Discover an Unfamilliar Artist

Niki, do you want to know the history of the Canterbury Scene, or which albums to start with in your listening journey?

Mojo Magazine have just had a top ten Canterbury Scene buyers guide in their recent addition, the top ten is:

10. Khan - Space Shanty
9. National Health - Of Queues and Cures
8. Soft Machine - Third
7. Gong - Camembert Electrique
6. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
5. Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom
4. Kevin Ayers - The Joy of a Toy
3. Caravan - If I Could Do it All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
2. Hatfield and the North - Rotters' Club
1. Soft Machine - Volume One and Two

Which is not that far off for a list, actually.

Now where to start with Canterbury?  Well the problem with the Canterbury Scene is that it doesn't represent a sound so much, so if you like one album, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll like other albums.

For a sense of what the scene originally was about, check out Caravan's 2nd and 3rd albums and then listen to Soft Machine's first two.  From there, I would say travel the astro-plane and listen to some early Gong and Kevin Ayers.  Then it's time for Wyatt's Rock Bottom.

After that, the music will become more jazz-orientated (Soft Machine's Third and onwards, Nucleus albums, Gong's later albums and even Robert Wyatt and Caravan get jazzier), so if you're not so keen on jazz, approach the latter titles with caution.  If course, if you like jazz, then it maybe more beneficial to start with these latter releases and work backwards.

I do not know much Zappa or Rush, so somebody else will have to talk about them.

LeInsomniac wrote: eheh let us discuss... Mr.Bungle.

Edited by #1floydfan - July 30 2007 at 12:48

eheh let us discuss... Mr.Bungle.

kazansky wrote: i'd like to know about Maudlin of the Well

I like to think of maudlin of the Well and Kayo Dot somewhat as the same band, as when listening to both bands' discographies the natural progression of the bands' music becomes evident.

Toby Driver is the musical mastermind behind both of these bands, though in maudlin of the Well his dominance is slightly less pronounced. In maudlin of the Well, Jason Byron was in charge of the lyrics, keyboards, and some vocals, while guitarist Greg Massi took a part in writing some of the music. There's also a very prominent avant-garde classical influence present in Kayo Dot's music that is mostly absent from maudlin of the Well's.

maudlin of the Well is predominantly a metal band, though they often stray into other musical territories, and indeed the musical palette of the band is quite eclectic. They have plenty of soft parts in their music, but not in the same way as Opeth, for example. They have four interludes on their lattter two albums that are in this idiom. I can pretty much guarantee that even their predominantly metal stuff will have little no resemblance to anything else you've heard.

maudlin of the Well's first album is a bit immature, and is not up to par with the rest of Driver's recent work. The production is also not nearly as polished as motW's latter two albums, which were produced and released at the same time.

An interesting curio about maudlin of the Well's music is that Driver claims most of the composition was aided with the use of astral projection. Interlude 4 was apparently entirely dreamt. I'm not really sure how this works, exactly~

As far as I know, maudlin of the Well was Driver's first serious band, though he had produced music as a solo artist for many years under the name "Spoonion," although most of this work is too amateurish to really be taken seriously. He also has two other major sideprojects: his solo work, which is basically weird avant-garde classical/soundscapes, and Tartar Lamb, which is an avant-garde classical electric guitar/violin duo.

Along with Mark Hollis, Toby Driver is probably my favorite musical force of the last ten years or so.

chamberry wrote: Proletariat wrote: chamberry wrote: Proletariat wrote: Well prometeius, I personally think that Isis just chooses words that sound cool, kinda like how Tool names their songs.   I have recently been wanting to get into the math rock genre, could someone fill me in on Hella and Dan Cabellero. Personally speaking I don't think both bands are that great for introduction into the genre, but they're one of the best in what they do. From Don Caballero I've only heard their Don Caballero 2 album. It harsh, raw, complex and just plain ugly (in a good way). It has some industrial influences as well in some songs. The thing I like about the genre is that the songs are always moving somewhere. They never have a solid ground (or in this case a time signature) to play in. The same can be said about Hella, but they are lighter and less raw than Don Caballero, but the idea is still present. They're more quirky and listening to it just makes you want to dance like if you where having an epileptic attack. I find Hella more accessible than Don Caballero. The best place to start with them is with their debut, Hold Your Horse Is.There are other math rock bands that tend to heavier or even softer than these two, but that's for another discussion. By the way, I highly recommend you check out the band Oxes while searching the genre. Their second album, Oxxxes, is very addicting and one of the albums that made me more interested in the genre. I will definatelly check out Oxes. another question, does Don Caballero sound like Battles at all, I know that the bands are related and I like Battles From the samples I've heard of Battles they don't sound alike. Battles seemed more colorful while Don Caballero's sound is like black and white. I hope that made sense to you. There's a streamable song from Don Caballero in their band page here in PA so check it out if curious.

Oxes s/t album from 2000 is also excellent... and all the Don Cab CDs are worth it; Don Caballero 2, Singles Breaking Up, American Don, World Class Listening Problem-- other great Math Rockers to look into are the Hosemobile, Sweep the Leg Johnny, Sleeping People, Autoclave, June of 44, Maps and Atlases, and the math metal band Dysrhythmia.








Edited by Atavachron - July 30 2007 at 00:45

Great idea HT,  some of us are obsessed with certain bands and have a bit more of information or even know a couple of Prog artists and got some information from them that we could share, but over all this is the chance for some Prog musicians in the Forum to come out and give us some valuable and juicy information.

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - July 30 2007 at 00:25

Easy Livin wrote: It's a nice thought Bhikku, but I'm puzzled what you think this thread will offer which the biographies and reviews do not already accomplish. What am I missing?

Simply, open discussion. You may get a few answers from reviews, but it's not like getting a direct response to a question, is it? There are also people who have not written reviews that still have some good info. Another thing is response to an opinion. You can't reference another review when reviewing. Here you can respond to an earlier statement.

Hope that clears it up.

Proletariat wrote: chamberry wrote: Proletariat wrote: Well prometeius, I personally think that Isis just chooses words that sound cool, kinda like how Tool names their songs.   I have recently been wanting to get into the math rock genre, could someone fill me in on Hella and Dan Cabellero. Personally speaking I don't think both bands are that great for introduction into the genre, but they're one of the best in what they do. From Don Caballero I've only heard their Don Caballero 2 album. It harsh, raw, complex and just plain ugly (in a good way). It has some industrial influences as well in some songs. The thing I like about the genre is that the songs are always moving somewhere. They never have a solid ground (or in this case a time signature) to play in. The same can be said about Hella, but they are lighter and less raw than Don Caballero, but the idea is still present. They're more quirky and listening to it just makes you want to dance like if you where having an epileptic attack. I find Hella more accessible than Don Caballero. The best place to start with them is with their debut, Hold Your Horse Is. There are other math rock bands that tend to heavier or even softer than these two, but that's for another discussion. By the way, I highly recommend you check out the band Oxes while searching the genre. Their second album, Oxxxes, is very addicting and one of the albums that made me more interested in the genre. I will definatelly check out Oxes. another question, does Don Caballero sound like Battles at all, I know that the bands are related and I like Battles

From the samples I've heard of Battles they don't sound alike. Battles seemed more colorful while Don Caballero's sound is like black and white. I hope that made sense to you. There's a streamable song from Don Caballero in their band page here in PA so check it out if curious.

Explain to me....  Versailles.

Well prometeius, I personally think that Isis just chooses words that sound cool, kinda like how Tool names their songs.