Amig@s de ElBaraMetal, la verdad es que este post me nació por el puro gusto, no se necesitan tener pretextos ni razones aparentes para justificar el hablar de un gran, grande, grandísimo disco de rock and roll como lo es The Dark Side Of The Moon, obra de los igualmente enormes Pink Floyd.

Corría el año 1973 cuando Pink Floyd, pioneros del rock progresivo y fieles seguidores de la psicodelia y la “locura” rockera de los años 60, editaron para la posteridad este álbum, considerado uno de los mejores discos de la historia, y tal vez, el que más influencia ha generado desde entonces en músicos de todos los géneros, no sólo del rock.

Y es que DSotM es un ejercicio complejo de creatividad musical, de una inventiva hasta ese momento inexplorada, que sin pensarlo siquiera, explotó y generó ondas expansivas de emociones encontradas en el entramado “floydeano” de la musicalidad exquisita de Gilmour, las letras profundas de Waters y las ambientaciones geniales de Wright y los beats secos pero volátilmente frágiles de Mason.

Todo el disco es genial, es verdad que hay que estar de un humor especial para escucharlo, ya que funciona mejor si se da uno el tiempo para oírlo de principio a fin, pero algunas piezas funcionan igualmente por separado, como la comercialmente magistral Money, Time y su genial introducción (pocas veces he podido escuchar algo más sencillo y a la vez tan complejo de emular y por ende, hermosamente rockero) o Us and Them, con todo el sentimiento explosivo que guarda en sus entrañas progresivas.

De colección este disco, hace poco salió por ahí la reedición especial del 25 aniversario, un disco remasterizado que salva algunos de los sonidos exquisitos del original, este si es para que se lo consigan en original (aquellos que todavía no lo tengan, que creo, serán, o deben ser, pocos).

De todas formas acá hay un sitio donde se lo bajan para que, después de darle unas dos o tres escuchadas, y si todavía no lo tienen, se lo pidan a Santo Clos o a los Reyes Magos ahora que se viene diciembre.

Carpe diem.

Today’s music video is ‘On The Turning Away’ from Pink Floyd.

This video was posted to You Tube by RaggedTiger70

I hope you’ll grant me this small indulgence of playing one of my absolute favoutite songs from my favourite band, Pink Floyd.

This highlights another example of how each generation thinks that they are the ones who invented music.

When I first heard the song, I was still in the Air Force. I was at the Royal Australian Air Force’s  Trades Training School in Wagga Wagga, teaching the Electrical trade to new guys, and in this case, it was a class of 15 young Apprentices, all aged around 17 or 18.

It was December of 1987, and getting close to that time of year when the young guys were preparing for their Christmas leave break away from training. It was a Practical based subject, with no desk bound theoretical component, so I used to allow the guys to play music while they were doing their Practical work. I came back after morning tea and the guys were already into their work. This exact song was playing and I stood almost dumbfounded when I heard the guitar work. One of the guys came up to me and asked if it was too loud. I told him, no, that was how David Gilmour should be played. Now it was his turn to look dumbfounded. The album had only just been released here in Oz, and he asked how I knew it was David Gilmour, you know, me being so old at 36, in the eyes of a 17 year old. He handed me the cassette case. He had taped the album, so it just the handwritten titles of the songs from the album ‘A Momentary Lapse Of Reason’, and he seemed struck dumb that I actually liked Pink Floyd. He told me that he also had their first album, ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, as well as the band’s double opus, ‘The Wall’. I just smiled and he asked what seemed so funny, and then I told him that the ‘Dark Side’ album was in fact the band’s eighth album, not including the 5 Compilation albums, all prior to that one. He just shook his head that an ‘old guy’ liked the same sort of music as he did, as well as all the other guys in the room, who also seemed stunned as well, as some of them had gathered round.

That album got played a lot in that last week, and I eventually dropped a successful hint for a Christmas present.

This album was the first studio album after Roger Waters had left the band in 1985. Waters said that Floyd was becoming a spent force, and he struck out on his own. Gilmour now gathered around him a tight group of musicians to join him and Nick Mason (drums), and Rick Wright. (keyboards) This was a distinct move away from the Waters led Floyd sound of so many years, and is credited almost as a Gilmour solo album. There was legal problems over use of the name Pink Floyd, stemming from Waters himself, and the bad feeling between him and the other three. Waters was well into a very strong solo career, and had released a big selling solo album at around the same time as this Floyd album. After the legal impasse was worked out, this was the first time back in the studio as Floyd, and this album is the result from that. It received widespread critical acclaim, mostly because reviewers all assumed Floyd could not actually be Floyd without Waters. Notwithstanding, it sold extremely well, and the album was a huge chart success, even if it did not make Number One that five earlier Floyd albums did, this one topping out at Number 2. It sold enough to make the album four times multi platinum.

The band took the album on tour in 1987. The tour was originally scheduled for 11 weeks. The first part of the tour was in the UK, and also North America, and lasted 18 weeks. The band took a 6 week break over the Christmas of 1987, and then resumed the tour with this time a World tour that lasted a further 7 months, so that original 11 week tour turned into a more than 200 concert tour lasting just under 12 months, and the tour was reprised in 1989 for a further 2 months through Europe. That tour was made into a hugely selling Video and later DVD as well as a double album of songs taken from the tour and released as ‘The Delicate Sound Of Thunder’ album, the last Floyd album to use primarily vinyl as the main release for their albums.

This clip features an extended guitar break from Gilmour, and in my opinion is the best version of this song. As you view the clip, be aware that this tour was in 1987, 88, and 89. The light show behind the band is still as good as some you see these days from the big band tours, so for 12 years ago, this was THE best light show going around. It’s a long clip, and wonderfully shows Gimour’s expressive guitar work that is immediately recognised as his style alone. The Guitar he is using here is his Candy Apple Fender Stratocaster 1957 reissue, this version made in 1984, and the one he used after the Waters split. His most used guitar is a 1969 Fender Strat, modified over the years. The tone from this guitar especially is distinctive of the way Gilmour plays especially here with his use of the phrasing and sustained notes, and his use of the Tremolo arm.

The acrimony between Waters and the rest of the band persisted for some time, and it was only for the Live 8 concert in 2005 that all 4 members appeared on the same stage again, after a hiatus of 25 years since the last live performance.

When asked what he thought of this first Pink Floyd album without him, Waters said that it was a pretty fair forgery. Later his opinion mellowed, and he said that there was some music from it that he could have worked with.

Sadly original founding member Syd Barrett died in 2006. He left after Floyd’s second album replaced by his good friend David Gimour.

Two years later Richard Wright also passed away, and here’s the link to that post.

The name of the band itself is something always discussed. The name is a compilation of two men who Syd Barrett had in his vast record collection, the legendary Blues artists Pink Anderson and Floyd Council from the 50’s and early 60’s. Originally the band name selected was ‘The Pink Floyd Sound’, soon just to become just Pink Floyd.

Eu era assim…

E fiquei assim!

The dark side of the moon

Estaba escribiendo un post y a la par decidí escuchar el disco Dark Side of the Moon remasterizada en 2003 en formato SACD y DTS, aunque hace una semana compre mi versión para Itunes me sorprendio como la version DTS contiene muchos sonidos y efectos escondidos que no podran ser apreciados con la versión stereo para Ipod Nano G5.

Asi que voy a dejar ese post para el fin de semana y decido hacer mi semblanza sobre este disco tan importante para el Rock y conclui que me declaro incapaz para ello, por lo que mejor comparto estos excelentes videos que van a detallar todo lo que quieran saber sobre esta obra maestra del rock universal.

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Rock God Cred Report:

Click here to check Primus cover Pink Floyd “Have a Cigar”

Buy “Miscellaneous Debris”

Rock God Cred Report:

Click here to check an 80’s gem from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour “All Lovers Are Deranged”

Buy “About Face”….oooohhh this is some good stuff.

Clube do Filme é um relato coerente, verossímil, realista e sensível da evolução do pai em meio ao turbilhão de informações que é a adolescência.

Sou um cara preocupado demais quando o assunto são filhos. Não se se a profissão me deixou assim ou se sou um cara que complica as coisas mesmo. O fato é que acho que tem tanta porcaria sendo comercializada (principalmente na TV aberta) e não estou falando apenas de produtos de comerciais, não, estou falando de conteúdo, de programação e da banalização do ser humano. Pegue qualquer programa diário e tente não encontrar alusões e brincadeiras relacionadas a sexo, exposição da mulher como objeto ou notícias relâmpago de corpos estendidos no chão. Não sugiro um controle, mas que há um descontrole, isso há. Me dá pena e vergonha ver que a TV decaiu tanto assim, tudo em função da audiência. Enfim, por estar ali, no meio de tudo isso, sou um cara preocupado demais.  Portanto gosto muito de ler alguma coisa que tenha como foco principal o relacionamento entre o pai e filho, desde que seja algo coerente, verossímil,  realista e com sensibilidade.

São algumas das características do excelente O Clube do Filme, de David Gilmour. O autor nos narra uma época em sua vida que envolve problemas profissionais, financeiros e a dificuldade em lidar com o crescimento do filho adolescente, que não consegue ter uma afinidade real com a escola de maneira alguma, por mais que os pais fossem participativos, o garoto simplesmente não se adaptava. Aí o autor, que é um profissional de comunicação e crítico de cinema, decide ser radical: durante um ano o filho vai ficar fora da escola, mas eles terão de ver 3 filmes por semana escolhidos por ele.

Em uma atitude arriscada e crítica, Gilmour decide relacionar as fases de crescimento do filho a filmes que pudessem, pelo menos, passar alguma informação palpável para o rapaz, e a triagem varia desde clássicos como Assim Caminha a Humanidade até pérolas cult de ação, como Amor à Queima Roupa. E com uma sinceridade extrema (até demais) o livro nos coloca no meio da situação que envolve namoro, sexo, drogas, emprego, música, entre outros tópicos críticos no crescimento de adolescente e no desenvolvimento contínuo de um adulto.

O problema é querer assistir tudo aquilo que ele nos apresenta (não devo ter visto nem 10% dos filmes comentados ali…), pois ele consegue realmente nos fazer ter vontade de ver a maior parte dos filmes descritos ali. E apresenta, no final, uma listagem de todos os mais de 100 filmes comentados no livro. O que não é uma má ideia a longo prazo. Recomendadíssimo!

PS: Usando o que Nick Hornby me ensinou: o livro tem uma contra-capa direta e palpável, que usa 3 citações (do New York Times, Publishers Weekly e da Newsweek) para autenticar a boa publicação.

“David Gilmour, crítico de cinema desempregado e com o dinheiro contado, vivia uma fase complicada. Além disso, o filho de 15 anos colecionava reprovações em todas as disciplinas. Diante da falta de rumo daquele estudante perdido e despreparado, uma proposta paterna e radical: o garoto poderia sair da escola – e ficar sem trabalhar e sem pagar aluguel – desde que assistisse toda semana a três filmes escolhidos pelo pai, e com o pai. Assim surgiu O Clube do Filme…”

_________________________________________________________________________

• Editora: Intrínseca
• Autor: DAVID GILMOUR
• ISBN: 9788598078434
• Origem: Nacional
• Ano: 2009
• Edição: 1
• Número de páginas: 240
• Acabamento: Brochura
• Formato: Médio

SEXY MEN OF ROCK AND ROLL

I’m convinced that if I was born 30 years earlier, I would have been a groupie.  And if I was, these are the men I would have had my eye on, both for their careless good looks and god-like talent.

1. David Gilmour – There are no words. This is my definition of a rock god.

2. Jim Morrison – He may have been a little bit crazy, but I want to hear him recite poetry and run my fingers through that hair.

3. Jimi Hendrix: Aww, look at those dimples! And it doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty much the best guitar player ever.

4. David Bowie – I don’t care that he looks like a woman sometimes. His voice is like velvet and I adore him.

5. Roger Daltrey – There’s no harder, hotter body in rock and roll and he’s got a sweet set of…lungs.

6. Ted Nugent – He’s a redneck, yes and this photo also makes him look like a douche-bag, but the The Nuge can play guitar and he’s hot. 

7. Joe Strummer – His eyes are sad and beautiful and he has one of those  faces that I just want to take in my hands, and stare at.

 8. Marvin Gaye  - He’s not a rock star per say, but look how adorable he is! And I’d probably pass out if I’d ever heard him sing in person.

9. Frank Zappa – Strange choice I know, but Zappa is weirdly interesting and watching him shred shirtless is pretty amazing. 

10. Billy Idol –  Perhaps the most cliche rock star on the list, but you can’t deny his hotness.

Party CMYK Report:

Click here to go to PCMYK to check Pink Floyd “Keep Talking (Nelue Re-Edit)”

Greatest song, greatest solo, greatest version. ‘Nuff said.

YouTube – Comfortably Numb.

La primera vez que escuché esta canción fue en el concierto de David Gilmour en Klam, Austria el 27 de Julio del 2006. Esa fue una noche mágica, el mejor guitarrista para mi gusto tocando en un lugar sublime, el castillo de Clam, un castillo ubicado casi a las laderas del Danubio, y alrededor, sólo campo.

Desde ese día ha sido una de mis canciones favoritas. Escuchenla y endenderán.

David Gilmour – Then I Close My Eyes

Rock God Cred Report:

Click here to check some 70’s solo stuff from Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour  “Raise My Rent”…man…I never tire of this dude’s guitarwork.  Tasty.

Buy “David Gilmour”…if you like 70’s Floyd you need to buy this.

en spotify David Gilmour – Wish You Were Here

So, so you think you can tell heaven from hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

I Guess I’m Floating Report:

Click here to go to IGIF to check the Flaming Lips cover of Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse”

Siamo arrivati alla decima canzone di oggi. I prossimi artisti non hanno ancora fatto la loro comparsa qui a RadioBlog 235. Ma rimediamo subito. Prima però vi ricordo che per qualunque comunicazione voleste farmi (oltre naturalmente a poter commentare nel radio-blog) potete inviarmi un’email (soprattutto se vi va di partecipare come b-jay) all’indirizzo radioblog235@live.it
Il prossimo video del nostro programma pomeridiano è dei Pink Floyd. Ascoltiamo adesso Wish You Were Here, qui su RadioBlog 235!

O Clube do Filme - David Gilmour

Sempre é bom buscar leituras variadas, gêneros diferentes, autores diferentes, sejam eles novatos ou clássicos. David Gilmour é canadense e autor do livro O Clube do Filme [The Film Club, 2007], que está a várias semanas na lista dos livros de não-ficção mais vendidos da Revista Veja. Além desse ao autor assina outros livros inéditos no Brasil, são eles Back on Tuesday, How Boys See Girls, An Affair with the Moon, Lost Between Houses e A Perfect Night to Go to China. Com o sucesso repentino de seu livro não demorará muito para que outros títulos do autor cheguem por aqui.

David Gilmour é crítico de cinema, e nesse livro ele relata a fase de sua vida em que teve de conviver com o desemprego e a falta de interesse de seu filho de 15 anos pelos estudos. Tendo que viver com o dinheiro contado, ele tenta encarar de uma nova forma essa fase complicada de sua vida. Ele dá a permissão para que o filho deixe de freqüentar a escola, com a condição de que assistam juntos a três filmes por semana, escolhidos pelo próprio David. Essa é a única educação que o garoto irá receber.

É nesse argumento que os fatos do livro se desenvolvem. Uma mistura de realidade com ficção complementativa, já que nem tudo pode ser relembrado de forma tão real, o livro aborda um período de quatro anos, que ilustram o gráfico de altos e baixos do relacionamento pai e filho, e o amadurecimento de um adolescente. Após alguns capítulos tem-se a impressão que as ações começam a ficar aceleradas e que o autor deseja concluir logo o livro, que já é curto. Porém isso pode ser visto não como ponto negativo, pois assim o livro não se torna algo enjoativo.

O Clube do Filme não é apenas uma aula sobre cinema, é também um alerta a evasão escolar, principalmente dos alunos de ensino médio, sem contar com o exemplo nada convencional de paternidade encarado por Gilmour. O livro é um prato cheio para os amantes de literatura e cinema, podendo agradar individualmente ou simultaneamente àqueles que gostam de um ou outro, e até ambos. No livro o autor comenta e discute o melhor e o pior do cinema: de A Doce Vida a Instinto Selvagem, de Os Reis do Iê, Iê, Iê a O Iluminado, de O Poderoso Chefão a Amores Expresos.

No fim temos um final inevitável, que pode até surpreender alguns, mas que está subtendido desde os primeiros capítulos. Um livro bom, enxuto e com uma história real diferente, que prende o leitor até a última página. É bom também para quem curte dicas de filmes. Recomendo.

Autor:

David Gilmour com seu filho, Jesse Gilmour

What years of listening to Rush records in your mother's basement can do to your complexion.

Prog has always claimed that it was ‘music for musicians’. It’s a pretty attractive label, and much better than the alternative ‘music for geeks who aren’t getting laid’. Regardless of the tag-line, the point is that even if you don’t actively listen to progressive rock, chances are that the bands you DO listen to count progressive rock artists among their influences. When young bands (that don’t suck) are talking to the press and the reporter asks them who their influences are, if they’re brave enough to mention people outside their own genre 90% of the time the drummer will include Neil Peart and/or Mike Portnoy, bass players will mention Geddy Lee, Tony Levin, and/or Chris Squire, and keyboard…well…ok, if they have a keyboard player, chances are he isn’t being given any face time unless he’s also the front man and super duper pretty (guitarists gets more genre dependent, but I see Steve Vai’s, David Gilmour’s, Frank Zappa’s, and Steve Howe’s names thrown out a lot).

So what happened to all these progressive-rock-influenced artists? How come none of them ended up making progressive rock? The answer is that you are simply being a naive fool. Progressive rock has worked long and hard to covertly work its way into more mainstream genres, and the fruits of decades of labor are now beginning to ripen. Below you will find examples of some genres where artists are now becoming popular who show significant signs that they’ve been infected with the prog.

METAL

What, no corpsepaint for the baby?

Metal was one of the earliest and easiest genres for prog to branch into. For one, a lot of metal musicians are extremely talented. I realize that, to people who aren’t fans of metal, a lot of the music just sounds like loud noise and unintelligible lyrics, but under the growling and the corpsepaint you’ll find some of the most technically skilled musicians around. Good metal guitarists can play diminished augmented pentatonic chords using alternate sweep picking just as fast as the proggy-ist prog douche bag guitar player, they just chose not to so because it’s not brutal enough (note: metal people judge all things on a scale of 1-brutal). Metal drummers and prog drummers are in an eternal pissing contest over who can play double bass faster, and just like how metal singers and prog singers are always trying to see how high they can sing without causing a sonic boom. Also, they put equal emphasis on physical activity and hygiene in their personal lives. So prog and metal have been pushing each other’s buttons for a very very long time, and the results have been enjoyable for both fan bases:

Examples of prog/metal marriages:

Dream Theater – Basically the flag bearer for progressive rock. Train of Thought is their most metal album, but every album has significant metal overtones through out. Scenes from a Memory is widely considered to be one of the best prog album of the 1990’s if not of all time. (Dream Theater Example – “Painc Attack”)

Opeth – If Dream Theater is a prog band with metal overtones, Opeth is a death metal band with prog overtones. The band drifts between melodic haunting passages and crushing metal destruction almost too freely. If you can’t handle cookie monster-style vocals you’d best start with Damnation which is their ‘mellow’ album, but then quickly get Deliverance and give that a spin as well. (Opeth Example – Death Whispered a Lulaby, and then The Drapery Falls)

Other prog/metal bands (and their albums that you should check out):

Symphony X -  V (Example: “Inferno”)

Fates Warning – Inside Out (Example: “One“)

Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime (Example: “Spreading the Disease”)

Tool – Lateralus (Example: “Sober”)

Between the Buried and Me - Colors (Example: “White Walls”)

Scale the Summit - Carving Desert Canyons (Example: “Dunes”)

Pain of Salvation - One Hour by the Concrete Lake (Example: Inside)

Coheed and Cambria (Example: “Welcome Home”)

Jazz

Above him, Led Zeppelin was stealing his music

The other genre that prog was able to easily seduce was jazz. Jazz has been the most popular kid in school basically forever. Everyone wants to claim that they’re influenced by jazz, or that they have jazz tendencies, or that they once slept with jazz at a party but jazz wouldn’t remember it because jazz was really drunk that night. No matter how much jazz wants to deny it, jazz and prog did in fact hook up a few times in the 60s and 70s, resulting in the genre fusion. If you know jazz, think of Kind of Blue. Fusion is the exact opposite of that. It’s fast, complicated, crazy shit that most of the time sounds like a bad jam session made up of really good musicians (note: I love fusion). If someone tried to dance to fusion they’d be mistaken for a seizure victim and taken to a hospital. The people who play fusion are of course ridiculously talented to the point where they could probably have a full conversation with each other using only their instruments. One problem fusion inherited from jazz  is that any band that considers itself to have drawn from jazz and some other genre automatically considers itself to be ‘fusion’. What can I say, jazz was a whore:

Examples of prog/jazz marriages:

Mahavishnu Orchestra – If there was ever a band that sounded like an acid trip, I’d pick Mahavishnu Orchestra. Drawing from Indian, European, jazz, and classical music, as well as John McLaughlin’s own eccentricity, the music they produced was frantic, intensely complex, and mind blowing once you manage to wrap your brain around it. Birds of Fire and Apocalypse may be the best characterizations of the band’s sound, but if you don’t enjoy either album that’s fine, you’re probably still too sane. (Mahavishnu Orchestra Example: “Trilogy”)

Frank Zapppa – I’m not even going to try to explain Frank Zappa in three lines. I don’t even know if I can call the majority of what he did ‘fusion’ but he’s fucking important and he fits best here. Go listen to Hot Rats, Roxy and Elsewhere and Apostrophe, and if you don’t like those don’t worry about it, there’s about five billion other albums that sound totally different that you can get into. (Frank Zappa Example: “Waka/Jawaka”)

Other prog/jazz bands (and their albums that that you should check out):

The Mars Volta – Francis the Mute (Example: “Wax Simulacra”)

The Dixie Dregs – Night of the Living Dregs (Example: “Assembly Line”)

Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (Example: “Biaxadent“)

Jam Bands

There wasn't actually any mud. Hippies are just this dirty.

Unlike jazz and metal, prog hasn’t shared a lot of common ground with the jam scene. The Grateful Dead were thoroughly un-complicated and yet they became extremely popular by touring their asses off and playing a lot of simple country and blues covers in cool new ways  (making them…….progressive? MY BRAIN CAN’T HANDLE THAT). For a long time hippies were content bopping along to country and blues music, and probably would have been fine like this forever, until Phish came along and expanded the genre by writing songs that made as little sense as possible. Moving from the relatively comfortable confines of country and blues to the total nonsense that Phish produced (note: I love Phish) blew hippie’s minds. So hippie musicians, being totally incapable of rejecting any art form, started incorporating every possible genre of music into the covers they played, into their huge and totally awesome music festivals, and eventually into their own music. Alternative and bluegrass were some of the first genres to gain popularity with hippies, then some electronica and punk weaved its way in, and now metal and prog are starting to poke their heads in as well:

Examples of prog/jam band marriages:

Umphrey’s Mcgee – UM is the cream of the crop as far as blending technical skill and musicality. It’s really an amazing balancing act that they pull off, and they do it flawlessly. I also find their live improv stuff to be far less meandering and self indulgent than a lot of other jam bands. Anchor Drops is the place you start for their studio efforts, but after that I suggest downloading their eight billion podcasts, as a lot of their best songs haven’t ever been recorded in the studio. Honestly I’m not even going to bother discussing other prog/jam band marriages in depth, Umphrey’s is really the top of the line and an experience like no other. (Umphreys Mcgee Example: “Bridgeless”)

Other prog/jam bands (and their albums that you should check out):

The Disco Biscuits - Uncivilized Area (Example – “I-man”)

Keller Williams - Laugh (Example – “Freeker by the Speeker“)

moe. – Wormwood (Example – “Crab Eyes”)

Oysterhead - The Grand Pecking Order (Example – “Mr. Oysterhead”)

Bluegrass

A tradional bluegrass band. Guitar, upright bass, banjo, mandolin, and no black people.

I’m going to be upfront about this. I hate country music more than any other genre of music on the planet. Most of the performers are talentless and I think the stereotypes it generates are more damaging to rednecks than gangster rap is to urban youth. That being said, I also think the slide guitar/dobro, mandolin, and banjo are some of the coolest instruments ever. So I compromise and enjoy bluegrass. Bluegrass to me, is what happened to all the talented southern musicians. They sing about all the same topics the crappy country artists do, but their songs are ten million times more interesting and their lyrics are ten million times more creative. To be honest I don’t know if bluegrass is actually even aware of progressive rock, but both genres are fast, technical, and full of energy, so if they haven’t met maybe I can help.

Examples of prog/bluegrass marriages:

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones – This band probably only gets lumped in with bluegrass because it features a banjo. It’s also probably one of the few, if not only bluegrass band to include sax and electronic drums (note: electronic drums that are actually awesome, unlike most electronic kits which sound horrible). All of that being said, Bela Fleck might be the most well known and universally respected banjo player ever (even more than Steve Martin!), and Victor Wooten is part of the pantheon of modern bass gods. Kind of bluegrass, kind of fusion, whatever, it’s extremely creative and fun to listen to. Little Worlds is a 3-disc set that’s probably less bluegrass-y than their past efforts, but it’s a great introduction to their sound. (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Example: “Next”)

Yonder Mountain String Band – The shining symbol of ‘new grass‘, YMSB is talented and technically proficient and blah blah blah, but that’s probably the least attended to part of their music. What makes them such an incredible band is how they’ve taken bluegrass out of the realm of genres like polka (i.e. dance music that’s a joke to most people) and made it emotional and joyful. I’ve never seen so many universally happy people in my entire life as I’ve seen at YMSB shows. The crowd just emits rainbows and sunshine and good emotions. They make 80 year old men act like 10 year olds on their birthday, and the coolest hipster turns into a Appalachian mountain dweller before their onslaught of elation. Mountain Tracks: Volume 5 is a great selection of live tracks to check out, and their new album The Show is pretty solid. (Yonder Mountain String Band Example: Sideshow Blues)

Other prog/bluegrass bands (and their albums that you should check out)

Railroad Earth – Amen Corner (Example: “Seven Story Mountain”)

Hopefully this has given you a decent idea of how prog isn’t actually as alien a genre as one might think. There’s a lot of common ground between prog and genres that are far more popular, and there has been and will continue to be bleeding between groups as new bands find their own unique sounds.

P.S. – I do want to mention one band that I left out, that being Muse. Muse has a totally absurd amount of popularity for a band that prog fans consider to be ‘one of us’. It’s not super duper technical, but it at least creates the illusion of being super duper technical, and sometimes that’s good enough. It is high energy and features a guy who sings high enough to make the guy from The Darkness jealous so I guess the leap in prog-faith isn’t too absurd.  I can’t really explain why the rest of the world loves them, not that I’m complaining either. So I guess if a band like Muse can be touring with U2 and performing on the VMAs then I can still hope that prog will take over all of music one day. A man can dream can’t he…a man can dream…

Nos complace comunicaros que, como novedad,  tenemos disponibles los productos Klein Pickups USA. Bobinadas a mano, el extenso catálogo de esta marca incluye una gran variedad de pastillas tipo Stratocaster y Telecaster, así como P90 y humbuckers. Especial mención merecen las pastillas tipo “tapped“. Estas pastillas se bobinan con una especificación concreta, se detiene el proceso y se añade otro bobinado que conjuntamente con el primero formarán un valor específico. Se pueden seleccionar la suma de lvalor de los dos bobinados (obteniendo así el valor máximo) o el valor intermedio. Algun ejemplo: que tal un set de pastillas con las que puedas escoger las especificaciones de las Pre- CBS 1963 o una auténtica vintage 1954?. 

Como ejemplo, los modelos disponibles, tanto como set (pastilla central RWRP) o como pastillas individuales calibradas para cada posicíon, de tipo Stratocaster son los siguientes:

-S5 Scooped Mid Range Stratocaster pickups: si estas buscando el tono de la Fender “Big Dipper” de John Mayer este es tu set. Utilizan piezas polares de Alnico V con escalonado vintage y ofrece una respuesta extremadamente brillante y suave compresión. (Mástil: 5.8k, central: 6.1k, puente: 6.7k).

Klein S5 Scooped Midrange

-S1 High Output A5:  para los que directamente buscais el sonido de la SRV nº1. Alnico V para las piezas polares para una gran respuesta en frecuencias bajas y gran presencia. (Mástil: 6.9k, central: 6.9k , puente: 7.3k).

Klein S1 High Output

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-S7 Special EJ: tono de finales de los 50/principios de los 60. Las pastillas del mástil y central utilizan Alnico III, mientras que la pastilla del puente está fabricada con Alnico V. (Mástil: 5.85k, central: 5.95k,  puente: 6.85k).

Klein S7 Special EJ

-S6 Low Output Stratocaster pickups: tal como su propio nombre indica, salida baja y por lo tanto agudos critalinos y medios comprimidos, pero respuesta en bajos redonda y suave. (Mástil: 4.3k, central: 4.3k, puente: 5.0k)

Klein S6 Low Output

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-S8 DG Special: buscando el tono de la Fender Black Stratocaster de Gilmour?. Las pastillas del mástil y central utilizan Alnico V y la central incorpora un sobrebobinado al estilo finales de los ‘60. La pastilla del puente utiliza Alnico II y tambien está sobrebobinada para una mayor entrega de señal. (Mástil: 5.5k, central: 6.1k, puente: 13.0k).

Klein S8 DG Special

-Stratocaster Jazz: piezas polares de Alnico IV para obtener uno de los sonidos más brillantes y claros de una Strat. (Mástil: 6.7k, central: 6.7k, puente: 7.0k).

Klein Stratocaster Jazz

-Dirty Texan Stratocaster pickups: el set utiliza dos tipos de piezas polares. Mientras que las pastillas del mástil y central montan piezas polares planas de Alnico II, la pastilla del puente utiliza piezas planas de Alnico V. Las pastillas del mástil y central están bobinadas con especificaciones vintage y tienen la banda de medios reducida, mientras que la pastilla del puente está sobrebobinada. (Mástil: 5.6k, central: 6.0k, puente: 7.5k).

Klein Dirty Texan

-Vintage Pro 50’s Stratocaster pickups: piezas polares más grandes (0.197″) como las utilizadas en los ‘50 y escalonadas para un auténtico sonido vintage. Sonido redonodo en todo el rango de frecuencias. Como opción pueden ser configuradas con piezas polares planas. (Mástil: 5.5k, central: 5.7k, puente: 6.2k).

Klein Vintage Pro '50

 Harmony Central Review

Klein '54 Stratocaster

 Harmony Central Review

-Stratocaster 1963-1954 Set: este set contiene ambas configuraciones (1963 pre-CBS y 1954) perfectamente seleccionables mediante un selector tipo push-pull o miniswitch. (Mástil: 5.6/5.9k, central: 5.6/5.9k, puente: 5.6/6.5k)

Klein 1963-1954

-’59 Stratocaster set: Calibrado con las especificaciones de 1959. Alnico V para el tradicional tono Stratocaster con medios comprimidos y suaves. Pastilla central no RWRP, pero configurable como opción. (Mástil: 6.0k, central: 6.0k, puente: 6.0k).

Klein '59 Stratocaster

-‘61 Stratocaster set: Alnico V, piezas polares escalonadas, tono limpio, brillante y crunchy. Respuesta sensitiva. Salida moderada. (Mástil: 6.1k, central: 6.1k, puente: 6.9k).

Klein '61 Stratocaster

-Stratocaster 1963-1961 Set: este set contiene ambas configuraciones (1963 pre-CBS y 1954) seleccionables por el usario mediante un selector tipo push-pull o miniswitch. (Mástil: 5.6/6.1k, central: 5.6/6.1k, puente: 5.6/6.9k).

Klein 1963-1961

-‘63 Stratocaster pickups: recrea el tono y sonido de la época pre-CBS antes de que fueran adoptados camibios en el cable y piezas utilizadas en las pastillas. Alnico V para un sonido exageradamente Stratocaster, pero rico y compensado. (Mástil: 5.6k, central: 5.6k, puente: 5.6k).

Klein '63 Stratocaster

-65 Stratocaster pickups: producen un suave crunch y un tono lleno de “snap”. Bajos dulces y presencia limpia. No RWRP y polaridad sur. Se pueden configurar con RWRP.

Klein '65 Stratocaster

-‘69 Stratocaster pickups: este set vuelve a los origenes de las especificaciones Fender con piezas polares grises de Alnico V, polaridad sur y no RWRP. El tono original Woodstock!. (Mástil: 5.8k, central: 5.8k, puente: 5.8k).

Klein '69 Stratocaster

Harmony Central Review

-‘74 Stratocaster pickups: bobinada como la Fender CBS original de 1974 de Chris Klein (Mástil: 5,5k, central: 5,6k, puente: 5,4k).

Klein '74 Stratocaster

-S3 High Output pickups A2: piezas polares vintage escalonadas de Alnico II, menos ataque y medios y agudos aumentados. RWRP para las posiciones 2 y 4. (Mástil: 7.0k, central: 7.2k, puente: 7.5k).

Klein S3 High Output

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Harmony Central Review

-Stratocaster 5 & 2: pastillas de alta salida que utilizan Alnico II y Alnico V. Las cuerdas EAD utilizan Alnico V mientras que las cuerdas GBE utilizan Alnico II en configuración de polos planos lo que ayuda a que las salida de frecuencias altas sea más balanceada. (Mástil: 7.0k, central: 7.2k, puente: 7.5k).

Klein Stratocaster 5 & 2

-Dallas Blues Stratocaster pickups: construidas con Alnico II. Sonido auténticamente blues con bajos profundos, agudos limpios y brillantes y medios balanceados. (Mástil: 7.25k, central: 7.75k, puente: 8.50k).

Klein Dallas Blues Stratocaster

-Stratocaster bridge P90 pickup: esta pastilla tiene suficiente fuerza y potencia para ser considerada una P90. Las salida es de 8.25k con una placa de alumino en la base (aumento de un 10%).

Klein Stratocaster bridge P90

Por si no os han parecido suficientes las opciones que ofrece Klein Pickups tambien puedes configurar tu set bajo tus especificaciones: buscas obtener una gran salida o por el contrario quieres el tono clásico y cristalino de las pastillas de baja salida?. Tres tipos de cable para el bobinado y cuatro grados de piezas polares. Añade una placa de aluminio a la pasitilla del puente para comprimir las freuencas medias e incrementar la potencia en un 10%. Algo más specífico?: Más respuesta en frecuencias medias?. Más ataque y punch?. Compresion más suave?…o incluso configura tu set “Tapped” con tus dos especificaciones preferidas: indica las dos potencias de salida, Alnico 2,3,4 o 5, tipo de bobinado: Formvar, Enamel, Poly…

Harmony Central Review

Suficiente?.    

Downloads de mp3 pela web são polêmica há muito tempo. Muitos músicos têm se manifestado acerca disso nos últimos meses, e ao que tudo indica, o tráfico de músicas online tem um futuro incerto.

Há algum tempo, quando o Radiohead lançou “In Rainbows” seu último álbum, a banda inovou no conceito de vender discos, o fã acessava o site da banda e pagava o preço que achasse justo pela mídia. Agora, eles fazem moda de novo, Thom Yorke e compania decidiram aposentar de vez os discos, e disponibilizarão todos os seus novos trabalhos em sua página oficial. Falando nisso, já tem uma que você pode conferir aqui.

Mas ao mesmo tempo em que gente apoia a atitude dos britânicos, como David Gilmour e alguns músicos brasileiros como Edgard Scandurra e Tico Santa Cruz, há também quem atire pedras. Lily Allen que visitou o Brasil recentemente chutou o balde em seu blog sobre como o download de músicas prejudica o artista. Elton John é a favor de desconectar todos os que usam a rede para baixar mp3. E o caso mais famoso, o processo que o Metallica abriu contra o Napster e tem repercussão até hoje.

Toda esta confusão, recentemente culminou no fim do Pirate Bay, página mais famosa de distribuição de arquivos na internet. Quanto ao resto da rede, servidores de arquivos online como o 4shared, rapidshare e o megaupload têm vários de seus arquivos deletados todos os dias.

Comecei a usar a web em 1999, e naquela época, os downloads de músicas, vídeos e games já eram bastante comuns (claro que não com a velocidade e a facilidade que temos hoje). Primeiro veio o napster, depois o KaZaA, hoje temos o BitTorrent e os servidores online divulgados por meio de blogs e redes sociais. E se acabarem com estes últimos, com certeza um sucessor virá, não importa o que aconteça.

Se houver planejamento e trabalho em cima da legalização de downloads, pode ser benéfico tanto para o músico quanto para o fã. Aí falta sensibilidade tanto dos artistas, quanto das gravadoras, compro discos porque gosto e acredito que também há quem continuará comprando mesmo com a legalização do download, afinal ter um disco em arquivos digitais, não é a mesma coisa que ter o encarte em mãos, quem é fã sabe o que estou falando. Mas se a industria fonográfica quiser continuar vivendo só de discos terá que fazer algo em relação aos preços e taxas, porque do jeito que está, não dá.

Well, this is the first thing I’ll write about Liverpool Football Club, brought together here on Fearless by Pink Floyd from the 1971 Album Meddle..

You start to hear Anfield in full cry about 5 minutes in.. Legendary.

Pink Floyd. Fearless. 320kbps. download …HERE. from the album Meddle.

And heres a video that a supporter put together from Youtube, very well put together set of images set to the song, really cool if you’re a Liverpool supporter, I just may have to write something about how they’ve distracted me over the years.

“You Gotta Be Crazy” , esse era o nome da música “Dogs” antes de entrar para o álbum Animals, lançado em 1977.

"Lado B" de Battersea Power Station - famoso local retratado na capa do disco Animals de 1977

Algumas informações curiosas sobre a  música “Dogs”:

- Durante a parte que inclui o solo synth Rick Wright, os sons de cachorros latindo podem ser ouvidos com destaque, este efeito sonoro foi criado por transformação do som num vocoder.

- Em alguns sites há informações de que o violão utilizado no início da música foi tocado por Gilmour no padrão D tuning, ou seja, as cordas estavam afinadas com D G C F A D.

- Durante sua turnê em 1974, o Pink Floyd tocou três novas músicas na primeira parte do show: “You Gotta Be Crazy” (que mais tarde se tornaria “Dogs”), “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” e “Raving and Drooling” (que depois se tornaria “Sheep”).

- A utilização de cães  foi uma metáfora para os homens de negócios/megalomaníacos que destroem a si e aqueles ao seu redor, para alimentar seus próprios “egos e carreiras”.

Bruno Bianchini, tecladista da Banda Echoes, gosta de explorar os recursos dos teclados ao máximo, tanto para escolha de timbres quanto para solos e improvisos.