New Music Alert!!

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More details coming tomorrow, but today I got notice on (evil evil) Facebook that Mr. Tom Jenkinson, the inimitable Squarepusher, will have a new album on a new label THIS MONTH. This is incredibly exciting since the artist had been on Warp for ages. His sound wasn’t stale by any means, but I sensed a lack of excitement at the label on the last two releases. Today’s announcement is striking because it is accompanied by a single, which I’ll post tomorrow, and because the record will be in our hands before we know it.

Many moons ago there had been a rumor of collaboration between Squarepusher and Eno, which sounds mind-blowing in a cross generational way. Within the past week it was revealed that Eno will release an album of edited jams with himself, a guitar player and a drummer. I’ll post more on this tomorrow as well. While such a project is extremely exciting on it’s own (apparently recorded over several years of jamming), of note is that it will be released on Warp. That news briefly reawakened hope of a Squarepusher Eno project, but with the former moving on, I think it’s less likely. I, for one, will be perfectly satisfied with new music from each, even if not on the same record.

Finally, the Paul Gilbert album “Fuzz Universe” came out in the U.S. today, and I’ll be on iTunes bright and early to get my copy of shredding, shredding, and more shredding. Looking forward to reporting on that soon after.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the Progscape Podcast, which is new every Tuesday. That means you can download it at the Progscape page or from iTunes right now. I’m looking forward to seeing what treats Mike has picked for us this week.

Celebrate Life With Music – Podcast No. 1

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The idea is to take no more than 1/2 hour of your time and present you with four or five songs that have been on my mind, for whatever reason.  With the blog entry, I will tell you what I was thinking in presenting these songs in this order.  As always, you are free to comment and discuss.  In addition, I ask that you contact me privately if you would like information on how to obtain any of these selections or the albums from which they are drawn.

You can download the podcast here, or stream it using the audio player below.

  1. Tangerine Dream – Bondy Parade (5:20) from the Tangerine Tree bootleg series (#37).  This recording is from a live performance in Sydney in 1982.  Despite Tangerine Dream’s reputation as being “new age” or “head music” (what is that?), I find this excerpt to be a funky little groove.  The guitar solo is a bit tentative, but this gives an excellent flavor of how the band had shifted from improvisational to a more song-oriented approach.
  2. SBB – Walkin’ Round The Autumn Town (4:00) from Live in Koln 1979.  This is a great instrumental intro that shows how SBB, usually considered more of a jazz fusion act, really used groove-style improvisation that seems to go well with the Tangerine Dream track.  Skzerk’s keyboard solo reminds me why I have such deep and abiding love for analog synthesizers.
  3. Black Bonzo – Sudden Changer (4:30) from Operation Manual: The Guillotine Model Drama 2009.  This band came into my life from a recommendation on the internet.  I have only corresponded with this person online, but there was such strong musical affinity to begin with that I dove into Black Bonzo and was hooked right away.  As a contrast from the previous twi tracks, this includes a vocal performance and, while decidedly prog, this has very strong rock elements.  Black Bonzo does so many things so well.
  4. Spock’s Beard – The Gypsy (7:30) from Day for Night 1999.  This make a nice match for Sudden Changer, despite being ten years older.  Spock’s Beard, even today, reminds us that we shouldn’t leave the “rock” out of prog rock.  There are so many beloved Spock’s Beard songs, this is an often overlooked gem from the height of the Neal Morse era.

Thank you for listening.

CLWM – Celebrate Life With Music

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Got lucky! Saw Crowded House in Atlantic City

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Atlantic City is quite close to my home, but my only business there is at the Courthouse.  I have no interest in gambling, and there are few rock and roll shows there that I absolutely must see.  But, one of the great benefits of life with my beautiful wife has been the way in which she has educated about music, music I would never have learned about on my own.

Neil Finn and Crowded House very much fit into this category.  Ironically, before I ever met Emily, I knew that Crowded House was something to learn more about, as it had been praised by no less than Tony Banks as one of his favorite bands in the 90’s.  It’s not hard to understand why.  Crowded House and its diminutive frontman are proof that you can have catchy, “pop” music that is intelligent, features heartfelt lyrics, and is underscored by superb musicianship.  Emily and I have been to numerous of these concerts (Neil Finn solo and Crowded House), and it’s a musical product which does not cease to delight.  So, last Saturday we met Em’s sister in the cesspool by the sea, and enjoyed a wonderful show.  Here are the pictures, and for you hard-core types (I know you’re out there) the setlist.

Mean to Me
Saturday Sun
Private Universe
Fall At Your Feet
Don’t Stop Now
Amsterdam
Nails in My Feet
Not the Girl You Think You Are
Whispers & Moans
Twice if You’re Lucky
Now We’re Getting Somewhere
Don’t Dream Its Over
She Called Up
Archer’s Arrow
Isolation
World Where You Live
She Goes On
Weather With You
Its Only Natural
You Are the One
Time Immemorial
Falling Dove
Better Be Home Soon

If you’re keeping track, that’s about two and a half hours of music.

I don’t make the #f1 rules, but Ferrari doesn’t follow them

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Felipe Massa, who did not want to win the German Grand Prix on Sunday

It’s really very simple – no team orders.  For those of you who don’t follow Formula 1 racing, but care enough to have read this far, here is the simple version.  This is individual competition.  Yes, each team has two drivers, but they are intended to compete against one another.  This is especially important for the audience, as we get to see what a driver is really made of when he goes wheel-to-wheel against his teammate in an identical vehicle.  Yes, there is a “constructor’s championship” which means the team with the most points, but the true glory is the driver’s championship.  That is where the beautiful dance of man and machine comes together to form the poetry that is F1.

The problem arises when a team with one driver ahead in the points has it’s other driver ahead in the race.  “Team orders” refers to the race-leading driver giving way to the points-leading driver in order to give that particular team the best chance of winning the driver’s championship.

It’s been an interesting year Ferrari.  After being historically dominant between 1999 and 2004 (winning every constructor championship and 5 out of 6 driver championship with Michael Schumacher), the prancing hoarse had not much pace in 2009.  This year, the results have been mixed with the team ending up on the podium only three times up until the German Grand Prix this past weekend.  But going into Hockenheim, there was every indication that drivers Massa and Alonso would have fast cars to compete with Red Bull and McLaren.  Those reports proved true with the cars qualifying 2 and 3 behind Sebatian Vettel’s Red Bull on pole.

Felipe Massa is an incredibly gifted young driver from Brazil.  He carries the weight of millions of Ayrton Senna fans from his homeland who live and breath the sport to honor the departed hero.  He got ahead of his teammate, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and made his way to a comfortable, as passing can be quite difficult in this sport unless someone makes a significant error.  Massa is not prone to such errors.  And yet, with 21 laps remaining in the 67 lap race, he received a notification that the 2d place Alonso’s car was faster (an outright lie as fuel and set-up were, for all intents and purposes identical) and that he should let the Spaniard pass.  Massa dutifully got out of the way and Alonso drove on to the checkered flag.  For this flagrant violation, Ferrari has been fined $100,000, but with no loss of points for either driver or team.

I agree with the rules to the extent that I want to see if Massa is strong enough to hold off a VERY determined Alonso.  I see that it’s much better for Ferrari’s hopes of getting the greatest benefit in both the constructor’s and driver’s championships, but that does not take away from the shameful way that the team ignores the rules.  That’s blatant arrogance, and this is not the first time.  The fans deserve to see the drivers race.

Progtastic news from Poland – new SBB record Autumn 2010!!

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Józef Skrzek is one of “those” guys.  He’s working on a whole different level than most of humanity.  For about the past forty years he has been doing all his own stunts, writing, performing and even singing once in a while.  Skrzek is one of those guys who was going to be famous no matter what.  The force of energy contained within him is simply too great not to be shared.  Not even the Iron Curtain could hold him back.  And, as the leader of legendary Progressive giants S.B.B., he has elevated his status to that of Robert Fripp, Christian Vander of Magma and perhaps even Zappa himself.  SBB’s influence may seem less than that of those legends, but the output is nothing short of prodigious, including over 50 official releases.  The next one is tentatively titled Blue Trans, and is slated for an Autumn release through Metal Mind.

Here’s a small example of the Tangerine Dream meets Steely Dan vibe that Skrzek favored in the late 70’s:

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If you ignore them, they won’t go away, they’ll take over

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I am so sick of Sarah Palin.  She is a dimwitted fool who holds no political office.  She is a racist, a bigot and completely insulting to those feminists who actually know what that term means.  I have often thought, with regard to the excessive piling on that the left does at Ms. Palin’s expense, why bother?  Why give her any more attention?  That’s exactly what she wants.  Just don’t pay any attention to her and that will be the end of it.

But one could say the same thing about Facebook – why complain?  You don’t like it, just leave it alone.  But if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, then you know that I’m not inclined to leave it alone.  There are too many people on Facebook.  It has achieved a firm foothold, like a tick that is dug in deep, and ignoring it can lead to dire consequences.

After the absurdity of Ms. Palin’s own tweets over the past few days, I feel that the same is true.  We ignore her and her ignorance at our peril.  These two pearls confirm it.  Talkingpointsmemo has the complete analysis, but the two key points are that (1) any Muslim who wants the mosque near ground zero is not peaceful, and (2) refudiate is obviously not a word.  Whoever among her handlers that is allowing this woman to use twitter should be fired.  But, like any experienced tweeter, Palin deleted the above, but rather than admit she did anything wrong, we got the following.

I want to know which works of Shakespeare this woman has read, that she would compare herself to the greatest writer the English language has yet known.  And please, gentle ex-governor, do tell which words the bard made up, so that we might learn from you ample knowledge.

But when I read about young Ryan Murdough, running for political office in New Hampshire, I realize there is good reason to worry about ignorance and hatred.  If there is no effort to make note of these frightening politicians, their influence will spread unchecked.

So, on I rant.

Do you have any idea how HUGE this is? NEW. DELANY. NOVEL.

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Thanks to the wonderful Charlie Jane Anders at io9, I have just learned that Samuel R. Delany, the iconic author of my most favoritest novel Dhalgren, has a major work coming out in February 2011.  And, to whet your appetite, there is an excerpt now in circulation through Boston Review.

For me, Dhalgren was the literary equivalent of 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It is a massive tome that has puzzled readers since its publication in 1975.  Up to that point, Delany had shown considerable talent in cranking out VERY engaging space operas and other sci-fi, but with Dhalgren, the view is turned inward.  Reality is constantly shifting as the main character travels through a dream-city that crashes back-and-forth between chaos, love, violence, sex and apocalypse.

Now, “Through The Valley of The Nest of Spiders” is heading toward imminent release (February 1)  and it appears that the master has another vast work with which to challenge us.  I can hardly wait.

Does this kind of life look interesting to you? Apparently, for an American Idol alum, the answer is “Yes”

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I wouldn’t know an American Idol alum if he or she were biting my ass at this very moment.  And, while I am glad that is not the case, I have, for the first time in my sheltered life, some reason to be interested in that monstrosity of foolishness that passes for entertainment.

Leslie Hunt, the nice young lady featured in the video above, was apparently a finalist and performed to an audience of millions.  I suppose she would have preferred to win and become the next Kelly Clarkson or Taylor Hicks, but considering the abusive sounds those two artists have created (similar to fingernails on a chalkboard), I am glad that she lost.

Through some stroke of good fortune she has become connected to a Chicago-based instrumental outfit that fancied itself to be a junior version Liquid Tension Experiment.  Great music to aspire to, but nothing that would pay the bills.  But, if there is a way to bring a bit of sex appeal to the nerd-tastic sounds of District 97‘s modern prog, then these folks might have a tiger by the tail.  Judging from the video, I am interested.  The record is due out later this year, and I’m sure I’ll give it a listen.

Is this the record I’ve been waiting for all my life?  Based on the early snippets, probably not.  But I don’t have anything against popularity.  And if a prog band can sell a million records in this decade, then all the better.

Special thank you to Bill’s Prog Blog, which brought District 97 to my attention.  He’s featuring a Q&A with the band’s drummer at his wonderful site.

A loving tribute to electric Miles, GET THIS NOW!! Mederic Colignon – Shangri-Tunkashi-La

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I came across this gifted artist quite randomly, and yet he has a shocking affinity for some of my favorite music ever recorded.  Time has been kind to Miles Davis’ electric period (1969-1975), even though that body of work was not well thought of upon release.  During my college career (1990-1994), that era of music became the most important signpost on a musical journey that continues to this day.  What I learned from listing to ‘In a Silent Way’, ‘Jack Johnson’ and ‘Dark Magus’ shaped the person I have become, both musically and otherwise.  I still routinely return to those and other recordings and find more undiscovered nuance of melody, rhythm and groove.

And in much the same way that Simone Rosetti’s The Watch has absolutely nailed the Gabriel-era Genesis, Collignon has uncovered a similar resonance with that extraordinary time in the career of Miles Davis.  His latest release is Shangri-Tunkashi-La and it is a pure delight.  Firstly, it is readily available on iTunes, which surprised and delighted me.  Second, the renditions of Bitches Brew, Billy Preston, It’s About That Time, and others are not replicas of the originals, but incorporate the jubilant spirit of improvisation which was such an important part of how those compositions came into the world.

The record is now favorably reviewed in English, has gorgeous cover art and can be downloaded by anyone with an iTunes account.  All that remains is a North American tour schedule.  Hope springs eternal.

Give “Billy Preston” a listen below.

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