Rolling 2006 Prog Thread

As far as 2006:
Bob Drake - What Day Is It? reissue (1st solo record from mid 90s, and actually the the most straightforward, "song-based" one he's done)

Massacre - Killing Time reissue [Frith, Laswell, Maher]

The Work - Live in Japan reissue [1982 live record of avant/post-punk band led by Tim Hodgkinson, and also w/Chris Cutler, Amos]

I really don't follow "mainstream" prog, but I'm sure there are dozens of new releases by the sympho bands this year.

spock's beard that
meanwhile they dont even smoke weed
http://www.spocksbeard.com/photos_press/fe/fe_072.jpg

>Steve Howe/Dixie Dregs-style progabilly hoedown album of the year so far (NOT a cdbaby.com find, how about that?), in case you wondered, is *What Day Is It?* by Bob Drake, whoever he is. (Apparently some French guy.) He sings more like Jon Anderson than John Anderson, but there is still some manner in which this definitely fits on the country thread. (Actually, the liner notes say he lives in France, but he comes from the Midwest somehwere, and he orignally released the album by himself in a small edition in 1994.)
-- xhuxk (xedd...), January 22nd, 2006.

Rolling 2006 Metal Thread

The RIO influence is strong with Sleepytime in a live setting. It's like Art Bears as played by a band from Royston Vasey.

And of course Secret Chiefs were awesome, especially in the white noise breakdowns.

James

>The song by Cirrah Nava, "Le Parade," [on the *Sonic Cathedral - Siren* compilation] starts with a weird Balkan organ-grider rhythm. Cool! So who the hell are they?

In other news, I never noticed until yesterday that the opening part of Rush's "Tom Saywer" blatantly ripped off the opening part of 10cc's "The Worst Band in the World," from like six years earlier. Is this common knowledge? Has it ever been documented before at all?

-- xhuxk (xedd...), January 27th, 2006.

(yikes, Cirrha Niva totally turn into queasy quasi-System of a Down/ *Nightmare Before Christmas* thespian rock about "my sickening passion play" once they start singing. Shoulda kept their mouths shut! Though the singer does have a weird enough Eastern European accent. And then a scarier metal chick come in and backs him up, and then the guitars pick up. I really like the instrumental parts a lot.)

Also, I heard track from Taste of Conium by Socrates Drank the Conium recently and am trying to track that down. It was a version of "Satisfaction" yet awesome.

1. Pozzo Del Pichio - Merta
2. Visitors - Visitors
3. Baris Manco - Lambaya Puf De
4. Drugi Nacin - Zuti List
5. Bran - Breuddweyd
6. Breakout - Powiedzielismy Juz Wszystko
7. San Ul Lim - Frustration
8. Egg - Fugue In D Minor
9. 3 Hurel - Omur Biter Yol Bitmez
10. Illes - Nem Erdekel Amit Mondsz
11. Jean Claude Vannier - Les Gardes Volent Au SecoursDu Roi
12. Embryo - Music Of Today
13. Jazz Q - Toledo.

I can honestly say that I've only heard OF about 4 of them, let alone heard them. I'll be seeking this out!

I think Vangelis had something to do with Socrates Drank The Conium. Ultima Thule or The Freak Emporium probably stock them. Maybe Aquarius too?

Haven't heard much new that I like over the last couple of years, I must admit, so will be looking for recs here, hopefully it'll be free of the whole tedious neo vs avant thing you find on (cough) other boards sometimes.

Last year I liked Guapo "Black Oni" and Circulus' album. They're about the only things that grabbed me in a big way.

I can't be arsed with spock's beard or any of that retro sounds-just-like type stuff. Look we've got a mellotron! big fucking deal, so have oasis!

I think the first Massacre is a lot better, and a lot more rock. It kind of reminds me of an early draft of, like, Naked City, or perhaps a rockier/proggier take on no wave. They're obv very tight, but there's considerable "skronk" in places.

Just got hold of Bob Drake's "The Shunned Country" (2005 release), it's the logical conclusion to his style of compressing songs into shorter and shorter forms. This album has something like 52 songs in 40 minutes, mostly pretty complex song structures too. The prog Minutemen! I think it needs more concentration than I can give it at the moment. His next album should just be one long song I reckon.

I don't think there'll be a lot of neo-prog talk on this thread somehow. Prove me wrong!

>Gotta thank George [the Animal Steele] for the tip on Vernon Reid's *Other True Self* -- never would've listened to this if he hadn't mentioned it above; never would have guessed I'd like it, but I do. And yeah, for Vernon, "no vocals" was a real good idea. Some brief notes: Opener "Game is Rigged" sounds really heavy; the Radiohead cover (which I didn't recognize as one) is louder and better than the Depeche Mode cover (which I did), though I like them both; Flatbush and Church Revisited" would seem to be named for a Jamaican Brooklyn neighborhood since it's an Augustus Pablo-style dub, but maybe I'm wrong (and I can't actually recall ever visiting that intersection); "Mind of My Mind" has a sort of Eastern European rhythm underneath; "Overcoming" also a good one. See also George's post up above [metal thread again] for guitar-sound specifics. Anyway, at least as metal as jazz fusion, but Vernon doesn't seem to be slumming anymore, as he always seemed he was back in Living Color.

>Vernon Reid & Masque's Other True Self just came in. Never liked anything by Vernon Reid previously but this is better than average. I must be getting soft.
It's on Vai's label, F/N, which has specialized in guitar instrumental albums, strong to the hard rock and metal side of things. You know, the consitantly fair to good records that are always ignored when it's time to trot out the cyclical this-isn't-your-dopey-older-brother's-dumbo-metal-no-buddy-this-metal-is-for-smart-people-like-you-so-getta-loud-o-what-I-found-at-Aquarius meme.

Lotsa fusion, lotsa Reid shredding, NO vocals (OO-RAH, good!!), blues-based riffs, reggae-riffs, a couple quieter things to break it up, weird string dragging and bumping on the pickup cover effect that makes it sound like a record skipping, a Tony Williams Lifetime tune covered that fits in well with everything else not stinking up the place or sticking out like a sore thumb. It will get its share of play the rest of January and at least half of February, I think.

-- George the Animal Steele (george_the_animal_steele...), January 21st, 2006.

I was just reading about them on a website about Greek music (primarily about rembetika and laika).

It's up for a BBC Radio 3 World Music award, but it sounds essentially rooted in prog to me. Finnish accordionist + electronic sampling dude + two members of King Crimson.

BBC review with Real Audio samples.

WMA samples on official site.

I bring this up here as ReR USA's Dave Kerman (also drummer for Thinking Plague and Present) did an interview with them recently, and was givin props to this record at the progressiveears board.

And who would've expected them to open that album with a frenzied take on Milton Nascimento's "Cravo E Canela," combining the proggy muscle of early Yes with the laid-back sophistication of Steely Dan?

I saw them last year in Atlantic City doing Lamb. I hate tribute bands, but The Musical Box are as dead-on as you could possible get, it's almost eerie. They even use the authentic background slides from the original Lamb tour in the 70s.

What was funny at that concert was that there were several senior citizens who showed up--my guess is that they saw the poster outside and were thinking it would be some kind of "Broadway Review" or something. Needless to say, they lasted about 10 minutes...

Greenslade Live on Mystic, out in 2003 -- never in the US, is also spectacular, but in different veins. Heavy mellotron, boogie organ, crunching bass, smooth jazz blooz and Keith Emerson without quite the bombast but the same impact. Mostly an instrumental act, singer added for embellishment. Surpasses studio albums. A really easy and repeat enjoyable listen.

Just over this last Christmas, they'd put out a triple-CD of a concert in Darmstadt from 1971, but there were only around 50 copies made, including those that went to the band, and I missed getting a copy.

I thought you'd heard everything!

They were the fringe act of the industrial music scene in the early eighties, the industrial scene being a fringe of the independent records scene back then. A lot of their music was tape manipulations of natural/found sound - stuff slowed right down till it was unrecognisable & multitracked. Their releases were often packaged inventively & charmingly weirdly - one of their cassettes came in a china box that you had to break open to listen to it (disclaimer - IIRC, I might be getting this mixed up w/nocturnal emissions, or the hafler trio or w/e) The main guy was very self-effacing, and didn't get inteviewed much in "Sounds" and suchlike, even by the standards of that scene. This is the sum of my knowledge about zoviet france.

My pleasure. As soon as I read about it I thought of you. I sadly haven't heard it but i really love the last 2 Guapo albums,whilst they wont sound the same, i'm sure theres bound to be something of interest in it.

I'm glad you liked the Circulus album too pashmina.

http://www.patrickmoraz.com/

Definitely looking forward to finally getting a good-sounding CD of Story of i, since the 'official' one currently available sounds like it was taken from vinyl.

Still mining the "Force Majeur" sound of TD.
Norman, this band is for you.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/the_playwrights_english_self_storage/

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2740

http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewID=6789

Venus Handcuffs reissue - an even earlier Bob Drake effort from 1987. Collab with Suzanne Lewis, before they formed Hail. A little bit too goth for my liking in places but maybe it'll grow on me when I get it back from my bro (he borrowed this one too).

Ilk - Canticle. VHF release from last year by Richard Youngs and Andrew Paine. Touted by the label as an outrageous prog record, it's definitely at the looser psych end of the genre. Think early Soft Machine, Roy Harper etc. Good, but I'm not sure they've got the right balance between the songs and the improv as yet. No mellotron on this one so I've still got it.

Flat Earth Society - Isms came out a year or two ago on Ipecac but doesn't seem to get mentioned anywhere much. Which is a shame as it's extraordinary, like a mix of Moondog, Raymond Scott, King Crimson and Univers Zero (who I think they share some members with - I guess the weird musician pool isn't so big in Belgium). This one is HIGHLY recommended, absolutely superb!

The Andy Votel-compiled Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word probably isn't as much fun as his Vertigo Mix cd but there's some good stuff on it, esp. Visitors and the Mahavishnu-ripping-offers Martin Kratochvil & Jazz Q. A lot of this is at the psych / rare beat end of things again. You get the feeling he picked the only tracks worth hearing from some of these bands mind, Welsh losers Bran in particular.

Albert Marcouer - S/T. Reissue from 2001 on Label Freres. Anyone know anything about this guy? Sounds like Soft Machine meets Swordfishtrombones-era Tom Waits. Kind of. But not really. Not too sure how to describe this, but it's a keeper.

In other news, apparently the forthcoming Current 93 album is inspired by Rush, which sounds like another of Tibet's conceptual jokes. He should join Rush, that'd get 'em out of their creative hole. TS : David Tibet's lyrics vs Neil Peart's lyrics?

Anyway, here's what I wrote a couple months ago:

Is Germany world music? I dunno, but this guitarist guy without a German name (so: an expatriot?) called Martin Philadelphy has three different groups there, and almost all his *other* musicians have German names. His group with the most German song titles on their most recent album, Sheriff's Von Nottingham (album: *Aufundzuundabundan*) is his most boring and also his most world-music maybe, since it mainly seems to consist of Spanish (flamenco? bossa nova? something else?) guitar stylings; also it has by far his shortest songs. I am playing his album by Paint, *Tap the Ethereal*, now, and it's really long (2 discs) with his longest songs (including four over ten minutes); I liked their last one (which I think was by "Philadelphy's Paint" -- it had a cardboard CD cover and is probably in storage now), but this one, which is also quite avant jazzy with lots of grumbly vocal sounds coming in and out as was his last one I believe except maybe not as many grumbly vocal sounds and also as I recall somehow less tedious, is hard to get through and I doubt I will. (The new one I mean -- actually track six on disc 1 "Move Forward" is sounding great right now in an early '70s Miles Davis kind of way, and the track after that, "Strickmuster" now seems to be following suit; I dunno, maybe I'll get through the rest after all.) The album I probably like most by him recently is *Beautyfool* by Philadelphy-Martinek, which is sort of his mostly electronic guitar-and-synth duo (but with guests sometimes including "accordeon" on one track, plus sometimes Martin's partner Christian Martinek is credited with "chaos pad" whatever that is), and the album starts out fairly electronic and techno-y (and schlafely, maybe? I dunno. Do Ellen Aien and Isolee fans know this guy?), but by the fourth and fifth tracks turns more toward Notwist-style teutonic ambient electro-rock, and by "Cubase" (track 8) the guitars are heavy metal and there's a track toward the end called "Ode to Robin Hood" with female vocals that are maybe a fusion of schlager and schafel well maybe not literally but I like how "schlager shafel" sounds," plus there are jazzy parts in places too. Anybody else on to this fellow?

-- xhuxk (xedd...), February 4th, 2006.

Anyway, enough crankiness from me. *Zuhaus//Home* is the first Philadephy record that really seems to have *songs* on it, rather than just compositions. And I'm talking pretty much every track - -what a surprise. Basically a singer-songwriter record, to the extent that, if he has an audience (in Germany?), they might even stupidly consider this a sellout or a compromise or whatever. (The songs are mostly but not always in English not German, actually.) And he really does sing somewhere between Gabriel and Wyatt in the '70s. Yet there is no big dropoff of artsy weirdness or hypnotic drone; it's just way more melodic. Beautiful. "Inyl" almost even feels country, in an odd way. My favorite tracks so far are probably "Zuhaus/Home". "Time," "Sides," "Rainy Day," "Inyl," and "Bitte," but I think I like the whole thing.

I smile imagining how old friends who obsessed over Current 93 and despised Rush would try to deal with this. (Though actually one guy did try to get me into them by comparing their concepts to those of early Rush albums. Sometimes I thought maybe I could see a Genesis thing going on with them.) But ACK DEAR GOD NO at the thought of DT joining Rush. (What would he even do? Do not feel obliged to answer.)

STPO sounds interesting.

xp (and okay, I'll stop now)

I post on the metal, prog and a whole load of other threads too.

MARTIN PHILADELPHY/CHRISTIAN MARTINEK - Zuhaus//Home (Delphy 14; Germany) Featuring Martin Philadelphy
on electric & acoustic guitars, synth & vocals and Christain Martinek on
computer and synth. The mysterious guitarist, Martin Philadelphy, left us with
some four discs over the past few years, when he was passing through town. One
of which featured contributions from Marc Ribot and Lukas Ligeti. He just came
to visit again and left us with this strange duo disc. His cohort, Christian
Martinek, who is also on some of his previous discs provides a variety of
textures, samples and odd synth sounds. "Hypnotic Soul Seduction" features a
fine repeating sequencer line as Martin plays angelic space guitar floating
above. The repeating grooves here remind me of Kraftwerk, simple, soothing and
rather quaint with minimal soloing. Martin has a fine, warm voice, soft-spoken
words and is never too intrusive. What's interesting about this music is that it
defies categorization, it is too much fun to be called progressive, yet it is
still intriguing and even unique, without being especially deep or dense. It actually reminds
me of Daevid Allen or later Gong, when they deal with grooves, beats and pepper
it with some fine space guitar excursions. - BLG