Only Pink Floyd could release a double-sided concept album filled with dark themes of personal despair, narcissism and condescension, and then sell millions of copies and find the album ranked as one of the best of all time. They did, and resoundingly. The Wall (November 30, 1979) is one of Floyd’s best and one of the hottest (for good reason) double albums of all time. It’s pure late-life Floyd: moody, rhythmic and spacey, but punctuated with top-classics like “Comfortably Numb,” “Run Like Hell”, “Hey You” and “Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2” (a #1 single). Bandleader Roger Waters penned all of the material (with occasional help from bandmate David Gilmour and others). That proved to be the beginning of the end for Pink Floyd. Their next album, aptly-named The Final Cut, was the last that Roger Waters composed in its entirety and his swan song with the band.

The Wall is ranked #87 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 500 albums of all time. It’s available as a CD from Amazon (click here) and as download tracks on iTunes (click here).

Thirty years ago to the day Pink Floyd released their double album, The Wall. This was an album that was not simply a collection of songs, but something more than that – a ‘rock opera’. Pink Floyd’s massive, overblown theatre of sound was backed by a similarly sized story. It is mostly autobiographical, telling the story of Roger Waters’ struggles in life and his self-imposed isolation. The story was supported with hallucinatory live performances and a full length film. This was the concept album.

By the time The Wall was released, in the final weeks of 1979, such an idea was nothing new. The 1970s as a whole was, more than any other, the decade of the concept album. This was of course due to it also being the decade of progressive rock, with all its psychadelia, musicality, and unconventional song structures. (Fortunately) punk gave a firm boot to all this, so the concept album has been largely absent from the eighties onwards. Critics, and there were plenty, said enough was enough. A decade’s worth of organ solos is enough really.

Genesis and Yes were other prog rock bands who loved an album with story and a bit of pomp. The bass player from the latter released some concept albums on his own. One was based on the Jules Vernes novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth, another was his ‘interpretations of the musical characteristics of the six wives of Henry VIII. Quite easy to see where the backlash, or just sheer boredom, of the whole idea came from.

The concept albums of the seventies were not all just wanky prog-rock though. There were some classic concept albums that have stood the test of time to say the least.

Ziggy Stardust from 1972 is more than just that one iconic guitar riff. It’s the tale of an alien rock star warning humanity of its impending doom, with an absurdly catchy melody of hope. You can definitely lump it in with the proggers-its full title is The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and it had its own docu-concert film.

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Two years later came Kraftwerk’s ode to the motorway, der Autobahn. Sleek proto-techno rhythms from the German humanoids drive the listener on a journey. The twenty minute title track even has authentic engine revs and beep-beeps. Look at the cover-it’s the future.

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Histoire de Melody Nelson is a concept album with a difference. The famously controversial Serge Gainsbourg penned this album based on the idea of him crashing his car into the Lolita-esque Melody Nelson, before the inevitable seduction and romance followed. Mais oui. Just seven tracks and lasting less than half an hour, it is a short concept album, but one nonetheless. My personal favourite, although it’s telling that this is because of the songs, and not the concept.

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Richard Barbieri, Brit keyboardist for Japan, Porcupine Tree

Hmm. The NME’s review really enjoys pissing on Mr. Bellamy’s parade. The best bits on The Resistance usually occur when the band push their sound to polarising extremes. Hence why “I Belong To You (+ Mon Cœur S’Ouvre À Ta Voix)” is an absolute riot, in spite of its threat to break into Elton John doing cabaret at any given moment. Yes, Bellamy’s French accent resembles a daytripping tourist on acid. Yes, there is a celebratory “Woo!” at the beginning that belongs firmly on Broadway. But, as with so many of Muse’s best songs, it is the wavering on the right side of ridiculous that is the song’s making. Understandably therefore, the clarinet solo near the end is a work of genius – beautifully written; played with just the right tone and character; interlocking marvellously with the rest of the music.

So why, after all this star-struck amazement and wonder, does the band then have to ruin their credibility with utter rubbish like “Guiding Light” – a song so mediocre and in thrall to U2 at their very worst that it should be locked up in a secret cupboard in the headquarters of Magic FM.

Muse – I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S’Ouvre A Ta Voix)

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.

Steve Rothery, Brit guitarist with Marillion

AD Music is pleased to announce the extraordinary debut release; “Quantum Voodoo” by Lord Of The Ants. This download album will be available on 7th December 2009 and is a sensational mixture of various electronic music and contemporary rock styles, influences and philosophies. This is a truly original and spectacular album – an eclectic mix of dark ambient tones, dreamy landscapes, driving sequencers and screaming guitars.  ‘Quantum Voodoo’ takes you into a new musical realm – a place of magic, of unexplored themes, mysterious rhythms and inspirational new sounds.

Lord of the Ant’s own galvanic, compelling brand of electronica is heavily influenced by electronic music’s eager adopters, which dutifully include Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Brian Eno, Tomita, Vangelis and many other innovators of the early EM scene.  Other more contemporary influences include Radiohead, Code Indigo, Boards of Canada, Moby, Aphex Twin, Sigur Ros and Café del Mar.

Quantum Voodoo’s multifarious musical style and alluring abstract themes are designed to appeal to the ‘thinker’ in all of us – encouraging us to explore our own reality and to reach out into the fringes of our understanding and to ultimately confront our own beliefs and prejudices.

Lord of the Ants – Quantum Voodoo (AD78CD) (Digital release 7th December 2009)

1.    Quantum Voodoo (6:36)
2.   Something killed My Dog (4:39)
3.   Growl back at the World (4:52)
4.   Rock and a Hard Place (5;49)
5.   Monkey Gun (3;16)
6.   Noisy Places (4:25)
7.   Indifferent Sea (6:00)
8.   Hanging in Space (5:43)
9.   Ism (4:13)
10.  Borrow Tomorrow (4:37)
11.  World On Fire (8:52)
12.  Road Movie (6:48)
13.  Made in the USA (4:34)
14.  Los Angeles Lounge lizard (8:06)

Here’s a jazzy dose of proto-Goblin, courtesy of the band Seconda Generazione. The virtuoso trio featured two future founders of Goblin, namely keyboard player Claudio Simonetti and drummer Walter Martino. Bassist Stefano Cerri, who passed away in 2000, was apparently an experienced session musician. (He also bore a certain resemblance to former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman!) As you can hear for yourself, some Goblin hallmarks, like complex time signatures and a tight sound, are present and correct. But the vibe is undoubtedly much lighter and a bit more “muso wank.” This clip also features what I would consider a rarity: a drummer who actually uses his gong!

Unfortunately, since I don’t speak Italian, I’m unable to glean much information about Seconda Generazione from the Internet. Cursory detective work leads me to conclude that the fleeting outfit lasted from late 1971 until the following year. In 1972, Simonetti and Martino begat new band Oliver with guitarist Massimo Morante and bassist Fabio Pignatelli—that’s the classic Goblin lineup, btw. Oliver would mutate into Cherry Five, and then, in 1974 or early 1975, the band became Goblin. By that point, band members had come and gone, only for the original Cherry Five lineup to reconvene. While Goblin lasted until 1978, they recorded music for Perché Si Uccidono – La Merde in 1976 as Il Reale Impero Britannico. I haven’t seen the movie, but the soundtrack is very good.

Oh, and before Seconda Generazione, Simonetti and Martino were members of Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray—an indication of the gothic direction to come?

Much as I hate to admit it, I’m suspiciously drawn to some songs on the recent Muse album, The Resistance. I get that it’s totally counter-intuitive to philosophise about pretentious music all day and then go home to a loud, outré, sloganeering chunk of symphonic rock, complete with time-signature changes, wholly self-indulgent guitar solos, and violently operatic vocals. But I really am beginning to love bits of it, at least.

Slap bang in the middle of the album lies the seven-minute long, multi-part leviathan that is “Unnatural Selection”. It opens with Bellamy phoning in a drawl over the kind of church organ that hasn’t been acceptable since Origin of Symmetry. From this innocuous opening emerges a slithering beast of a riff that recalls “New Born”. This somewhat pummelling passage eventually morphs into a rather baroque chorus that invokes memories of Bach, albeit interwoven with some background chanting resembling a football-terrace chant. Eventually, the song collapses into a gloriously decadent waltz, replete with woozy guitar licks and a Hammond organ that has somehow escaped out of a 50s horror film. When that passage is fully spent (and my, Bellamy has a lot of nonspecific wailing to get through), the baroque riff breaks through once more for a final showdown, this time with ten times more multi-tracked vocal harmonies and half a dozen more guitar overdubs.

And you know what? It’s marvellous.

Sometimes, Muse play up their theatricality until it just sounds ridiculous, but when they get it right, every disparate element of their schtick can fall into place perfectly, with a careless swagger than ploughs through any idea you may have had of decency. The lyrics may be meaningless nonsense, but when Bellamy is busy waking up the residents of Lake Como with his pair of bellows, it’s hard not to admit that he sounds like he’s having a good time. And, more to the p0int, that you’d be a bit of a killjoy not to have a good time yourself.

No ano em que eu nasci, esta banda canadiense faz história na música moderna ao lançar um álbum absolutamente extraordinário. Eu divido a música moderna em dois grandes grupos, a música intemporal e aquela que no momento em que a escutamos, a primeira coisa que vem à cabeça é a roupa que se vestia na altura ou qualquer outra coisa relacionada com a moda. A música intemporal chega ao coração sem dar tempo de pensarmos em qualquer coisa. É o caso deste álbum dos Rush.

Para mim um grande álbum, aqueles imortais, aqueles que já andaram no carro tanto tempo e foram emprestados tantas vezes, que o booklet está completamente rasgado e o cd está de tal forma riscado que é impossível ouvi-lo, aquele faz parte da banda sonora da vida de muitas gerações, um álbum desses tem de ser ouvido do principio ao fim, sempre com o mesmo entusiasmo. Todas as músicas desse álbum são um potencial single.

Este é um dos seus grandes clássicos, Tom Sawyer. Uma versão vivo, como não podia deixar de ser, pois é no palco que se devem julgar as bandas, no caso dos Rush, só ao vivo é que se consegue perceber a dimensão da banda.

Esta é uma instrumental, se não me engano consta da lista de músicas do Guitar Hero. A “YYZ”. Mais uma versão ao vivo, desta vez no Rock in Rio.

É de realçar que os Rush são um trio, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart e Geddy Lee. Guitarrista, baterista e baixista-vocalista-teclista. Mas compõe e tocam com uma solidez que preenchem qualquer vácuo que se possa imaginar num grupo musical tão reduzido.

Um dos riffs de guitarra daqueles que vem nos livros ouve-se no inicio da “Limelight”.

E reservo para o fim um dos grandes clássicos do Prog-Rock, “The Camera Eye”. Esta música tem tudo o que é o prog, os sons de teclado, a introdução longa com uma tensão crescente, riffs de guitarra excelentes, muito instrumental e uma interpretação tecnicamente perfeita.

“A modern day warrior
Mean mean stride,
Today’s Tom Sawyer
Mean mean pride.

Though his mind is not for rent
Don’t put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day’s events
The river”

I’m pretty excited about my new music blog, so let’s keep the ball rolling. Post número tres!

The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-López released his first Spanish-only solo album, Xenophanes, earlier this month. I think it’s cool enough for a late shout out.

The entire album can be found on YouTube. Here’s the first single.

Omar Rodriguez-López – Mundo De Ciegos

from exile - monolith. album cover/artwork by jorden haley

by Sara Hensel

The crushing, psychedelic prog rock album, Monolith, is From Exile’s latest release. Ben and Eric, the brains and brawn of the band, share some of the album’s secrets in this interview with Fresh ATL.

Posted by Sara Hensel

from exile. photo by Alex Morgan - http://www.strych9productions.com/

Wanting my first post for Fresh ATL to be something special, I asked my friends Ben Wetzelberger and Eric Guenther if I could do an interview with them. Ben and Eric are the brains and brawn behind the crushing prog metal band From Exile, and being the sweet, laid back boys that they are they gladly agreed to let me probe them with questions. They just released a new album called Monolith which they have been working on for quite some time. When not jamming out in their comfy Home Park house/practice space that they share, you can find them pouring your booze behind the bar of Rocky Mountain Pizza. With that said, here is the DL on one of my very favorite local bands, From Exile.

S.H. – “You guys just had a new album drop! It’s a lot different from your last album, tell me about how you guys got here to Monolith.”
E.G. – “Monolith is a continuation of the rough concept from our first record, Crushing Reality… it ends the story.”
B.W. – “Yeah, the album was definitely conceived as one giant body of work as opposed to individual singles, and compared to our previous effort we didn’t pigeon-hole ourselves as strictly metal. This album really has a lot going on; elevated musicianship, more attention to detail, more effects, and better composed pieces. It’s more lush. We also didn’t do any screaming.”
E.G. – “I don’t know if it’s fair to go into too much detail on the story, but I can tell you that the character loses in the end. Monolith is different from Crushing Reality because it is a more focused and concise attempt for a concept record than our last effort, Crushing Reality, which was probably more thrash metal than rock and roll. We tried a psychedelic approach to the vocals, influenced by Deftones, Alice In Chains, and Muse. Since there are music themes shared between the two records, the story evolves as the writing and structure of the music changes. We accomplished a much more dynamic sound on Monolith.

S.H. – “So how long exactly did you guys spend working on it?”
E.G. – “We started recording in December 2007 with way too much music planned, and finished in summer 2009. Eyal Levi, guitarist in Roadrunner Records band Daath produced and mixed most of the record, with the exception of a few guitar leads and keyboards, which I did at home. We have Daath drummer Kevin Talley playing drums, and a guest solo from Emil Werstler. They played a huge part in making this record happen.”

S.H. – “Though I know the album is meant to be listened to as one piece, if you guys were going to play one track for somebody which one would it be and why?
B.W. – “Well, that’s a tough call because no one track sums us up completely, but I would probably say “Monolith”. It’s the longest track and it takes you on a journey. There’s a lot of major key work that builds up suspense.”
E.G. – “I like to play “Arrival”. It’s got lots of fun guitar rifts and it contains all the themes of the album.”

S.H. – “So, for the cliche question; what music influences you guys?”
E.G. – “Our influences range from all types of rock, mostly loud bands. All the way from old progressive rock like Yes and Mahavishnu Orchestra to death metal. The original inspiration to do a 30 minute song with different movements came from “Yes – Close To The Edge”, which isn’t quite that long, but the idea stuck with me.”
B.W. – “Yeah, that Yes song is epic; the way they build on their musical themes, varying off and then finish with the original theme is similar to what we do. We also love The Mars Volta, Opeth, Porcipine Tree, Pink Floyd, and old Metallica, of course.

S.H. – “So, I know you guys aren’t planning any tours until early next year, but if you could play any venue in Atl with any Atl band, where would it be and whom would it be with?
B.W. – “Well I think opening for Mastadon and Daath would be incredible, but they aren’t quite simply ‘ATL’ bands anymore…..maybe at the Variety or the old Roxy.”
S.H. – “Really? Not the Tabernacle?”
B.W. – “Well, of course the Tabernacle would be awesome, but that’s a bit presumptious.”

S.H. – “So, what do you guys do to get ready for a show? What do you listen to, eat, and what’s in your cup?”
E.G. – “I listen to funk …. I drink red bull and Gatorade and beer and Jager before shows…and probably eat something lame like burritos.”
B.W. – “I’m on the Gatorade and red bull train as well. I usually just listen to myself warming up before a show, but I will throw on something chill after the show as a way to kind of wind down.”

S.H. - “The album artwork for Monolith is incredible! Who the hell did it?”
E.G. – “Jorden Haley did an incredible job with the art. We gave him a rough outline of the story, and the ideas that we wanted to convey with the art, and it still totally shocked and amazed us when we saw it for the first time. We told him to make something iconic and occult. Very happy with him; can’t wait to ask him to do another for us.”

S.H. – “How does living together effect you guys musical output and how do your styles compare?”
B.W. – “Well, living together definitely gives us more opportunities to play than if we had to schedule time, and while I guess we don’t do as much as we should, we always have the option to bounce ideas off each other. We compliment each others styles well, too. Eric is more flashy, fast, good at solos and a hot leadman.
E.G. - “Yeah, and Ben is definitely a more rhythmic and solid player. He usually learns all of my riffs from hearing me play them around the house, before I’ve even shown him personally.”

S.H. – “So Monolith was first released online. A lot of bands seem to be doing this, why did you guys do this and what do you think of the future of the music industry?”
E.G. – “The music industry is in a strange place right now. A band like us needs to get their music out there any way possible. Our record was being pirated in something like ten countries in the first week we started selling it online, and it really excited us because there is no way those people would be listeners or fans otherwise. We are doing as much as we can on our own to distribute and publicize this record in hopes that we can continue making records and playing shows in the future. As screwed up as the record industry is right now, its an exciting time for us and I see it as an opportunity to do some innovative things with our career. A label is hopefully in our future, however, although the guidelines for a standard artist/label relationship are being redrawn.”

Besides having a stellar album, these guys also have some sick t-shirts designed by Jorden Haley. Check out their album and their merch at www.fromexile.com and stay posted for their soon to be released tour dates!

Listen to Arrival by From Exile

Muse is new to me. I had never heard any of their work until early this fall when I stumbled across some reviews of their new album, The Resistance. To be completely honest, the first thing that drew my attention to them was the really cool album cover (above). I guess we’re all succeptible to advertisement of one form or another. So…I knew absolutely nothing about Muse when I picked up the album. It may have been the first time I’d ever voluntarily listened to a band that hadn’t already been recommended by a friend or that I hadn’t heard and liked already – this was totally uncharted territory. And my first impression was “WOW.”

Muse in concert

I’d never heard anything like it. Hard to describe…rock, almost heavy rock…passionate, powerful…a splash of classical…an epic sound. These were my first reactions and if you listen to the album I’m sure you’ll agree. The album was released in September of 2009 and was preceded by the release of the album’s first single, “Uprising.” The Resistance has done very well, reaching #1 in 19 countries and #3 in America (note: Muse has yet to have a #1 album in the United States). Matthew Bellamy (guitar/lead vocal), Christopher Wolstenholme (bass, backing vocal), and Dominic Howard (drums) formed as Muse in 1994 and have been growing in popularity ever since. We may not hear much about Muse in the Midwest, but they are definitely an international success.

Read on for a full review, but beware; this album is full of surprises that are revealed in the rest of this post. Maybe you should listen to it for yourself and then check this out…

This album was not meant to be a concept album, but it sure feels like one. One word summarizes The Resistance: paranoia. Everything about the composition – from the track order to the recording techniques – were meant to emphasize tension. To surround themselves with paranoid energy, Muse recoreded the entire album in a cave. Yep. It gives me the creeps just thinking about Muse pounding out this album in a dark, eerie cave. Also, the sound of the album is so broad and cavernous, which was certainly helped by the acoustic dynamics of cave walls.

Howard, Bellamy, Wolstenholme

The philosophical and political persuasions of Bellamy dominate the band’s creative direction, and his skeptical tendencies bleed all over this album’s paranoid message and sound. For example, listen to the first twenty seconds of “Undisclosed Desires.” I don’t think a band’s sound can get much more nervous than that. His lyrics follow the trend. From “MK Ultra:”

A universe is trapped inside a tear,
It resonates the core,
Creates unnatural laws,
Replaces love and happiness with fear

Wow. I think you get the idea. Bellamy is passionately aware of his more pessimistic side, and he goes to great lengths to present it in a very powerful, persuasive tone. This tone defines Muse’s sound and message presented in The Resistance.

But aside from the general theme of paranoia, Muse uses some very dramatic musical elements give The Resistance some serious depth and weight. Bellamy’s guitar work sounds abosolutely epic throughout, filling your ears with a wall of sound (Cobber tribute: Phil Spector). He is noted for his use of pitch shifters and arpeggiating electronic effects and on this album, in particular, they really do the trick. Check out “Unnatural Selection” to hear the full, distorted power of Bellamy’s playing (note the musical tribute to a famous composer that is prevalent in this song’s chord progression at 1:39. Can you hear it?).

The use of classical musicians and instruments is another great addition to the album’s overall sound. Strings and symphonies are all over the tracks and bring a calm balance to the instensity and paranoia emphasize by the band’s core sound. The last three tracks, which are all movements of the “Exogenous Symphony,” emphasize a classically-oriented instrumentation and showcase the sophisticated side of Muse.

When I think back to my first listen of The Resistance, one track stands above all others – “United States of Eurasia.” This piece is an obvious tip-o-the-cap to Muse’s influences. The first sounds are beautiful. A simple, quiet piano voices the basic chord progression of the song’s beginning, followed by Bellamy’s gentle statement of the first verse with strings filling out the sound. Then suddendly! we are hit with a wall of Muse’s energetic style (at 1:16) that sounds oddly familiar. And it should. This section of the song is a bold tribute to one of Muse’s greatest influences: Queen. If you don’t hear it, listen to “Bohemian Rhapsody” and this track back-to-back and you’ll understand. This May be the best guitar playing on the album and Bellamy shows that his vocal chords are as strong as Mercury.

After the Queen tribute, the Muse’s cultural influences come to the surface. The song transistions to a section that is definitively eastern in sound. Strings play a theme using an eastern scale, which emphasizes the diversity of Muse’s influences and approach to music. The song continues by switing between a straight-ahead rock style and the “eastern style” for restatements of verse and chorus (note Wolstenholme’s kickass bassline at 2:09).

So far this song has been great, but the best is saved for last. After a period of intensely powerful music, the song transitions into beautiful a beautiful piano solo. This section is a direct quotation of Fredric Chopin’s Nocturne in E flat (Op. 9). I grew up loving Chopin Nocturnes, so to hear Muse incorporate one into this album so beautifully made me an instant fan.

Matthew Bellamy

So overall,  The Resistance is an album that defies genres and makes a bold musical statement. It sends a strong political message of uncertainty and does a great job of tastefully incorporating many musical elements not typically found together. I wouldn’t say Muse’s sound on this album is the future of music, necessarily, but it is pretty damn cool to hear such great variety and emotional power come out of one album.

But that’s just me. What are your thoughts?

Here’s my current favourite recording! I can’t help putting it on. Thanks to Derek for pimping out my prog and 70s collection to the maximum! Renaissance are a splendid classical style prog rock band started in the v.late 60s and going through assorted line up changes and multiple live albums through the years. Two of the members on this album had been in the Yardbirds! This band intersects with rock history at multiple points.  CM

01. September Dawn (4:51) 02. Cassini – Live (14:04) 03. Walking with Ghosts – Live (11:59)
04. Beyond Paradise – Live (7:42) 05. Just an Illusion – Live (9:48) 06. Sines of Life (6:44)
07. State of Bliss – Live (11:54) 08. 3 a.m. – Live (3:04) 09. All Good Things………. (8:27)
(Total album time 78.40)

Release date: 7th December 2009

David Wright remains a popular figure in the electronic music scene and there has been increased interest in his music since New World Music took on the distribution of his extensive catalogue in 2009. “Sines of Life (Vol. 1) is David’s 20th solo CD release in a career that spans more than 20 years and the album has been something of a labour of love, as explained in the informative 16 page booklet that also includes lots of photos and details of additional music to be found on the download only “Volume 2″ album.

“Sines of Life – Volume 1″ contains new studio material alongside imaginative live re-workings of classic David Wright compositions from concerts during 2007 and 2009 featuring guest musicians, and it’s no understatement to say that it’s a majestic tour de force of instrumental music and new age electronica.

From the evocative opening “September Dawn” to the truly awesome closing epic “All Good things……….”, the music on offer here covers rhythmic to emotive, atmospheric to melodic and is mature instrumental electronic music with class and style that is nothing short of sensational.

The perennial favorite “Walking with Ghosts” is replayed as a brand new arrangement that is simply sublime and features another UK synth luminary Ian Boddy on keyboards and German guitar legend Klaus Hoffmann Hook, who also plays the Memotron.

Another beautiful reworking is “Beyond Paradise”, this time featuring Hoffmann-Hoock on electric sitar, while “Just an Illusion” and “State of Bliss” are again completely new imaginings of the original album tracks that here feature stunning cosmic guitar work from Hoffmann-Hoock.

The remaining songs include the atmospheric piano based title piece, a previously unreleased live track featuring Robert Fox & Nigel Turner-Heffer titled “3 a.m.” and a new interpretation of David’s popular epic “Cassini” recorded at his 2007 USA concert.

The production is superb and with a running time of over 78 minutes this fitting anniversary album provides both quality and quantity. If you’re already familiar with the work of David Wright, then this album really is a “must have” because the reworked live tracks are significantly different from the originals to differentiate this set from a traditional “Greatest Hits” compilation. If you’re not and you’re into good quality, melodic and emotive electronic music, then “Sines of Life” has more than enough quality to warrant your investigation and ensure your interest.

An album that’s destined to run and run and a terrific addition to an already impressive catalogue.

Martin Barre, Brit guitarist for Jethro Tull

Mars Volta’s Ouroboros strikes me as the perfect first entry for such a blog.  Driving home from work, solidifying the concept of what I wanted to write about in my head, this came up on Super Shuffle.  (So, thanks iPod.)  I immediatly remembered Mars Volta’s Beldam in Goliath as decent but forgettable – which is why I was surprised to be instantly gripped by chugging guitars and screaming vocals, something I don’t remember at all from such a boring album.  (As an added bonus, the further tracks on the album – Ouroboros being track ten of twelve – were delightfully more powerful than anything I remember.  Remembering is weird.  That’s kind of part of what this blog is about.  Maybe.)

The mythical Ouroboros has represented intellectual infancy in most forms, from traditional Hermeticism to the more modern Jungian train of psychology.  A dragon eating its tail, constantly devouring itself, is in many ways a direct companion to the mythical phoenix – a rebirth of ideals, but at the cost of your previous form.  Ouroboros is more vague than that, however, as is a notable symbol of both Freemasonry and alchemy.

In the end, all of that is crap I learned while doing research into the lyrics of the song.  The fact is that it came up on my iPod, and it sounded like the then.  This is what I wanted to portray more with this blog – the rare two or three wisps of clouds floating across a just-barely-there blue hint in the now night sky stood out, catching the waning rays of orange light.  With music blasting and windows rolled up tight, I felt removed, felt driven from the song.  Despite traffic cruising by at high and higher speeds, I felt safe in the slow moments, hectic in the fast moments.  The still-darkening sky matched my mood and the mood of the song as it wound into the climactic final ten minutes of the album.

Thus, this blog is borne.  Thanks.

Three tracks of complete and utter insanity from The Mars Volta. Cut That City has some heavily distorted vocals and keyboard driven rhythms that get your feet moving. Concertina is full of Spanish beauty with a satisfying build and climax while Eunich Provocateur is the ultimate space out, electronic rock song tthat one could ask for. Check this out if you want 20 minutes of complete bliss.

and finally i made it. i so couldn’t wait to open up an entry with that icon. meaning: i’ve hit the road again! and if the belgian weather is merciful enough, which of course is far from being a given, i’ll now be playing street basket on a regular basis again.

the weather is actually no big issue. i can live with some rain and wind. the cold could become a problem if it freezes my hands like it often does – like they need any help to get ineffective!.. and whilst i wouldn’t mind some snow either, i’m certainly not looking forward to play on frozen ground. but i believe i still have a few weeks to enjoy it, before the weather takes its toll.

the first time felt good. my fellow erasmus student alessandro joined me for a shootaround, and we did nothing but shooting for an hour or so. i was pretty surprised to find out he’s actually much better than he had told me. if it’s true he hasn’t touched a ball in the last couple of years, i must say his swing is pretty good. he shoots the ball well and, more importantly, he knows how to shoot it. that’s not given for someone who hasn’t ever played organised ball.

i think i’m starting to get a feeling what his favourite spots and types of shots are. that’s good if we’re gonna play together someday, which might just occur shortly, as the court is almost never empty. two guys were there yesterday as well, and they looked to be more or less at our same level of play, just – expectedly – physically superior. next time we meet someone there, we might just challenge them. we do have “it”, as our shot isn’t all that horrible and it looked pretty easy to build up some kind of chemistry right away.

one funny thing that happened yesterday (besides the ball flying onto the street almost hitting passing-by cars three or four times, which i wouldn’t call “funny”), was when we airballed the ball towards a bench where a blind young lady was sitting. before we could scream “let op!” (attention!), she moved a leg and blocked the ball, that was slowly landing by her feet. i couldn’t but tell alessandro: “better reflexes than us, hasn’t she?” and he couldn’t but agree…

as an umpteenth proof that (some of) the best discoveries, even music-wise, happen on a totally random basis, let me tell you how i just got to know roswell six. my pal ivar was searching for some newly released prog rock/metal to listen to, and overtrusting me as he usually does, he asked me for advice. i go have a look to my latest downloaded stuff, and i run into that name, roswell six. just one out of a huge load of stuff i downloaded more or less recently but hadn’t had the time to listen to yet. first impression: i must’ve gotten this album for a reason… while trying to remember which reason, i have ivar put them on his wishlist.

later that day, it turns out i’ve actually recommended him some pretty nice stuff. and the aforementioned elusive reason is soon made clear. i put the album on my mp3 player and start listening to it as soon as i’m in bed. now, my player has a very unique, creative way to organise the music i put into it (i haven’t figured out yet how to overcome it). following a pattern still unknown to me, it just chooses a new order for the files within folders. so you never get the songs in their original order, which can be pretty annoying. especially, and this was the case too, with concept albums.

so “anchored” played first on my player. it took me no time to guess the guy singing was no less than dream theater’s james labrie. catchy song and all, very good performance – i was like, “hmm, this might just have been a good choice after all. must be one of those hunderds of super-projects”. some quick googling the day after proved me right. turns out roswell six is in fact a rock project, featuring prog heroes like labrie himself, keyboard genius erik norlander and his charming, very talented wife.

but there is something truly special about it, something that even led me to do something i very seldom do – ordering the whole thing online. the concept is a produce of acclaimed sci-fi author kevin j. anderson’s mind. you can find the most lucious details about him and his work on his own webpage, wikipedia or wherever; but one side thing i’d like to mention here is that he works together with his wife – a pretty cool coincidence when you’re asking norlander and lane to also join in!..

i purposedly didn’t read much about the whole story, and i’m still also kind of reluctant to go search for the album’s lyrics, because what i’ve read so far makes it intersting enough to be worth discovering bit by bit. the truly astounding thing about it is, anderson didn’t just settle for an high-quality prog rock album graced by the efforts of said musicians and more. he actually wrote a book to go along with the album! not only that, but this is only the first part of a trilogy-to-be. be it the “classical” flavour to them, but stories in trilogies always have a very easy time catching my attention.

and this one looks very promising, for another reason atleast. again, much of this is mere speculation, as i didn’t wanna spoil myself the surprise of what i’ll be reading as soon as the whole package makes it here. but: it’s a story of (fictional) exploration, adventures by sea, encounters with monsters, war and faith, and whatnot. enough to (potentially) make an epic out of it. given my penchant for epic (as i myself see it, atleast) and the fact the story’s frame seems to be pretty close to one i’ve been imaging on my own for one of my infamous novels-to-be… i still don’t regret having ordered it – which by the way, you can do too, maybe while taking a look at the whole progrock records‘ online catalogue.

i wouldn’t be surprised if something else interesting soon catches my attention on those pages. meanwhile, and waiting for the 600-plus pages (all worth it? let’s hope so!) book to moor here, i’ll keep listening to the album. as my huge music fan little bro pointed out, it’s nothing spectacular music-wise, but still a nice output. with that charming aura around it…

i finally caught kata online! i’m still so pleasantly shocked. it must be true expectations play a big role in building up surprise. we’ve been e-mailing since the end of the summer course, but it wasn’t quite the same – nor as actually speaking to her, nor as instant-chatting with her of course. plus, she also learnt soon what e-mailing with me means, in terms of speed – or actually, lack thereof. she’s one of the main reasons why i’m running this blog actually, and perhaps the major push to keep up with my quasi-dutch writing. she’s so curious about anything concerning leuven. i just hope what i write will keep on feeding her curiosity! as well as anyone else’s who reads that pile of… improvable stuff i write.

Days Of Future Past was one of rock’s earliest concept albums, in many ways the Moody Blues’ answer to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Released on November 10, 1967, Days Of Future Past chronicles a day in the life of a common Englishman, dawn to dusk in a masterpiece of heavily orchestrated, flowing British psychedelic rock. It was the second studio album by the band, but bears little resemblance to the R&B tinged blues-rock sound of their first album (1965’s Go Now in the U.S. and a slightly different but simultaneous U.K. release, The Magnificent Moodies). Frustrated with the inability to score a follow-up hit to the massively popular (#10 U.S., #1 U.K.) 1964 single “Go Now!”, Denny Laine and Clint Warwick left for greener pastures (Denny to McCartney & Wings and Warwick to carpentry). Remaining members Graeme Edge, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas recruited John Lodge and Justin Hayward to the band in late 1966, which led to a redirection of sound and style that was introduced on Days Of Future Past. The success of the album (#3 U.S., #27 U.K.) spurred the Moodies forward, and it became the first of nine straight Top 30 albums that stretched into the 1980s. Edge, Hayward and Lodge continue to practice the sound and style begun in 1967 with frequent concerts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Days Of Future Past features the hits “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Nights In White Satin.” It’s #20 on my Top 25 for 1967 and is available as download tracks from iTunes (click here) and as a CD from Amazon (click here).

Greg Lake, Brit musician; King Crimson founding member and one-third of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

This musical brew usually ain’t my cup of tea.  However, I know that the folks that dig this sort of thing particularly love rare releases.  So here you go, if you like Voivod or prog rock/thrash metal dig in.  I will say that the second track “Jack Luminous”, which clocks in at a staggering 17 minutes und 26 seconds, is by leaps and bounds and fox and hounds my favorite of the two.  Of course, this will be your favorite as well.

From what I’ve gathered this 12″ was released during a the band’s transition period when they were claymating their 80s metal days sound with the more progressive/alternative vibe that buttblasted the scene in the early 90s.  But I could be completely wrong: if there’s one thing I don’t really care to understand its genres or who begat who. 

Maybe that makes me musically retarded.  Well, baby, if I’m retarded I don’t want to be bright.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM TO MP3