Lazland playlist

lazland wrote: Oh well, for my first blog of the New Year (and a jolly happy, prosperous, and healthy one to all of you kind enough to read my meanderings), I thought I would set to the electronic equivalent of paper a thought I just had in the shower. Be patient, friends. I have lots of good thoughts in the shower, some of my finest ones, indeed The thought was prompted by an amusing exchange on the "Does Miles Davis Belong on PA" thread. My thoughts have nothing to do with that, per se, but got me thinking about different eras of popular music, and, in particular, about the present and the 1970's, which were, most here would state, the classic Prog rock era. You see, I think there is a very distinct commonality between those halcyon days of some forty years ago, and the period we are living in now, as exemplified by pop music and Prog. Then, as now, the majority of chart hits were led by seriously manufactured acts, or variations on a particular type of "yoof" movement. The optimism of the free thinking 1960's, when most kids seriously believed that they could, and would, change the world had given way to an extremely depressing decade for my country. Then, as now, a set of incredibly poor politicians, with little or no scruples and true principles, were at the mercy of market forces well beyond their control. Then, it was the oil crisis, now it seems to be a crisis of capitalism itself. Popular music, in the early part of the decade, was exemplified by glam rock. The charts were full of it, with even a bunch of old skinheads like Slade joining in the fun. Top of the Pops (the music show of choice for all right minded kids) was full of such cerebral gems such as Mud, Bolan, and The Sweet (who my wife still loves). In contrast, the cool and clever kids listened to Prog and art rock, watching the icon of geek, Whispering Bob, on Old Grey Whistle Test. It really was a heady time to be into music that all the girls loathed and thought was, well, simply bloody awful! Glam gave way to the ridiculous punk and "new wave" movement, just as the seventies were reaching their depressing peak. Punk started off genuinely enough as an underground movement, but anyone old enough to remember those days will, I think, accept that the majority of it was simply created in order to satisfy the manufactured rebellious spirit of the times, this certainly being the case by 1977. The Pistols? Bunch of t**sers, basically. Rotten ended up advertising made up butter and appearing on a bloody awful celebrity jungle challenge show. Pah! In the present decade, we have the even more manufactured, and God-awful, stuff pedalled by the likes of Simon Cowell on his TV programmes, and the giant record corporations, who seem to have given up all pretence of nurturing genuine new talent. Witness also the daft and depressing fact that all now seem to ape the urban black culture which, again, started off as a genuine street movement before being hijacked by Music Corp Inc. For serious culture and music fans, of all ages, where is there to turn to? Of course,there is still classical music, timeless in its beauty and inspiration. But for the rock fan? Well, Prog. Prog is making a huge comeback in terms of cultural impact on those who take the time to consider such matters. No, Prog will never, ever, be the monster record selling behemoth it was in days of yore, but, as those who follow this great site will know, in terms of new music and creativity, this genre is going through a massive purple patch, and, in fact, I, for one, am more excited about the state and future of the genre than I have ever been. I think the similarities between the two decades are too apparent to be a coincidence. What do you think? So, it is nice to start 2015 off on a positive note, certainly as far as the prospects for progressive rock are concerned. There are many out there who continue to innovate, and push the boundaries. Long may they continue. I think we could do without the economic and political similarities, though!

Good post Steve certainly, which I'm in broad general agreement with (although I think you are a tad dismissive of Punk 's invaluable 'year zero' fervor, without which we may not have had the right soil to cultivate that wondrous bloom called erm...Post Punk (from whence most of my fave artists originated, including the butter salesmen)
I agree that in 2015 progressive rock music is a relative oasis in our cultural desert and appears to be in a healthy state stable condition BUT very little of it could be deemed genuinely innovative or forward looking from my perspective e.g. Television, Magazine and PIL were far more original and influential than say Transatlantic, Wobbler or Black Bonzo etc. I guess I'm cherry-picking my contemporary Prog here i.e. there are clearly the 70's tribute bands who write all their own material and the real pioneers like The Mars Volta Kayo Dot and the Gourishankar (what ever happened to the latter?)


Edited by ExittheLemming - January 25 2015 at 06:16

The 'new wave' music ushered in a really interesting art form of stage presence, theatrics and just pure live entertainment where the music. Itself took a bit of a back seat while image and atmosphere took over and became a popular trend. I admire Alice Copper for this. The Ramones as well.
It was indeed a special time. Set the stage for the 80's and the revolution of MTV videos.
Duran Duran being at the forefront of that.

Anyhow. Once again. Great points above.
And Kati thank you for the nice sentiments.
School is definitely out for me in the summer time...
Eternally.

lazland wrote: Whilst I enjoyed listening to some old The Smiths especially, I did think, after listening to Morrisey's last couple of solo albums his lunchtime, that the "joke just isn't funny anymore". In fact, I find him rather grating nowadays. Is that an age thing, or is it simply the case that he was a product of his time, and would be better off left there?

Very true. Mozzer at 25 was a funny and provocative hybrid of Oscar Wilde/Noel Coward meets deadpan manc dandy but at 50 he just comes across as that camp but harmless uncle whose relatives learned to appease a long time ago.


Edited by ExittheLemming - January 13 2015 at 05:41

ExittheLemming wrote: lazland wrote: Whilst I enjoyed listening to some old The Smiths especially, I did think, after listening to Morrisey's last couple of solo albums his lunchtime, that the "joke just isn't funny anymore". In fact, I find him rather grating nowadays. Is that an age thing, or is it simply the case that he was a product of his time, and would be better off left there? Very true. Mozzer at 25 was a funny and provocative hybrid of Oscar Wilde/Noel Coward meets deadpan manc dandy but at 50 he just comes across as that camp but harmless uncle whose relatives learned to appease a long time ago.

That's a very good way of putting it, Iain. It worked in the 80's, because of the social situation in the UK, and, of course, Marr, who was the perfect foil.

Now, it just sounds dated, and in more ways than one.

Every now and again, I feel it is only right that a blog should be used to promote acts or artists that might otherwise get lost in the mix. Even worst, Prog artists who cannot even get included on this site.

I tend to visit the wonderful Progstreaming website about once a week, more often if I am faced with long train journeys with work for visits and the like.

Today's visit coincides with my lovely wife watching something on the telly of little interest to Mr Laz, and I am listening to the beautiful and talented Anne-Marie Helder, together with her Panic Room cohort, the exceptional Jonathan Edwards. Both of them hail from a part of Wales not that far from where I live, although I have seen them live once, I have never had the pleasure of meeting them, which I hope might change one day.

Panic Room are one of my favourite bands in the new generation of female led progressive rock bands. I gave, rightly, a glowing review to their latest last year, Incarnate. The finest piece of music on that wonderful album is the incredible Start The Sound, a warm, glowing symphonic pastiche with very knowing popular music nods.

If, like me, you love that, basically the best of the more gentle side of Prog, then you will love the offshoot, Luna Rossa. My good friend, David "Yam Yam", publicised this on the "Get The Word Out" thread, and, regrettably, I have not gotten around to listening until today.

The album, Secrets And Lies, is quite wonderful, a beautiful collection of ballads and acoustic workings of original Welsh songs. Listening to the pure voice of Helder in harmony with acoustic guitar and piano is a lovely way to spend a joyous day in a joyous life, and I have just ordered the cd from my friends at Caerllysi Music.

Talent such as this is a rarity, and I believe that one of the prime functions of this site is to provide a receptacle for visitors to see and learn about such music, thus increasing sales, thus giving us more of the music that we love. A virtuous cycle, indeed.

If this had been an album released under the Panic Room "brand", then I would be preparing to review it on Prog Archives. It is, though, a spin off, and, even though it has warranted a feature in Prog magazine, a slot on Progstraming, available for sale on various specialist progressive rock sites, if is not deemed to be "Prog enough" for this site.

This really is such a shame, and a massive disappointment. This site exists in order to catalogue and bring the wonder of Prog music to people who might be interested. No, Luna Rossa do not have crashing guitars, thumping drums, complex musical operettas, mellotrons soaring. No. What they have is a voice, and an acoustic approach to some wonderful music. It is distinctly folk in places, and, actually, would probably warrant a place within Prog Folk on this site. We certainly have far less credible acts in that category, and elsewhere.

The pointI am making here is that this is intelligent, thought provoking, wonderful music, which, whilst stripped down, is not "simple". It is, in other words, an acoustic Prog album, and shame on us for failing to recognise that.

Anyhow, I know that there are a few who read this blog and my reviews who share my tastes in music. Well, this one, my friends, comes very highly recommended.

There is a thread elsewhere on the site discussing the old and new Prog. I love classic era Prog, but I value just as highly new Prog. Indeed, my greatest pleasure in music these days is not picking up and playing something I have listened to thousands of times, as nice as that can be. No, it is the thrill of listening to wonderful new sounds such as this.

^Thanks, Nicholas.

Listening to new music has always been, to me, the whole purpose of coming onto this site, so I have given your suggestions a shot, and given some comments below.

By the way, I should, perhaps, state, for the record, that my expressed surprise at an act not being included on PA should not be interpreted as a negative comment on collabs in the teams. I used to be one myself, and I know it is a difficult job sometimes.

Having said that, I do think that it might be an idea to start a thread on the site asking for suitable rejected candidates to be reevaluated, this based on new releases only, and definitely not Bandcamp only artists!😉

Anyhow. Delain. I rather enjoyed this, and not just owing to the eye candy evident on the Starlight video I have just watched. This strikes me as being perfectly good commercial Prog metal, well played, well produced, and, well, decent enough stuff. Personally, if I were still on the New Act suggestions team, I would send this over to Crossover. There is, IMO, enough there for a serious consideration.

Now then. While Heaven Wept. I have just finished listening to the 15+ minute epic that is The Furthest Shore. Absolutely stunning. Staggering. I am not ashamed to state that the final two minutes, with that soaring guitar, virtually had me in tears, it was that good.

I did actually start off as a metal fan way back when. Sabbath, Purple, Rainbow, those were the bands I started off with, and they remain favourites to this day. Having said that, it is true that, in latter years, I have tended to not enjoy a great deal of modern metal. I think this is more down to the fact that I don't really look that hard.

Anyhow, While Heaven Wept are Prog metal, pure and simple. I, too, am astounded that they are not here. Have they been suggested? There are moments of utter beautiful melody, soaring keyboards, pounding rhythm, screaming guitars, a suitably 'eavy, and strong, vocalist, all this in a dramatic setting which screams to me to be included on this site.

So, thanks, Nicholas. This album has been placed on the brand new, 2015 "to buy" list in Lazland. Great stuff!

Lastly, Damian Wilson. I am familiar with Damian, and, you are right, he has a lovely voice. I have just listened to Disciple, a gorgeous acoustic piece whose lyrics also resonate strongly with me. As a result of this, I will explore his solo work a bit more.

As for the rest of the few days since I last posted, life carries on in its own fun fashion. I am beginning to get a bit of a backlog of new albums to review, this, owing to the fact that I am studying for my final exam at work this Wednesday - my promotion is dependent upon passing, so it has been rather busy.

But, in between, I am really digging, and looking forward to reviewing shortly, Lee Abraham's album, Distant Days, Steve Rothery's fine Ghosts Of Pripyat, and the exceptionally talented Harvest, who very kindly sent me this week their third cd, Northern Wind. I will not write my review in this blog, but, suffice to say, I find that Harvest have really upped their game on this new album. It is a fantastic leap forward in their sound, and will be highly recommended when I get the review out.

Talking of reviews, some people made some very kind comments on my Renaissance review last week, so thank you for your messages. That was one of those reviews which just came out. I felt like listening to the album, was enjoying every second, and the words just blurted out.

Happy days. Thanks for reading. See you soon.

I wanna recommend something since i saw you liked the doom-ish While Heaven Wept and appreciate a good female vocalist. Well, you have them both with a band called Avatarium (from Sweden) who released their self-titled debut in 2013. To me, that's an amazing album. As you like WHW then there's a chance you would enjoy Avatarium.


Edited by Cristi - February 01 2015 at 17:11

Hey Steve, just wanted to thank you for the Mostly Autumn suggestion a while back. I liked it so much I added it to my top ten in the Collab AOTY vote:

Edited by The Dark Elf - February 02 2015 at 20:29

progbethyname wrote: As promised. Just a few Damian Wilson gems to really enjoy the versatility of this incredible singer. Hope you like these tracks. 1) I am A Soldier (with Headspace.) 2) That's Why We Came ( with Threshold) 3) Burial At Sea ( With Clive Nolan's: Alchemy) 4) Eat The Unicorn ( Early Threshold)

That Headspace album is awesome!
All Threshold albums with Damian are really good (and I'll admit that the albums with McDermott are my favorite though)

Also, Damian was in band called Landmarq (3 albums if I remember right) - some good stuff there, too.


Edited by Cristi - February 07 2015 at 04:52

Cristi wrote: progbethyname wrote: As promised. Just a few Damian Wilson gems to really enjoy the versatility of this incredible singer. Hope you like these tracks. 1) I am A Soldier (with Headspace.) 2) That's Why We Came ( with Threshold) 3) Burial At Sea ( With Clive Nolan's: Alchemy) 4) Eat The Unicorn ( Early Threshold) That Headspace album is awesome! All Threshold albums with Damian are really good (and I'll admit that the albums with McDermott are my favorite though) Also, Damian was in band called Landmarq (3 albums if I remember right) - some good stuff there, too.

I'll be exploring these,over the course of the next couple of days, and will report back