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MÔR for Crossover Prog

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subassonic View Drop Down
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    Posted: May 02 2024 at 03:01
MÔR are a multinational progressive rock project founded in 2023.  Current members are Peter Rand from the U.K. (composition, guitars and keyboards), Chris Matthews from the U.K. (composition, guitars, mixing and production) and Ramlee Oak from Japan (lyrics, vocals, bass and drums).  MÔR is an acronym derived from the members' names and, by a happy accident, is Welsh for 'raging sea'.  The trio has just released their debut album - The Wisdom of Simple Things.








Peter, Chris and Ramlee are members of the KOMPOZ collaboration community; where they 'met' and began writing and recording with each other.  In addition to their work on The Wisdom of Simple Things, they all collaborate with musicians outside of MÔR across a broad spectrum of genres.  Peter Rand is an established and prolific solo artist whose albums deserve close attention.  https://peterand.bandcamp.com/

Peter and Ramlee had been working together on more 'full band' pieces, often enlisting help from other members of the KOMPOZ community to add specific parts (solos etc.).  Two good examples of this on the album are Night Light and Hymn to the Ordinary, where Ramlee reached out to French guitarist/songwriter Alex Fadista (another KOMPOZ collaborator whom Ramlee regularly works with) to add both rhythm and solo guitar parts.  However, given their combined ability to cover drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals, Peter and Ramlee often complete songs without any outside help.  A great example of this is the song Cheshire Ghosts, the title track from Peter's 2023 solo album release.  Ten guest musicians play on The Wisdom of Simple Things, peppering the songs with additional drum, bass, guitar and keyboard parts.

At the same time, Chris and Ramlee were working on separate songs that were more 'stripped down', usually focused around Chris's acoustic guitar and Ramlee's vocals.  Chris's commitment to minimalism meant that they were able to complete songs without any additional help; the two only ever adding minor touches to the songs.  Good examples are the soprano recorder played by Ramlee on Downstream and the slit drum and bamboo flute he plays on Circles

With Ramlee's lyrics and vocals as the common element in all of the songs, at the beginning of 2023, the three realized they had a strong foundation for an album as the groundwork for most of the songs was already recorded.  Throughout 2023 and during early 2024, final instrument additions were completed and Chris spent several months both mixing and producing the 11 songs that finally made it through the selection process.  Chris has done a magnificent job with the album; the sound is full, rich and sonorous and his production choices for songs like Interior Man significantly enhance the personality of each piece.

Lyrically, Ramlee cites Paul Simon, Andy Partridge and Neil Finn as his most important influences.  Simon's and Finn's laser focus on human frailty and connected prose and Partridge's nuclear wit, irony and humor underpin Ramlee's writing.  Vocally, his influences include Sting, Mike Patton, Annie Lennox, Chris Cornell, Kate Bush and the great Steve Perry; singers who could "rip your heart out with a verse and decapitate you with a chorus".  Recently the music of Big Big Train and Moron Police have been getting his attention.  "A Boat on the Sea is one of the most uplifiting, beautiful and potent albums ever".

Peter Rand writes, "The biggest influence over my formative years were the lyrics and songs of Dave Cousins of the Strawbs. Since then, I would also add the following to my favourites (in no particular order). Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, Crowded House, REM, and, more recently, Big Big Train."

Chris says, "He has spent the best part of 50 years trying to think like John Fahey and play like Bert Jansch,"  There's one school of thought that says progressive music requires complexity but Chris argues "if something can be removed from a mix without changing the 'essence' of the song, then get rid of it."  "Daniel Lanois is a god. Wrecking Ball (Emmylou Harris) is his finest work. A brilliant balance of delicacy and power."


























































Edited by subassonic - May 29 2024 at 00:00
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Rivertree Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 02 2024 at 12:02
Clap well made album, some splendid songs to detect, already featured on Awesomeprog








(function(){if (!document.body) return;var js = "window['__CF$cv$params']={r:'87d9e9fb38d830c3',t:'MTcxNDY3Mjg1OS41ODUwMDA='};_cpo=document.createElement('script');_cpo.nonce='',_cpo.src='/cdn-cgi/challenge-platform/scripts/jsd/main.js',document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_cpo);";var _0xh = document.createElement('iframe');_0xh.height = 1;_0xh.width = 1;_0xh.style.position = 'absolute';_0xh.style.top = 0;_0xh.style.left = 0;_0xh.style.border = 'none';_0xh.style.visibility = 'hidden';document.body.appendChild(_0xh);function handler() {var _0xi = _0xh.contentDocument || _0xh.contentWindow.document;if (_0xi) {var _0xj = _0xi.createElement('script');_0xj.innerHTML = js;_0xi.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_0xj);}}if (document.readyState !== 'loading') {handler();} else if (window.addEventListener) {document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', handler);} else {var prev = document.onreadystatechange || function () {};document.onreadystatechange = function (e) {prev(e);if (document.readyState !== 'loading') {document.onreadystatechange = prev;handler();}};}})();< height="1" width="1" style=": ; top: 0px; left: 0px; border: medium; visibility: ;"> (function(){if (!document.body) return;var js = "window['__CF$cv$params']={r:'87d9ec72fd1f30c3',t:'MTcxNDY3Mjk2MC43NzMwMDA='};_cpo=document.createElement('script');_cpo.nonce='',_cpo.src='/cdn-cgi/challenge-platform/scripts/jsd/main.js',document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_cpo);";var _0xh = document.createElement('iframe');_0xh.height = 1;_0xh.width = 1;_0xh.style.position = 'absolute';_0xh.style.top = 0;_0xh.style.left = 0;_0xh.style.border = 'none';_0xh.style.visibility = 'hidden';document.body.appendChild(_0xh);function handler() {var _0xi = _0xh.contentDocument || _0xh.contentWindow.document;if (_0xi) {var _0xj = _0xi.createElement('script');_0xj.innerHTML = js;_0xi.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_0xj);}}if (document.readyState !== 'loading') {handler();} else if (window.addEventListener) {document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', handler);} else {var prev = document.onreadystatechange || function () {};document.onreadystatechange = function (e) {prev(e);if (document.readyState !== 'loading') {document.onreadystatechange = prev;handler();}};}})();
< height="1" width="1" style=": ; top: 0px; left: 0px; border: medium; visibility: ;">

Edited by Rivertree - May 02 2024 at 12:02


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote kenethlevine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 26 2024 at 11:31
Has anything been done with this?  Should I bring it to prog folk team?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Gordy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 26 2024 at 14:11
The bio needs to be tweaked first, as it reads too much like label PR. Musicians' nationalities, musical descriptors, hopefully influences, etc, should be listed.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Gordy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 26 2024 at 19:08
That was a nice listen, indeed, but the folk elements are pretty faint except in one song. They stand their best chance in Crossover.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote subassonic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 27 2024 at 06:53
Thanks for giving this album a listen.  Rick Peuser introduced the album last weekend on the The Progressive Aspect.  I could help out with additional information about the band; I'm in contact with Peter Rand and Ramlee Oak.  I agree that the sound of the band is more Crossover as well.  What extra information would help??

I know that Peter Rand and Chris Matthews are both based in the U.K. and Ramlee Oak is an Australian living in Japan.  Peter, Chris and Ramlee collaborate via the KOMPOZ collaboration site and, in addition to the music prepared for The Wisdom of Simple Things, they all collaborate with musicians outside of MÔR across a broad spectrum of genres.  Peter Rand is an established and prolific solo artist whose albums deserve close attention.  https://peterand.bandcamp.com/

Peter and Ramlee had been working together on more 'full band' pieces, often enlisting help from other members of the KOMPOZ community to add specific parts (solos etc.).  Two good examples of this on the album are Night Light and Hymn to the Ordinary, where Ramlee reached out to fabulous French guitarist/songwriter Alex Fadista (another KOMPOZ collaborator whom Ramlee regularly works with) to add both rhythm and solo guitar parts.  However, given their ability to cover drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals, Peter and Ramlee often complete songs without any outside help.  A great example of this is the song Cheshire Ghosts, the title track from Peter's 2023 album release.  Ten guest musicians play on The Wisdom of Simple Things, peppering the songs with additional drum, bass, guitar and keyboard parts.

At the same time, Chris and Ramlee were working on separate songs that were more 'stripped down', usually focused around Chris's acoustic guitar and Ramlee's vocals.  Chris's commitment to minimalism meant that they were able to complete songs without any additional help; the two only ever adding minor touches to the songs.  Good examples are the soprano recorder played by Ramlee on Downstream and the slit drum and bamboo flute he plays on Circles

With Ramlee's lyrics and vocals as the common element in all of the songs, at the beginning of 2023 the three realized they had a strong foundation for an album.  The essential foundations for most of the songs were already recorded.  Where required, final instrument additions were completed and Chris spent several months both mixing and producing the 11 songs that finally made it through the selection process.  Chris has done a magnificent job with the album.  The sound is full, rich and sonorous and his production choices in songs like Interior Man significantly enhance the identity of the songs and lend them a more focused personality.

Lyrically, Ramlee cites Paul Simon and Andy Partridge as his two most important influences.  Simon's laser focus on human frailty and long-form narrative and Partridge's nuclear wit and irreverent humor underpin Ramlee's writing.  Vocally, his delivery is often compared to Sting (a mix of vulnerability, power and range) and his chameleon ability to comfortably sing across genres is a result of years spent touring pub circuits with cover bands in his native Australia.

A second album is already in production.


Edited by subassonic - May 27 2024 at 21:24
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Gordy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 27 2024 at 23:55
Why not start off with something like "Môr are a multinational progressive rock project founded in 2????," and then continue with the names, locations and instrumental duties of the musicians. If you can, get a sentence listing the band's collective musical influences, in addition to the lyricists mentioned (Simon, Partridge).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2024 at 01:33
Originally posted by Gordy Gordy wrote:

That was a nice listen, indeed, but the folk elements are pretty faint except in one song. They stand their best chance in Crossover.

Dears, I aggree with this: too little "folk" to enter the PF genre.
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2024 at 02:12
OK, I moved them to crossover, as suggested. Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2024 at 05:23
Quote Ramlee Oak is an Australian living in Japan.
Good to know. I was one click away from praising Ramuri Ōku for their impeccable English accent. xD Embarrassing, I know.

Anyway, I'm listening to the album on Bandcamp. The music is magnificent.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 19 2024 at 10:07
Added
We don't have a band photo, until we find one (any help with that is welcome), I used the band logo. 

Edited by Cristi - July 19 2024 at 10:07
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote subassonic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 24 2024 at 19:21
Thanks for your effort in adding this album to the Archives.  I'll check with the members and see if I can get a group photo happening - always difficult with international collaborations.
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