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kaywesley View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Motion Theory
    Posted: February 09 2009 at 06:45
Motion Theory is a progressive rock band based in Durham, England. Formed in 2007 at Durham University, they are starting to establish themselves across the UK. Composed of four very different musicians from punk, funk and classical backgrounds, they combine technicality with accessible rock songs, drawing inspiration from many sources, from Led Zeppelin to Incubus.  They have been described as 'cutting edge progmetallism'. 
 
Please listen to their music and let me know what you think!  www.motiontheoryband.com
 
Dom Main is lead singer and plays keyboards. 
Jamie Wesley, a former winner of Manchester Battle of the Bands guitar prize, is lead guitarist.
James Kerr is a bassist with success in several previous bands.
Will Soutter, a multi-instrumentalist, plays drums. 
 
Jamie and Will's previous band won the national UK Times Youth Band of the Year award.
 
In 2008 Motion Theory did their first national tour of the UK and made a debut EP "Sunlight on the Sand" - it and the individual tracks are available for download from their website.  They are currently writing material for a first full album to be recorded in 2009.
 
Please listen, see videos and pics at www.motiontheoryband.com
 
Also at
 

 
Kay
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Angelo View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 16 2009 at 07:45
Welcome here, guys. James Kerr is not related to the Jim Kerr I expect? I heard you music, and it sounds a bit flat to me (could be the internet low quality thing? There is room for improvement there, which may be exactly what happens when you have someone mix and master your album for you.

As for the music itself:
'September' is a bit boring to my ears, and gives me the feeling your singer doesn't like it either (at least, he tries to ruin it further, and he can do better than this for sure). 'Sunlight on the Sand' is more lively and varied, but needs a bit of 'pepper up the arse'.
'5 Minutes for 3 Hours' reminds me of an old 80's song, maybe by the Talking Heads, but it sticks with me less than their work. Again. the production might get in the way here.
Velociraptor is surprisingly 'Jazzy' - with a title like that I would've expected a powerfull rock track. To me the most interesting track of the lot - also because the agrression does show up later on the track.
Real Life gives a hint of the same, but is more 'poppy', if I may use that word here.
Final one I listened on your web site is 'The Defence' which is certainly 'last but not least' - more rocky than the rest of it, more powerful and with Iggy Pop like vocals. Once again, the vocalist sounds better with the effects on the vocals than without....


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 18 2009 at 07:37
Hey Angelo, thanks a lot for taking the time to listen to our stuff. We appreciate the comments you've made, and we actually agree with most of it, even the criticism Tongue

I would make a couple of points in response though (I'm not arguing with you :)) - these tracks are from a demo EP, which we recorded, mixed and mastered ourselves. The EP was meant as a tool to get us gigs for our autumn 08 tour, which it did successfully, but that meant it needed to be done pretty quick, so we didn't have months to spend on tracking, or hundreds of pounds to outsource mixing/mastering. In fact, our singer Dom had only been with the band a few weeks, and didn't even now all the words to the newer songs yet! As such, it was never really meant to be a released product for public consumption, apart from as a demo to flog at gigs.

The songs are also a mix of what we came up with during jam sessions as an instrumental 3-piece, and with our previous singer, so the styles are somewhat mixed, and on average are much "poppier", as you put it, than our current output. The material we are working on for a new album to be released mid-09 is much different sonically. If you check out our youtube videos, there are some live clips of some of these new songs.

Having said that, the songs from the Sunlight EP have gone down very well live, including September, which is one of the favourites, along with Velociraptor - it was written as a silly cheesy funk song with a mental metal bit, and we're forced to keep playing it live because everyone loves it, even though we like to think we've moved on from that style.

Again, I'm not arguing with the points you made at all, and we really do appreciate it when people take time to listen and comment. If you get chance, do check out the youtube vids, as the 3 new songs area far more indicative of our current/near future sound.

Thanks muchly
Will
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Jet Wesley View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2009 at 14:38
Hey all,

I hope this is the right place to post this!

Basically, my band Motion Theory would really like it if some music lovers would check out our new album -  'featherhead'.  You can download it for free from www.motiontheoryband.com.

We have been performing the music up and down the UK for the last week or so, and are gigging up until October.  If anyone has the time, it'd be great to get some feedback on our tunes!

Cheers,

Jamie
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Jet Wesley View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2009 at 08:54
Well the local press liked it, so maybe people on here might too.  Let us know what you think - its free to download after all.  We have been compared to the chilis, NIN, the police and incubus
www.motiontheoryband.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2009 at 14:13
Jet . . .

I have suggested your band for inclusion to the Xover and Heavy Prog genre teams. But even if you're not considered 'prog' enough for inclusion here, I still think everybody should take a listen to your album. I have downloaded it and think it is quite good, if not a bit more straightforward than what I'm used to listening to these days. it was a nice change of pace, really, and you guys have thr NIN vibe going on, definately. Wink

Really good stuff, bro. Indie artists as good as you guys always inspire me to press forward in my own musical ventures.
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Jet Wesley View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2009 at 14:28
Thanks for the kind words mate, its great when people listen to your music!

I think that we are progressive in our approach to the music, rather than being part of the prog genre if you get me!  (In 'Big Boys' there is a Stockhausen piece mixed in there...)

Also, thanks for suggesting us to those teams. Glad you liked the album.

Jamie
www.motiontheoryband.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2009 at 14:59
^ I know exactly what you mean. Many people think 'prog' equals mellotrons, keyboards, frilly guitar work and operatic singing. I say it's the thinking behind the music.

Hopefully you'll get added, but we'll see.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 27 2009 at 17:47
It might be worth saying that the tracks that are more 'proggy' are: track 3, 'Lucidity' with a cool 5/8 over 4/4 bit in the middle; 'big boys', with some weird and crazy things going on; and 'featherhead', which is probably the most well receved track, despite it being about three songs in one!
 
Just in case you want to skip out the straight-down-the-line rock tracks and get to the important stuff....
www.motiontheoryband.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 08 2009 at 15:52
I just got a PM from Jamie asking me to review the new album. I'll do that, and only realise now that I never reacted to the post above. All your points are valid, and I'm looking forward to hearing what Dom can do with the nw material.

I've been more off than on PA the past 9 months, but I'll get back to this a.s.a.p.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 21 2009 at 03:34
Well, I guess after being so active in the past, I'll never get rid completely of the Unsigned Bands label - and I'm glad, too. Here's the result of the promised review session.

I listened to the album for a week (on and off, I'm not a complete masochist), and it really is one of these albums that needs some time to get into your skull.
Overall, this is a very nice effort - regardless of how full prog it can be considered, the influences are definitely there.
Sometimes I hear a hint of an 80's metal riff, a bit of Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead.

A brief impression per track seems in order as well, with 8 tracks on the album.

I Love the Smell of Universe in the Morning - An in your face opening riff, that evolves into a heavy track, which surprisingly ends with a very mellow keyboard piece. The vocals seem to be a bit detached from the rest of the band - due to the mix, or as a friend of mine remarked 'maybe they should have applied some vocal effects to make the singing less clean and integrate it more with the music'.

Until you Leave - This one has an Iron Maiden like intro riff, which gets backed by a simple, yet driving bass line that continuous throughout the song. A track that really holds power, although I think the drums might've been a little bit more varied. The singing on this one is on the edge of screaming sometimes, not really my taste, but skipping personal preferences, it does fall into place after a few listens.

Lucidity - This track really is a different beast after the two opening tracks. Subtle guitars, percussion-like drumming and more laid back singing. The guitar and bass interplay during solos' and outro is very well done, and this is definitely a prog track. It's one of the tracks where I really started counting to find out the beat - and I was glad to read on the forums this morning that my 5/8 guess in the middle section was correct.

All I Need - This one is well performed, with the vocals and guitar alternating in taking the lead. Only downside is that the high notes in this track seem to be close to Dom's limits, which is a bit straining to the ears at times. Outside that, this track reminds me a bit of 90's Radiohead.

Big Boys - This is a track that gives me mixed feelings. On certain listens I think it is too simple, on others I suddenly notice the almost psychedelic feel of the instrumental parts. The singing is very 'soulful' and the clean guitars and drumming (percussion-like again) support it very well. A relaxing track.

Make Some Noise - After Big Boys, Make Some Noise is exactly that - the heavy guitar riffs are back, as is the more screaming side of the singer. Maybe because of what comes before it, but this too me is the least track of the eight.

Cycles - This one at first brings to mind New Model Army, it's a bit of a stranger in the mix with the other tracks - partly because of the lyrics and the vocals, partly because of the music (the drive of the rhythm section). The instrumental part and the second half however are far more progressive than what NMA ever did.

Featherhead - It's obvious why this has become the title track of the album. It's simply the best of the bunch. Coming in at almost 7 minutes it seems to have 3 or 4 movements, starting with a nice bass and vocal intro, and giving more room to the guitar and drums after that. There's a bit of a Psychedelic/Space feeling to this one again, and once again I hear flashes of early Radiohead. Could this also be the only track with effects applied to the vocals? Definitely a prog track in all respects.

As promised, I paid some special attention to the vocals. On first listen, I didn't really appreciate them in a quite few places, but somehow that feeling disappeared after a few listens. Or at least almost.
In some tracks I get a bit uncomfortable with the way Dom sings the longstretched syllables, e.g. in first half of I Love the Smell of the Universe in the Morning (great song title by the way!). In other tracks the singing is on the edge of screaming, like Until You Leave. Both are things I don't really like, but I can only think of these as conscious decisions on the part of the band.
More important, on All I Need, the high notes give me the feeling Dom can do better, which he proves perfectly on the title track Featherhead. A glitch, or a conscious decision also - I'm not sure.
Overall, I can only agree with what Will wrote in February - what I heard on this album is a vocalist who is much more integrated with the band and knows where he's going. One remarks made by the same friend that commented on the opening track should be added here: on one track, I think Big Boys or Lucidity, she remarked 'hey, he sings like that guy from Tool - very nice!'. Let's just not add anything after that.

The XOver team should definitely have a listen here.

Edited by Angelo - September 21 2009 at 03:35
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2009 at 16:14
Hey Angelo,

Thanks very much for getting back with this extensive review.  I am glad you liked 'Lucidity', it is my favourite track when gigging as it always seems to come together nicely.  (The compound time signature you rightly picked up on is actually a 5/8 guitar line juxtaposed over a 4/4 bass and drums line, only the guitar plays in groups of 8 bars of 5/8 over the drums and bass parts grouped in 5 bars of 4/4)

Taking these tracks on tour has added quite a lot to them - we never thought we would be able to perform 'big boys' live, but weirdly it gets one of the best receptions! Its also interesting that you noted 'cycles' as a bit of a stranger in the mix.  That was the first track we wrote after the initial ep 'sunlight on the sand', and it will also be the next track to depart from our live set, as it doesn't seem to cut the mustard live any more.

Also, if you listen closely, spot the Stockhausen tam-tam reference in Big Boys... 

I hope the Xover team do have a listen - it'd be great to get more feedback on the album from whoever wants to listen!  (Remember it is free for download from www.motiontheoryband.com)

Cheers Angelo.


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Angelo View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 23 2009 at 09:59
Y're welcome, and XOver was notified more than once, so they'll make a move at some point!

Good luck with the tour!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 23 2009 at 10:39

^ thanks Angelo Wink

What?
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Angelo View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 23 2009 at 16:13
For more work, I assume? Pig
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 23 2009 at 18:31
I've got your album and it is absolutely excellent! Seriously, great job. You guys should really be proud of yourselves! If you get added to PA at one point, I'm sure you'll receive positive reviews.

-Jeff

Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2009 at 10:36
Thanks very much, thats very kind!  I hope they do review it!
 
-Jamie
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 07 2009 at 18:54
Here is a video of 'Lucidity' from the Box in Crewe, on our summer tour.  I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7aXRNtlcrA

Thanks for watching! x
www.motiontheoryband.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 13 2009 at 19:29
Hi all, me again... This may be appropriate here: Come together. It is a cover video of a Beatles classic - stupidly rocked up with a massively OTT outro solo - but hey, its quite fun to listen too!  The Venue is Manchester Academy 3.  Find us at www.motiontheoryband.com
www.motiontheoryband.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2009 at 19:37

If anyone has clicked through and listened to Motion Theory, just to let you know we are performing on the 15th January at the Roadhouse in Manchester, UK.  We'll be headlining with support from a local band called Natural Invention - They are pretty awesome actually!

x
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