Abundance of one-man "bands" in modern prog |
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docall27
Forum Newbie Joined: December 22 2012 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Status: Offline Points: 35 |
Posted: January 15 2013 at 23:37 | |||
The thing this thread has struggled to imply is that a band MUST be better, ignoring the fact that one-person vs band are equally valid avenues of artistic expression. Keeping in mind that one man created Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and a band created Dark Side of the Moon - both towering artistic achievements, the real issue here is that such moments are VERY rare. These rare moments have occurred in both instances and will continue to be VERY rare. The rest will not be as good. However, that does not mean the rest is bad either. The rest is what we spend most of our time listening to. That the towering moments only occur rarely has nothing to do with one person vs a band. It has everything to do with the rareness of such events.
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 23 2005 Location: Caerdydd Status: Offline Points: 32995 |
Posted: January 15 2013 at 09:12 | |||
I think we all understand Richard Pryor...
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: January 15 2013 at 08:58 | |||
Okay - in simple terms -
"Lucked out" in the USA means good luck, to experience great luck; to be extremely fortunate or lucky
"Lucked out" in the UK it means the exact opposite, it means your luck has run out, unlucky, bad luck.
When referring to a British artist, performer or band I'd stick to the British meaning myself, but hey-ho.
So... Which particular Richard Pryor stand-up routine do you not expect me to understand? Which Sam Kinison stand-up routine do you not expect me to understand? I do like being underestimated.
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moshkito
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 04 2007 Location: Grok City Status: Offline Points: 17497 |
Posted: January 15 2013 at 08:32 | |||
Still don't know what you mean ... but then I don't expect you to understand Richard Pryor or Sam Kenniston either ... !!!
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: January 14 2013 at 17:18 | |||
^ No, I really mean that "lucked out" obviously has the opposite meaning in the USA than it does in the UK.
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moshkito
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 04 2007 Location: Grok City Status: Offline Points: 17497 |
Posted: January 14 2013 at 14:10 | |||
I actually think that it is a great idea for starting a band ... you know what you want and how ... and here it is ... and if someone wants to play with it, fine, if they don't ... fine!
I keep thinking that Robert Fripp should have done that 30 years ago!
Luck or no luck, grabbing Richard Barbieri was obvsiously a monster ... that helped make the band ... unless Richard was starving an dliving in a backyard nearby and hobo'ing during the evenings he was not playing! And the other 3 folks are not exactly bad players ... a bit too clinical for my tastes, but still very good and the combination is good.
Funny thing is that Steven sounds different on his own ... and like a different band ... and that means PT is not quite Steven, and he had to give up a portion of that world!
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: January 13 2013 at 15:50 | |||
"lucked out" obviously has the opposite meaning in the USA than it does in the UK.
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moshkito
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 04 2007 Location: Grok City Status: Offline Points: 17497 |
Posted: January 13 2013 at 12:52 | |||
I always liked the fact that Steven Wilson fooled all of us by creating a band, selling the stuff on cassettes for a couple of years, and everyone thought it was great ... and then he lucked out with a couple of great musicians to support him to make an excellent band.
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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Prog_Traveller
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 29 2005 Location: Bucks county PA Status: Offline Points: 1474 |
Posted: January 12 2013 at 22:17 | |||
I haven't noticed that many to be honest. Maybe I'm not paying that close attention though. Has Soniq Theater been mentioned yet? They(he)is the best one man prog band in a long time imo.
Edited by Prog_Traveller - January 12 2013 at 22:18 |
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moshkito
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 04 2007 Location: Grok City Status: Offline Points: 17497 |
Posted: January 12 2013 at 15:28 | |||
I really believe that it is too soon to make that distinction and determination ... it will probably be another 10 to 20 years, before we can see some better examples of the work in action and things kinda go back to the "composer" thing, instead of "band" thing.
This whole technological thing is too new ... for goodness' sakes ... I can play with the VST's and Jupiter 8V software just fine ... but recording it and adding to it in a DAW? ... I'm worse than a mentally retarted nerd! Maybe being blind is an issue, because you can play by feel ... but you CA NOT record by feel!
But get ready for hundreds and hundreds of Mike Oldfields and the like ... once the rap things kinda die down a bit, and some of the top ten dried out until something new shows up.
In many ways, and we do not see it, folks like Kate Bush, Madonna and many others are "one-person" bands, in that they usually create their music in its entirety ... and that is almost another element that we're not capable of discussing in this area, which also fits! The same issue rests in "prog" as it does, anywhere else ... and I'm not sure that we should be discussing one and not the other, or see the parallels in all of them!
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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JS19
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 10 2010 Location: Lancaster, UK Status: Offline Points: 1321 |
Posted: January 08 2013 at 07:16 | |||
I completely understand your argument, but I think you got the wrong end of mine. I was not arguing only in favour of technology and dismissing all previous ways of creating music. In fact, I didn't mean for that point to really be about music at all, simply to illustrate that thinking any technological advancement is an abomination compared to the way things used to be is an incredibly short sighted opinion. I respect both current and past technologies and the way that older ways of handling music meant more care and attention into the mastering and producing ect. I didn;t mean for my point to come across as dismissing everything that has come before, because that is NOT what I believe at all - I apologise for the lack of clarification.
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Anaon
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 01 2005 Location: Kobaļa Status: Offline Points: 849 |
Posted: January 08 2013 at 07:02 | |||
Very interesting thread! As a one man band myself with Spleen Arcana, I couldn't help myself to reply
I played in various bands, and it was great to play live and meet other musicians, I truly miss it but I started to play and record alone very naturally when other musicians didn't want to follow the same path as me (which is ok of course, it depends on a lot of things, musical reasons most of the times but also human reasons). The fact is it's very hard to find musicians who want to go in the same musical direction, so... Just to say it was not a question of ego, like I wanted to play everything just to play everything. I gave up on the drums because I had the chance to find a great drummer who plays far better than me I absolutely agree with the original poster about the magic of a band playing live in the studio, recording together (I'm thinking of the Yes footage recording Going For The One, in Montreux I believe) BUT many recordings are just done like one man band, one instrument at a time, and sending files between musicians is more and more commun (I'm thinking about Transatlantic for example). Mike Oldfield being one of my heroes, I truly like the way he recorded his albums alone but with additional guests to add even more magic to his music
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Sumdeus
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 23 2012 Location: SF Bay Area Status: Offline Points: 831 |
Posted: January 08 2013 at 03:20 | |||
yeah lol, most one man projects usually build a home studio of sorts or use a real studio, it's not like they're recording everything through the macbook microphone or some sh*t...
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Sumdeus - surreal space/psych/prog journeys
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: January 08 2013 at 02:11 | |||
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Surrealist
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 12 2012 Location: Squonk Status: Offline Points: 232 |
Posted: January 08 2013 at 00:39 | |||
The majority of the time, the major labels did a good job making sure their artists were recorded, engineered and produced properly.
Self produced bands have not have a good history. Even YES failed on Going for the One and Tormato. Tormato could have been a great record with better direction. Going for the One was simply recorded terribly. The spun digital releases are usually poorly engineered. You can't properly mix an album on computer bookshelf speakers or ipod earbuds. That's silly. A truly great album needs to be a team effort with a good producer and engineer. There are not may Jimmy Page's walking around this earth unfortunately. More releases from indie one man band guys does not equate better quality or product. It could.. but not likely. The old way was the better way.. sorry to break the news to you.. but it is just fact. No one has out done the great prog acts of the past. You settle for less.... not me... |
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M27Barney
Forum Senior Member Joined: November 09 2006 Location: Swinton M27 Status: Offline Points: 3136 |
Posted: January 07 2013 at 14:26 | |||
To be fair - I've not been in a McDonalds since my two sons grew up and started to appreciate real food - like special mixed kebabs and arctic moose vindaloo and the such...so I haven't set foot in one for about 15 years......
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: January 07 2013 at 14:00 | |||
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M27Barney
Forum Senior Member Joined: November 09 2006 Location: Swinton M27 Status: Offline Points: 3136 |
Posted: January 07 2013 at 13:54 | |||
Edited by M27Barney - January 07 2013 at 13:55 |
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HackettFan
Forum Senior Member Joined: June 20 2012 Location: Oklahoma Status: Offline Points: 7951 |
Posted: January 07 2013 at 13:27 | |||
That's right. Knowing how hard it was before and how easy it is now, I am excited by this. I can't fathom the lack of enthusiasm about this. This is opportunity. Everything digital is not great or awful just because it's digital. MP3s suck, for instance, and I would like to hear more dynamic contrast and less compression, but we can pick and choose the best of the digital age as it evolves.
Right. Although I would throw in 'creativity', 'innovativeness' and other such descriptive nouns to your statement. I'm not convinced by arguments from others that quality of musicianship is or will decline. It was no better or worse in the past.
Yes, this is a well-measured appropriately moderate viewpoint in my eyes.
Edited by HackettFan - January 07 2013 at 13:31 |
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Dean
Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: January 07 2013 at 13:25 | |||
And those conditions are equally valid for a band - it is much easier for a band to record than it was decades ago, and we are seeing that today as well - more bands are self-recording, self-producing and self-releasing - the most popular Prog albums of the past year has seen a significant increase in self-recorded and self-released albums. This is a shifting trend that now sees the big boys having to compete with these little "indie" bands and the one-man bands (like Dean Watson and Colin Mold) on an equal footing for once.
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