What albums did you listen to today?...continued

Unfortunately I didn't have time to listen to music properly in the last few days, just got back to business yesterday with those...

Riverside – Love, Fear and the Time Machine
Steven Wilson – Hand. Cannot. Erase
Unreal City – La Crudelta di Aprile
Unreal City – Il Paese del Tramonto
Aurora Lunare – s/t
Comedy of Errors – Spirit
Druckfarben – Second Sound
Hostsonaten - Symphony N. 1: Cupid and Psyche
Nemo – Coma – Good to get back to this one!

Ed Bernard (Druckfarben) – Polydactyl - Sagi, have you heard this one? Rather good, and Ed’s voice doesn’t sound unlike Phil Naro’s. Actually, Naro guests on the album, and until I worked out which track, I thought Phil was singing on every track!

Sagichim wrote: Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: Ed Bernard (Druckfarben) – Polydactyl - Sagi, have you heard this one? Rather good, and Ed’s voice doesn’t sound unlike Phil Naro’s. Actually, Naro guests on the album, and until I worked out which track, I thought Phil was singing on every track! No my friend, I didn't know it existed. Now that you've mentioned it I should really get back to that second Druckfarben album. So how's the music on this solo album?

Well, it's a bit of an embarrassing story to begin with! I blind-bought it in a combined order with lots of other discs from Syn-Phonic Records some months back, and when the order eventually arrived, I looked at the CD and said `Who the f*ck is Ed Bernard?!' It was only when I looked back through one of the Syn-Phonic newsletters and it explained that it was a solo work from `the multi-instrumentalist of Druckfarben' that I thought `Ah, that explains why I decided to buy it'!

But it's good, man. Have a listen to one or two of these clips, the playing is top-notch, and the albums jumps in all directions but stays very melodic the whole time:





Still pretty recognizable as related to Druckfarben?

Will have a positive review posted in a few days most likely.

Finnforest - Lahto Matkalle Great jazz-fusion - just how I like it - nice Rhodes rhythms, great bass, expressive drums, nice guitar soloing. The string-quartet compositions or interludes really make the music come alive. Superb!

New Trolls - Concerto Grosso per I Why is this rated so low? It's not amazing, but it's really good. The blues-rock riffs sound far from being dry and uninteresting. Orchestration is magnificent. The long suite is pretty cool.

Tuesday...

You started it last Wednesday and just finished it now, Sam? Why, that must be the longest album in the world!

Well, my choices tonight:

Biglietto per L’Inferno – s/t
Delirium – Dolce Acqua
Ad Maiora – Repetita Iuvant
Arena – the Seventh Degree of Separation – Still a good album, full of great tunes.

Marchesi Scamorza – Hypnophonia – a big improvement on the debut, a wonderful follow-up album! The band stepped up big on this one.

Steve Roach – Shadows of Time – It takes its time to reveal itself, but this is a seriously good Roach album. The CD version, mind you...the second track is about twenty minutes, but the download version stretches that particular track to 78 minutes! Works much better in the quarter-length format.

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: Arena – the Seventh Degree of Separation – Still a good album, full of great tunes.

Yes, indeed. Lots to like on this one.

ALotOfBottle wrote: New Trolls - Concerto Grosso per I Why is this rated so low? It's not amazing, but it's really good. The blues-rock riffs sound far from being dry and uninteresting. Orchestration is magnificent. The long suite is pretty cool.

Mate, I think you'll find that the thinking is that several other Italian bands went on to do more interestings things with orchestral elements than what the New Trolls did on that one. For instance, have you tried Banco's `Di Terra'? That has a real dynamic fusion of band and orchestra, not just the orchestral bits "added on top". I might have been a little over-zealous, but I seem to recall I gave that one a five-star review on the Archives some time back?!

I've really come to enjoy `Concerto Grosso' for what it is, a sweeping and pleasing album, if perhaps surface thrills over much in the way of depth?

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: ALotOfBottle wrote: New Trolls - Concerto Grosso per I Why is this rated so low? It's not amazing, but it's really good. The blues-rock riffs sound far from being dry and uninteresting. Orchestration is magnificent. The long suite is pretty cool. Mate, I think you'll find that the thinking is that several other Italian bands went on to do more interestings things with orchestral elements than what the New Trolls did on that one. For instance, have you tried Banco's `Di Terra'? That has a real dynamic fusion of band and orchestra, not just the orchestral bits "added on top". I might have been a little over-zealous, but I seem to recall I gave that one a five-star review on the Archives some time back?! I've really come to enjoy `Concerto Grosso' for what it is, a sweeping and pleasing album, if perhaps surface thrills over much in the way of depth?

Di Terra is wonderful, for a long time I've been meaning to play it but just haven't come around it.