Tag Archives: Elephant9

I’m listening to the new Elephant9 album – Walk the Nile

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Just downloaded this sucker from iTunes, which is interesting because it came out today.  Why is that interesting?  Because, in the United States, music comes out on a Tuesday.  Amazon.co.uk had this release al ready for download and old-style delivery, but not Amazon.com.  I have had issues with European release dates not being honored by my iTunes account (surely iTunes knows I’m in the US), but today, no problem.  So, if you are ready for over-the-top keyboard madness from Storloekken et al, go have at it.  So far, sounds like another monstrous effort.

Time Turns Elastic – not Beard, not Fish, but Phish

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phishtimeturnselastic

I was encouraged by a good friend to give the 13 minute ‘single’ from the forthcoming Phish record.  I’ve never been a big fan of their music, despite the fact that there is a serious prog side to this jam band institution.  Anyway, they’ve got their first studio album in five years coming out this summer, they’re back on tour, fans are eating it up.  So after getting all salty about what they do, I took some time and actually listend to the song.  Here’s the pertinent portions of my explication:

For a different band, the first two minutes could be a chart-topping pop single.  How crazy is the crowd going to get when they hear “I’m a submarine”?  Now comes a very small meandering and then we get more lovely and heartfelt pop.  The sound of the acoustic piano and the electric guitar is really simple but rich and textured.

At about 4:35, things start to go a bit wrong for me.  ‘Melody, shelter in the darkness.  Take hold of me now.”  Even at the first go-round (and without having a strong contextual understanding of the band in general) I knew this was going to introduce a long instrumental section.  But the lyrics give it away.  We’re ‘in the darkness’ and we need some ‘melody’ to make it – I guess – not so scary.  OK, let’s see what you got.

This starts by sounding like the more recent versions of Brand X with the alternate picking and harmonics.  Then we have the build-up to the long middle portion.  It’s a little rocking, then it’s a little quiet.  Then it starts rocking again.  The piano is leading the charge and it’s pretty happy until we get to about the 8 minute mark.  Now it’s back to those harmonics and melody in counterpoint.  Not so happy now with the sky bleeding and the world turning upside down.  It’s a bit fusion-y for the next minute or two – almost reminds me of Chic Corea and Return to Forever, but less hysterical.  My problem, is that it’s just a bit of meandering, almost trying to be a bit off, a bit atonla, to set up the BIG ENDING.

Now, you know that no one likes the big ending more than I, but did we need seven minutes (from about 4 to 11) to get there?  It’s OK if there’s some hot stuff in that intervening period, but it seems to be kept at a moderate to low energy intentionally to set up the big classic rock finale.  I just wish they would do more with that middle period.

But the ending is exceptional and it rocks and I know that it will go over great live.  It is prog because it’s very composed and it requires a lot of attention to get all the ins and outs.  And while not all prog is automatically good music, I always appreciate the effort.  It makes the world safer for Beardfish, Elephant9 and other rockers coming on the scene.

I know that is some cheap, cut-and-paste, blogging, but its along the lines of what happens here, as far as content.  The same individual who encouraged the above email is now pushing for collaborative music blogging.  Hmmm…  As always, I’m all ears!

Elephant9 – Norwegian Power Trio

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(That is so baddass)

(That is so baddass)

The traditional organ trio, as far as I understand it, is comprised of Hammond B3, drums and guitar or sax.  Think about Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Joey DeFrancesco – they used the awsome power of the B3 to carry the bass on the left hand and go nuts with the right for leads and melody.  Darediablo proved that the format could work well in a rock setting.  In the world of jazz fusion, the great example is Tony Williams Lifetime of 1969.  The twist there was that the organ, normally dominant in such contexts, had to play second fiddle to Williams’ drums and McLaughlin’s guitar.  Even though Jack Bruce came along to play electric bass, that lineup never gelled.  The true genius of Lifetime was the trio – no bass.

Then comes Medeski Martin and Wood.  This is not an organ trio, because Medeski is playing everyhing in sight, so long as it has black and white keys, not just the B3.  Medeski’s the focus and and it all goes through his playing, but now there is a bass.  Wood is almost always on a stand-up acoustic, but it doesn’t take away from the funk.  When that band wants to get down, it gets down.

Now I arrive at Elephant9.  Things are different in Scandanavia.  Fusion is not a dirty word.  Progressive Rock is an art form, and not an insult.  And in Norway, Stale Storlokken absolutely burns on keys.  This is a band that has not one but TWO Joe Zawinul covers on the same record.  There is no hiding the influence.  This is a direct decendent of early 70’s Miles Davis and Weather Report.  Storlokken’s ability to conjure a fiery groove is matched only by his seemingly limitless technical ability.  The drums and electric Fender Bass add pure muscle.  This is not subtle music.  And then you hear the variety of synths and other sound generators in Storlokken’s arsenal, and you can understand why these young men embrace a prog identity.

In 2008 I discovered Beardfish – an amazingly talented group from Sweeden.  That love of Zappa and old Genesis has not gotten old, and I wait with bated breath for the time when I can see them live.  But Elephant9, and particularly Storlokken, feels like the next big thing for me.  I have not been this excited about young musicians in many months.