SOARING, MULTI-TEXTURED

ONE OF PROGRESSIVE ROCK'S MAJOR TALENTS is bass guitarist Tony Levin. He has played with such greats as King Crimson and Peter Gabriel. He is a virtuoso who is content to allow his contribution seek its own level depending on the needs of the composition. His own projects are often edgy and musically invigorating, fusing elements of jazz and world music with straight forward progressive rock. Always creative yet rarely stealing the lime light Tony Levin makes a great contribution to the progressive rock catalog with Shadowland. The sample is representative of the basic feel of the song but misses many of the interesting transitions (sample below):

REVIEW

This song begins with some nice synthesized drum rhythms soon joined by vaulting synthesizer chords that spiral upward in a series  minor/major key shifts. At 1:30 we get some very nice bass drumming with a guitar that begins to shread a bit as the tension rises. Lots of electronic noises are scattered throughout as an electric piano begins to take center stage that slowly intertwines with the shredding guitar. An orchestral sounds is blended into the mix at 3 minutes to fade away leaving the drum doing a lopping, slo-mo, micro-drum solo with a more soaring guitar riff completing the song which ends at 4:57 minutes.

FULL TECHNO

THIS IS ONE OF CRYSTAL METHOD'S BEST TUNES. It is very techno but has enough texture that it should satisfy most progressive fans. A flaw of some electronic music is that it tends to be too repetitious. This tune dodges that bullet by providing a nice contrast between major and minor keys giving a broader emotional experience. The 30 second sample linked below is fairly representative:

REVIEW
This song starts with a synthesized zinger and some piano notes soon joined by a pulsing synthesizer bass melody. At 1:10 an alto synth line emerges and intertwines with driving drums. At 3:15 the more bass oriented synthesizer returns with some bell-like synths accentuating what becomes a complex rhythmical tune. At 3:40 the song slows down but returns to its more driving beat at 4:20. It finishes up in driving-beat mode with a wildly sliding synthesizer fading out at 5:10 to complete silence at 5:35.

MORE POP THAN NORMAL BUT GOOD

THIS IS A VERY NICELY DONE TUNE by an extremely talented band. It isn't progressive, much more of a pop tune than I usually like, but has been on my play list for a long time and I haven't gotten tired of it. The female vocal is emotional without being sentimental and the lyrics are unobtrusive. It is 3 minutes 20 seconds but I could easily listen to this song for many more verses. What you hear on the 30 second preview is very representative of the entire song.

REVIEW
This song begins with some beautiful, floating piano chords. The female vocal soon enters adding a dreamlike quality. Her voice reminds me somewhat of the singer for 10,000 Maniacs, except I like this woman's voice better. She has the ability to hit those breathy high notes yet can effortlessly reach down deep for the occasional low note. The song has some subtle touches like distant attack-delayed guitar notes. About midway another guitar joins the melody with some soft, relaxing, mandolin-like picking. The lyrics are poetic, unobtrusive, and fit the piece nicely. The music slowly fades away revealing some subtle synthesizer you never noticed was there.

Copyright Brad Teare © 2011

POP PROGRESSIVE

THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE TOO POP for many but it still has a nice progressive vibe (with those great cellos coming in around 3 minutes) and I love the rhythms interspersed with really great vocal and instrumental (like the piano work at 2:30 minutes). To top it all off the drums come in strong at the end.

REVIEW
This song starts with some background percussion, without cymbals, soon joined by piano and more drums and vocal at 30 seconds with full kit coming in at 50 seconds. Some strings enter with moody backup vocals. The cell (or possibly viola) continues to climax as more vocals enter. At 1:25 the song quiets to build again slowly with the drums continuing to hammer out a solid foundation. At 2:20 some nice piano triplets float over the basic harmony turning the song over to the drums and vocals at 2:50 with a slightly hollow but cool vibe. At 3:30 we get some sound effects of a conductor tapping on a podium with a choir joining and doing a short a cappella version of the song (which lasts for 25 seconds). Its a bit of a quirky end to an otherwise fantastic song. I found myself wishing the last twenty seconds was its own song so I could take it out of my iTunes playlist if desired.

THE FISH

I MAKE AN EXCEPTION TO MY NO CLASSICS RULE with the inclusion of this tune. I do so because Chris Squire has brought new life into this rendition of an oldie from the Fragile album fused with On the Silent wings of Freedom from the album Tormato. As noted in the review I dislike the ending series of notes that really mar this otherwise invigorating tune. But I am sure he had his reasons for including it.

REVIEW
This is a live version so the intro has the usual hooting, whistling, and cheers. I assume the first repetitive chromatic notes are being played by Steve Howe (played by Squire on the album). Chris Squire's performance in this song is fantastic and a great example of what he can do with a bass guitar. There is minimal drumming and I do miss Bill Bruford whose work is more organic and less mechanical but the percussion is in the background and not too intrusive. At 3 minutes Squire really gets cooking and he really loves twanging that Rickenbacher. At four minutes he begins a new medley of bass-centric tunes from other albums, this is punctuated by some semi-drum solo licks nicely done. One of the tunes is the bass solo from Tormato (I forget the name) but it is a great performance (with some nice double bass foot work in one case). The song continues to crescendo finishing up with some rapid finger work by Squire. Unfortunately it ends with his incessant, repetitive note-distorting thumping at 8 minutes. I could really do without those nerve-rattling 40 notes. Highly irritating. However it ends reprising The Fish with most of the band joining in the last minute.

BEST BATMAN THEME

I ENJOY A MOVIE SOUNDTRACK ONCE IN AWHILE and this is one of the best I have heard lately. It isn't overwhelming yet doesn't sit in the background, creating a hollow void, like some ambient music. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard have created a solid, full, and completely entertaining musical journey.

REVIEW
This is a subtle addition to the collection of Batman musical scores. It has very dramatic parts but is not as memorable in some ways as other Batman Themes (Danny Elfman's comes to mind). But it has plenty of raw, unfettered drama. There are some really nice crescendos/decrescendos which makes for a lot of variety as well. Overall it is a highly textured piece with a solid backbone of drumming, overlapped by rhythmical string adagios. There are some very nice horns that amplify the strings. A series of great zingers at 4 minutes to 4.5 minutes is a great cinematic conclusion to the piece that ends at 5 minutes.

SAD BUT BEAUTIFUL

IF YOU HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR MELANCHOLY TUNES buy this tune immediately. It is not only slow and powerful it has lyrics to match, being slightly mysterious but suggesting you can feel what is being communicated more than consciously understanding. A perfect tune for a rainy day by the fireplace.

REVIEW
This song starts with some very melancholy piano soon joined by a plaintive, but completely complimentary vocal. The lyrics are mysterious but appropriate for the mood of the piece. It is a very minimal tune with some flute and strings joining in at around 2 minutes. Very non-intrusive bells join in at 2 minutes 15 seconds. This is a simple but powerfully moody and evocative song that I loved the first time I heard it.

ODD BUT GOOD

THIS TUNE IS A GREAT FUSION of Eastern and Western music. To my definitely Western ear this is often hard to do with bands too often drifting off into a vaporous, ill-defined fog. But this band, Delirium, seems adept with these cultural fusions. The song shifts back and forth between rhythmical, more rock sections to mystical Eastern passages. The sample below gives a fairly representative section of the tune before the percussion enters:


REVIEW

This fairly long song (6:46) has a lot of eastern sounds that strike me as a bit odd. But give it a chance, the assortment of sounds really grow on you. There is an eastern instrument that sounds a lot like a banjo, plus finger cymbals, and attack-delay synthesized sounds used as percussion. Songs that depend too much on Eastern music theory don't intrigue me that much (probably a cultural thing) but this band gets the fusion just right. Overall the mood is minor but not overwhelmingly so. There is a female vocal track which is a kind of haunting, eastern chanting, with no discernible words. The drums fade in and out giving the tune a nice rhythmical texture.

MYSTERIOUS YET SATISFYING

THIS TUNE WILL BE OF INTEREST TO PROGRESSIVE FANS as well as techno lovers and those who like orchestral soundtracks. The band is the mysteriously named Chance's End. I am pretty sure the strings in this piece are acoustic (can't be too sure these days) and are accompanied by very intriguing but not overwhelming synthesized harmonies. Loping, slightly funky percussion gives this instrumental a solid backbone. The sample below is a very representative of the tune before the percussion enters:


REVIEW

This song intertwines strong violin and viola parts into a haunting, rhythmic tune. There is some electronic percussion that joins the ensemble at about a minute and a half. The basic melody from the intro is explored but broadened by a few key changes as well as slowing the tempo a bit with some moody electronic sounds. At three minutes it resumes its basic theme with some stronger underlying bass notes and stronger drums and finishes to a satisfying denouement.

MORE POP (BUT STILL GOOD)

THIS IS A VERY NICELY DONE TUNE by the talented band Fiery Blue. It isn't progressive, much more pop than I usually like, but it's been on my play list for a long time and I haven't gotten tired of it. The female vocal is emotional without being sentimental and the lyrics are unobtrusive. It is 3 minutes 20 seconds long but I could easily listen to this song for many more verses. What you hear on the 30 second preview is very representative of the entire song. Sample song below:

REVIEW
This song begins with some beautiful, floating piano chords. The female vocal soon enters adding a dreamlike quality. Her voice reminds me somewhat of the singer for 10,000 Maniacs, except I like this woman's voice better. She has the ability to hit those breathy high notes yet can effortlessly reach down deep for the occasional low note. The song has some subtle touches like distant attack-delayed guitar notes. About midway another guitar joins the melody with some soft, relaxing, mandolin-like picking. The lyrics are poetic, unobtrusive, and fit the piece nicely. The music slowly fades away revealing some subtle synthesizer you never noticed was there.

Copyright Brad Teare © 2011

RHYTHMIC, HAUNTING, BEAUTIFUL

I LOVE THIS TUNE and consider it one the the best of Massive Attack (so far). What you hear on the sample is basically what you will hear on the download with the exception of the vocal, which unfortunately isn't included. You might recognize this sample segment since it was also used as the soundtrack for the TV show House, M.D.

REVIEW
This song starts with drumming in a 4/4 rhythm with a crisp rim shot punctuating a slowly writhing clavinet melody. This is soon joined by some deep piano chords. At one minute a wispy female vocal enters. I normally am not a big fan of this type of breathy vocal but in this case it works quite well. The rim shot carries on throughout the tune with the occasional crackling, vinyl record sound effect entering from time to time. The rhythms are expertly intertwined to make a haunting and beautiful musical experience.


All images and words copyright Brad Teare © 2011

SUBTLE, MELODIC APPARAT TUNE

WHEN I HEARD THIS TUNE ON PANDORA it was the first time I had heard anything by the band Apparat. I have since purchased several of their tunes but this instrumental, You Don't Know Me, is my favorite. The sample (linked below) is approximately 30 seconds and 45 seconds into the song. skipping the lengthy intro:

REVIEW

The song starts with some bell like synthesizers into which are blended more melodic synthesizer sustain notes. At 45 seconds a cello-like instrument enters and establishes the main melody that will persist throughout. It is accompanied by another string sounding instrument, probably a violin or viola. At two minutes 34 seconds the tune slows a bit with the percussion fading into the background. The percussion is largely an ensemble of synthesized noises but very subtle, with an occasional synthesized bongo tapping out a subtle, syncopated beat. The main beat, coming once every four beats, is a snare like, metallic twanging sound that is very apropos to the mood of the tune. At four minutes instruments began to fade out one by one  and the song ends at four minutes 24 seconds.

All words and images copyright © Brad Teare 2011

GREAT COVER OF TWO GENESIS TUNES

IT IS APPROPRIATE I START REVIEWING with a cover by Transatlantic of two old Genesis tunes. The Genesis album Foxtrot, released in 1971, was a big influence on my budding progressive tastes and includes the classic Watcher of the Skies. Transatlantic combines that tune with another Genesis tune, Firth of Fifth, from the 1973 album Selling England by the Pound.


If you loved the original Genesis album yet find your ear zoning-out to the original version get this tune. Listen to a sample of Watcher of the Skies/Firth of Fifth at the link below (click the listen to samples button under album cover):

REVIEW
Watcher of the Skies/Firth of Fifth, performed live by Transatlantic, opens with a comment by the lead singer, scattered applause, and then the mellotron intro to Watcher of the Skies. At 2:48 minutes it transitions over to Firth of Fifth. It is a surprisingly satisfying transition. The band performs admirably and although many will wince at anyone other than Peter Gabriel singing this tune the lead singer of Transatlantic gives a surprisingly fresh rendition. His voice is more nasally than Gabriel’s but works nevertheless. Musically the piece is an accurate homage without too much interpretation. I especially loved the guitar solo from 7:30 with slowly building accompaniment until 9:00. It ends at 10:35 with audience applause fading at 10:54.


All images and words copyright Brad Teare © 2011

MUSICAL ROOTS

Brad Teare In the Court of the CrimsonKing 1971

AFTER NOT LISTENING TO MUSIC for several decades I recently began enjoying it again. In fact I'm probably more enthusiastic about music now than when I was a teenager. It’s difficult to explain my long musical drought between teenage and middle age. I played in a progressive rock band in my younger years and maybe having successfully dodged the sex and drugs I simply overdosed on rock n’ roll.


Or it might have been a mild depression from the onset of tinnitus and hyperacusis brought on in early middle age by my highly physical drumming technique. I clearly remember our bass guitarist mouthing during a performance “you’re gonna go deaf!” as I wailed away at my ride cymbal (actually the bass player was screaming flat out. I just couldn’t hear him).


But for whatever reason I gave up music that previously gave me a lot of pleasure. I’m grateful to have rediscovered a body of music that is truly enjoyable and worth sharing with others.


Early favorites included Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and King Crimson. But sadly I have grown tired of most of these bands and listen to them only for the occasional nostalgic experience. I doubt many such songs will make it onto this blog. I suspect many of the tunes will have a progressive flair. It isn’t an affectation but a true expression of my taste. I have an aversion to what Oliver Sacks in his book Musicophilia calls brain worms, those catchy tunes that persist long after the tune is over. The Beatles were masters at creating songs writhing with brain worms (and thus their amazing commercial success). I always preferred less catchy, more complex songs, with a bit more shelf life, thus my early preference for progressive rock.


I hope this list will contain a lot of divergent material and that these reviews will prove useful in expanding your catalog. Your suggestions are warmly welcomed.

Copyright © 2011 by Brad Teare