Tag: Progressive rock

The Intensities and Perplexities of [headspace]

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock5 Comments

Review of [headspace], ALL THAT YOU FEAR IS GONE (Insideout Music, 2016).

Tracks: Road to Supremacy; Your Life Will Change; Polluted Alcohol; Kill You With Kindness; The Element; The Science Within Us; Semaphore; The Death Bell; The Day You Return; All That You Fear is Gone; Borders and Days; and Secular Souls

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All That You Fear is Gone (Insideout, 2016).

Bread and Circuses rule the day, or so it seems.

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2012.  One of the best metal albums ever made.

On their second album, ALL THAT YOU FEAR IS GONE, prog metal act and somewhat supergroup [headspace] delve into some rather deep social and cultural problems.  Specifically, the band asks, just 1) what is it that The-Powers-That-Be be do to distract us, and, perhaps more importantly, 2) why do we let them?

Lyrically, this album follows the first album rather closely.  That is, the themes follow logically from before.  If I’m interpreting the lyrics properly on the second [headspace] album, Wilson is even more writing a sequel to Threshold’s excellent MARCH OF PROGRESS (2012).  All three albums, though, radiate a form of individualist libertarianism and anarchy.

Throughout its illustrious and long history, prog rock rarely fails to engage such problems and pose such questions, though it often does so through employment of symbolism, metaphor, and allegory.   On ALL THAT YOU FEAR IS GONE, some symbolism exists, but the lyrics seem rather straight forward: the moral and virtuous individual, though rare, must resist the tyranny of the mass mind, whether that mass mind is found in schools, bureaucracies, corporations, governments, or neighborhoods.

From what little I’ve been able to glean from the internet, Wilson had little to do with the lyrics on MARCH OF PROGRESS, but he wrote nearly all of them for ALL THAT YOU FEAR IS GONE.

Regardless, there’s a lot of young Neil Peart hovering over this album.

And yet, not completely, especially when it comes to matters of religion.  I’ll get to this in a bit.

Musically, the album is glorious prog metal, more driving than Dream Theater but not as much so as Threshold.  And, where Haken might be playful, [headspace] is intense.  Indeed, intense is the most proper and best way to think of the band’s music.  And yet, within such prog metal intensity, there is to be found much variation.  The opening track, “Road to Supremacy,” begins with a heavy Philip Glass minimalism before Wilson’s soaring vocals force us to look to the heavens.  Tracks 2 through 11 mix everything from melodic ballads to folkish auras to classical guitar runs, but always with—here’s that word again—intensity.

What perplexes me and interests me most is the final song of the album, “Secular Souls.”  First, musically, this is an extraordinary song.  Not only does it reveal the wide range and power of Wilson’s voice, but every one of the musicians in [headspace] is in top form.  No hyperbole here.  The best of the best comes out here.  Though there’s not a dud on this album, this is the best song of the album, and it is the perfect conclusion to what the album has built and earned over the previous eleven songs.

I’ve not mentioned the members of the band yet–but it really is a supergroup (a term, I dislike, generally, but it applies here).  In addition to Wilson on vocals–Adam Wakeman on keys; Lee Pomeroy on bass (if you want to be blown away, watch Pomeroy on the Genesis II Revisited DVDs); Pete Rinaldi on guitars; and Adam Falkner on drums.  Sheesh.

Second, the lyrics deal with the mystery of the Catholic Mass.  “What!?!?!,” I thought when I first heard this, scratching my head and furrowing my brow.  Is Wilson mocking the Mass?  Though Catholic myself, I will be the first to admit, I’m a pretty bad Catholic when it comes to actual practice.  Culturally and intellectually, though, I’m pretty much in full agreement with the Church.  Whatever my beliefs about the next world, in this world, I have more respect for the Church—despite its rather blatant and often terrible failings—than for any other institution in existence.  I write all of this not to convince you, the reader, of anything other than this: I take this stuff seriously.

Listening to the final song, one could arguably claim it is as anti-Catholic as it is pro-Catholic.  Given the deep sensitivity with which Wilson sings the words of consecration (the part of the Mass in which Catholics (Anglo- and Roman-) believe the bread and wine become flesh and blood) and the placement of the song as the final song, it seems to me that Wilson is serious.  And, at many levels, this works with the other criticisms of the album leveled in the previous songs.  After all, from the first song on, this album praises in no uncertain terms the righteous individual.

If so, that righteousness ultimately stems from grace, not will.  That grace comes through the rigors of faith.  Just as Rome’s “bread and circuses” failed, so too will our modern equivalents.  The only hope for Rome (or, really, the West) was the rise of an obscure sect from out of the catacombs, a sect preaching loving and sacrifice.  These truths do not change, whether in 312AD or 2016AD.

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2016, though it could be 1982!

You as well as Damian Wilson might be reading this and, legitimately, thinking: what the hell is Birzer talking about?  If so, I apologize.  But, until I hear otherwise, I’m going to assume that [headspace] embraces both libertarianism and Catholicism.

Wishful thinking on my part, perhaps.

Regardless, this is an excellent album.  How many hours of enjoyment has it given to me already in the first ¼ of 2016?  I couldn’t even count the hours.  I can state this with certainty: I’m listening to [headspace], and I will be for many, many, many years to come.

Jim Trainer’s Unused Painting for The Underfall Yard

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock2 Comments

As I’ve mentioned before, Jim Trainer is one of my favorite painters.  The man can capture the mythical essence of reality better than anyone I know.  As much as James Marsh is connected with Talk Talk, Hugh Syme with Rush, and Roger Dean with Yes, Trainer is connected with Big Big Train.  His work is some of the finest I’ve ever seen, and I’m quite proud that progarchy HQ is decorated with a framed, original Trainer painting.

Today, on Facebook, Trainer posted an unused painting for Big Big Train’s 2009 masterpiece, THE UNDERFALL YARD.  Not surprisingly, it’s simply glorious.  So, with Trainer’s permission (thank you, Jim!), I’m reposting the painting, three extracted crops, and his comments.

For what it’s worth, I strongly disagree with his own criticism.  I think this painting perfectly captures the mood and themes of Spawton and Co.

*****

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The main painting.

Trainer’s description: “Promised Rob Aubrey an old sketch from the Underfall Yard illustration set but when I found it I was so disappointed with it. Spent last night and this afternoon trying to turn it around….not sure if I’m there yet but I think I’ve done enough to let it go. Clouds are still not right but might never be.”

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Fabric tearing.

Trainer: “Tearing apart the fabric of British society – describes the album themes well – I thought.”

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Trainer: “Crop of the guys”

 

 

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Close-up of the power station.

Trainer: “I was never sure if I was illustrating a power station or a wheel house. Whatever it is at least it is spewing out psychedelic waste!”

Lyrics Matter: Ultravox and Literary Aspirations

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock4 Comments
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Rage.

When I was back in college, fellow progarchist and professional musician, Kevin McCormick, and I used to spend hours upon hours talking music, chord structures, album marketing strategies, and, especially, the meaning of lyrics.  For us, the lyrics of good rock and prog were akin to poetry.

And, frankly, as someone who studies literature for a living, I can state in hindsight that many of the lyrics written at the time by Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, and, especially, Neil Peart and Mark Hollis warranted such praise.  At their highest, each lyricist reached toward the best modernist writers of the twentieth-century.

Some might argue that we could’ve and should’ve more wisely spent our time studying and doing our school work.

There’s much to argue against this, however.

First, our conversations solidified a life-long friendship.  Second, they fired our imaginations.  And, third, they allowed us to think it very direct ways about how art can influence society.  Indeed, all three of these things have not only been critical to my own intellectual and professional development, but also to my very source of happiness.

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Rage.

Sometime during our freshman year at the University of Notre Dame, Kevin introduced me to a band that had never reached my ears in my childhood in Kansas, the music of Ultravox.  Through Kevin, I became absolutely enamored with three of Ultravox’s albums: VIENNA; RAGE IN EDEN; and LAMENT.  I liked Quartet as well, but it seems the poppiest and shallowest of the three.  It had some catchy things, but it just simply couldn’t compare in depth to VIENNA, to RAGE IN EDEN, or to LAMENT.  The lyrics to VIENNA opened the world of Europe up to me.  RAGE IN EDEN struck me as literature, pure and simple.  LAMENT seemed an extraordinary comment on the sorrows of the world of the time (and, frankly, still).

We sit and watch these lifeless forms stark and petrified
The high suspense of an empty stage drawing, in clutching to its breast

With murmured words we sigh and focus on the main facade
Beyond the hard reluctant windows news from magazines

We wrote their names on books we’d borrowed as if to bring us closer still
And threw it all away to focus on the main facade
Rage in Eden jigsaw sequence, but no one could see the end

And they were the new gods and they shone on high
Their heavy perfume on the night sucked them down in red tide

–Rage in Eden

As probably many college students do, Kevin and I each had pretentions to a literary career.  Kevin had already become a rather accomplished poet, and his senior-year poem dealing with Arvo Part won the award for the best poem written by a college student in 1990.  Extraordinary!  I had no such skills, but I still wanted to be a writer.  I, however, had no desire to write poetry or fiction.  Instead, I wanted to write histories, biographies, and cultural criticism.

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Rage.

Regardless, what prompted this post was my relistening to Ultravox.  When Kevin first introduced me to RAGE IN EDEN, he told me to listen as carefully as possible to the lyrics.  He hoped, he claimed then, that he would one day write a book of cultural criticism using not only the titles of each song for the titles of his own chapters, respectively, but that he would base the ideas of his own book on the lyrics.

Kevin has pursued other interested in his professional career.

Still, it’s a great idea, and I hope he takes up his own challenge to himself, delivered to me in Cavanaugh Hall, thirty years ago this coming fall.

I can say with absolute certainty that I write about prog rock because I know that it inspired me in 1981, in 1986, in 1992, and continues to do so.  Indeed, there’s nothing I’ve published that hasn’t had a prog or rock soundtrack behind it.

Reading passages of ancient rhyme
Cut so deep, so old
Telling tales of travelers and mystery
Hearing spirits never far removed
Calling out aloud
When the time comes, they’ll talk to me

–Man of Two Worlds

Preempting Andy Tillison: DURCH

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Andy Tillison Diskdrive, DURCH (forthcoming, 2016).  Pre-order available now.

Tracks: Machte es Durch; The Pursuit of Oil; and From the Steppes of Central Asia

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Tillison, making it through!

 

Whenever I see or hear the name Andy Tillison, two thoughts immediately spring to mind. 1) Class.  2) Mischievousness.  A contradiction?  Not really.  Most of the greatest artists in history have possessed various measures of each.

Tillison is a great artist.

For those of who have been fortunate enough (wise enough?–naw, too strong, even if accurate) to pre-order Tillison’s forthcoming solo album, DURCH, we already know what glory and amazement is in store for us, even if in attenuated form.  The pre-order allows us to listen to the raw tracks.

Raw?  If Andy Tillison had said, “Here, they are, just as I want them,” I would not have doubted him.

These three tracks are simply glorious.  Track one, “Machte es durch” strikes me as a sequel to some of Soft Machine’s best work, though Tillison credits Camel for the inspiration.

Track two, “The Pursuit of Oil,” is atmospheric to the extreme, the soundtrack to a horror movie set within a a decrepit house for at least their first nine minutes or so.  The piece screams moodiness.  It, too, is glorious.  Around the nine-minute mark, Tillison gets righteous, and we hear his voice for the first time, decrying the abuses committed against the eco system but doing so in a way that helps explain our current cultural mindset toward resource use.  My words don’t do this piece justice.  Tillison is nothing if not about justice in his very personhood, and this is the kind of piece that welcomes the imagination to explore the deeper ethical issues of our day without screaming at us to reform.  In other words, in his music and lyrics, Tillison gives us art, not propaganda.

Finally, “From the Steppes of Central Asia,” the remaking of a piece originally written by Alexander Borodin, a chemist and composer.  Despite the title–which invokes, at least to my mind, more of what I’d heard in track two–the piece is incredibly upbeat and jazzy in an experimental, fusion way.

Well, what more can I say?

I love Tillison as a man and as a artist and as a class act and as a mischievous character.  If you’ve preordered, you’ve already experienced the immense joys I have from this master of all things prog, rock, and jazz.  If you’ve not preordered, do so now.  No, not then.  NOW!

http://www.thetangent.org/shop.html

As most of you already know, Tillison suffered some very serious health problems last year, but his lovely equal, Sally Collyer (our prog person of the year) and the NHS kept him in great shape.  In his own personal note accompanying the link to the new tracks, he wrote:

“As you may know, I had a full on heart attack last year and essentially the life I now have is all a bit of a bonus track on the album of existence.”

Whenever I write about Tillison, I have to end with a line stolen (and paraphrased) from Mark Hollis and Talk Talk.  Rage on, Mr. Diskdrive, rage on.

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When Sally (and Andy) Met Harry (my son).

RochaNews: Novembre

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment
NOVEMBRE, BLOODY-DISGUSTING.COM LAUNCH NEW TRACK “BREMEN” FROM UPCOMING ALBUM “URSA”
“URSA” out April 1 on Peaceville
ITALY – Novembre, Italy’s atmospheric death/doom metal purveyor, has teamed up with Bloody-Disgusting.com to launch a new track, “Bremen,” from its upcoming seventh studio album, URSA, which is due out on April 1 via Peaceville. Stream “Bremen” exclusively at: http://bloody-disgusting.com/music/3384218/novembre-stun-us-bremen-exclusive.
Founding member and writer Carmelo Orlando commented on the track: “‘Bremen’ is probably the most ‘Death Metal’ of all the songs on our new album, ‘URSA.’ It starts with an early-Maiden-ian arpeggio and then it attacks with a crushing riff which takes good part of the song. There’s plenty of vocal harmonies. Fifths mainly, so medieval! Lyrically I took inspiration from the novel ‘Town Musicians of Bremen’ by the Brothers Grimm, a bedtime story whose morals are about exploitation of our fellow man.”
An additional URSA track, “Umana,” can be streamed on YouTube at:
URSA is available to pre-order on CD and LP from the Peaceville webstore at: www.peaceville.com/store. Pre-orders also come with a bonus free three track EP ‘Annoluce’ plus two exclusive tracks.
URSA was recorded at Blue Noise Studio and PlayRec studio by Massimiliano Pagliuso, then mixed and mastered at Unisound Studios by Dan Swanö (Opeth, Katatonia, Bloodbath). Cover art comes courtesy of Travis Smith.
1. Australis
2. The Rose
3. Umana
4. Easter
5. URSA
6. Oceans of Afternoons
7. Annoluce
8. Agathae
9. Bremen
10. Fin
After a period of inactivity since 2007’s The Blue, which involved the departure of longstanding member Giuseppe Orlando, Novembre returns with a new set of potent and poignant tracks, effortlessly transitioning between soothing, epic, melancholy and intense, from what is one of the originators of the whole atmospheric death/doom scene. Headed by founding member and writer Carmelo Orlando, and with a reinvigorated musical alliance with Massimiliano Pagliuso, the line-up is completed by Fabio Fraschini (previously bassist on the Materia album) and David Folchitto on drums. There is also a special guest appearance from Anders Nyström of the Swedish doom master Katatonia, adding his own unique ‘cold’ touch to the album’s single track “Annoluce.”
Added Carmelo Orlando: “This album is a very important step in my life. It got me closer to what some may call ‘maturity.’ I’ve been able to delve even deeper into the chasm of the subconscious and unearth gems I didn’t think existed. Lyrically and conceptually I explored new shores. I moved my ever-inwards headlights, and for the first time I dared to point them outwards, against the squalor of this Orwellian apocalypse we’re committing towards the Earth and its sons, on a daily basis, in quasi-total indifference.”
The seeds of Novembre were originally planted in September 1990 in Rome, Italy. Then known as Catacomb, its early recordings of unusual gothic doom metal were to quickly gain the band interest. It was around 1993 that the band decided that a name change was in order and Novembre was born, evolving into one of the premiere European atmospheric doom bands.
Stay tuned for more information on Novembre and URSA, out next week on Peaceville.
-###-
Novembre is:
Carmelo Orlando – guitar, vocals
Massimiliano Pagliuso – guitar
Fabio Fraschini – bass
David Folchitto – drums
Novembre online:

Anne-Catherine de Froidmont: Prog Artist

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock2 Comments
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Anne-Catherine de Froidmont, famed Belgian artist, exploring the wilds of America.

One of the finest illustrators and artists of third-wave prog, the well-beloved Anne-Catherine de Froidmont of Belgium, has a birthday today.  What better way to celebrate the very expansiveness and wholesomeness of third-wave prog than by celebrating the life and art of de Froidmont!

She is, simply put, an incredible talent.  I know of no other current sketch artist who captures the real essence of a person so perfectly.  I’m guessing this is because her soul is immensely generous, and she sees the best in all around her.

Here’s just a small sampling of her excellence:

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Nick Beggs and Steven Wilson
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Steve Hackett
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John Young (second from left) and Lifesigns

Thank you for adding so much beauty to the world, Anne-Catherine.  It’s an honor beyond measure to walk this insane world together with you.

Forthcoming: The 10th Anniversary Review of PARADOX HOTEL

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment
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Insideout Music, 2006.

On April 4, 2006, the Flower Kings released PARADOX HOTEL, not just a seminal album for the band, but a seminal album for third-wave prog.

At the time of its release, Roine Stolt expressed some reluctance with the album, noting that it had not been as complicated, complex, or nuanced as the previous release, ADAM AND EVE (2004).  PARADOX HOTEL, he sighed (or, so I’ve interpreted the interview he gave to/with DPRP.net), was just another release of a prog album, but not as progressive as the 2004 album.

While everything the Flower Kings does is excellent, it’s hard not to rate PARADOX HOTEL as extraordinary, even for an extraordinary band.  In hindsight, PARADOX HOTEL is probably regarded as a much stronger album than ADAM AND EVE.

Regardless, we’ll be giving PARADOX HOTEL close scrutiny as we celebrate its tenth birthday.

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Glass Hammer, LIVE AT THE TIVOLI (2006)

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Glass Hammer Live at the Tivoli (Sound Resources, 2008)

Recorded at Lee University, October 17, 2006

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Sound Resources, 2008.

Tracks: Eiger Dreams (intro music); Run Lisette; A Cup of Trembling; Lirazel; Heroes and Dragons; Longer; Knight of the North; Beati Quorum Via; Having Caught a Glimpse; and South Side of the Sky)

Call it being a loyal fan, call it being more than a bit OCD, or call it being a bit of both. . . . LIVE AT THE TIVOLI was the last Glass Hammer release I needed to become a full-fledged, more than honorable, Glass Hammer completest.  I can now rather proudly state that I own every single album and DVD Glass Hammer has released.  This is not small feat given 1) how much the band has produced in its glorious history; and 2) given just how hard it is to find a few of their DVDs.  But, I’ve done it.

Continue reading “Glass Hammer, LIVE AT THE TIVOLI (2006)” →

Professor Peart and the Crash of 2010…

On By Kevin WilliamsIn progressive rock1 Comment

…in which Bubba talks about a rather scary incident he had while on the Time Machine tour.

Oh, and he drops a rather big hint in the last sentence about his future touring plans.

Don’t hold your breath, Rush fans.

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Click here to read on.

DIFFERENT LIGHT: Finding Freedom

On By bradbirzerIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Prague based progressive rock band with Maltese roots, Different Light returned this year with the release of their new album titled “The Burden of Paradise,” and Prog Sphere conducted an interview with keyboardist and singer Trevor Tabone. Define the mission of Different Light. It’s basically to make our music known to as many people as […]

http://www.prog-sphere.com/interviews/different-light-interview/