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pepefloyd View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pepefloyd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 25 2007 at 21:11
i recommmend to check my signature :P hehe on the radio now :)

Edited by pepefloyd - January 25 2007 at 21:11
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote honganji Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 27 2007 at 12:02
I recommend this album.
 
 
 
Sound Horizon / Elysion - Rakuen Genso Mongatari Kumikyoku (楽園幻想物語組曲)
 
Fantasic total album. Sound Horizon's best masterpiece ?!
Aramary's voice must fascinate many listeners (especially male !! LOL), I believe. Approve
Symphonic rock style Gudrun (this is not so lunatic nor avant-garde as that masterpiece) ?! I think Sound Horizon is the best selling band in today's Japanese scene but even Japanese proggers seldom talk about this group.
 
Revo / keyboard, guitar, etc
Aramary/vocal, narration, voice, chorus
+ many guest musicians (oboe, flute, violin, drums, trumpet, bass, uillean pipe, etc)
 
Aramary's true name is Arai Mariko. Revo is unknown.
 
-WARNING-
Aramary already left this group in 2006 ! This is the last album sung by her.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Felido Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2007 at 11:45
Please listen from Leon Guanajuato... "Toccata", is an wanderful album, my favorite song is "la carrera de las vacas" esta loquisima y chingonsisima, i recommend you search for latin progressive rock, hasta la proxima.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote avestin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2007 at 12:06
I was going to recommend this before but decided to wait for Erik to add them when I saw him mentioning them and his intentions to add them.
This is the Brazilian symphonic prog band DIAPASÃO*.
 
Here is the bio he wrote for them in PA:
This band is rooted in 2002 when 17 year old keyboard player Rodrigo Lana starts to write compositions on his piano, he is thinking of a future as a professional musician. To realise a musical project he begins to search for musicians, eventually Rodrigo forms a trio with two other musicians in 2004. First bass – and classical guitar player Gustavo Ameral, they attented the same music school in Belo Horizonte. Then drummer Moreira, he and Rodrigo know each other from the band Mestiço in which Rodrigo is also involved. He succeeds to convince Gustavo to join Rodrigo in his new musical project. The name of his band becomes Diapasao, it's derived from a small metallic object that is used to tune instruments and voices. In May 2005 they start the recordings for their first album in a studio in Belo Horizonte but it lasts until November 2006 before Diapasao finally releases their first album entitled Opus 1 on the label Masque records.
- Diapasao their music is an often dynamic and bombastic keyboard driven blend of classical, symphonic prog and jazz with strong hints from ELP featuring exciting work on the Grand piano (lots of virtuosic solo parts), organ, harpsichord and synthesizers along wonderful contributions on classical guitar, violin and cello.
"
 
You can listen to samples there.
 
Here is Erok;s review:
"

DIAPASÃO* — Opus 1

Review by erik neuteboom (erik neuteboom)
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Prog Expert

4%20stars This is a Brasilian trio in which the band members play keyboards, bass and acoustic guitar and drums, with guest musicians on violin and cello. Their debut CD has strong classical undertones, mainly due to the frequent work on the Grand piano.

1. Diapasoa (8.05) : What an impressive start: after sparkling work on harpsichord, accompanied by a fluent rhythm-section, a long piece on the Grand piano follows, I am blown away by Rodrigo Lana his skills on the keyboards, what a virtuosic! Then we hear orchestral keyboards and some flashy synthesizer lfights along a surprising break with swinging jazzy piano play (with hints from Keith Emerson).

2. Som Do Brasil (1.54) : A short song featuring wonderful work on piano and acoustic guitar including a beautiful duet that sounds very warm.

3. Sonata (6.08) : After an intro with orchestral keyboards, a piece with melancholical piano follows, then it’s swinging time with the distinctive Hammond organ sound, obviously inspired by Keith Emerson. The rhythm-section plays outstanding. The final part is an impressive solo piece on piano.

4. Do Ceu Ao Inferno (7.51) : This composition features guest musicians on violin and cello, they match perfectly with the classical piano. After a solo piece, the music gradually turns into a bombastic sound with virtuosic piano.

5. Fuga (2.01) : This is chamber music delivering classical guitar (with a Spanish undertone) and the distinctive harpsichord, I love these instruments!

6. Noite A La Caipirinha (8.05) : A very swinging rhythm with sparkling piano and then a bombastic climate with orchestral keyboards and an adventurous rhythm-section.

7. Rock Espanhol (3.12) : A swirling solo piece on paino, very alternating, awesome!

8. Jazz (5.29) : Indeed, jazz rules in this song, we can enjoy very swinging, jazzy inspired piano work.

9. Piccolo Finale (0.57) : This final composition features a swinging and dynamic atmosphere with a funny end, a good contrast with the virtuosic climate on the whole album.

If you like keyboard-driven prog like ELP, Trace, Triumvirat or Ars Nova, this great debut CD by Brasilian band Diapasao will delight you!

"

 
 
 
For all those who keep wondering about the state of symph prog nowadays, this is one example of it being alive (and kicking).
 
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote eugene Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2007 at 15:37

I would like to recommend another album by outstanding contemporary artist Robin Taylor. And here is the article about it by John Kelman, which I found on All About Jazz site

Oyster's Apprentice

Taylor's Universe with Karsten Vogel | Marvel of Beauty (2005)

 

If I learned anything on my recent trip to Punktfest in Norway, it’s that there’s a world of music out there which is lucky if it even receives a passing nod in North America. The internet has made it possible to gain access to much of this material, although one has to know where to look. The stylistically flexible Danish multi-instrumentalist Robin Taylor nearly gave up music at one point, like so many before and since—but beginning in the mid-1990s, he began releasing albums under his own name, Taylor’s Free Universe and Taylor’s Universe. This release by Taylor’s Universe, Oyster’s Apprentice, begs the question: “Where have I been?”

Unlike TFU, which is more improvisation-based, Taylor’s Universe focuses on Taylor’s considerable skills as composer and sound sculptor. Generally symphonic progressive rock with a variety of references, Oyster’s Apprentice’s eclecticism succeeds despite itself through a thematic approach to composition that threads its way throughout the record regardless of style.

While Taylor’s writing maintains a structural framework throughout, there are moments closing in on pure abandon. There’s nothing similar about its shuffle rhythm, but there’s something about “Ghost Reporters” that's reminiscent of recently deceased Canterbury drummer Pip Pyle’s “Foetal Fandango,” from his 1985 album Equipe Out. Saxophonist Karsten Vogel—a 1960s avant garde pioneer and a founding member of the 1970s progressive rock group Secret Oyster—creates an alto horn section singlehandedly for the song’s infectious melody. But the centerpiece is guitarist Jon Hemmersam’s solo, which begins on the inside but gradually moves towards greater extremes, approaching anarchy before reaching a climax that suddenly returns to the song’s original theme.

“That Strange Plaza” is episodic in nature, beginning with a harmonium pedal tone over which Taylor layers edgy electronic noise. Drummer Rasmus Grosell begins to push a four-on-the-floor rhythm as the song becomes a feature for Hemmersam’s electric sitar, only to shift into a paradoxically moody yet rhythmically focused section where Taylor’s arpeggiated keyboards underpin Vogel’s lyrical solo.

Even when the meter is irregular, as it is on the all-too-brief “Joe Hill’s Recorder,” Taylor’s memorable melodies provide a hook to hang on. Taylor’s work is sometimes reminiscent of Mike Oldfield, similarly building layer upon layer of instruments to create songs that retain a surprising immediacy, even though they're clearly being constructed over time. “Lost Title” centers around a repetitive arpeggio, but Taylor’s layers of piano, synthesizers and guitars, along with Vogel’s saxophones and clarinet, create a vividly orchestral sound. “Vue (Time Bolero)” evokes King Crimson’s “The Devil’s Triangle” and “Bolero-The Peacock’s Tale”—dark and dramatic, though never as chaotic as the former or as overtly jazz-like as the latter.

That Taylor has nearly twenty albums out under his name, Taylor’s Universe and Taylor’s Free Universe is the real surprise. Oyster’s Apprentice is a strong entry point, though it’s only one aspect of this surprising discovery’s musical talents.

Visit Taylor's Universe with Karsten Vogel on the web.


Track listing: Ghost Reporters; That Strange Plaza; Joe Hill's Recorder; Lost Title; Vue (Time Bolero); Aiolos; Iron Wood; The Arrangement.

Personnel: Karsten Vogel: saxophones, bass clarinet; Jon Hemmersam: guitar, Variax; Robin Taylor: keyboards, guitars, recorders, percussion; Kalle Mathiesen: drums (1,5,8); Rasmus Grosell: drums (2-4,6,7); Louise Nipper: voice (3,5,8).

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote progressive Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 30 2007 at 06:53
Anyone heard Montage? It hit me in pandora.com on Arkham radio. It's canterbury, maybe, and sounded quite good. (Well, Arkam is supposed to be zeuhl, but sounds canterbury)

Edited by progressive - January 30 2007 at 06:56

► rateyourmusic.com/~Fastro 2672 ratings ▲ last.fm/user/Fastro 5556 artists ▲ www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=4933 266◄
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 30 2007 at 15:18
Hi! Im am from Argentina, and Im a lover of progresive music!

this is my first post and I would like to recommend at first one of the greatest bands of this time, wich is Porcupine Tree, leaded by the genious Steve Wilson.

the albums I recommendo from this band are: Signify, Lightbulb Sun, Deadwing, and, of course, In Absentia.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zitro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2007 at 15:57
I recommend Pain of Salvation's Scarsick, some of the most emotional and best-written music I've heard in a while. (though if you look for technical playing and complex rhythms, look elsewhere)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Drew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 01 2007 at 22:26
Maximun Indifference - prog from San Fran

http://www.maximumindifference.com/evidence/




Edited by Drew - February 01 2007 at 22:28



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote proger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2007 at 06:58
sigur ros-taak
...live for tomorrow...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Philéas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2007 at 07:18
If you can get hold of it, Mosaïc's only album Ultimatum is very highly recommended.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2007 at 17:47

I would like to recommend the newest Notabene's album titled Sei Lacrime d'Ambra. A strong symphonic prog record clearly inspired by the italian classic tradition and based on exciting interplay between keyboards and electric guitars!

2007 seems to have started very well!Clap

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote avestin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2007 at 16:42
Deadnaught - Musica In Flagrante
I recently bought this album from Big Balloon music (which also released this). There is plenty of different styles performed here and it sure will satisfy those of you looking for original, eclectic and a more experimental approach (but I wouldn't tag it Avant as I see other do).
They are in PA under JR/F which I believe is wrong, as it's only a small part of what they do, and I believe they should be in Art-Rock (the team knows of this and are inspecting it).
Here is their bio here in PA:
DREADNAUGHT explores a unique blend of prog and traditional American music – call it 'symphonic Bluegrass' if you will, or 'Progabilly' as the band like to call it themselves. If the mere mention of the words makes you cringe, however, think again: only the most rabid country-music-hating ProgSnobs would scorn these guys. This highly entertaining outfit blends some of the most unlikely elements ever to be found in prog. Although predominantly instrumental, their albums feature a fair number of vocal pieces recalling early PHISH; touches of The DIXIE DREGS and KANSAS also come through in the violin filled tracks.

They have released four studio albums since 1998. Their first (self-titled) features among other tracks a number of live showstoppers from 1996 to 1999. Their second, "Una Vez Mas" (2000), is an eclectic and vibrant sonic excursion that veers from tightly arranged, hook-filled pieces to improvisational prog-soul hybrids. "The American Standard" (2001), yet another stewing brew of sturdy jazz rock with Southern accents, remains a fan favourite todate, although a brand new album has just been released, "Musica en Flagrante" (2004), which is said to be less rockabilly and features more Fender Rhodes.

Highly recommended to fans of the HAMPTON GREASE BAND, BOZZIO LEVINS STEVENS and LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT.

: : : Lise (HIBOU), CANADA : : :
 
 
 
Here is Dieter Fischer review (although I do not subscribe to the 5 star rating, I agree in general with his praises and like his reviews):

DREADNAUGHT — Musica En Flagrante

Review by hdfisch (Dieter Fischer)
PROG REVIEWER

5%20stars Avant-Garde?? Fusion? Never mind! Certainly an awesome masterpiece in progressive music!!

DREADNAUGHT is a very interesting unique band and as far as I read none of their albums is similar to another, moreover there are no comparisons possible to any other band. Nevertheless when listening carefully to their music one can detect direct influences like Zappa, King Crimson, Country, Hillbilly, Blues, Jazz and modern electronic as well as some modern chamber music. Actually their sound is in a way impossible to describe. I would call it something like Avant-Fusion if there would be such a thing, not really like the mostly hard to be digested stuff usually presented in Avant-Garde but some innovative music that can be absolutely enjoying for anyone with an open mind and open ears.

“Musica En Flagrante” contains 19 tracks most of them being shorter than 3 minutes. This fact might bring to mind artists like Mike Patton or Mike Keneally showing similar structures on their albums. But I’ve to say that Dreadnaught’s music is much more pleasant to the ears and I dare say (without putting those musicians down) it is of superior quality. Although styles are being changed at times within seconds the seemingly constant flow of the music is not disrupted at any moment. One could say that they thoroughly reconstructed their influences by adding them up to their very own material and created like this an entirely independent truly self-contained music style. Sometimes there are motifs placed next to each other that never have been joined in that way and even no one before would have thought that they fit together. But like a big wondrous surprise it really works and the result is just astounding. Though it’s really almost impossible to describe the music offered here I’ll try to give at least a rough overview of the CD. But anyway I’d like to advice everybody just to listen to it and to expect the unexpected.

The slightly ambient opener “R. Daneel Olivaw” (title taken from a novel by Isaac Asimov) is with its laidback groove a perfect introduction to the band’s sound. Thereafter the styles are going from surf sound over some type of semi-improvised avant-garde with moderate dissonance played on piano and brass to the highly playful “Tiny Machines” sounding like a weird alienated modern and rocking version of ancient movie score track “The Clou” (if I’m not wrong). Then comes one of my favorites on here the kinda acid jazz piece “Northern Pike” with an amazingly cool harmonica revealing a bit the style called “Progabilly” they had become known for after their album “The American Standard”. This is the longest track on here and really great stuff I just can say. The short “Gulf of Tonkin” is rocking off to something called “Pants Down” (in two pieces) that sounds again quite avant-gardistic, dark and rather industrial-alike. “Big Cats” and “Threnody…” are opening in a way second half of the album which is overall less upbeat with a more orchestral and film score like approach. Some people call the second half somehow weaker and less interesting than the first one. I would say it’s just different, not as quirky as the first couple of pieces having a more lush and symphonic atmosphere but without any apparent decrease in quality. “Fanfare for a losing team” is a kind of Zappa-tinged modern chamber rock whereas “The Boston Crab” is returning to a more guitar and bass dominated sound with some metal-alike eruptions. “Elba”, another one of the few longer tracks is another favorite of mine, a piece dominated by a dark keyboard sound and bass. Before the album is closed by “Royal Jelly”, a guitar dominated rather upbeat track there is the chamber rock piece “The Sirens Of Titan” which is subdivided by four parts and offers some great violin sound in gypsy style.

To summarize my impression of this work I just can say that there isn’t any moment of boredom present neither are there any parts filled with everlasting soloing or enervating dissonance and oddity. I’m not sure if my review can help anyone to get an idea what this CD sounds like. I just hope so and possibly I could at least quicken the appetite of some people with an affinity for some innovative and adventurous music done with extremely artistic skills and talents. I can’t see any reason for resisting to give the highest score for this.

Posted Tuesday, May 30, 2006, 15:16 EST | Permanent link

 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote eugene Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2007 at 17:01
^^^I love this album. I have their American Standard as well - quite good one, but I find Musica In Flagrante to be much better, maybe due to absence of vocals and the diversity of music itself.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 05 2007 at 21:35
Although they are to come by, I recommend  Coventum l'Affut d'un Complot And Le Match - Legendes. Both fine examplesof a nascent Quebec prog scene. Beware if collectors' site, as Sean Trane has told me that Le Match listed as as much of $100 or 80 euros on auction sites. Le Match is good, but I got it a second hand record shop for $12cad, or about 10 euros. For those of you who are bit familiar with the quebecois scene, Le match sound like a few bands that would come out later - some Beau Dommage & Garolou, is both had used organs. There are more prog passages that musically & lyrically recal COnventum. I hope to post a more complete review on Le Match in the next few weeks.

When I am King, my wife will be the first one at the mall Wink


Edited by pantacruelgruel - February 05 2007 at 21:37
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote avestin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 05 2007 at 22:02
Originally posted by pantacruelgruel pantacruelgruel wrote:



When I am King, my wife will be the first one at the mall Wink
 
Thanks for being so considerate. I thought you had class, but then you keep on doing something I explained you know nothing of (in the 2006 best album thread, which was erased along with your post, which had nothing to do with the thread). Really mature and considerate. I appreciate it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anyway if we are with Quebec, I'd like to recommend a recent purchase of mine:
Here is the PA bio:
Toubabou is a sort of continuation of the supergroup VEBB (Ville Emard Blues Band which was anything but a blues band, most member having played or will play in other Quebec major progressive groups). Despite Stanley and Farmer ending up in HARMONIUM and Lise Cousineau having played in many groups before, the real leader is percussioniste Michel Séguin (no relation with twins Richard and Marie Claire Séeguin also on the progressive front of music), the group even taking their name after the nickname of Séguin given to him by Africans friends: Toubabou Djebe Folla – white men playing drums. The groups starts from the meeting of students: artistes from Mali, Senegal and Togo as a cultural exchange.

The first album will be recorded live at the Superfrancofetes on the Abraham plains (where Quebec had lost its independence over the loyalists in the 18th century) in front of a crowd of 50 thousands +. The thread of the album is to present the two units one jazz rock (so typical of the superb instrumental jazz-rock invogue in Quebec around the time), the other playing traditional African chants. As the concert unfolds there is more and more interaction between the music, some tracks veering towards Cajun music. The following year, Toubabou will release a second album with two new members including a brass player, the album being quite different presenting a progressive funk-jazz but the percussive elements still very present.

Both Toubabou albums are highly recommended to those really wanting to discover a textbook case of fusion music. 
 
 
And here is the review for the double album and dvd I bought - Attente - Le Blé et le Mil

TOUBABOU — Attente - Le Blé et le Mil

Review by Sean Trane (Hugues Chantraine)
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Specialist

4%20stars The Toubabou double Cd release from Progresson ( the recording end of ProgQuebec) is really one of those moments where you cherish such organizations and think that not everything is turning awry on this f-#-ed up planet. I discuss the albums separatelyn their respective page but please note that there are computer-visible-only video tracks on bth discs and although of relatively bad image and sound quality , this is extremely enjoyabe even though the choice of releasing this on such a support is rather odd! A DVD might have done this better.

Nevertheless , a superb release from ProgQuebec. Rush out for it , so they take it as encouragment tofurther on their huge task of releasing the many Quebecois progressive music yet not released on Cd.

Posted Friday, September 30, 2005, 04:12 EST | Permanent link

 

TOUBABOU — Le Blé Et Le Mil

Review by Sean Trane (Hugues Chantraine)
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Specialist

4%20stars Toubabou’ first album is mixed affair between a typical Quebecois jazz-rock group fusing their music with a separate African group. If you check out the track titles it will be easily understood which tracks are from our Quebecois musos and played by them exclusively. The tracks with more exotic titles are interacions in between Toubabou and their African friends from Mali, Senegal and Togo. The title says it all as Le Blé (wheat) Et Le Mil (millet the african wheat equivalent), and all of this financed by official cultural funds. This was recorded at the Superfrancofetes in August 74. The project leader is percussionist Michel Seguin of so many different collabs during those years. The man has such talents that he could’ve fitted anytime in a Santana line-up.

Toubabou’s tracks are your typical jazz-rock track being extendly deveopped byall those Quebec combos during the formidable era of cultural identity revolution ( between 73 and 79 to 81 at most) and Oasis is exactly a textbook case for this style. I do not think a proghead somewhat reticent to jazz sonorities can still be after listening to the sheer beauty of this 10 min track going through all sorts of ambiance and Lise Cousineau’s wordless vocals. Toubabou is more electric than say Maneige, Solstice or L’ Orchetre Sympathique, but not more so than Sloche , Contraction, Opus-5, Aquarelle and a few others. Ambush is definitely more funky and incorporates African percussion and the huge latino-african precussion break (rather tedious nowadays but back then….) and the obligartory reprise by a super funky bass. This so, four years before Chic.

The more ethnic tracks range from the almost totally ( but rather lenghty)African chants and percussions to a Mali deser blues and developping into a strange Acadian trad folk song in the following track, making the Carignan track sound a bit Cajun music from the Louisiana Bayous. Really worth the detour at leat once. Yama Nekh is a very funky african jazz-rock track with Cousineau singing in African idioms/dalects in duo with another singer. Very impressive indeed!!! The last track is a devil-induced rythms patterns (sometimes sounding like Santana in Soul Sacrifice) with a great searing guitar solo and frantic Fender Rhodes etc…

The Cd release is now coming with two video tracks (B&W and of poor quality but so enjoyable anyway) but visible only on a computer. Odd choice! Although much less even than h following album , I prefer this one because of glimpses of absolute brilliance an adventure Nevertheless this is really an album that gives a meaning to fusion. A must for adventurous progheads!!!!

Posted Friday, September 30, 2005, 04:11 EST | Permanent link

 

TOUBABOU — Attente

Review by Sean Trane (Hugues Chantraine)
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Specialist

4%20stars Attente is Toubabou’s second album and no less interesting than their live debut. But this time Toubabou is alone but the African rythms and inspirations remains, but they show that they are well assimilated by avoiding to sound fakely authenticly African. It is a much more conventional fusion abum and maybe proggier (in terms of clichés) , but relatively more even – fewer flaws but also less brilliance.

Starting out with asuperb percussion track of African inspiration, the album vees into a uch more contemplative Chant Des Choses with Lise Cousineau between melancholic snging and scatting. Grandiose! Then, the “hit” J’Freak Assez (a play on words with Fricassée – scrambled eggs) and its infectious funky groove: very catchy hooks and impressive musicianship with Séguin on percussion driving the group to perfection. A different Ambush than the one on their debut , not as good IMHO but also completed with brass section and Santana percussion break is next. Pylone has (for once) rather irriatating vocals, but quickly deal way by a guitar solo , but it stays one of the weaker Toubabou track. The return of Doudou (leader of the African guest on the debut album) for one track does not do the mistake to sound African for the sake of the continuity of the album. The title track is very melancholic with Cousineau back on the right track . the album closing with anoher strange mix of MalianDesert blues with an Acadian melody that could originate from the Bayous, somewhere in the creole America

Again the Cd version is coming with three video tracks (B&W and of poor quality but so enjoyable anyway) but visible only on a computer. Odd choice! A must for adventurous progheads!!!! As indispensible as their debut although in a different genre.

Posted Friday, September 30, 2005, 04:12 EST | Permanent link

 
 
 
 
 
 
Next, I'll mention - Charles Kaczynski


Edited by avestin - February 05 2007 at 22:21
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 06 2007 at 11:08
i extremely recommend the beautiful cd "Shining Silver Skies" from the Italian band Ashram, its really precious.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote red.sector_a Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 06 2007 at 21:57
Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada

the album that go tme into them. absolutely stunning. the atmosphere of their music is what made me stand on end first. the colors with which they paint their musical portraits are vast and vivid. not one second is out of place or there for no reason. the first track, Moya, is my favorite, even though most seem to prefer BBF3. the first......5 minutes or so, remind me of a sunday afternoon's dark clouds, green sky with an oncoming thunderstorm just over the horizon. amazing.

so yea, highly recommended.
"...the only excuse for not knowing, is not wanting to know."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Harkmark Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 07 2007 at 07:49
My first recommendation in this thread.

The North Norwegian band METROGNOM (from Bodø) released in late 2006 their debut album; "TWANGYLUCK"". Ole Ivar Jørgensen is the main person behind the band, composing the music.

The music? Imagine a personal and inspired mix between Banco, Gong, Grobschnitt and 70s Scandinavian atmospheric heavyprog, and you should be pretty close imo. This is quite retro, but with a different twist compared to most other retroprogbands I have heard, cf. the earlier mentioned possible references. And it stands on its own feet, not drowning itself in the possible references.

The first track opens with a vocoder spoken word part together with spacy moog playing, presenting some story about Max Planet and a character called Twangyluck, which I haven't reflected on yet.

This is purely instrumental music. It shifts from fusion like parts with saxophone, to hammond-drenched atmospheric parts, to spacy guitar-driven parts, heavy prog parts, also with some occasional mellotron etc.
Released on their own label, New Personal Records (LOL).

I consider this is a must-hear for all lovers of passionate and inspired ecclectic prog rooted in the 70s. It should make you lose yourself in the grooves and atmospheres created.

The link to their webpage, which includes samples from all the songs on the album:
http://www.metrognom.com (my personal favorites are "Ten peppermint butterflies in a ray of moonlight" and "Tellus will tell us its will", but these are the songs I had listened to (a lot!) before I got the album from a friend who visited me last weekend.)
The album can be ordered directly from the band via e-mail.



Now I will shut up LOL.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote avestin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 08 2007 at 22:47
A while back, I believe, I recommended 35007 and I also suggested it a while back for inclusion in PA.
Well, my friends of the Psych/Space team have agreed to add it and now they're here.
 
To celebrate the occasion I wrote a review on the first album of their I had - Liquid:
 
35007 — Liquid
Review by avestin (Assaf Vestin)
Special Collaborator Discographies Editor & RIO/Avant Team

— First review of this album —

4%20stars A voyage in space.

The cover art depicts quite well the spirit of the music and the content of this album. Floating in space – the more calm parts; getting caught in a force field or “solar storm” - portrayed by the powerful and heavy riffs.

Tsunami starts with ethereal sounds, emanating separately and then merging into each other slowly, within a spacey atmosphere that justifies their space rock tag. You feel as if you are drifting somewhere obscure surrounded by blackness, without any possibility to look beyond and then when the guitars emerge you gain sight ability and can “see” the sounds. And when the guitars unleash, you feel the heavy and slow Tsunami riffing, hitting your shores with the power spilling and splashing all over with the drums giving the energy to keep going. The sound here borrows from what is often referred to as post-metal as well as from spacey sounding rock and also some post-rock characteristics. Towards the end (around 8:50) it seems to fade out, but then it EXPLODES again, full blown raw energy of electric guitars until the end. This experience must be heard in the dark and alone for the full effect to take place.

Crystalline starts from the remnants of the Tsunami with the same tempo but a somewhat lighter spirit due to the guitar semi-acoustic sound which now flows in the front and the rear of the speaker as if strolling around the music, making sure it stays in frame. A hard task, as the heavy riffs and powerful drums seem too hard to contain and keep calm. But then they seem to unite their efforts and go together with a more dynamic going part and the full electric guitars take over. Here again we get the same “trick” of a seemingly ending track, and the blasting as was in Tsunami.

Evaporate seems to continue Crystalline but adds noticeable keyboards and bass work. There is an interplay between the bass-keyboards dominated part and that of the heavy guitar riffs part. Here the repetitiveness is more obvious as the cycle mentioned repeats itself several times, but is not tiresome and always keeps the dynamics moving.

Voyage Automatique goes on in a more psychedelic state of mind (with guitars making noises) and bears some of the sounds of previous tracks and by that keeps the flow. At the end we go back to the sounds that started the album, thereby closing full circle. If you get Phase V, you will notice it will start with the same noises this album ends with.

The journey 35007 guide us through is one great experience that can be heard as a background music, but then you would miss the whole point. In order to extract the full potential of this record, one must be fully devoted to it, and follow the streams, the highs and lows through which the music takes us. You will then feel and “see” what it is that is mesmerizing in this album. This album sounds like one long piece with 4 smaller parts, which is due to the great sense of flow that is achieved by similar sounds, tempos and atmospheres that are to be found on the different tracks.

One criticism is that I find that it could have used perhaps more instrumentation (maybe saxes or trumpets) and a but more diversity, but overall this is one ride I keep coming to and don’t forget.

This album should appeal to fans of spacey rock, post metal (Pelican for instance) and post rock (meaning the

Now comes the part I dislike – the star rating. This is too arbitrary and soulless but for the sake of PA ranking it has to be done. In terms of stars, I would give it a near 4 stars (3.6-3.8). A 3 star rating seems too low and inappropriate to this, and so I think a 4 star would be a suitable rating as it reflects my enthusiasm with this album, and the great satisfaction and sense of relief I draw from listening to it. Not a statement I can say about any album. So I can see this being an essential album in this aspect.

To give you another idea of how this sounds, I would like to quote a sentence about their later album Phase V from the bands Myspace website.

“With the digit 5 hovering predominantly, the album is about numbers and sounds. No words, no images. The new album has already been nicknamed "songs for the blind", appropriately "visualized" by the minimal and sensuous artwork. Without the benefit of vision, the ears seem to work much better.”

Immerse yourself.

Posted Thursday, February 08, 2007, 22:43 EST | Permanent link

 
Phase V is even better
 
 
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