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Topic ClosedWellwater Conspiracy (US) - crossover prog,

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Icarium View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Wellwater Conspiracy (US) - crossover prog,
    Posted: November 11 2012 at 08:31
An American band/project from Seattle, the music is a mixture of heavy alternative rock, psychadelic rock, experimental rock, funk, avant garde, quite good musicianship and solid songwriting, mixed with experimental and dare i say progressive ideas, this is what i would alos lable as new prog, alternative rock with progressive rock influence, more in lined with the rawer prog bands, also certain ecectic elements, and jazz elements,

clearly should be given a evaluation
















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yam yam View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 11 2012 at 09:17
From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellwater_Conspiracy: Wellwater Conspiracy was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. The band was created by members of the grunge-era side project Hater. Wellwater Conspiracy featured Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and ex-Monster Magnet guitarist John McBain. The band originally featured Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd, who left the band in 1998. Various other artists have contributed to the band's albums. Most notably Queens of the Stone Age front man, Josh Homme.
 
 
"Wellwater Conspiracy is a trio that consists of drummer Ted Dameron, singer Zeb, and John Paul McBain on guitar. If the first two names sound familiar to Soundgarden fans, that's because it's none other than former members Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd going by aliases. Joining them is ex-Monster Magnet member John Paul McBain, and the group destroys all preconceptions of what a Soundgarden/Monster Magnet supergroup would sound like. It's understandable to think that it would be like Sabbath, but their debut, Declaration of Conformity, is anything but grinding metal. The group first came together in the side project Hater (with two other members), who released an album on A&M in 1993. Although Hater's sound is similar at times to Wellwater Conspiracy, it doesn't possess the same depth and focus. Some may dismiss Wellwater's sound as "lo-fi," but the songs are recorded with creativity, as the group manages to achieve loads of interesting, yet classic, sounds on their debut.
Not long after the release of the band's debut, Cameron accepted an invitation to fill the recently vacated drum position in Pearl Jam. Some assumed the move would spell the end to Wellwater Conspiracy, but Cameron was able to find the time to keep the project afloat -- 1999 saw the release of the band's sophomore effort, Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives. This time out, Shepherd wasn't involved, as Cameron handled the vocals in addition to his usual drumming duties. 2001 saw the release of The Scroll and Its Combinations, the first Wellwater Conspiracy album to be issued on a sizeable record label (TVT). The album received favorable reviews in the press, as it featured such special guests as Eddie Vedder (listed as Wes C. Adle) and Kim Thayil, with Shepherd coming back onboard for a few tracks."
Glenn Slater of the folk rock group 'The Walkabouts' added some keyboards to the band's live sound between 2002 & the band's eventual dissolution in 2004.
 
Four albums were made:
 
Declaration of Conformity  (1997)
Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives (1999)
The Scroll and Its Combinations (2001)
Wellwater Conspiracy (2003)
 
Interview with John Mcbain by Hitomi I: http://www.kiwi-us.com/~hitomi/wwc.htm.
 
Their sound was generally classed as a blend of alternative rock and 'psychedelic garage rock'...Whether that equates to progressive rock, I'm not quite sure though.
 
Good band - certainly an interesting one! Thumbs Up
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2013 at 06:25
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2013 at 11:09
I'm happy to take this into Crossover for evaluation from my own point of view, Agi...But I'd like to read Chris's or Andy's thoughts on their suitability first. It would almost certainly get a 'yes' from me, since I tend to stay on the lenient side with my voting wherever there is any uncertainty regarding a band's prog credentials, but I feel this might possibly be too much of a borderline case with some other members of the team. Ermm
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2013 at 04:49
Garage/psych was and always will be my favorite music so WWC is a loving tribute to the bands, music, and overall sound of rock and pop music of that era... On our new record we once again continue to pay tribute to the garage era, but we also touch on the early seventies hard rock/prog movement as well.
 
The era that John McBain is talking about centres on the Japanese beat groups of the '60s such as The Golden Cups; the ''new record'' was 1999's Brotherhood of Electric.
 
I don't think that some prog touches are enough, they see themselves as a garage/psych band. I think it would also qualify as a controversial addition. Just my opinion of course.  
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2013 at 05:45
^ A fair assessment, I feel. Approve This band would definitely struggle to get support, I'm pretty confident of that...Even I might consider entering an 'unsure' vote for them, and I reckon it would be three straight 'no's from the others (Olav rarely votes these days). This site: http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/music/otr/documents/01761660.htm describes them as "late-'60s/early-'70s-style psychedelic prog-rock", but none of the usual recognised prog sites has them (ie sites such as proggnosis etc), and maybe this comment from an amazon.com review: "they dive head first into 1960s rock & pop {back when those were not bad words} with a bit of prog rock thrown in for fun" sums it up as well as anyone could.
 
I'm ever so sorry Agi, but it looks like this one ends here (unless another Crossover team member disagrees with us, of course). Ermm
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