Your Previous Quarter of a Year's Music Blog
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Topic: Your Previous Quarter of a Year's Music Blog
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Subject: Your Previous Quarter of a Year's Music Blog
Date Posted: June 14 2008 at 17:33
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I thought this might be an interesting blog topic, write about the stuff you’ve added to your music collection recently, regardless of whether it is actually newly released this year or even considered officially progressive here. I think it’s a good idea to let the music sink in a little before pondering the next quarter of the year, so I will start with the first quarter of 2008. 1/7/08: John Abercrombie - Night, a 30th anniversary remaster of Gentle Giant - In A Glass House, and The Nice – Elegy arrive via mail order. Ordered Night because I’ve been a long time fan and it has Jan Hammer on it. Didn’t make a great impression due to being overshadowed by other things I was listening to. IAGH because I’ve been a huge fan of that once since the late ‘70’s. Disappointed in the CD case. I’ve had an unremastered version where they printed the darker cover images on the CD case and the lighter ones on the booklet, so it had the same effect as the original LP(vinyl). The outer cardboard sleeve had a rectangular cut out in the middle backed by a thin sheet of plastic with the darker images on it and the inner sleeve had the lighter ones. I could have skipped Elegy. I already have most of those tracks on one or another remastered CD. Was interested in Hang On To A Dream, which I had the ELP remake of from their box set, oh well. 1/16/08: The first of my orders for Harold Budd/Robin Guthrie’s recent duet, Before the Day Breaks arrives along with Terje Rydal & The Chasers – Blue. The Budd/Guthrie CD is mixed awfully quiet compared to rest of the stuff in my in collection, probably still haven’t properly listened to it yet. The Rypdal and Chasers I ordered due to being a big fan of Terje for many years and it was the same band that worked with him on The Singles Collection, which I’ve had for many years. The companion to BTDB After the Night Falls, comes about a week later, both still need a good sit down and listen. 2/22/08: My first and only addition in February, Gongzilla Live arrives. Gongzilla is a real pleasant discovery for ’08 and remains so despite their small discography spanning over ten years. 3/7/08: From separate sources, Col. Bruce Hampton & The Quark Alliance – Give Thanks To Chank and NIN – Ghosts are added. Hampton’s been a local Atlanta fixture, mostly, usually proggy in most of his projects n some form or the other. I think The Quark Alliance project may be a little more so than some of his other projects, of course I could totally be deranged. Ghosts was available first in a free download of the first “movement” and also as a complete download in various formats including pay for high quality digital download and get hard copy to be shipped later. I did the download on this date. The all instrumental Ghosts was a bit of a departure from Reznor, but then again, a lot of these elements are not unusual in his previous works. I think the inclusion of Adrian Belew (not for the first time) made this one a must get for me. About a week later I got Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, a bunch of remixes from the NIN – Year Zero sessions. I liked the original a lot, the remixes are interesting, particularly The Great Destroyer, which I found a little annoying on YZ but really neat in this version. 3/21/08: The month and first quarter of the year finished out in rather interesting fashion with the arrival of Oregon – Out Of The Woods and Root In The Sky in a combo CD package. I’ve had RITS in LP format for a long time, but hadn’t heard it an a while. Out Of The Woods I had known about and was familiar with a couple of tracks before. It’s nice to have both of these in my collection. Wasn’t too long in years after those were released before Collin Walcott, died in a bus accident, a great loss as these two albums illustrate. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Replies:
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: June 14 2008 at 21:38
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1st Quarter? Many of my Xmas presents this year were in the form of Amazon vouchers, so the year started pretty heavily in the spend, spend, spend department...
Tangerine Dream - Atem*, Sadistic Mika Band - Golden Best (70s Japaneese Art Rock), Mike Oldfield - Songs of Distant Earth, Mike Oldfield - Music Of The Spheres, Summer Indoors - In The Key of H, Roger Taylor - Fun In Space*, Jenny Sorrenti - Com'e Grande Enfermida, X-Perience - Magic Fields, Ayreon - 01011001, Girl's School - Wild At Heart, Spike Jones - Clink Clink Another Drink, Steve Hackett - Guitar Noir*, Wishbone Ash - Argus*, Michael Chapman - Dangerous When Sober, LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver, Fish - Fellini Days, Alex North's 2001 soundtrack, Agua De Annique - Air, Ahvak - s./t, Little Death Orchestra - s/t, Van der Graff Generator - Trisector, Jemima Price - Easy, Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree, Moi Dix Mois - Beyond The Gate, Happy Rhodes - Building the Colossus, GRM - Archives, Noun - Speed Skating, Malice Mizer - Bara No Seidou, Luc Ferrari - Son Memorise, Jon Oliva's Pain - Global Warming, Midnattsol - Nordlys, Tim Kaiser - Analog. NIN - Ghosts I-IV, Portishead - Third.
Looking through that list there isn't a huge amount of Prog there, VdGG, Ayreon and Jon Oliva i would have bought even if they were complete rubbish, luckily they weren't. Ahvak is something worth seaking out - Israeli RIO/Advant-prog jazz world music. Jenny Sorrenti was the vocalist with Saint Just and her solo album was a pleasure to hear. Air is the first solo album from The Gathering's Anneke van Giersbergen recorded under the name Agua De Annique. Fellini Days
 I'd forgotten I'd bought that  I really should play it sometime... ...those marked '*' are CD versions of albums already owned on vinyl: I've slowly been getting CD versions of all my favourite Tangerine Dream albums and Atem was next on my list. Toger Raylor's Fun In Space is his first solo album and a fave of mine since its initial release, Guitar Noir and Argus - what can you say? Great albums.
Let's dance: X-Perience are a euro-pop dance act featuring the vocal talents of one Claudia Uhle who now records Electro-goth as Angelzoom; Goldfrapp's and Portishead's latest releases have lived up to expectations, Alison Goldfrapp's 7th Tree is her best since Felt Mountain and Portishead was a minor revelation.
Ancient: Spike Jones - not quite as good as I remembered, but fun just the same; Alex North (composer of various film scores such as A Streetcar Named Desire, The Rainmaker, Misfits & Spartacus and best known for writing Unchained Melody) was commisioned to score Kubrick's 2001, but as we now know, the music was never used - Gerry Goldsmith recored this version of the score in 1993, two years after North's death.
J-Rock: Sadistic Mika Band were (probably) the first Japaneese band to cause an impact in the UK - playing Art Rock in the Roxy Music/Bebop Deluxe vein they were signed to EMI's Harvest label in the mid 70s - after they broke up the drummer went on to form The Yellow Magic Orchestra. Moi dix Mois and Malice Mizer are two of the modern leading lights in Japan's Art Rock visual kei movement, though Moi dix Mois tend towards a more Prog Metal format with mixed death-metal/clean vocals, while Malice Mizer are more Symphonic/Electronic (and sound not unlike Germany's Lacrimosa but without the guitars).
The weird and wonderful: GRM - Archive, Luc Ferrari, Little Death Orchestra & Tim Kaiser. Ferrari features inthe GRM Archive - a wonderful collection of Electro-acoustic music from the Paris academy of modern music. The Little Death Orchestra is something I heard on the ClassicFM tv channel and had to buy. Tim Kaiser produces electronic/experimental music using circuit-bending techniques - even the CD case was a bent piece of electronics, fabricated from scrap circuit boards.
 ------------- What? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: June 15 2008 at 01:53
For my collection, prog wise, things have gotten much better this current quarter. I was in a bit of dry spell first quarter. I'm going to wait for the end of the month before reporting on it. New stuff still on its way.  This quarter so far: Amos, Tori Hey Jupiter Curved Air Live 1990 Focus Live at the BBC Alitheia Chthonick Observatory, The A Far Cry From Here Phideaux Chupacabras Porcupine Tree Lightbulb Sun Genesis From Genesis To Revelation (Remaster) Supertramp Crime Of The Century Jonas Hellborg Art Metal Public Image Ltd. Compact Disc Nine Inch Nails Slip, The Sancious, David Just As I Thought Gongzilla Suffer Gongzilla Thrive Zappa, Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa no-man schoolyard ghosts Nektar Sunday Night at the London Roundhouse 2 Nektar Book of Days Head Machine Orgasm Hine, Rupert Wildest Wish To Fly Talisma Quelque Part Edit: Rupert Hine - Immunity Fred Frith/John Zorn Duo: 50th Birthday Pierre Moerlen's Gong Pentanine. I think that about does if for this month and quarter, I'm going to savor what I have and report on these in July. |
Posted By: Tasartir
Date Posted: June 15 2008 at 05:36
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I just got: Gazpacho's Firebird
The Pineapple Thief's Tightly Unwound
Nick Cave's Abattoir Blues
Opeth's Watershed ------------- ...Histoires Sans Paroles... |
Posted By: Roland113
Date Posted: June 17 2008 at 22:18
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Yikes, ok, I'm up for this one, though I've been on a tear this year. We'll start with my January acquisitions: First, My Christmas / Birthday Presents (most didn't arrive until January, so I'm taking liberties and including them all: Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement Spock's Beard - The Light - One of my favorite Beard albums Poverty's No Crime - Save my Soul - The Key to Creativity is worth the price of admission The Flower Kings - Flower Power - Still haven't gotten into this one Riverside - Out of Myself - No comment yet RPWL - World Through My Eyes - Great listening, Roses and the title track are fantastic Spock's Beard - The Kindness of Strangers - My Beard collection is now complete. Genesis - When in Rome - Eh, I loved the concert and love the album despite the 'insufficient progginess' We'll save February for a later time. ------------- -------someone please tell him to delete this line, he looks like a noob------- I don't have an unnatural obsession with Disney Princesses, I have a fourteen year old daughter and coping mechanisms. |
Posted By: Dick Heath
Date Posted: June 18 2008 at 07:45
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Apart from catching up on back catalogue - in particular a personal rediscovery of Terry Reid's 60's recordings and now 70's recordings - main emphasis of the last few months has been Indo jazz fusion, e.g completing my Garaj Mahal collection, the second Farque Haque Group ablum , John McLaughlin's Floating Point, a couple of Embryo recordings, (based on recommednations in this month's edition of Jazzwise), Mukta's Jade and The Indian Core - and literally in the last few minutes ordered from Abstract Logix (a specialist in the genre) Pouya Mahmoodi (with Billy Cobham) Mehr (a bit of a cheat with Mahmoodi being Iranian....)
I realise I've left out Miles From India - seeing the negative votes I'm getting at Amazon.UK for my review, I feel people are listening to the Miles Davis interpretations, rather than the (IMHO) average and somewhat retro Indo-fusion arrangements. ------------- The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS. CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: June 20 2008 at 18:48
That's as good of a band name as Dred Zeppelin. |
Dick Heath wrote:Posted By: Darklord55
Date Posted: June 23 2008 at 09:24
Sorry!  I did not look to see if there was another post reference this. And I don't have the time to write a descripion, even a brief one, for all that I listed. So my original post will disappear. Peace out.
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Posted By: listen
Date Posted: June 23 2008 at 16:42
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In the last 3 months (prog): albums: Univers Zero--Univers Zero ~ Very unique, a lot of dissonance with melodies popping up here and there, very classical-sounding but very avant-garde. I like this one (most parts), though its a hard listen when I'm mildly stressed or down Faust--Faust IV ~ Pleasantly surprised. I'd think this'd have a higher rating. Nice melodies, the tracks are somewhat varied in terms of sound, but all good. solid album. Jan Dukes de Grey--Mice and Rats in the Loft ~ my new favorite album! I fell in love with this after listening to it a few times. Must be listened to. Popol Vuh--In Den Garten Pharaos ~ nothing much to speak of, the bonus tracks are very eerie.. think middle section of PF Echoes but not as noisy or jarring downloads: Way too much to write but here are some of my favs: Amon Duul II--Yeti, Wolf City ~ pretty good, somewhat uneven Anthony Phillips--The Geese and the Ghost ~ graceful, a softer sounding genesis, very pastoral Camel--Camel ~ not near as good as latter releases like Mirage but def. good and some very solid songs Chris Squire--Fish out of Water ~ wow! very good, lives up to the hype Colosseum--Valentyne Suite ~ very good! reminds me a little of KC's early jazz rock Comus--First Utterance ~ creepy, pagan and magnificent! Eloy--Ocean & others ~ eh, not so fond of this although there are some moments Fairport Convention--all haven't listened to enough Magma--Kohntarkosz, Live, MDK & others ~ K is very good, I especially like the second half of part 1 Wishbone Ash--Argus ~ I like "time was". the rest is not bad though haven't listened to it much Traffic--On the Road ~ haven't listened to it enough, but initial impressions are that much from the studio sound is lost and jams don't really hold my attention, kind of like disc 2 of CSNY's Four Way Street Soft machine--live ~ pretty good from what ive heard so far Spirogyra--canterbury tale ~ very acidic, dark and beautiful |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: June 23 2008 at 21:56
Hey, it's a blog not a log.  You are hereby requested to revise those entries with some commentary about what you got, the only requirement I'd ask for adding to this blog.  Being brief like Roland113 isn't a bad approach. And there is a thread already for most recent purchases, no comments necessary there... |
Posted By: King Crimson776
Date Posted: June 25 2008 at 04:45
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Some recent albums I got: Kevin Gilbert - The Shaming of the True (love this one) The Flower Kings - Space Revolver Renaissance - Prologue Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star Genesis - A Trick of the Tail Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge Return to Forever - No Mystery (My RTF collection is now complete) Frost* - Milliontown Stanley Clarke - The Toys of Men I probably I missed a few, I might add them in later |
Posted By: npjnpj
Date Posted: June 25 2008 at 05:06
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Recently I went a bit made and got LOADS of new stuff. On top of that, if I take an interest in an artist, I tend to get complete discographies (well, the studio albums). The last few months these have included:
Blackfield: Very relaxing and no challenge, but I suppose it's intended that way
Magma: VERY difficult. Can't seem to get into them at all, but I'm working on it.
Mars Volta: OK, but way overrated. Seems old stuff in new wrapping.
Meshuggah: Great, I always liked Coroner, and these guys come very close.
Radiohead: I enjoy these albums a lot, can't say anything against them.
Opeth: Mixture of 'oh my God' (the growls) and 'Yeah!' (the rest)
No-Man: I like 'em very much, but that goes for all Steven Wilson stuff.
Pain of Salvation: Sorry, but that music just hasn't clicked yet. To my ears it sounds very non-descript. Can't remember any melodies that stay in the head on these.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: July 11 2008 at 22:23
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4/2/08: Went to one of the few decent used CD stores in my area, Ella Guru, slim pickings. Wound up with a Tori Amos EPCD, Hey Jupiter. Seen it around there often, not that great, Also picked up a copy of the DVD of the first season of Robot Chicken, might have salvaged the trip but the middle parts of each disc don’t play in any of the many DVD playing options I have access to. 4/8/08: Two cool live blasts from the past, Curved Air - Live 1990, and Focus - Live At The BBC. Mail order again, of course. Curved Air being remarkable for reuniting the original band members and performing an excellent show of old material, after they got past what were apparently technical difficulties at the beginning of the show, Live At The BBC is wonderful for the band being post Akkerman and pre Proby. Philippe Catherine being a very good choice for replacement of Jan. 4/14/08: Overload! On order from CD Baby and The Burning Shed shops comes in. Alitheia – Chthonick, The Observatory - A Far Cry From Here, Phideaux – Chupacabras with Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun. Overload, overload, overload! The Alithea was interesting, a bit more metal than I was expecting but certainly demonstrates the worthiness of a prog metal category around here. The Observatory was another pleasant surprise. Recommended by someone posting in a CD Baby thread. Prog from Singapore. Chupacabras completed my Phideaux collection until something new comes out, quite good for a collection of tracks that didn’t make it to albums from the sessions when it was recorded. Then Lightbulb Sun came along. I had become well acquainted with many of the songs as bonus tracks and from the live album, Warzsawa. The remaster was long overdue and well appreciated by me. I missed out on this band when they first appeared. 4/18/08: Genesis To Revelation, I had to have this one to replace the old unremastered CD I still had. It was used, in Japanese mini LP format, with some extra bonus tracks I hadn’t heard. The new stuff didn’t make much of an impression, but what the hell, a must have for this collector. 4/30/08: Someone on PA had suggested making May 1st a special prog day (Sorry screen name does not come immediately to mind, but what the heck?). Went browsing at my local chain store, OK Purchase (not their real name, feel free to guess). They’ve been in the neighborhood a while, but it seems their progressive offerings have been steadily diminishing. Was hoping to find at least a few selections that were in the PA’s top list that I didn’t have already. They my were last hope after Ella turned out bust. I headed up the road to them and was prepared to find at least something VDGG, hell no! They did have Supertramp – The Crime Of The Century and a few others. A band that really wasn’t considered prog by my fellow fans back in the day. Turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Something about that music that makes it stick in my head a little too much. 5/1/08: Just as I am getting into the ‘Tramp, what the hell should show up in the mail next day but Jonas Hellborg’s Art Metal. I ordered that one thanks to another streaming track posted here on the PA, Solitude. 5/2/08: Next up to grace my collection was Public Image Limited’s Album/Compact Disc/Cassette/8-Track/Wax Cylinder/MP3. Nice concept and actually the music isn’t bad. Johnny’s demented singing style has a certain appeal. This is as close as I will ever get to having a Sex Pistols album in my collection. 5/5/08: Nine Inch Nails does one up on Radiohead by releasing The Slip totally free for download, even in as good as CD format. Kudos Mr Reznick. Lot of prog elements in his music even if you don’t consider it prog. 5/12/08: Although David Sancious isn’t yet officially prog on this site, I did get a copy of Just As I Thought, which was a recommendation I found in a dormant thread. I’d had DS’s Transformation in my collection about a year before, been aware of his music for while, but after checking out his biography and discography, found out he’s gotten around quite a bit in prog circles and elsewhere. 5/24/08: Double Gongzilla treat, Suffer and Thrive. The first time I tried to get some Gongzilla, just a couple of months before, they seemed hard to get a hold of. I probably just got better at the search. Two wonderful albums. Having Alan Holdsworth guest on the first and David Torn on the second was a special treat. The core of the band Bon Lozaga, Hansford Rowe, and Benoit Moerlen are what really makes the band. 5/24/08: I was one of the fortunate few to win Zappa Plays Zappa DVD and CD for reviewing a few Zappa albums for a Progressive Archives contest/giveaway. I was expecting just a DVD, but the whole set was two DVDs with an abbreviated CD of the concert. Dweezil has certainly taken after his Dad musically. Will be watching to see where he goes as he finds his own path in music. 5/27/08: no-man schoolyard ghosts. Unfortunately my only DTS surround sound capable device doesn’t like this the same as a few others, very skippy. The few moments I do get to enjoy, the sound mix is pretty well done. When I step back and listen just to the music in stereo, it’s still a great listen. This is music that those who need stuff to be really loud won’t enjoy. But for sit down and listen to music, it’s most excellent. Bowness is a singer/lyricist that tends to put more emphasis on the words than the singing, so some can find his style monotonous. The dynamics of his singing are subtler. As is often the case, you’ll find Wilson and Bowness working with an interesting collection of collaborators. 6/9/08: Nektar from overseas! Got me a redone Live From The Roundhouse I ordered with the new Book Of Days, which was primary target. Imagine my surprise when it arrived with the packing slip apparently personally signed by Roye. It ain’t easy being a prog musician these days. But then again there’s nothing like having a fiercely devoted though small fan base. The new album is the best of the latest three since Roye reconstituted the Nektar. I suspect he’s been listening a little to what’s been going on new in prog today and let it influence him a little. 6/11/08: Head Machine – Orgasm, Rupert Hine – The Wildest Wish To Fly. The former was ordered due to seeing the band recommended for inclusion in a thread and also part for the novelty of it. It isn’t too bad for 1970, almost quaint due to my familiarity with Zappa’s raunchier stuff. Bluesy, psychedelicly, proto Uriah Heep. Hine is a part synth pop part prog artist. Some of songs on TWWTF rival what many of the usual prog suspects were doing in 1983. 6/13/08: Talisma – Queleque Part. This one I’ve been waiting for. Got hooked on them thanks to a streaming track posted on PA from their last album. Might have had this sooner, but the website for their label, Unicorn, isn’t well structured. This label also has some Darryl Steurmer. Note to self, check out what he’s been up to recently. 6/16/08: Rupert Hine – Immunity arrives. This was my first taste of the guy. Tried it primarily because Phil Collins put in a appearance. Another mixture of synth pop and prog from Mr. Hine. About all I know from the guy other than him working some with Anthony Phillips. Same day Fred Frith and John Zorn - 50th Birthday (Zorn’s) Volume 5. Difficult listening music, say no more. 6/17/08: Found out that Pierre Moerlen had put out an album as Pierre Moerlen’s Gong in this decade, Penatanine. Actually the only thing in common personnel wise with PM’s Gong was Pierre himself. Plays with Russians and the result is quite good. It has even a (very) few elements reminiscent of Daevid Allen’s Gong. Pierre’s not with us anymore, died too soon, yet left behind some good stuff. Well, I’m just getting into the next quarter of 2008. Going to sit back and enjoy what I have rather than delve too far into new territory. Still keeping an eye open for new 2008 releases by those I already know. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: August 06 2008 at 20:00
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the beat goes on... May through to June....
Grand Slam: the Best of Babe Ruth, never was a Babe Ruth fans as such, I bought one single when they were passed their prime, then a chance conversation with a work collegue prompted be to buy this - it's good but I don't feel the urge to rush out an buy a full-length album.
Strange Pleasures [Box Set] - Further Sounds Of The Decca Underground, superb 3 CD set of the psyche/prog years of Decca, including many Deram releases.
Out of the Mist / Illusion - Illusion, 2for1 CD; the original Renaissance line-up without Keith Relf (who had died the previous year) - unfortunately not as good as the first two Renaissance albums and over-shadowed by Annie Haslam's Renaissance at the time, but still an enjoyable listen... I still love the fragility of Jane Relf's vocals and prefer them to the purer folky style of Annie Haslam.
The Greatest Tale [Box set] - Odyssey, this is a great concept album based upon Homer's Odyssey, featuring some great modern Prog bands playing "old school" prog: NATHAN MAHL (Canada), NEXUS (Argentina), GLASS HAMMER (United States), XII ALFONSO (France), SIMON SAYS (Sweden), CONSORZIO ACQUA POTABILE (Italy), TEMPANO (Venezuela), MINIMUM VITAL (France) and AETHER (Brazil) - my personal favourites from here are the Tempano and CAP tracks.
No-man - Schoolyard Ghosts, I've been listening to No-Man since before I'd even heard of Porcupine Tree thanks to a sampler from Flowermouth given away free with a long since defunct glossy magazine back in 1994 and truely love them, but this has had no effect on me what so ever. Don't dislike it, it's just failed to move me like the others have.
Opeth - Watershed, after the fuss, I really like this album, not as much as Blackwater Part or Still Life, but more than Ghost Reveries.
The Best of - Radiohead, Ah, well, as much as I love RH I saw no real need to buy this until I set out one day without any CDs for the car - 15 miles into the journey I'd had as much of the radio as I could stand (why can't the DJs just play music, why do they have to prattle on so much
) and was forced to pull in at the nearest supermarket for some music and this was all I could find. It's not bad, but I prefer listening to their complete albums.Ghosts on Magnetic Tape - Bass Communion, groovy, just groovy. (erm, yeah ... I can't remember what it sounds like at the moment, but I know I liked it when I last played it)
Wounded Land - Threshold, I know I bought this once years ago, but cannot find it, so bought it again. Damian is officially my favourite Threshold singerist.
Delusions - To-Mera, follow-up to Transcendental, must write a review for it one day.
AngL - Ihsahn, best prog metal album this year.
Opheliac - Emilie Autumn, Punky goth girl with electric violin sings about angsty girlie stuff - great music though, so...
Laced/Unlaced - Emilie Autumn, Ms Autumn stops singing and lets her violin do the talking - a great instrumental album, half classical and half violindustrial - think Vanessa Mae with real attitude and snit-loads of feedback.
Soundtrack - Zabriskie Point, "upgrade" from vinyl, prompted by the use of one of the Pink Floyd tunes in the Direct Line insurance ads on TV - some decent reworkings of old songs by Pink Floyd and a couple of good Greatful Dead tunes, the rest is disposable IMO.
Tubular Bells 2003 - Mike Oldfield,
Orchestral Tubular Bells - David Bedford, Tubular Bells for two pianos - The Piano Ensemble, Tubular Bells - Duo Sonare, okay - so I went on a Tubby Bells binge, there's still a couple of "tribute" versions out there I haven't managed to track down (but I do have the "disco" version by The Champs Boys on 45 lurking in my record collection)
Amarok - Mike Oldfiled,
Islands - Mike Oldfield, and while I was on the Tubby Bells binge I picked up a couple of Mike's other albums. Amarok is really good, but the Maggie Thatcher impersonator at the end gets tedious after a few spins. As I write this I couldn't tell you a single thing about Islands...
The Deram Anthology - David Bowie, I'm probably one of the few who likes Mr Jones's early years, but amid all the whimsy, there are some excellent songs hidden away and all the themes that he would develop on later albums are present in these little music-hall songs.
Oh yes, I've finally managed to get around to playing Felini Days... nope. don't like it. ------------- What? |
Posted By: listen
Date Posted: August 20 2008 at 20:53
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since my last post I have gone on an album hunt, mostly for acid folk: Synanthesia: Synanthesia ~ very good, acid folk, mix of folk jazz and psych qualities Shirley Collins and Dolly Collins: Love, Death and the Lady ~ trad. though artsy, beautiful voice though gets tedious after a while Jan Dukes de Grey: Sorcerers ~ some very good songs Simon Finn: Pass the Distance, Magic Moments ~ un, mixed opinions. some is good but sometimes i can't stand the rough jarring bantering of finn, somewhat like connor obherst (sp) -bright eyes and bob dylan but harsher Gnidrolog: Lady Lake, In Spite of Harry's Toenail ~ pretty good. LL is especially good, though not really my style, def hear the comparisons to GG, VDGG and some JT Trees: The Garden of Jane Delawney, On the Shore ~ i really like the combo of trad/psy UK folk and electric san fran scene. love a lot of it! Agincourt: Fly Away ~ some remnants of the adolescent 60's brit pop scene but other than that good psych folk. Broselmaschine: Broselmaschine ~ very very good!! C.O.B.: Moyshe McStiff..., Spirit of Love. ~ moyshe is awesome!! I love it! Espers: Espers, II, The Weed Tree ~ very acidic, odd harmonies & beautiful. I'm really happy music like this is still being made Woven Hand: a bunch of downloads ~ ? good from what I've heard though haven't heard much Trannosaurus Rex: a bunch of downloads ~ ? Six Organs of Admittance: a bunch of downloads ~ ? Devendra Banhart: a bunch of downloads ~ ? Pearls Before Swine: a bunch of downloads including most of balaklava ~ pretty good! Holderlin: Holderlin's Traum, Holderlin haven't listened enough, the latter so far is pretty good Witthüser & Westrupp: Der Jesuspilz (Musik Vom Evangelium), Trips und Träume ~ mixed opinions from listeneng to a few songs, but some good parts Genesis: Six of the Best (1982 reunion) ~ ? Ithaca: A Game for All Who Know ~ this has gotten mostly mediocre reviews here but I like this (same lineup as agincourt but 3 years later)! Very mellow, enjoyable. nice vocals and melodies though fairly straightforward. the 3 people i've talked to all like it & recommended it to me. I agree with them. Yatha Sidhra: A Meditation Mass ~ haven't listened yet The Pax Cecilia: Blessed are the Bonds ~ ? Asia Minor: Between Flesh and Divine ~ great!! I wish this were longer, very nice sound and melodies!! Mark Fry: Dreaming With Alice ~ a lost psy folk gem, very good! Forest: Forest, Full Circle ~ pretty good! sounds somewhat like incredible string band Phoenix: Cantafabule ~ don't really understand the hype about this, only listened to several songs, some good parts David Lanz: downloads ~ no listen yet Stackridge: friendliness ~ i can def. hear the beatles influence, fairly good though not very prog Emtidi: Saat ~ pretty good acid folk, haven't listened much yet Sid Barret: The Madcap Laughs ~ listened to a couple songs, pretty good psych folk The Incredible String Band: The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion ~ haven't listened much yet, some good songs/parts Pentangle: bunch of downloads Fela Kuti: Bunch of downloads National Health: National Health, DS al Coda ~ haven't listened to yet (downloads) Le orme: Bunch of downloads Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: Bunch of downloads, first album i like and Io Sono Nato Libero 13th Floor Elevators: Bunch of downloads Red Sparowes: Bunch of downloads ~ from what I've heard I like this a lot The Dillinger Escape Plan: Bunch of downloads Don Caballero: bunch of downloads Agitation Free: Malesch my pickups at the local public library: Space Opera: Space Opera ~ got this one b/c it looked interesting, and I am very pleased! First 4 songs are very solid. Not very progressive but good music sort of similar to loggins & messina Faust: The Faust Tapes ~ haven't listened to more than a few tracks - fairly good Bert Jansch: The Black Swan ~ good from what i've listened to but haven't really yet Klaus Schulze: Audentity ~ no listen yet Captain Beyond: Captain Beyond ~ sorta good, haven't listened much yet Manfred Mann's Earth Band: The Best Of Manfred Mann's Earth Band Volume II ~ no listen yet the non prog: The Magic Numbers: The Magic Numbers, Those The Brokes Minus the Bear: Highly Refined Pirates Richard "Groove" Holmes: Soul Massage The Holmes Brothers: Soul Street Funkadelic: Maggot Brain, Funkadelic Smashing Pumpkins: MACHINA/The Machines of God Bob Weir & Ratdog: Evening Moods James Brown: Greatest Breakbeats Butthole Surfers: Rembrandt Pussyhorse David Byrne: Live From Austin, Texas David Bromberg: The Player: A Retrospective The Righteous Brothers: Retrospective 1963-1974 Kenny Loggins: The Essential Kenny Loggins The Who: It's Hard Sting: Bring On The Night [Live] Frank Zappa: Zappa In New York, YCDTOSA Vol 2 [Live] The Rapture: Pieces Of The People We Love Arlo Guthrie: The Best Of Arlo Guthrie Duke Ellington: At The Cotton Club Dave Brubeck: Private Brubeck Remembers The Shins: Oh, Inverted World, Wincing The Night Away !!! (Chk Chk Chk): Myth Takes Andrew Lloyd Webber: Jesus Christ Superstar ...there's actually much more (not from the library) but I'll stop here
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 07 2008 at 10:03
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< ="-" ="text/; =utf-8">< name="GENERATOR" ="Office.org 2.4 Win32">< ="text/">
7/1/08: Well, I decided to put the brakes on new acquisitions for the third quarter of the year. But I started things off with a bang. The remastered and expanded Kansas – Two For The Show, which went from an excellent two LP set in the '70's to an unfortunately abbreviated unremastered CD to finally a CD that is an excellent live showcase of a prog rock band at it's musical peak.
Then I actually took a break from new additions to enjoy my collection with a focus on recently added items. It's been a while since I took nearly a month's worth to add new things, but it was worth it. But, severely addicted collector of music that I am...
7/25/08: Not adding anything truly new to me here, but I heard that Genesis had reissued Trick Of The Tail with a bonus DVD that had a surround sound mix, but more importantly a live concert from the era that I had been hoping would get released on DVD someday. I already had TOTT in the “Definitive Edition”, but dang it, I had to order another copy for the DVD. For good measure I also ordered the new release of Duke, which also has a bonus DVD with surround sound mix and a concert video I wasn't aware of. Also from the Duke era, it's notable for having Darryl Steurmer and Chester Thompson, without whom the three could not have been as good when on tour, and that apparently is still true to this day.
8/15/08: Got that itch for new stuff again and my order arrived. Santana's Borboletta thanks to a PA review. I was not aware of this album, but should have been. Mini LP CD package. Oh, if only this had become the preferred CD format rather than the accursed “jewel” case, I would have so much more room for my collection. Not to mention how fragile the case is. They also had one of the same type for Zappa's Jazz From Hell, which I have in LP format but haven't heard in years. I had to get one of those as the shipping on a second item was discounted. A bit of an odd couple for sure. From different eras, Santana's music was still dominated by progressive and Zappa was getting into a whole weird area.
8/22/08: BMG Music Club beckoned with a sale. The stuff there is really overpriced unless you take advantage of the initial offers and the sales. Shipping and handling charges are obscene, but if you are careful in your orders, you can get your money's worth. The main problem I have with them is their selection, granted they do have some good titles available, but I already have them in my collection. Still, occasionally I will find stuff of interest to me. My order arrived incomplete, four of five with the fifth to follow. The four that came in were John Abercrombie's The Third Quartet, a nice mellow jazz album with guitar violin bass and drums; Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin The Guitar Trio, I think they've been taking turns on who gets listed first for this trio. If you like acoustic guitars, these three can't be beat although there is some competition out there: Al DiMeola/John McLaughlin/Paco DeLucia, Larry Coryell/John Abercrombie/Badi Assad, and John McLaughlin/Paco DeLucia/Larry Coryell. Stanley Clarke's Children Of Forever is a 2007 reissue of the album, which I'm guessing may have been out of print since the LP era. Not quite as progressive as Return To Forever from that era (1972), but if you like RTF, you'll probably like this. Clara Ponty Mirror Of Truth, Jean-Luc you have a lovely daughter. Her first album was just solo piano of an ambient nature. On this 2007 release, she is joined on some tracks by her Dad and various other musicians in various combinations. All of it very mellow, meditative, and relaxing music.
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: December 07 2008 at 12:08
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Playing catchup since August, so this is the last six months... The Pretty Good Years: a Tribute to Tori Amos - as sung by a very good London based singer/songwriter called Jemima Price (see my June post above) - who also produced an album of Kate Bush covers.
Songs of a Goddess: a Tribute to Tori Amos - a collection of Goth and Ethereal covers.
Live at The Hammersmith Apollo London ~ Tori Amos – the lady herself, live.
Some CD replacements of existing vinyls…
In the Land of Grey and Pink ~ Caravan
Still Life: Remastered ~ Van Der Graaf Generator The Beatles (aka The White Album) [30th Anniversary Edition] Nocturne ~ Siouxsie And The Banshees Music from the Body ~ Ron Geesin and Roger Waters Hatfield and the North ~ Hatfield & The North
Up the Junction ~ Manfred Mann - a soundtrack to a 1960's film from a story by Nell Dunn staring Suzy Kendal, Susan George and Dennis Waterman (who didn't sing the feme, Mike D'Abo did)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ~ David Bedford A few oldies that are mine for the first time... Insane Times: 25 British Psychedelic Artefacts from the EMI Vaults ~ Various Artists
Pinball and Other Stories ~ Brian Protheroe – Pinball was one of the better singles of the 70s – a bit of a one-hit wonder and the rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to the same standard. The First Day ~ David Sylvian and Robert Fripp … odd I never bought this until now – Damage, the live album from this pairing is one of my favourites. Shapeshifter ~ Gong – after years of searching I’ve finally got a copy of the 4th installment of the Flying Teapot trilogy – what it all means is still a mystery to me, but it’s jolly good fun. Grand Hotel ~ Procol Harum – never really listened to 70s PH – a pity because I missed out on some damn fine music. Once Around the World ~ It Bites – okay, I’ll admit it – I like It Bites. Destiny ~ Sally French –if you judged her by the scant samples that can be found on the interweb you’d writer Sally off as a folky singer/songwriter, but as full-length songs dripping with mellotrons and Gilmour-esque guitar breaks it’s a fine Neo Prog treasure – a ‘lost’ gem. And the Glass Handed Kites ~ Mew – the more I hear this the less Prog and more Dream-pop it gets. The Audience ~ Theaudience – her of the rhomboid jaw, not the 70s Prog band Tiny Colour Movies ~ John Foxx Nunsexmonkrock ~ Nina Hagen Band Utah Saints ~ Utah Saints - okay - it's their "Running Up The Hill" cover that attracts me. some new stuff...
Dandelion Gum ~ Black Moth Super Rainbow – mad as a bucket of monkeys – everyone should hear this.
Ghosts ~ Siobhan Donaghy - the pixie faced one from the Sugarbabes gets all indie-gothic and serious, and fails miserably, but the title track is a killer. Silence of Another Kind ~ Paatos
Fusion ~ Eilera - I've forgotten this one already - typical female fronted goffic metal, nothing special. Etarlis ~ Mermaid Kiss – hasn’t actually been delivered yet, but one of the best of the new bread of rock-oriented, female fronted UK Prog bands Curse of the Laze ~ The Laze excellent eclectic Prog from a band that didn't know they were prog.
UFOsmosis ~ Cyndee Lee Rule - Our very own ViolinCyndee's solo album
 The Slip ~ Nine Inch Nails- as far as I am concerned 2008 is Trent Reznor's year - brilliant stuff.
4:13 Dream ~ The Cure … and I’m grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Dark Side ~ Gregorian – featuring a mock-gregorian cover of Aphrodite’s Child’s Four Horsemen … has to be heard to be believed. Shrouded Divine ~ In Mourning - an excellent Opeth-like Prog Metal album
The Western Lands ~ Gravenhurst - proposed for inclusion here, but failed to get in, however an excellent album released through the wonderful Warp Records. Insergentes ~ Steven Wilson - not much I can say about this - everything I wanted (and expected) it to be Continuum ~ Bass Communion & Vidna Obmana - yep - a goodie.
Droneworks ~ Bass Communion - I have no idea how he does it, but this doesn't get boring - very clever stuff.
Pure ~ Pendragon - to be frank, I'd given up in Pendragon after Not Of The World, and for my sins, ignored Believe, but this is simply an amazing album and I may just have to go back and check it out.
And a couple of albums recorded ages ago but only recently given a proper release…
And Finally ~ Scheer – a 4AD post-punk band from the 90s fronted by Audrey Gallagher.
Crystal Tips and Mighty Mice ~ The Photos – fronted by the delectable Wendy Wu, The Photos sung about being a teenager in Birmingham during the post-punk 80s, this is the “lost” Photos album that was shelved by the record company just before the band split up, sadly the production (by Tony Visconti) loses all of the charm and magic of their first studio release.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 31 2009 at 06:35
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Arrgh, just noticed I hadn’t finished out the rest of the third quarter and here we are on the first of 2009. A blog works best when it’s kept current. 9/3/2008: Mike Oldfield’s The Music Of The Spheres finally arrives. Not bad at all. Kind of reminds me of The Orchestral Tubular Bells except Mike has taken over the orchestral writing, I think. Much better to do an original orchestral piece than the OTB was. 9/6/2008: Since the local used and new independent record store, Ella Guru, relocated away from my area I had to seek out another. Used CD stores around here have come and gone. It’s a shame but they appear to have a hard time being viable. I did find one I had never been to reasonably nearby in downtown Decatur called Decatur CD. Although I get most of my new stuff from the internet it’s still important to show your local independent store(s) some support. While browsing I found Fripp & Eno Beyond Even (1992-2006). Note to self, no one’s added this one to PA yet, need to add and review. Really still need to sit down and listen to it or play it more often as background music. Various Artists/Peter Gabriel Big Blue Ball is one of the four I picked up that I enjoyed the most. Like the F & E, the material spans a period. It’s a nice compilation of some loose Real World Studio stuff. Grappeli, Stephane Live 1992 not prog at all. Released after he died. He’s an old jazz guy and progressive jazzy when he was young and stretched out some in his older years. He has intersected prog particularly with his album with L. Subramaniam, Conversations. Picked this one up for seeing Philip Catherine in the credits. Basic jazz. Pastorius, Jaco Jaco Pastorius (Remaster) I never had this one in my collection though it’s been out for a while and I’ve been a Pastorius fan for a while. Probably because of the album cover. Reminds me a little too much of P. Collins’ Face Value. Could we have some cool progressive art on the cover instead? A nice set of music from a musician who can no longer create due to having moved on. No telling what Jaco would be up to today. Phil still lingers… 9/??/09: Did the free Marillion download. These free downloads are hard to wrap my head around without the tangible hard copy hold in your hands with a lyric booklet and album art. I do like the music but it is overshadowed by what I get next. I vow to actually purchase it to say thanks for the free download. 9/22/08: I had special ordered the new The Reasoning album, Dark Angel. I think this has become one of my favorite 2008 releases that I have experienced. Hasn’t seemed to attract a lot of attention at the PA. Your loss if you don’t check them out. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: February 01 2009 at 09:53
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10/18/08: Crimson Jazz Trio: King Crimson Songbook Volume 1 arrives. One of those ones I got interested in because I hear of it on PA first. If you have a taste for jazz, you'll probably love these reinterpretations of KC pieces. 10/25/08: Another excursion to the local independent record store results in a couple of scores - Afrocelts: Seed and Brian Eno: Ambient 1Music For Airports. Afrocelts are on Peter Gabriel's Real World label and are pretty much a mixture of African/Celtic Music/Musicians like the name says. Not for everyone, but I'm on my fifth disc with this one. The Eno album is one which I've never added despite being a long time fan of his ambient works. There's also an interesting version by Bang On A Can, which I have had since 2000. 11/30/08: Someone shared a link to download Steven Wilson's Insurgentes. I didn't get in on the advance order, but will be ordering the next hard copy release when available. 12/26/08: My sister gave me the only CD gift I got off of a wish list this year, John McLaughlin's Floating Point. It didn't quite live up to the good word I'd read about it on PA. Not bad, yet not great. There seems to be a thing about many musicians who have been around doing great stuff since the '70's or so. They just have a hard time topping what they did before. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 20:57
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< ="-" ="text/; =utf-8"> Well, after a slow last quarter last year, this one got off to a mild start at first. 1/3/2009: I was having the hunger for some new material and several titles I had ordered from CD Universe arrived - Jon Anderson, Live From La La Land, maybe a little too much JA, but a nice collection nevertheless. Jean Luc-Ponty, The Acatama Experience, another artist whose latest work I don't find as interesting as it used to be, still a nice album. Marillion, Happiness Is The Road – Essence & The Hard Shoulder, I had promised myself to buy these in thanks for the free dowload they offered. I don't find them as interesting as they used to be either, still I keep up with them. The Penguin Café, Music From the Penguin Café, now here's a band I first heard many years ago and this was the album I heard. I had a home made copy of it in my cassette collection for many years, but hadn't listened to it in years, totally forgotten. Someone brought up the band in a thread so I thought it time to get the album as it was new to CD and I had fond memories. I wasn't disappointed. 1/24/09: Since the last batch didn't totally satisfy I decided to venture over to my best local option for an independent brick and mortar CD store, Decatur CD, picked up an interesting trio - David Byrne and Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, well it's no Bush Of Ghosts, but as they allowed you to preview it in streaming audio on the web, I knew what to expect. I tend not to like it when prog artists try to do the gospel style music that much. Fripp & Eno, No Pussyfooting, this was one I was overdue to add to my collection and never did during the LP age. This version comes with a bonus disc with the tracks run in alternate fashions like backwards and half speed and they actually work. Pat Group Metheny, First Circle, I saw this in mini-LP format. Hadn't heard it in many years, but liked it when I bought the LP way back when. Pat's another artist who's still at it but seems not as inspired as he used to be. So still not getting turned on by what I was getting, yet all the music above is decent stuff. Then I caught some Umphrey's McGee streaming on this site. It sounded rather interesting so I put in an order from three different sellers on half.com for three different titles. 1/31/09: Mantis arrives very quickly. HOLY COW! This album really blew me away and will probably be the album I remember early 2009 most for. 2/12/09: Even though ordered at the same time as Mantis, Local Band Does O.K. arrives. Glad I had a few days to digest Mantis. Another thoroughly enjoyable set of musc. Anchor Drops never arrives and I have to put in for a refund. First time that's happened with a half.com order that I can recall. I did get a Psychedelic Furs (Forever Now) cassette on an order that I was expecting to be a CD a few years ago. Umprey's came to Atlanta for two shows 2/19,20. I missed Thursday's one due to my truck breaking down. When I checked on Friday's, it was sold out. But they like to tour so I'll be able to see them in person at another time, I'm sure. 3/9/09: A dirt cheap Kansas Power arrives another half.com mail order. It doesn't really satisfy. Maybe an U.M. effect. Ordered it mainly for nostalgic reasons. I have the LP and a promotional poster still hangs on the wall in the music room that was given out at the long defunct local Turtles record store chain. I'm realizing now that I've made a grave error by not dating my DVD arrivals as I am building up a good collection of those these days and they are now an important part of the prog music collecting experience. As consolation for missing the show(s) I ordered a couple of U.M. live DVDs from the band's site along with a couple of t-sh*ts and a sticker for my truck (can we say fan boy?) which arrived sometime in March. 3/18/09: A freebie courtesy of Prog Archives and Baku Llama arrives! Just got in on a giveaway. It's not easy living in the shadow of McGee. I still really haven't given this one a fair hearing/listening, but I will. Plus I owe them a review in thanks. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: ColonelClaypool
Date Posted: April 24 2009 at 07:34
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2009 hasn't been bad at all so far. I've been browsing the bargain bins, gotten a few secondhand albums using existing store credit and bought some brand new stuff as well. From the new albums I've bought, the standouts have been Mastodon - Crack The Skye (which is absolutely superb, I can't stop listening to it), Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Old Money (his best solo album to date, although he's so prolific it's almost impossible to keep track of everything) and Marillion - Happiness Is The Road (has become my favourite Hogarth era album). I'm fortunate enough to have an independent record store locally, where the owner is a really nice guy who can always find something for you that you'll like. I've asked him on several occasions, "What do I want to buy today?" and given him a few parameters to work from and he has never let me down yet. He has given me at least one absolute gem, Todd Rundgren's A Wizard, A True Star, and several other solid albums (Carmen - The Gypsies/Widescreen 2cd edition, The Grateful Dead - Live/Dead and Jeff Beck - Live at Ronnie Scott's) as well. Canterbury has been a major part of 2009, expanding my Caravan and Gong collections. Gong - You. Superb. Caravan - s/t. Caravan - Cunning Stunts. Caravan - ...Plump In The Night. I love Caravan, and these albums are all excellent. Think Cunning Stunts might be my favourite of the three though, due to the sheer brilliance of For Richard(bonus track). I also picked up Soft Machine - Third and Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom yesterday, haven't really had a chance to properly evaluate them yet. AC/DC, too, has been an area of focus so far this year as I've added a handful of albums to my collection. Other purchases in 2009: Steely Dan - Aja. A whim from the bargain bin. Not sure about this one, but only had one listen. Asia - Alpha. Bargain bin. Not too great, too pompous and cheesy for my tastes. Jaco Pastorius - s/t. 2nd-hand store credit. I like the one track with Sam&Dave, but the rest just don't interest me all that much. Mike Oldfield - Islands. Bargain bin, expanding my existing collection. Mike Oldfield - Five Miles Out. Bargain bin, expanding my existing collection. Mike Oldfield - The Songs Of Distant Earth. Bargain bin, expanding my existing collection. John Coltrane&Miles Davis - Best of 1955-1961. Never really been much of a jazz fan, figured it was time to give it a go. Bargain bin purchase. Jeff Beck - Guitar Shop. Only had one listen to it, haven't really made up an opinion yet. Bargain bin. Todd Rundgren - Liars. 2nd-hand store credit. Not bad, but nowhere near Wizard. Todd Rundgren - Todd. Almost as good as Wizard. Darker and not as accessible. Booker T&The MG's - Best Of. Green Onions. Steve Thorne - Emotional Creatures, part 1&2. A decent double concept album, but not groundbreaking in any way. Pink Floyd - Saucerful of Secrets. Completed my collection at last, I'm ashamed to admit I had been missing this for years... In addition to all this, within the next month and a half or so I have tickets to see Nils Petter Molvær(Norwegian jazz trumpeter), Bruce Springsteen(not a huge fan, but I'm going with my girlfriend and some of her friends), Jethro Tull(second time for me), Gong&Steve Hillage Band and AC/DC. This is turning out to be a great year ------------- With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a frog into a Ph.D. and you still have the frog you started with. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: April 24 2009 at 09:28
Hmm - I've kind of avoided Umphrey's McGee - fear of jambands I guess, but I do like Chris Poland's Ohm and now he's teamed-up with UM I may just go back and check them out to see if they are as good as you make them sound Brian (and now they are Xover prog  )
Anyway, getting up to date:
Sarah Brightman - Symphony & Dive ... many years ago I was bowled over by Enigma's MCMXC a.D. and then more recently Frank Peterson's Gregorian project ... noticing that he had produced a couple of albums for his (then) girlfriend I thought I'd give them a listen too - excellent stuff - very gothic crossover classical, but without the annoying 4-to-the-floor disco beat.
Hardingrock - Grimen .... Ihshan of Emperor fame teams up with his misses (natch) and a Norwegian harding fiddle player to produce one of the strangest folk metal albums I've heard in a while.
Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid ... latest raves of the New Prog generation, out-classing Coldplay and Snow Patrol by a long country mile - my favourite mainstream Indie album of the year so far.
Malcom McClaren - Fans ... way back in the 80s McClaren tired of Punk, dabbled in hip-hop for a while and then thought popped-up Opera was going to be the next big thing, he was twenty years too early, but just about got it right - his take on Madame Butterfly is actually quite good.
Mandragora Scream - A Whisper of Dew ... second album from one of the better Italian gothic metal bands, this time heading towards Prog Metal, but veering off just before it gets there - a nice complimentary album to Fairy Tales From Hell's Caves
Kaleidoscope - Tangerine Dream & Faintly Blowing ... Tangerine Dream was one of the first album's I ever owned and has been a constant favourite of mine for 40 years ... these are re-issues with bonus tracks, but containing nothing I hadn't already got. The completest in me won out and I'm not disappointed.
Evelyn Glennie & Fred Frith - Touch The Sound ... one of my few reviews is for a Fred Frith soundtrack to a Thomas Riedelsheimer documentary on sculptor Andy Goldsworthy ... this is a Fred Firth & Evelyn Glennie soundtrack to a Thomas Riedelsheimer documentary on percussionist Evelyn Glennie.... a beautiful marriage of expressive percussion and guitar. I saw the documentary on Sky Arts, (but can only find the DVD as NTSC region 1) a thoughtful and interesting insight into the world of Ms Glennie.
Sibelius - Finlandia & Karelia Suite ... I've always loved The Nice's take on the Intermezzo from the Karella, this is the first time I've ever really listened to the original - stirring stuff.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Poist Pavilion ... the only album I've bought in a bricks and mortar record store for quite some time and it was an impulse buy as the little description card on the display stand contained the magic words: 'neo-psychedelia' - I've been playing it on and off for about three months now and it gets progressively more irritating with each listen - musically its great, vocally it just grates, but I've never been a Beach Boys fan.
The Dukes of Stratosphear - Chips from the Chocolate Fireball ... this is proper neo-psychedelia from the boys in XTC, chocked full of wonderful English excentricism with knowing nods to the psychedelic masters of the 60s.
Now some recent Crossover Prog purchases...
Greenslade - Pentateuch of Cosmogony ... an ambitious concept poorly realised is my honest view of this, but I own the original double LP and love the artwork, so wanted it on CD too - I scoured the internet looking for a cheap copy of this and found it on Ebay for £10.
Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third ... I'm a late comer to PRR and I adore the Pink Floyd references - luscious.
Steven Caudel - The Earth In Turquoise ... in the 1980s when symphonic prog had all but disappeared from England's shores Mr Caudel came along with Wine Dark Sea ... the record company panicked and called it New Age. Ten years later he tried again with this concept based on Arthurian legend, now on his own Dark Sea Records label. It's taken me a while to track this down (I even tried buying it direct from Steven Caudel himself, but he never replied) - found it on Ebay.
Spleen Arcana - The Field Where She Died ... I downloaded the free copy of this when evaluating the band and fell for it in a big way - when Julien announced hardcopy was available for a few Euro's I instantly grabbed a copy - great tunes, great production, nicely presented. The measure by which many self-released albums should be judged IMHO.
Lunatic Soul - Lunatic Soul... When Riverside's Mariusz Duda released a solo album buying it was a no-brainer for me - the sonorous vocal style is the same, but the music is a league away from Riverside with nary an electric guitar in sight, but still manages to to be dark and brooding never-the-less with some unusual non-prog references.
Chrome Hoof - Pre-Emptive False Rapture ... I admit I am a big fan of UK Doom metaller's Cathedral, although I did once fall asleep during one of their gigs (in mitigation I had driven 200 miles and then spent the next 12 hours on my feet watching dozens of Prog and Power metal bands with only beer for support) - anyway ... Cathedral's Smee brother's have a side project - it is a megalithic rock orchestra playing Prog Doom Disco and it is the maddest noise you'll hear in a long while.
Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia ... *I LOVE THIS ALBUM* - I cannot agree with the low ratings this has been getting, (kind of reminds me of the panning Paradise Lost got in the UK when they released One Second), admittedly more Pop than Prog, but it's still unmistakably PRR with all the harmonies and fine attention to detail I loved in Dark Third and still within the bounds of Crossover Prog.
Steven Wilson - Insergentes ... yes, again - having bought the vinyl in November, I then had to buy the CD so I could play it in the car - this is a slow grower that improves with age and familiarity. I'm really looking forward to the next Porcupine Tree album now.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 24 2009 at 20:51
ColonelClaypool has much better bargain bins than I've been able to find in my area. I'm so jealous.  Thanks for the reminder that I need to get the new PRR album, Dean. By the way, that whole jam band label for UM is a bit overblown, although they do do a good jam. |
Posted By: ColonelClaypool
Date Posted: April 25 2009 at 05:10
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Keeping in mind that this is Norway, "bargain bin" still means $10 or £5 per album... which is about as cheap as it gets over here. Regular full price albums can cost as much as $25 apiece.. ------------- With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a frog into a Ph.D. and you still have the frog you started with. |
Posted By: Failcore
Date Posted: April 25 2009 at 07:27
| That's about the same I see in Best Buy over here in the States. |
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: June 15 2009 at 07:14
 This has been the most intense music buying period of my life thus far... Marillion - FUGAZI 2CD REMASTER Marillion - Season's End 2CD REMASTER Marillion - Misplaced Childhood Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear Marillion - Clutching At Straws Marillion - This Strange Engine Marillion - BRAVE Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight 2CD REMASTER Marillion - La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) Marillion - Happiness Is The Road Vol 1 and 2 Thats all I can think of from the top of my head... ------------- 
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: June 15 2009 at 07:36
That's a big chunk of Marillion to chew on. Sometimes it's kind of nice to get into a band late in the game and get the remasters with bonus tracks on your first pass. By all means after you've digested all of these report back and let us know what's your favorite(s). Out of those, they're three I don't have, two of which I've heard. Don't let me prejudice you but Afraid Of Sunlight is mine out of those. I don't think I've ever taken on such a big chunk of a band with a big discography to that extent. Try not to hurt yourself. |
Posted By: JROCHA
Date Posted: June 15 2009 at 19:08
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Intronaut- Prehistoricisms The Decembersists - The hazards of Love The Dear Hunter - Act 1 ISIS - Wavering Radiant Genesis 1970-1975 Box Set Chicago Transit Authority - CTA Zombi - Spirit Animal The Who - Tommy Weather Report - Sweetnighter Soft Machine -4th/5th Neurosis- Given To The Rising Neu! - 75 Mono - Hymn tot the Immortal Wind Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling Mastodon - Crack the Sky Jon Abercrombie - Timeless Bill Conners - Theme to the Guardian |
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: June 15 2009 at 19:23
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Best stuff I've bought so far this year (in no particular order except the first one; and not all prog - or at least not prog that's listed here Some of these were technically released in 2008 too, but I'm not one for splitting hairs: the Decemberists - The Hazards of Love (3 CD copies, 1 LP, 3 concert tickets and 4 t-shirts Alina Simone - Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware 17 Hippies - El Dorado Melora Creager - Melora a la Basilica Kells - Lueurs Faun Fables - A Table Forgotten Rupa & the April Fishes - Extraordinary Rendition Fire on Fire - The Orchard Sophe Lux - Waking the Mystics Wovenhand - Ten Stones Principal Edwards - The Devon Tapes Gathiens - Nesh Oh crap - looks like I'm not really a full-fledged proglodyte after all ------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
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!!Posted By: tamijo
Date Posted: June 24 2009 at 08:47
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The New Mars Volta
Kitaro with Jon Anderson
Besides that i'we concentrated on expanding my classical
Debussy - Ives - Puccini ------------- Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: June 24 2009 at 18:48
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^^^Love Debussy, but haven't explored the other two. This quarter has really been spare. I may have to go out and buy something since June is almost over. I can always update this post if I can't help myself. Anyway, probably safe to write about it. Umphrey's McGee leads off the first three if I count the free download Prog Sampler. I still have difficulties with things I obtain that aren't hard copies. Maybe one day I'll get over it. Anchor Drops got a negative review, but I liked it just fine. I think I enjoyed Safety In Numbers even more. The Bottom Half was where I kind of hit the wall. Still, it’s a good album. I may have just been a little overloaded. It didn’t stop me from getting their latest live DVD this month. After a long hiatus Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin came out with a new one, Green And Blue. Their proggiest effort yet. I think they’d be a good fit for prog related, even though they’ve done more than a few non-prog covers. Ordered the recently released Joachim Kuhn Band’s Sunshower. Recommended his addition to this site and was surprised to be informed that he was predominantly a jazz player. I only knew him from this one and Spring Fever. Oh crap, just ordered it, hey, the price was right. Both were reissued in 2008. Great Jazz-Rock/Fusion albums. Wasn’t following the Residents very closely but a fellow archiver alerted me to Bunny Boy. I may be having a little Residents fatigue. I liked it, but I didn’t wear it out like I did with Animal Lover. They also have some companion videos to this on their web site, but I’ve only checked out one. Colonel Bruce Hampton is a local phenomenon that avant fans should check out. He did his first solo album in a while, Songs Of The Solar Ping. If I had recommend one to start with, it would be One Ruined Life Of A Bronze Tourist. Wrapping up the quarter, by which I mean May 20, was Tori Amos Abnormally Attracted To Sin. Not easily categorized but rejected as prog by the authorities around here. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 25 2009 at 21:31
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July August September A slow quarter to be sure. Started out with Discipline's Unfolded Like Staircase. A group recommendation by Phideaux. Came in the mail along with P's Number Seven and gave it a run for the money. Two acquisitions I have thoroughly enjoyed. Ordered a used Too Far To Whisper by Shadowfax. Fair to say it was a weaker effort by the band. Watercourse Way and The Dreams Of Children are their best albums. Cusick's Focal Point was my first new one for August. Ordered it due to promotion on this site and was not disappointed. The music is in the same vein as Porcupine Tree and NIN, possibly too similar for some. Robert Wyatt's Theatre Royal Drury Lane came next in the month towards the end. I was expecting better considering the lineup of guests, OK, but the guys studio albums are his best work. Got added to the crossover team. My first addition from a nominee was Knifeworld. Buried Alive may go down as one of my favorites of the year. For sentimental, sort of, reasons and because it was cheap, I ordered Phil Collins' Face Value. It's got it's good bits, but takes up too much space in my collection, I think. Porcupine Tree's The Incident arrived just a few days before my own personal incident (a house flood). It will be one of those albums that forever reminds me of this moment in my life. Interesting to see the very polarized opinions on the album. I'm not on board with either those who trash it or think it's the best thing ever. That wraps up the quarter for me. Two Black Mountains arrived in the mail on 10/1 (twin peaks? As those belong to the next quarter, will blog about them later. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 05:45
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Despite the rather disastrous ending of the third quarter, not speaking musically, two titles I had ordered before the flood arrived October 1st to kick off the last quarter of the year. Black Mountain's debut and In The Future. Kind of helped to cheer me up a little. They still seem more psychedelic than crossover to me, but what the heck, good stuff and a worthy addition to the site. I actually did manage to add about 1/4 of the years new titles to my collection for this quarter. While I am not one for Christmas music, I will add the occasional unorthodox album. When I saw Tori Amos had put out such an album called Midwinter Graces, I had to bite. Its a mixture of some overtly Christmas songs and some just about the winter season. Well done. I got the deluxe edition with an interview DVD about the album. Tori remains one strange person. I don't think it's an act. Next up, at the end of November, a couple of live albums: Allan Holdsworth's All Night Wrong and King Crimson's USA (30th Anniversary Edition). The Holdworth album is a good live one, though not particularly a stand out for me. I still prefer his work from the '70's and early '80's with his latter works from the '80's to the present. The USA album I decided I finally couldn't resist as they had added two bonus tracks: Fracture and Starless. I was familiar with the album since the late '70's, but never considered it an essential one to have in the collection even though it did have the never released on a studio album track, Asbury Park, likely because of either the band dissolving or the fact that it was more of a improv/jam piece. Also, I had added The Great Deceiver box set more than a few years ago and so I had multiple live versions of most of the tracks already. The bonus tracks made it worth the price of admission so to speak. And upon re-listening to the album for the first time after all these years, the live versions are actually quite good and not the mere replay of the studio versions, which will always diminish an audio live album for me. Last to come in early December was Pekka Pohjola's Keesojen Lehto (aka Mathematician's Air Display, The Consequences of Indecisions). It was thanks to this site that I found out that Mike Oldfield's The Consequences of Indecisions wasn't really a Mike Oldfield album at all. Even better though, I found out I could get the album on CD. It replaces a home made CD copied off an LP that had been counted as a title in my CD collection. Had to order as an import (ouch), but was worth getting. All in all, not a bad quarter. One new discovery, some new stuff by artists I already knew of, and some stuff I'd been long familiar with. 2009 was a decent year for music for me as much as it was a pretty lousy one on a personal level. Heavy on new discoveries that I really like: Umphrey's McGee, Discipline, Paul Cusick, Knifeworld, Black Mountain. A few good new releases from artists I've know for a while, and some blasts from the past. I still can't help but wonder if I jinxed myself by adding Face Value followed by The Incident a few days before the house flood... Three Friends was way too short for me. In A Glass House used to be really hard to get a hold of in the US back the LP age. v v v v ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: January 31 2010 at 06:12
hmm what have i bought this past moths  several Motorpsycho albums (demon box, phanorytime, angels and deamons and Silent lucid moments) Gentle Giant Three Freinds and In a Glass House Supertramp - Indelible Stamped (with its gorgeus art work  ) |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 02 2010 at 18:40
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January got kicked off in a big big way when I discovered Big Big Train. I decided to put in for four based on what I had heard on the archives and the fact that it was an overseas order: English Boy Wonders, Bard, Gathering Speed, and The Underfall Yard. And wouldn’t you know it my Steve Hackett, Out Of The Tunnel's Mouth arrived the same day. All excellent albums. Got the music bug a week later and paid a visit to my local brick and mortar store for a browse. Came away with John Abercrombie Ralph Towner’s Sargasso Sea, Pat Metheny’s New Chataqua, and Porcupine Tree’s We Lost The Skyline. By pure coinicidence two guitar duets and one guitar solo album. As a bonus the first two were in mini LP sleeve format, which is my favorite. I was so impressed with Big Big Train that I put in an order for The Difference Machine. Unfortunately their first one is sold out so I can’t complete the discography though I’d like to. Though this one lies between two that remind me a lot of Genesis, it reminds me a lot less, so if you have an aversion to bands that sound too much like other bands this would be the one for you to get. I’d say the same for English Boy Wonders and Bard. That would be my only acquisition for February. But with all those good new additions it was good to take a break and enjoy what I had. Big Big Train? Why not Miles Davis Big Fun? One of a mail order pair arrived for me kick off March. It’s a little weird because my first Davis was The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions and some of the tracks I’ve know for many years from that album. John Hassell had a new one from last year I decided to try - Last night the moon came dropping its clothes on the street. Intriguing title and nice ambient/jazz music. I’ve got five other Hassells and this one is my favorite. By the way, good move Jazz Rock/Fusion team in adding Jon. Again by total coincidence two albums by trumpeters. On the advice of someone on the archives I put in an order (half.com) for Bubu ‘s Anabelas without sampling first and decided to add Joachim Kuhn’s Springfever to the order. If you order more than one title from the same seller, subsequent titles get a lesser shipping charge. Bubu is really good reminds me a lot of PFM. Kuhn’s Springfever and Sunshower should earn him a place in Jazz Rock/Fusion. I’ve suggested it before and someone said he’s primarily a straight jazz artist. So, those two are solidly good in Jazz Rock/Fusion. If any of you guys read this you need to check out those two albums. I do see Lancaster and Lumley on their list to consider. Actually the only albums they did, I think, Peter And The Wolf and Marscape are already on this site under Various Artists (Concept Albums). By the way based on those two albums I think they are a better fit for Crossover. Speaking of Crossover, I decided to order one of the new artists I evaluated and gave the thumbs up to - Anja Garbarek’s Smiling And Waving. It has Steven Wilson and Robert Wyatt on it, though not on the same tracks. I’ll probably be getting in the first review of that one before too long. Also speaking of Crossover, for the last order of the quarter I got Flood’s Tales From The Four Seasons, which I had given one of the approving votes to add. It was a Unicorn Records release, the label of one of my favorite ProgArchives discoveries, Talisma. Got it with The Gorishankar 2nd Hands under recommendation from a fellow member. Really impressed with that one. Though not a new title to my collection, my wife got me Rubber Soul remastered. It’s in the mini-LP sleeve, so my old copy is going on the market whenever I get my act together to sell off along with a few other titles of stuff replaced with remasters and other duplicates of what I already have. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 21:09
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April didn’t result in showers of music. Got midway into April and Jeff Beck’s Emotion And Commotion arrived. I think this will go down as my favorite recent Beck album (Jeff is the only Beck I recognize…) Got the version with the bonus DVD. It’s got a live performance with the fabulous Tal. In May I got caught up with Stereolab and the related Monade’s newest albums - Chemical Chords and Monstre Cosmic. Good stuff though not particularly well known around these parts. Nothing really stands out for me in any of those. Chemical Chords is really nice upbeat album that can cheer you up if you’re feeling down. The last additions for May were due to personal recommendations by prog archives members. The first was Prince’s The Rainbow Children. Rather interesting for me, probably a big disappointment for many big Prince fans. The last three however became overshadowed when I was turned on to Happy Rhodes. Started with her first main studio album release Warpaint. Sounds a lot like Kate Bush vocally and the musicianship is really good, too. May ended with the arrival of Rhode’s The Keep. A collection of odds and ends but worthy of being on their own album. One of the things that really impressed me was her medley of three Yes songs, two of which I didn’t know, but the middle part was Soon. Way cool. So June continued on with my Rhodes binge and brought forth some flowers. A Will Ackerman album with Happy Rhodes as a guest arrived. Actually my first WA record though I was familiar from way back when I first became familiar with the new Windham Hill label. June would turn out to be an active month for additions. Next up, Happy again - Many Worlds Are Born Tonight, followed shortly by a long neglected addition, Gryphon’s Red Queen To Gryphon Three. A long overdue addition to my CD collection. Never had it on LP. Probably because it didn’t hang around in the used store’s bins very long. In the same order came Michael Hedges’ Watching My Life Go By. I much prefer his non-vocal stuff, but I had it on vinyl and finally decided to get it on CD as my vinyl copy was wiped out. Freebie, freebie, freebie!!! Umphrey's McGee’s Summer Sampler 2010 was on the counter at the package store for free. I took one of the two. I’d have paid something for it if the guy behind the counter hadn’t said it was a freebie. Nice set of live stuff, which I’m guessing is a compilation of concert recordings. June and this quarter wraps up with another Happy moment. Building The Colossus. One more title left for next month… ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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