehensile Tales on CD, Vinyl, or Digital at this link!