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Musikkens mangfold
At det er vannvittig mange stilarter innen musikken er noe de fleste vet, men at det er så mange som dette her må vel overraske de fleste?
Myspace
På myspace er det egentlig mye rart. For oss mer enn gjennomsnittelig musikkinteresserte er det en ypperlig anledning til å høre masse ny musikk. Vi har plukket ut seks artister som er temmelig forskjellig, og som kanskje noen kan ha interesse av å lytte til?
Vi kan vel si at myspace gir rikelig anledning til en vinnvinn situasjon, da både lytter og formidler kan oppnå noe. Lytteren kan i ro og mak høre ny musikk og gjøre seg opp en mening, mens formidleren av musikk kan nå frem bare musikken trigger folk, selv om musikerne til vanlig bor i Borneos dypeste jungler milevis fra sivilisasjonen. For en gangs skyld er det ikke promobudsjett, hva som spilles på radio og VG lista topp 20 som avgjør, men rett og slett hva de musikkinteresserte egentlig vil ha. Vi kan jo til en viss eller i høy grad grad snakke om musikk fri for markedskreftene, og det er jo i seg selv et artig poeng, og er jo kjernen i hva Merlinprog står for.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=245615341
http://www.myspace.com/koraiorom
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=4517856
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=266581199
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=78122379
MoonJune Records
Moon June Records er et lite plateselskap fra New York, som har spesialisert seg på kvalitetsmusikk som til en viss grad er relatert mot Soft Machine`s musikalske univers. Mannen bak labelen MoonJune er Leonardo Pavkovic som faktisk har en forkjærlighet for norsk musikk, og Terje Rypdal spesielt. Låten ”Moon June” som plateselskapet har hentet sitt navn fra, er for øvrig Robert Wyatt knalllåt fra Soft Machine`s tredje album, ”III”. Mer om MoonJune her, http://www.artist-shop.com/moonjune/index.htm
Magnesis
Magnesis er vel ukjent for de fleste, men de er franske og neo er sjangeren deres. Frédéric Przybyl og Eric Tillerot etablerte Magnesis i 1987 da de var elver på videregående skole. Forbildene var Ange og Christian Décamps, Peter Gabriel og Genesis, samt Marillion. Så langt har de gestaltet 6 album, som faktisk musikalsk henger overraskende bra med, mens cover art biten er meget ok som vi ser her.
Musikk er sunt året rundt!
En halv time om dagen kan redusere blodtrykket betydelig, viser ny studie. Studien sier ikke noe spesifikt om prog, men det er vel grunn til å anta at prog også vil kunne ha samme helsebringende effekt. Vi skal slett ikke se bort fra at prog er stappfull av helsebringende antioksidanter, og at frie radikaler utvikles fra techno og rap og slikt noe?!
Lider du av høyt blodtrykk, bør du høre på klassisk, keltisk eller
reggaemusikk daglig.
Det er konklusjonen fra en studie som nylig ble presentert for American
Society of Hypertension, skriver Reuters.Undersøkelsen omfattet 48
voksne i alderen 45 til 70 år som gikk på medisin mot høyt blodtrykk. 28
av testpersonene lyttet daglig til musikk, mens de resterende ikke
gjorde noen forandringer på sine daglige rutiner.
Blodtrykkmålinger en og fire uker senere viste at blodtrykket hadde
blitt redusert kraftig hos de som lyttet til musikk, mens den andre
gruppen hadde minimale reduksjoner i blodtrykket.
Han mener dette vil ha en positiv innvirkning på både pasienter og
leger, som kan utforske musikk som en trygg, effektiv og medikamentfri
behandlingsmetode alene eller i tillegg til vanlig behandling.
Har du fått diagnosen høyt blodtrykk er det også mye annet du kan gjøre
selv for å redusere risikoen for hjerte- og karsykdommer. Ifølge
Helsenytt.no kan noen enkle omlegginger i hverdagen være det som skal
til:
Mosjon kan både forebygge og behandle høyt blodtrykk, og en halvtimes
spasertur hver dag kan være nok. Enkle tiltak som gå i trapper i stedet
for å ta heisen, sykle til og fra jobb og skaffe seg en turkamerat gjør
det lettere å komme i bedre fysisk form.
Ved å redusere inntaket av mettet fett og salt, og spise mer fet fisk,
frukt og grønt, kan du motvirke høyt kolestrol i blodet og redusere
blodtrykket. Og er du overvektig og går ned bare noen få kilo, vil dette
ha stor betydning for blodtrykket.
Kutt røyken: Risikoen for å utvilke hjerteinfarkt er dobbelt så høy hos
blodtrykkspasienter som røyker sammenlignet med de som ikke gjør det.
MT9
Koreanske forskere har utviklet et nytt format der du selv kan velge hva
du vil høre. Det nye formatet har separat volumkontroll (6 stk.) for
hvert instrument så man kan dempe vokalen, trommene, gitaren, koringa,
synthen eller bassen. Nyttig om man vil spille sammen med yndlingslåta.
Filformatet får endelsen, MT9, men et langt mer kommersielt navn: Music
2.0. Investorene sier at formatet intet mindre enn kommer til å ta over
for MP3. For at det skal skje må piratene omfavne det.
Formatet eies av Audizen, http://www.audizen.co.kr/solutions/solutions2.htm
, og var en av MPEG-organisasjonens (Motion Picture Experts Group)
kandidat i år. MPEG er en internasjonal gruppe bestående av selskaper
innen den digitale musikk og video-industrien.
”Det er enda ikke sikkert at formatet vinner”, men Audizen-sjef Ham
Seung-chul er optimistisk frem til det endelige valget legges frem i
juni: ”Vi lagde presentasjoner for de som var med og de ble overrasket
over det de så. De stemte med en gang på oss for at formatet skulle bli
en kandidat som en digital musikkstandard”, forklarer Seung-chul.
Samsung og LG skal begge være interesserte i å integrere spilleren i
kommende produkter som kan komme allerede tidlig neste år. Det er
allerede nå mulig å kjøpe hele album i formatet fra Audizen, http://audizen.com/.
Også gamle plater fra Queen er det mulig å lage MT9-filer av, så lenge
de har blitt digitalt remastret. Og det viktigste for mange; formatet er
uten DRM.
Mamas And Papas
The Mugwumps, The Journeymen, The New Journeymen er navnene på pre Mamas And Papas. I 2008 er det bare den herlige Michelle Phillips som lever av de fire medlemmene. Til å være 66 år holder hun seg meget godt, og både helsen hennes, og livet hennes virke å være godt.
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John Phillips : Born John Edmund Andrew Phillips August 30th 1935 – 18th Mars 2001
Michelle Phillips : Born Holly Michelle Gilliam June 4th 1944
Denny Doherty : Born Dennis Gerard Stephen Doherty November 29th 1941 – died 19th January 2007
Cass Elliot : Born Ellen Naomi Cohen September 19th 1941 - died July 29th 1974 One Story Of Mamas And Papas
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John Phillips first laid eyes on Michelle Gilliam at the hunry i . They instantly fell in love . There was only one problem . Michelle was 16 and John was 25 , married , and had two kids . However , John divorced and got remarried to the beautiful blonde California girl . John's group the Journeymen broke up and as he was trying to come up with a new group it occured to him , that if Michelle was a member , they'd make twice the money . So John's new group , the New Journeymen , was formed . Now they needed a tenor . Enter, Denny Doherty . Denny had just broken up with his group , The Mugwumps , which also contained future Lovin' Spoonful , Zal Yanovsky and future Mama , Cass Elliot . John had heard Denny perform in the village and he auditioned . Denny's voice fit perfectly and he was in. They sang at various gigs and made a name for themselves . However , where ever The New Journeymen went Denny was always on the phone with the mysterious Cass Elliot . When Michelle and John would ask about her he would say " She's my best friend . " Denny would also always want them to meet her . So one day , they finally did .
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One night the threesome heard about a new drug, LSD, so they each took a tablet. Michelle was complaining that nothing was happening . Then there was a knock at the door , and as Michelle was opening the door , she came on to the acid . There was Cass , in a pink angora sweater , a little white pleaded mini-skirt , matching gogo boots , fake lashes , and her hair in a flip . John said , " She looked like a giant mushroom . " So they all experienced their first acid trip together , and from then on became inseparable . In the name of " creativity " John and the rest of the New Journeymen wanted to take a vacation . So , they blindfolded Michelle , and she shot a dart on a map of the world . Next stop , The Virgin Islands. There it was full moons , gorgeous sunsets , and the scene was just , well ... groovy . So John wrote and put together most of his songs there . Then, their friend , Cass came to join the fun . Another reason she came down to the islands was she fell in love with Denny from the moment she first laid eyes on him ( he saw her while she was singing with her group the Big Three ) . Denny didn't understand where she was coming from though , and didn't know how deep her feelings were . This presents a big problem considering that while on the Island flirting between Michelle and Denny escalated . Although Cass was hurting,she still wanted in the group. Cass begged to be in the group , but John said her voice couldn't hit the right note . However , in his autobiography , he also explains that she didn't look right in the group because , " we were all string beans .. " . And also Michelle thinks that Cass was too opioniated and John was very controlling . But one day a lead pipe fell down , and hit Cass on the head . She was knocked unconscious and had a mild concussion . And a few days later when they started singing again , Cass had the extra note . So , she was let in the group . |
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As soon as the foursome was coming together , their credit card got cut off and they were left with about $50.00 . Cass got a plane to LA , the other three hopped on a boat and headed for the casinos . They dressed Michelle in a sexy red dress and sent her to the craps table . She threw 17 straight passes and got enough money to fly them all first class back to New York . When they got there it was cold ; a big change from the Virgin Islands . Michelle was "itching" to get back to warm weather , and John and Denny wanted to show off their new sound. This is when John wrote " California Dreamin' " , and Michelle helped him write the words down ( that's how she got half publishing and royalties ). So , they all made their dream a reality and headed for the West Coast .
There , they met up with their old friend, Cass who was staying with her friend , Barry McGuire. Barry had a single that was climbing the charts , "The Eve of Destruction" . When he heard them sing he told them to sing for Lou Adler, the hottest record producer in town. But when John, Michelle and Denny asked Cass to sing for them, she refused. She was mad at Michelle and Denny for their "island flirtations" and at John for not originally letting her in the group. But she eventually said okay, she'd sing for the audition, but she was not part of the group. So they went to Western Recording Studios and auditioned. Lou Adler couldn't believe his eyes and ears.He asked them to come back the next day, and their were "contracts all over the floor". And Cass Elliot was a pretty practical woman , so she signed right away and WAS part of the group. Within 48 hours they had a new name. They got this name by Cass, who was mouthing off at the TV when an interview with the Hells Angels came on and one of them said something like , "We call our women mamas". So Cass said, " Well, we got Mamas in our group and we got Papas!" So, John said yeah we could be called the Papas and The Mamas. But of course Cass and Michelle weren't gonna have that, so they became the Mamas and The Papas.They recorded their first single,"California Dreamin'" and it soon became a top ten hit. Then they recorded their first album, "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears." This was Adler's first thoughts as he heard the group. So, basically "over-night" they were a success and had a tremendous amount of money. They all moved into a house in Hollywood and seemed inseperable. But as they were becoming a bigger and bigger success, their friendship was deteriorating. Michelle and Denny were flirting even more, Cass was getting angrier, and John was becoming more withdrawn from the group. Then one night , while Cass and John were passed out , Michelle and Denny ... well ya know ( this is a PG rated page ) . John was understandably upset when Michelle confessed , but Cass was furious . Michelle was Cass's close friend , and Michelle knew of Cass's deep love for Denny. That night changed everything."They were growing up, they were growing apart, and they were growing rich." As they got more popular, the parties grew and so did their drug use. John was also getting more upset about Michelle and Denny's affair. That's why he wrote "I Saw Her Again Last Night" , so Denny had to sing it every night on stage .
As the group went in the studio to record their second album , John and Michelle split up. Michelle went to live on her own, as did Cass, while John and Denny became room mates. They claim it was a way to keep an eye on each other, so they know the other one won't be with Michelle. Each member had their own problem. Cass was distancing herself from the group and was hanging out with people who sought to take advantage of her. She had a house in Laurel Canyon, and everyday it was filled with people. Poets, musicians, writers, and bikers. She once said, "It's easy to find a boyfriend, I just buy them a motorcycle , a leather outfit, and acting lessons." John meanwhile was drifting towards a life of drug abuse. He had a good art collection, fancy cars, and thousands of dollars and all were slowly diminishing for drugs. He once was all about the music, but drugs were starting to control his life. Denny was emersing himself with alcohol. He was trying to drink Michelle out of his life , and Michelle's problem was men. She was dating Gene Clark and during a concert she was blowing kisses to him in the front row, with John looking on. So John went buckwild and said he couldn't work with Michelle any longer and it was either him or Michelle leave the group. So obviously Cass and Denny signed a letter that said Michelle was fired, and she was replaced by Jill Gibson. Jill Gibson was Lou Adler's girlfriend, and she had a resemblance to Michelle. So they toured with Jill as the new Mama for about 3 months until pressure from Denny and Cass caved John in and he realized they needed Michelle back.
In April of 67' Mama Cass had a baby girl, Owen Vanessa , she never revealed who the father was. John and Michelle tryed to make their marriage work, but John's excessive drug abuse came between him and his music and him and his family. The group that was once a close-knit family, became almost strangers. John always wrote about that old feeling of family, and "since it was broken [he] didn't write." Cass at this point asked herself what she was doing still in the group. She had a child, and she wanted to take care of herself, and that meant taking care of her career. She was also starting to emerse herself in drugs to lose weight and to escape from loneliness. Somehow John and Lou Adler came up with the energy and creativity to put together the Monterey Pop Festival. This would be the Mamas and Papas last performance. According to the book, Papa John by John Phillips, Cass really decided to leave the group when John made a smart comment to Cass in front of her idol, Mick Jagger. Cass stormed in her room and said she quit. Dunhill put out Dream A Little Dream of Me as a solo by Mama Cass, and Cass came out with her first solo record. Denny , John and Michelle also tryed to go solo, but to no real success. Dunhill forced the group to one more album in 71' called "People Like Us."Cass went on to star in a movie ,"H.R. Pufnstuf" , appear in countless TV programs including her own specials, and even explored politics. John and Michelle had a daughter, Chynna and split up for good. Denny released two solo albums and in the later years put the bottle away for good . In July of 1974 Cass had a 2 week engagement at the London Paladium. She finished it off with a standing ovation. She was just saying she was finally going somewhere, when on July 29th she was found dead in her apartment. The reports initially said she choked on a ham sandwhich because they found a half eaten sandwhich by her bed. They said this to stop reports that it was because of drugs and to calm the media. However, when the autopsy was done, it was clear that Cass Elliot died of heart failure. And that was a big heart. On August 2,1974 the Mamas and Papas were reunited to bury one of their own. The loss they felt was understandably imbearable. But Cass will live on in the hearts that love her, and I know she lives in mine. In 82' John, Denny , Mackenzie Phillips(John's daughter) and Spanky McFarlane(of Spanky and Our Gang) formed the New Mamas and Papas. They still play to this day, but now they have a new line of people. One including Scott McKenzie. Denny has a one man show called Dream A Little Dream dedicated to his beloved friend, Cass and has stopped drinking for good. John is also clean and sober and is remarried. Michelle leads a successful acting career. The Mamas and Papas' music is legendary and is more than just a memory. New generations will listen to this music and hear their amazing story. Their music and their legacy will never die. All these words came out of my own head , however I realized I watched Behind The Music with The Mamas and Papas so much that I couldn't think of any way to put it then how they did. So I quoted all the stuff that I knew came from there ,and the rest I just left. |
Motorik
Motorik is a term coined by music journalists to describe the 4/4 beat often used by some so-called "Krautrock" bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk (promoting the official CD release of Neu!'s back-catalogue, Klaus Dinger stated he called it the "Apache beat").[1] The word "Motorik" means "motor skill" in German.
The name perhaps derives from the repetitive yet forward-flowing feel of the rhythm, which has been compared to the experience of motorway driving -- indeed, the motorik beat is utilized in one section of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn", a song designed to celebrate exactly this experience. While The Velvet Underground's influence on Krautrock is often mentioned, Mo Tucker's drumming has specifically been characterized as "proto-motorik."[2]
Magenta
Metamorphosis
Review 1
I’ve remarked before on this very site that given his track record Magenta main man Rob Reed can do virtually no wrong in my view. I therefore welcomed Metamorphosis the bands fourth studio album with understandable eagerness. With a new release averaging once every two years this is the bands first album proper since 2006’s pairing of Home and New York Suite. They did off course venture into the studio last year to record the near hit single Speechless and breathe new life into several Magenta standards for the The Singles collection. Since then they’ve undergone a couple of personnel changes with the departure of drummer Allan Mason-Jones and guitarist Martin Rosser although the latter is credited with ‘detuned guitar’ on this album. Original drummer Tim Robinson stepped in for this recording but will trade places with new boy Kieran Bailey for the up and coming live shows. Replacing Martin on stage will be Ezra’s Colin Edwards, teaming up with Magenta lead guitarist par excellence Chris Fry. As with the bands earlier recordings Rob provides the bass in addition to keyboards, guitars and recorder although regular bassist Dan Fry will resume his usual place when they go out live. Completing the line-up is of course the all important, nay essential vocal splendour of Christina Booth.
As before, Rob provides the music for the album whilst his brother Steve Reed is responsible for the lyrics. And they’re some of the grittiest words yet for a Magenta album and the perfect match for the gothic cover imagery. Musically this has been proclaimed as the bands darkest, most modern sounding release yet. Personally after several spins I don’t see it as a major departure, more a natural progression. True the sound is punchier, but the elaborate set pieces we’ve come to expect from Magenta are still in evidence and they’ve never been shy of integrating mainstream rock and pop sensibilities into their music. In fact during the opening epic length piece The Ballad Of Samuel Layne, Christina sounds more youthful and buoyant then ever despite the subject matter. Here a soldier in the World War 1 trenches reflects on his past, aware that he is going to an almost certain death. From the outset, with its slow burning build to a synth fanfare and Christina’s energetic chant, you know you’re in for something special.
The main melody is a strong one with good harmony support and sharp synth punctuations, and I just love the full on bass articulations. There’s a part I particularly like around six or seven minutes in featuring stabbing, staccato string bursts followed by an electrifying guitar solo. Elsewhere the guitar provides gutsy riffs and later lyrical phrasing reminiscent of Pendragon’s Am I Really Losing You. Guitar doesn’t have things all its own way however with sub Wakeman fiery synths more akin to The Tangent, strident string parts and the stirring Uilleann pipes of guest Troy Donockley all making an impression. Following a sad and reflective acoustic ballad the pace quickens, racing towards a dramatic finale driven by the full weight of the band. A plaintiff recorder motif leads into the second song Prekestolen, a Norwegian mountain plateau that infamously provided the backdrop for a couple’s suicide pact. A haunting guitar lament evokes Peter Banks and Jan Akkerman, setting the tone against an incessant rhythmic keys line. Pipes once more take flight providing a majestic conclusion.
Although it’s still too early to say, I believe the title track may well turn out to be the bands most accomplished piece to date. Within its twenty three plus minutes Metamorphosis certainly crosses many borders, mixing edgy guitar and string sections with rich Yes flavoured harmonies and pastoral acoustic interludes. In fact the mood becomes downright angry around the half way mark with pounding bass, piercing guitar and bombastic synth work. The gorgeous acoustic guitar, piano and percussive chimes section that follows is a clear reminder of Rob’s admiration for Mike Oldfield. The guitar work that’s been stunning throughout takes on mammoth proportions from this point on, evoking Steve Howe’s flamboyant style and David Gilmour’s bluesy touch at various stages. As the song weaves its way to a powerful close the uplifting choral work has Tears For Fears’ Head Over Heels written all it, backed by a cutting guitar phrase. Given that the song is about a schizophrenic serial killer the overall tone is far more optimistic than you would expect.
It segues into the final song Blind Faith, which feels very much like a companion piece to the title track. Following a deceptively hesitant opening, heavy guitar descends, which in turn gives way to a melodic folk tinged acoustic section with mandolin. The song benefits from a memorable melody against a rhythmic piano and guitar backdrop. Yet another soaring guitar break before the string section provides a powerful and dramatic closing theme. It’s reminiscent of the coda to the title song that precedes it except here the voices are replaced by strings.
It’s been well publicised that this album was mixed at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth where amongst others Queen and Rush recorded Bohemian Rhapsody and A Farewell To Kings respectively. Whilst the songs here may not be destined to crack the charts in the same way that Bohemian Rhapsody or even Closer To The Heart did, it’s a fresh and vibrant work that will hopefully gain them wider recognition. It was Rob’s ambition to produce a modern progressive rock album and I feel he’s succeeded in style. It certainly has all the right ingredients but above all else it’s the spectacular guitar work that really elevates it into the realms of greatness. To be truthful, I didn’t find this album as immediate as Magenta’s previous releases but that’s not a bad thing. Now that it’s succeeding in sinking its hooks into me I feel that it will cling on for some appreciable time to come.
Review 2
Magenta's fourth studio album sees a somewhat reduced version of the band, at least if the photographic evidence in the booklet is anything to go by; only Rob Reed and Christina Booth are featured despite guitarist Chris Fry still being included in the core trio of musicians. Other performers include Tim Robinson on drums, Martin Rosser on detuned guitar, Troy Donockley on Uilleann pipes and Stephan Rhys Williams on backing vocals. Bass and additional guitar duties are performed by Rob Reed with lyrics, once again, penned by brother Steve.
So what is on offer this time round? Well for a start the sleeve is a bit more 'artistic' than previous releases with a central image more usually associated with a heavy metal band. And quite a strange image it is too, a heavily tattooed cadaver with no lower arms, one leg and a post-mortem midline incision. There is possibly some religious intent as the corpse, suitable attired in a loin cloth, is positioned crucifix like and the head is laid in some form of tube giving the impression of a halo. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it?! Whatever, the association between the art and the title (metamorphosis: a change in body form, such as a tadpole to a frog) is not immediately evident. Musically, the long tracks are back with two of the four tracks exceeding the 20 minute barrier. And yes, it is a concept album.
Opener The Ballad Of Samuel Layne is the first of the long numbers, relating the tale of a young couple married during a war and almost immediately being separated when the husband goes off to fight. The song is divided into three sections, an intro and scene setting, the war bride's prayer and the soldier's prayer, although it is mainly the lyrics that differentiate the sections. True to the Reed's recent statements, the album is more guitar focused than previous releases, with keyboards playing a more supportive role throughout. Some of the guitar work is reminiscent of Steve Howe particularly at the time of Tales From Topographic Oceans. A string quartet features periodically as do Mr Donockley's pipes and Christina's vocals are as good as they have ever been.
Unfortunately I found the whole thing rather a bore. Yes there are moments that spark the interest but overall the song seemed to drag and I wasn't totally engaged by the lyrics or the music. Prekestolen (which is a mountain plateau in Norway), is a short (relatively speaking!) piece that seems to primarily be a linking track as it doesn't really stand up by itself. Metamorphosis continues in a similar vein to what has gone before and accordingly suffers the same fate, some moments that strike an accord, others that seem just to extend the piece. However, there is greater musical variety in Metamorphosis which does give it the edge, even if a section 8 minutes or so in has a strong resemblance to early seventies Pink Floyd. Blind Faith sees the grinding, heavier guitars making a comeback but on the whole, did nothing to really make me sit up and take notice.
No doubt I will be in the minority in thinking that this is the least appealing of the Magenta studio albums, but I just did not get Metamorphosis, not as a concept, as a set of lyrics or as pieces of individual music. There is a lot more to a compelling song than the duration, the music should justify the length and not vice versa.
Review 3
According to Magenta mastermind Rob Reed a new Magenta album usually
orginates out of a song from the previous album. Apparently the song
Demons off
Home
initially sparked the idea for their fourth album Metamorphosis. When I
first read that news I was delighted; Home is one of my favourite albums
of 2006 and Demons is my favourite track on it!
The artwork showing a severed torso hints at a departure from the
accessable prog-lite of the previous albums. The presence of tracks over
20 minutes on the other hand hints at a return to their debut album
Revolutions.
In truth, it's a bit of both. For starters the sound of the band has
matured since Home. Magenta's music will always be called derivative,
but it is no longer possible to reference each and every musical passage
to another band like it was the case on Revolutions and
Seven.
The music is also slightly heavier than before, with several rocky
guitar sections popping up throughout the album. On the other hand it is
a return to the long song format of Revolutions -not my favourite of
their discography- and judging from the photographs in the CD-booklet
also a return to being a two-person project. On Home, and even moreso on
the many singles and EPs the band released, it looked as if Reed wanted
to portray Magenta as a full, proper band, with the entire live band
appearing on these studio recordings. However, late last year both
guitarist Martin Rosser and drummer Alan Mason-Jones left the band and
seemingly this led to the decision of making a distinction between the
studio and the live format of Magenta. So on the new album Magenta is
once again presented as just Rob Reed and Christina Booth, with longtime
collaborator Chris Fry a honorary third member (receiving a special
credit in the liner notes).
The type of music Magenta is generally instantly likeable. Twiddly
keyboard solos, heavenly guitar solos and angelic vocals - what is not
to like? But for me the long running time of the tracks make the music
far less easy to digest, and the dark concept about death and
destruction even less so. So the two weeks I had to prepare this review
did not seem long enough. There is a lot of good stuff on the album, in
fact there are loads of really cool bits and riffs and solos and stuff,
but on the whole it just doesn't seem work. The end result is just too
patchy to my ears.
I won't be as negative as my colleague above however. I really like the
music of Magenta. But somehow I wonder if the album wouldn't have
benefited from a bit more work and possibly editing down the tracks into
shorter ones. And coming from someone who listens to prog that is a
rather odd statement, I know.
Let's just focus on the good bits for now. One of the first things to
note about the music is that it is a bit heavier than its predecessors.
Especially the title track and Blind Faith contain some fairly heavy
guitar riffing. The sound has also been modernised and is combining
seventies style analogue keyboards with present day vocal effects and
drum loops, which work really well.
Rob Reed's keyboard solos echo the best of the Banks', Wakemans or
Nolans of this world. Chris Fry, Magenta's lead guitarist since the
beginning, excels with his many beautiful licks and Uilleann piper Troy
Donockley makes a welcome return, adding his trademark sound to The
Ballad Of Samuel Lane and Prekestolen. As for the bass, this is played
by Rob Reed himself, and as he explains on the DVD, bass was one of his
prime focuses for the album, and it shows, as the bass on Metamorphosis
is definitely the best of all Magenta albums.
Though the album consists of four tracks, from a musical point of view there are only really two tracks on the album. The Ballad of Samuel Lane and Prekestolen are pretty much one track, as are Metamorphosis and Blind Faith. From a lyrical point of view though these tracks are to be considered separate songs, even though the short ditty Prekestolen doesn't really play as such. The second half is definitely the better half. The title track contains many good sections and good solos, and as said before, the heaviness of some sections gives it an extra punch. That said, the overly happy end-section sounds like a Spice Girls song with its 'la-la-la' chorus, and the final slide guitar solo comes too close to Pendragon's Am I Really Losing You? for comfort.
The album is available as a standard CD as well as a DVD, oddly titled
The Metamorphosis Collection. The DVD contains several interviews and
documentaries, as well as the entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound. And it
is this surround mix that truly makes the music come alive. I have said
this many times before: if there is one genre fit to take full advantage
of surround sound mixes, it is the prog genre with all its layers,
textures, multiple instruments, samples and generic weird stuff. Too few
bands seem to be taking this road though, so I am particularly glad to
be enjoying the album coming from all corners of my room. The surround
mix just does the music so much more justice, you can hear so much more
detail as opposed to the stereo mix.
The documentary and interviews are very informative, though a tad on the
long side. The "Inside The Mix" section however is a gem. It shows Rob
Reed behind his mixing desk talking through the entire album,
highlighting each and every part in the music in what is basically the
musical equivalent of a DVD commentary commonly featured on movie DVDs.
The surround mix is worth the price of this DVD alone, though, so the
rest of the content could be regarded bonus anyway. If you're only going
to buy one version of the album, this is the one to go for!
My conclusion is a difficult one. How do you rate an album that contains wonderful music but doesn't work as a whole? The only song that I can truly say I like is Blind Faith which combines the best the band has to offer (great solos, beautiful vocals) into just six minutes, and sounds like a proper song. The rest of the album is just too patchy for my taste, proving that many good bits of music, don't necessarily make a good song. Had this been the band's follow-up to Revolutions I would probably have called it a great leap forward; after the magnificent Home it comes as a disappointment. However, that might be saying more about Home than about Metamorphosis.
Tracklist: Making Of Metamorphosis (47:49), Inside the Mix (54:57),
Metamorphosis 5.1 Surround Mix (53:35) [The Ballad Of Samuel Layne
(20:17), Prekestolen (3:43), Metamorphosis (23:15), Blind Faith (6:01)]
Bonus Material: Interview with Rob and Steve Reed (19:27), Interview
with Steve Reed (8:28), Prekestolen video (3:27)
Mbira
Et gammelt afrikansk slaginstrument tilhørende familien idiofoner, med mange forskjellige navn og utforminger. På vestlig folkemunnet går det gjerne under navnet finger harp, gresskar piano, hand piano, thumb piano, sansa, sanza osv.
Navnet kan til og med variere innen samme språk, alt etter brukssammenheng eller utforming. Regionale navn som benyttes er bl.a. akogo, budongo, ikembe, kalimba, likembe, marimbao, marimbula osv.
Består av tynne fleksible metalltunger (lameller) som er festet til et brett eller kasse som er montert til en resonator. Det finnes varianter som har tunger laget av tre eller bambus. De lengste tungene, de med dypest klang, er gjerne plassert i midten av rekken. Den mest utbrette utgaven har 6-14 tunger. Enkelte utgaver har flere rekker med tunger. Antallet kan for øvrig variere fra 2 til 30 tunger.
Resonatoren er enten en enkel trekasse, en åpnet kalebass, et gresskar eller en stor hermetikkboks. Det finnes også nyere utgaver laget av glassfiberlaminat. En skramlete klang preger ofte instrumentet da det gjerne festes kjeder, metallbiter, sneglehus, ståltråd osv. til instrumentet eller på tungene.
Instrumentet holdes med begge hendene og spilles helst stående eller gående. Den frie enden av tungene trykkes ned og knipses på plass igjen med tommelfingrene, eller med tomlene og pekefingrene. Benyttes som soloinstrument, til sang eller også til dans. Visse regioner bruker instrumentet til seremonielle hendelser. Det finnes mange forskjellige stemminger
Mike Florio
Arisen
Note: If you hated the '80s, and/or think the '80s made Prog look bad, skip this review.
That being said...if Kansas, Styx, and Genesis had done a collaboration in about 1976, this is what it would have sounded like. Mike, a keyboardist/pianist very much in the Kansas/Genesis vein and vocalist with much in common with Steve Walsh, is backed on this album by Bill Thomas on guitars, Dave Bailey on bass, and Steve Golden on drums. And from the first seconds of Bells For 1827, a song referencing (but not about) the death of Beethoven, Mike and Co. show they're not amateurs. The opening keyboards, no less bombastic than any epic of the '70s or our own time (Symphony X's The Odyssey particularly comes to mind), lead into the heart of this beautiful song, driven by intricate piano chords and reverb-drenched guitar. In just over seven minutes, Mike manages to capture and summarize every element that made Leftoverture a great album, all while sounding fresh and modern (and remarkable - the recording on Arisen is flawless).
Binary World calls to mind the height of Styx's career, and not only musically but lyrically gives a nod to Mr. Roboto ("My blood is oil supreme/Fuelling the soul of my new machine/Computer memory extreme/Storing the images of my dreams"). Fractured opens with a brief harpsichord figure a la Siberian Khatru before returning to the Styx feel, complete with organs, soaring vocals, and a killer guitar solo. And now that I've name-dropped several prominent bands and a handful of albums and songs from the mid and late '70s, I need to point out that sonically Arisen has more in common with 90125 than Close To The Edge. Mike's voice certainly falls between Steve Walsh and Dennis DeYoung, but the music itself has that happiness and thought that fell between progressive rock's oft-pretentious adolescence and it's oft-politically-active adulthood. It's what sets, say, 90125 apart from both Close To The Edge and Magnification.
Pretending and Media Ride continue the Kansas-meets-Styx feel, while Paradise Of Stone brings a less cheery and bright mood to the album. If anything, this song has much in common with the depressing ballads of loss of the later '80s. Like any good song, I can't put my finger on it exactly, but this song just has that less-cheery FEEL to it, even the guitars and keys sound like they may be trying to cover up some inner sadness. It's a nice change, and shows a little diversity in the album's stylistic leanings. Mike has a "formula," sure, but it works very well, and he moves the variables around enough to keep the album interesting.
Violent Moods, the closer, is quite possibly the most beautiful song on the album. The first four minutes are all Mike, with piano and keys dancing sensuously under his voice, followed by an instrumental section featuring some great keyboard work and a wonderfully fluid guitar solo. The mood on this track is similar to drifting upward through a bank of clouds, very light and airy but not exactly sunny.
So, Arisen is an album with a '70s soul and an '80s attitude. If that makes any sense, go buy this album, you'll enjoy every second of it. Mike Florio has mastered that art of making songs that are both musically interesting and emotionally involving, so listening to the music and drawing parallels unfortunately only tells half the story (as evidenced by my attempt at explanation above). If you enjoyed anything you heard on the radio between 1979 and 1990, this album will probably at least make you smile as you reminisce; and if you own much Kansas or Styx, Arisen will be a refreshing twist on some familiar themes. Happy listening.
Tracklist: Bells For 1827 (7:24), Binary World (5:55), Fractured (4:38), Pretending (4:33), Media Ride (3:38), Paradise Of Stone (9:09), Violent Moods (6:58)
Mangrove
”Facing The Sunset” heter ”treskolandets” Mangroves siste studioplate, mens siste liveplate heter, ”Coming Back To Live”. Smakebiter og info om disse symfoniske proggerne finner du her.
http://www.myspace.com/mangrovemusic
Hollenderne startet i 1995 når skolekameraten Roland Van Horst (gitar og vokal) og Joost Hegemeijer (trommer og tangentinstrumenter) slo seg sammen og begynte å skrive sine egne komposisjoner. Etter tre år kom albumet ” Cold Water” med bandnavnet Brainstorm. I en kort periode var sangeren Eric Holdtman med, men p.g.a. personlige problemer gikk han ut i 2001. Samme år kom demoen ” Massive Hollowness” under Mangove fanen hvor også bassisten Peter Drost var med. Like etterpå kom keybordspilleren Chris Jonker med i Mangrove. Denne besetningen utgav i 2004 skiva ” Touch Wood”.
”Touch Wood” er en rolig, melodisk og symfonisk skive. Musikken støttes av en meget stødig rytmeseksjon, og mellotronbruken er svært delikat. Sistesporet ” City Of Darkness” er knallbra, og tanken går til Genesis på sitt beste.
Dobbel liveplate kom i 2006.Tittelen var den noe misvisende, “Coming Back To Live”. Smakfull, tilgjengelig og med stemningsskifter fra sakte rytmer tit mer bombastiske utbrudd, og fra drømmende og svevende saker til mer mid-tempo sekvenser. Dynamikk og substans med utmerkede kor-mellotron samplere, og Hammondorgel og Fender Rhodes i usedvanlig smakfull tapning.
Mangrove
Facing The Sunset
If a progband is meant to be sounding different on each of their albums, then Dutch Mangrove is probably the proggiest of them all. Their first album "Massive Hollowness" contained an interesting merge of funk and prog. Their second album Touch Wood seemed more of an ode to the music of seventies Genesis and eighties Marillion. And now their third self-produced album is a bit like their Tales From Topographic Oceans, with four epic tracks averaging around the 15 minute mark!
This time there were no changes in the line-up from the previous album, which enabled the band to develop their musical style further. Though perhaps the difference between this album and its predecessor is not as big as it was between the first two albums, the band has certainly 'grown'. Musically the album is a pleasant mix mainly Genesis-inspired neo-prog, with some Floydian overtones and the occasional hint of Yes-like psychedelia. Where the previous two albums could use some more work in the vocal department, Mangrove and especially singer/guitarist Roland van der Horst certainly have put great work into improving the vocals. Van der Horst's vocals are bit of a mix between David Gilmour and Colin Blunstone, with the occasional Jon Anderson falsetto added in the mix. Where on the previous album Touch Wood (the first album with Van der Horst on vocals) he was stretching his vocals too much, on this new album he limits himself to a more comfortable range. By no means is he a great lead-singer, but I've heard plenty of prog-bands with worse singers too.
The album opens with the title track, which is characterised by Pieter Drost's excellent fretless bass-work. Guitar and keyboard solos alternate, building to a long climax in which the guitar has a very distinct Steve Hacket feel. The next track I Fear The Day is like a Pink Floyd/Genesis hybrid, with nice piano and washes of Mellotron, backed with very laid-back drumming.
Instrumental There Must Be Another Way is a good showpiece for the individual band member's talents. This is where the excellent musicianship of the foursome becomes evident. Roland van der Horst's guitar play is top notch and often reminds of a slightly harder edged Steve Hackett. Pieter Drost does a good Pete Trewavas impersonation by playing very melodic and effective bass-lines. Joost Hagemeijer's drums are solid throughout, though they may be a tad on the safe side (more Nick Mason than Phil Collins here) and finally Chris Jonker's keyboards once again excel in very Tony Banks-like keyboard solos. There Must Be Another Way is an excellent way of showcasing the band's talents and will certainly be a great track to hear played live. It is also the most varied track on the album, with both very fast passages and a mellow acoustic mid-section. The ending is like a David Gilmour solo played over the music of Marillion's The Space.
Hidden Dreams is the band's magnum opus. The 20-minute epic starts very neo-prog style with shrill lead-guitar and very 'epic' drums. The vocals in this song are very Yes-like, with vocals duties shared between Van der Horst and Hagemeijer. To add to the mix are Tony Banks style keyboards (Lamb Lies Down era). The band keep this long song interesting by changing the direction of the (largely mellow) song some 180 degrees a couple of times with IQ-like up-tempo sections.
As with the previous releases, the artwork of the CD is top-notch. Some very nice close-ups of the band member's instruments. Furthermore an outline of the story of the concept is given - of course it is a concept album.
Tracklist: Facing The Sunset (13:53), I Fear The Day (10:12), There Must Be Another Way (12:31), Hidden Dreams (20:58)
Me
Deg og dine ven
K
Musikkhatere
Ikke ukjente Drillo har i sin tid uttalt at stillhet er den beste musikken! Når så en utøvende kunstner går ut og sutrer over at kunst for øret tar oppmerksomhet fra kunst for øyet blir vi noe skremt av slikt trangsyn. For å gjøre det hele fullstendig latterlig hevder billedkunstner David Hockney også at Mp3-spilleren har også skylda for at vi kler oss stygt. Antakeligvis har mannen ikke speil, da hans bekledning neppe er velegnet til å fremkalle de store ovasjonene.
David Hockney liker ikke iPodens påvirkning på samfunnet generelt og kunsten spesielt. Storbritannias kanskje mest kjente nålevende billedkunstner, David Hockney, langer ut mot musikk.
Hockney mener lyd tar altfor stor plass i dagens samfunn og at blant annet iPoden er en direkte årsak til at britisk billedkunst for tida ligger brakk. Vi iler til å si at det selvsagt ikke har noe med kvaliteten på det som lages, eller at billedkunst er en tanke "usynlig" i samfunnet generelt.
”Jeg tror alt handler om lyden. Folk plugger igjen ørene og ser seg ikke så mye rundt, mens derimot min største glede er øynene”, sa Hockney under en tale i sitt eget 70-årslag nylig. Hvorfor vi ikke både kan tilfredsstille ørene og øynene til hver sin tid eller på likt, er for oss et under
Hockney hevder også at iPoden fører til at folk ikke bryr seg om hvordan de kler seg fordi det visuelle ikke har så stor betydning lenger.
En talsmann for iPod-produsenten Apple tilbakeviser Hockneys påstander, skriver Brisban Times.
”Bare se på hva folk gjør visuelt med iPodene sine. De lager kortfilmer og deler en haug med visuell informasjon”.
Morsomme musikkuttrykk
Definisjon av noen
sentrale uttrykk i POP-leksikonet:
Musikk
er lyd. Det er ikke alltid lett
å bestemme hvilke lyder som er musikk, og hvilke som bare er lyder.
Normalt vil man si at musikk er harmonisk lyd som representerer tonene i
en skala. Det er også utbredt enighet om at rytme; taktslag ved bruk av
rytmeinstrumenter, er musikk, selv om det ikke er toner. Musikk har
lenge vært anerkjent som en kunstform, og opptrer gjerne sammen med
språk (såkalte sangtekster) og visuelle virkemidler (såkalt dans og
såkalte musikkvideoer). I det 20. århundret ble musikk en storindustri,
som bl.a. gjør den til en viktig inntektskilde for Sverige, et lite land
som er verdens fjerde største eksportør av såkalt >popmusikk.
Popmusikk
er egentlig en fellesbetegnelse for all musikk som selger godt, men man
kaller ofte bestselgerne ved sitt rette genre-navn, som f.eks. >dance,
heavy, >rap osv. Ofte blir uttrykket "popmusikk" brukt om en egen genre,
som kjennetegnes av melodiske sanger med markerte, fengende refreng,
lett rytme og lettfattelige tekster. Popstjerner er ofte trendsettere
som er vel så kjente for imaget sitt som for musikken.
Norsk musikk
er en fellesbetegnelse for all musikk som
tror den skal selge veldig mye, men selger veldig lite. Herunder finner
vi også uttrykket "pophåp", som betyr "en nordmann som kjenner Ole
Evenrud og snart har en stor avtale med et stort internasjonalt
plateselskap".
Rock er stort sett den musikken folk som egentlig ikke liker
musikk ikke liker. Rock stammer fra-, men må ikke forveksles med "Rock
’n Roll", som var en R & B/country-inspirert form for popmusikk man ofte
kunne danse til. Blant dem som liker rock, regnes genren som mer seriøs
enn >popmusikk. Rocken spilles gjerne av grupper der alle medlemmene kan
spille minst ett instrument, og minst en person ikke er pen. Fordi både
gitaristen og trommeslageren er mennesker, har rocken ofte et såkalt
"mer bråkete" lydbilde enn pop’en. Rockestjerner kjennetegnes ved at de
er umulige å bli kvitt. De ekte rockestjernene hadde sin glanstid på
70-tallet, men er fremdeles rockestjerner. Originalrockestjernene
skiller seg fra ny-rockestjernene ved at deler av samtiden deres mente
de var djevlens budbringere. I dag synes de fleste at rockestjerner er
talentfulle folk som har stor respekt for musikk som uttrykksform.
Puddelrock
var et 80-talls fenomen som gikk ut på å ha langt hår med permanent selv
om man var fem gutter, men samtidig være for glad i snille jenter til å
spille heavy, for kommersiell til å spille >rock og for opptatt av i
el-gitarer til å spille >pop. Puddelrocken nådde sitt klimaks med
Europes "The final countdown" i 1986, og siden har den klart å telle
vekk alle stjernene bortsett fra Bon Jovi. I Norge var puddelrocken best
representert ved Return, som dessuten (til vår elleville begeistring)
solgte opptil flere konsertbilletter i Sverige.
Rap er mannlige svarte amerikanske ghetto- og gjengmedlemmers
språk, som ble verdensberømt da "gangsterne" satte musikk til det. Dette
førte bl.a. til at velstelte gutter fra indre Telemark snudde capsen bak
fram og sa "fuck" i håp om en platekontrakt. Ekte rap-utgivelser
kjennetegnes ved den svart/hvite firkanten på coveret som advarer
foreldre mot uhemmet språkbruk. Rap eksploderte kommersielt på
90-tallet, men eksisterte på plate allerede sent på 70-tallet.
Dance er en blanding av >popmusikkk og >techno, til dels også
>rap. Noen vil kalle det en moderne form for disco. Dance er det du
hører på aerobictreningen og 90-tallets diskoteker. Genren har enda
enklere tekster enn >popmusikk, og de uttrykker nesten alltid en positiv
sinnsstemning. Dance-gruppene består som regel av en pen dame som nesten
kan synge og en pen mann som nesten kan rappe. Siden ingen av dem kan
lage musikk, er de avhengige av en datakyndig gutt eller to som er like
glade for å tjene penger uten å måtte forlate rommet sitt som
dance-stjernene er for å være på MTV. Dance blir også kalt "Euro-dance"
fordi genren per definisjon er europeisk. Det amerikanere kaller "dance"
er poetiske vuggeviser for euro-dansere. Dance-grupper oppløses som
regel før den første hit’en er ute av listene.
Techno
har omtrent samme forhold til >dance som >rock har til >pop. Genren er
altså mindre kommersiell-, og etter sigende mer seriøs enn >dance, men
de to genrene kan være vanskelige å skille fra hverandre for
utenforstående. En tommelfingerregel er at >techo høres ut som to
roboter som prøver å snakke i telefonen mens de plystrer, mens >dance
høres ut som to mennesker som prøver å synge/rappe i takt mens de
danser. Techno har til dels hatt liten kommersiell gjennomslagskraft,
kanskje på grunn av sine lysskye komponister.
I tillegg til disse genrene finnes utallige andre. Heavy, grunge, house,
acid jazz, soul, punk-rock, reaggae, black metal, r & b, blues, gospel
etc. etc. Disse handler blant annet om kirkebrenning, ectasy,
rastafletter, kobraslanger, strikkeluer og Jesus.
Mostly Autumn
The Spirit Of Autumn Past
After being stunned by their first album, see above, I was eager to hear their second one. And the little criticism I had with the first (e.g. Heather Findlay not singing enough) was resolved on this one. After the first one, this one is really familiar since the whole construction of the album (where are the uptempo tracks, where are the slow ones, where Celtic, where Floydian) is almost identical.
In the wind that opens the CD, the guitar solo of the last song of the previous album can be heard, indicating that they just continue where they have left on the previous album.Winter Mountain is an uptempo cross between Floyd, recent Marillion and Celtic Rock. This Great Blue Pearl has a " modern Floyd" feel to it, with Jennings playing a cool Hammond. A nice track that ends with one of those by now familiar Gilmour guitar pieces. Findlay does lead vocals on the calm early Genesis-like piece Pieces of Love (think of the quiet Lamb tracks). Then the album goes a bit deeper with the stunning, crying, Please. Intense, with a melancholic powerful chorus not often heard, this song is one of the highlights of the album. Evergreen is a semi-acoustic piece, with Findlay showing the beauty of her voice. In a song of this lenght, compositional quality comes to light. The leaflet of Cyclops gave me a clue: this song reminds a bit of Stairway to Heaven. Indeed, in structure and melancholy it does.
Styhead Tarn is more experimental, with a firm beat and spooky sound effects. The album now enters the Celtic Rock part with violin and flute in Shindig and Blackey Ridge/When the Waters Meet. Underneath the Ice is difficult to put in a corner: a bit hippy-like maybe. Through the Window is again a Celtic/ Rory Gallagher track.
Then things turn to magic: The Spirit of Autumn Past opens with a Wright-like piano track, but intensly quiet and of great beauty. An electric guitar sets in, and a song that is typical of the starts of the last two Floyd albums arises. This flows into part two, that grows into a Dire Straits type of track with a powerful chorus. The last track, an epic called The Gap Is Too Wide is a sad song, in memory of Susan Jennings. A beautiful melody softly takes the listener into another world. Then a choir including friends and family of Susan set in, sending shivers down my spine. The guitar sings its song of sorrow and longing and on top of all Troy Donockley of Iona gives a superb Uilleann pipe solo. Wow.
Intense, almost 70 minutes of beautiful compositions and great musicianship. Mostly Autumn combine Floyd with Celtic music in a natural, non-forced way. Great vocals, guitar and keyboards, need I say more? Go get this album, and the previous one while you're at it! These people can, no should, become big.
Tracklist: Winter Mountain (6:55), This Great Blue Pearl (5:41), Pieces of Love (4:15), Please (6:10), Evergreen (8:00), Styhead Tarn (3:32), Shindig (3:07), Blakey Ridge/When The Waters Meet (2:12), Underneath the Ice (3:49), Through the Windows (4:41), The Spirit of Autumn Past (part 1) (2:43), The Spirit of Autumn Past (part 2) (6:30), The Gap Is Too Wide (11:37)
Mellotronfrelste
Enkelte får bare ikke nok mellotron, og da er vel en liste over "må-bare-ha" skiver ikke å forrakte.
Barclay James Harvest - Live
Cathedral - Stained Glass Stories
Druid - Towards The Sun
Earth & Fire - Atlantis
England - Garden Shed
Edgar Froese - Esiolon In Malaysian Pale
Genesis - Nursery Crime
Gracious! - This Is
Greenslade -Greenslade
Harmonium - Les Cinc Saiasons
Jonsey - Keeping Up
King Crimson - In The Wake Of Poseidon
Landberk - Riktig Akta/Lonely Land
Matching Mole - Matching Mole
Mooy Blues - On The Threshold Of a Dream
Museo Rosenbach -Zarathustra
SFF - Symphonic Picture
Spring - Spring
White Willow - Ignis Fatuus
Yes - Close To The Edge
Änglagård - Hybris
Normalt er mellotron et bakgrunns-instrument, men en sjelden gang får det lov til å prøve seg i en solo-rolle:
Genesis - Nursery Cryme - 1971 - Seven Stones
Camel - Camel - 1973 - Never Let Go
Greenslade - Greenslade - 73 - Feathered Firends
Caravan - In The Land Of The Grey And Pink - 1971 - Golf Girl
Meat Loaf
Bat Out Of Hell III
Denne artikkel er i sin helhet skrevet av Odd Inge Rand fra musikkavisen Puls, og er med for å få en noe annerledes vinkling på musikk enn mye av det disse sidene til vanlig gestalter.
Det måtte jo skje. 29 år etter Meat Loaf brakdebuterte med "Bat Out Of Hell" er han tilbake med kapittel tre, forøvrig 13 år etter den forrige "Bat Out Of Hell II - Back Into Hell". Men hjernen bak hele konseptet, Jim Steinman, glimrer med sitt fravær.
Det vil si, han har jo komponert blant andre singelen "It's All Coming Back To Me Now", forøvrig en duett med "vår egen" Marion Ravn. Forøvrig en flott låt, men Jim Steinman skrev den i 1995, og den dukket også opp på Falling Into You-albumet til Celine Dion i 1996, og ble en singlehit den gangen.
Videre er Bad For Good skrevet helt tilbake i 1979, og gitt ut av Jim Steinman selv på albumet av samme navn tilbake i 1981. Det til tross, Jim Steinman er hjernen bak hele konseptet Bat Out Of Hell, og det har ryktes om rettsaker og skittentøysoppvask mellom Steinman og kjøttpuddingen selv etter at Meat Loaf alene har dratt konseptet videre til enda et kapittel.
For å slokke alle flammer har Meat Loaf tredd inn i kompisrollen og klint til med "For thirty years of friendship and inspiration, Bat Out Of Hell III is dedicated to Jim Steinman på coveret til den nye platen.
Inn i rollen som musikalsk leder har Desmond Child kommet, mannen som har komponert millionselgere sammen med Bon Jovi, Kiss, Alice Cooper og Mötley Crüe. Ellers er produksjonen full av kjente navn som Nikki Sixx fra Mötley Crüe, John 5 fra Marilyn Manson, Steve Vai og Queens Brian May. Og alle sammen legger igjen sin signatur i form av låtskriving eller spilling.
"The Monster Is Loose" er første låt ut, og det er noe av det tyngste Meat Loaf noen gang har hatt fingrene i. Skrevet av Nikki Sixx og John 5 sammen med Desmond Child så er det moderne tungrock-riff gjennomsyret av en mektig produksjon som åpner skiva.
Videre fortsetter pompøsiteten med "Blind As A Bat" før Marion Ravn gjør entré med singlesuksessen "It's All Coming Back To Me Now". Og Marion gjør en fin jobb som sidekick til Meat Loafs såre signaturvokal. Nevnte "Bad For Good" er Brian Mays lekegrind, og hans doble gitarløp i begynnelsen er som å høre Queen på ny.
Sammen med åpningssporet er "In The Land Of The Pig, The Butcher Is King" en av de tøffeste sporene på skiva. En praktfull gitarsolo av Steve Vai løfter låten som også er signert Jim Steinman høyt. Videre gjør flere gjester bra ting i det Jennifer Hudson bringer sjel og dybde til "The Future Ain't What It Used To Be".
Kritikerne har vært lunkne til Meat Loafs nye epos, men faktum er at platen inneholder mye tøft, mye takket være solid produksjon og mange interessante gjester. Men med Jim Steinman ute av førersetet så er litt av magien og den røde tråden forsvunnet, og da blir Bat Out Of Hell III bare just another album fra den gamle storheten.
Magenta
It has been announced by the NEARfest organisers that Magenta to bring 'symphonic color' to NEARfest 2007:
We are very pleased to announce that the British quintet Magenta, without question one of the best "newer" bands in the symphonic progressive arena, will be performing on the Saturday slate of NEARfest 2007. Centered around the multi-keyboard attack of band founder Rob Reed and the soaring and emotive vocals of Christina Booth, Magenta's music is evocative of a hybrid of Yes and Renaissance textures, updated for the 21st century with an aggressive guitar and rhythmic edge. Their new release Home, a concept-themed work about the conflicting emotions of a young female British emigreé to the USA, along with its EP companion New York Suite, have cemented their international reputation and proven a very strong seller for their independent F2 Music label. Magenta has also garnered well-deserved accolades for their extremely strong live performances at festivals and prog showcases around the world. Be sure not to miss Magenta's stirring performance at NEARfest 2007!
Mostly Autumn
The first ever Mostly Autumn Convention is scheduled to take place at Thorpe Underwood Estate, over the weekend of the 14th & 15th April 2007.
With a venue as charming as this there is a danger that you will fall in love with the place as much as the band you are here to see! Thorpe Underwood nestles in 100 acres of beautifully maintained grounds and is situated in an ideal location just 10 miles North of York City centre.
Transport links to York are plentiful and we can arrange pick up from the railway station and Leeds Bradford airport.
Mostly Autumn have confirmed that they will be in attendance for the whole convention, an exciting itinerary has been organised along with some very special guests planned for the evening performance, together with a few surprises.
There will be a strong focus on the music during the weekend, together with social opportunities to meet kindred spirits and make new friends.
Please visit www.mostly-autumn.com for further details.
Musikalsk kodom
Musikalsk kondom er med på notene
En ukrainsk oppfinner har laget et musikalsk kondom som skal følge stemningen i senga.).
... Men du
må til Ukraina for å få tak i dette kondomet, som skal inneholde
spesielle sensorer som registrerer når kondomet tas i bruk - og som
deretter skal være med på notene og følge stemningen i senga.
Grigoriy Chausovsky, som er hjernen bak kondomet, forteller at han har
puttet en liten minihøyttaler i bunnen av kondomet som støter ut musikk.
- Etter hvert som sexen blir mer og mer lidenskapelig, vil kondomet
registrere hastighet og bevegelser og deretter spille melodien raskere
og høyere, forteller Chausovsky til media.
For alt trenger jo ikke være sengevals heller. Og nettopp dette setter
fantasien i gang. En liten samtale på morgenkvisten her i redaksjonen,
har vist stor oppfinnsomhet på hva som ville være passende melodier på
et slikt musikalsk kondom.
Ravels Bolero er selvskreven. Den varer akkurat passe lenge, og har god
dramaturgi. Det er også enighet i redaksjonen om at man burde styre unna
låten «All by myself», som i denne settingen virker fryktelig
unødvendig.
Her er andre forslag til musikalske kondomlåter, både passende og
upassende:
Great balls of fire
Musikkhandel på nett?
Er du en av dem som
fortsatt er usikker på om nettshopping av musikk er sikkert?
Nå har tre driftige studenter lansert en
nettportal som skal guide deg til en sikker handel på internett.
Stadig flere nordmenn
handler musikk og musikkrelaterte produkter fra utlandet på nett.
Netthandel har blitt sikrere, og den gode bredbåndsdekningen har ført
til at nettsurfing og netthandel er i sterk vekst.
Det kan likevel være vanskelig å navigere
blant tusenvis av nettbutikker, og mange føler seg usikre på hvordan de
skal gå fram.
Nå mener tre studenter at de har funnet
løsningen for usikre nettshoppere:
- Vi startet http://www.importalen.no/ for å
samle sikre nettbutikker i en portal, samt gi forbrukerne råd og tips om
importregler ved handel fra utenlandske nettbutikker, sier redaktør
Erlend Ramsvik fra Sykkylven.
Han studerer sosialpsykologi i Trondheim og
kom på ideen om portalen etter mange års erfaring med netthandel.
- Dette nettstedet gjør det enklere for
forbrukerne å orientere seg i nettjungelen. Sidene våre presenterer gode
internasjonale nettbutikker for de aller fleste varegrupper. I tillegg
finner en all nødvendig informasjon om moms, toll, frakt, betalingsmåter
også videre, sier Ramsvik.
Sidene inneholder også
valutakalkulator, nyhetsmeldinger og forum hvor brukerne kan utveksle
erfaringer.
- Mitt inntrykk er at det er kvinnene som er
ivrigst på netthandel. Dette kan kanskje skyldes at dyre forbruksvarer
som kosmetikk og hudpleieprodukt er svært lett å handle. Flere butikker
tilbyr gratis frakt til Norge, og da er det ikke uvanlig at en sparer
rundt 50 prosent i forhold til butikkpris i Norge.
Noen sider er selvsagt bedre enn andre, men her er noen jeg har god erfaring med:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/5174/ref%3Dtab%5Fgw%5Fm%5F7/002-6538733-3010431
http://www.platekompaniet.no/index.asp
http://www.cdon.com/main.phtml?navroot=904&session=1
http://www.swedenrockshop.com/
McDonald And Giles
McDonald And Giles
A Brief History
A point often brought up within progressive rock circles is to whom one could really attribute progressive rock's first real album. Many critics mention King Crimson's first album, In The Court Of The Crimson King, a masterpiece in rock music and on of music history's all time classic albums.
Though King Crimson have continued in one format or another till this various day, the classic lineup on this album was over before the world had woken up to their music. Two members of the quartet, namely Michael Giles and Ian McDonald felt they had to break away from the KC fold mainly due to musical differences with band leader Robert Fripp as well as due to constraints of touring. In fact the two left the band in December of 1969, during the US tour to promote their debut album (The last official date played by the band was December 16th 1969). Because of this Fripp had to stop the tour and cancel all dates booked for January/February 1970.
As can be imagined feelings between Fripp, McDonald and Giles were not too rosy during this period. According to McDonald, their departure from the band was due to the fact that King Crimson's music "is not happy music...And I want to make music that says good things instead of evil things". On the other hand Robert Fripp replied that their departure was due to them "falling In love" during the KC tour. What is definite is that Fripp decided to see out the first KC phase by releasing in quick succession a further two albums while McDonald and Giles would regroup together a few months later. Michael's brother, Pete (Of Giles, Giles & Fripp fame) was also roped in together with various guest musicians such as Steve Winwood. One can assume that Greg Lake was not involved in the band as he was still to a certain extent a member of King Crimson although he had already expressed his desire to leave.
The album is in itself an extremely upbeat album with many sharply contrasting events vis-a-vis In the Court Of The Crimson King occurring. One of the more striking points is the lack of use of the mellotron, an instrument that was popularised by McDonald on In The Court... , and an instrument that would be used to great effect by various other progressive rock bands. Furthermore, McDonald also plays guitar to great effect, something which he could not possibly do alongside Fripp!
When one discusses the album one should also reflect on a number of points, namely that both McDonald and Giles were creatively involved in KC's debut album, McDonald himself being composer of classic tracks such as I Talk To The Wind. However, one must definitely ask the question on what King Crimson's second album would have sounded like should McDonald and Giles remained within the line-up. A very good idea of that can be obtained from the McDonald and Giles album. Robert Fripp himself has stated that the M&G album was almost half of what the new KC album was to be and that the band had been rehearsing the material since the fall of 1969. Some material was composed even further back in time, For example, the Michael Giles' composition, Tomorrow's People -- The Children of Today dates back to the days of Giles, Giles and Fripp in 1967. In the UK, the album was released on the Island record label (Island ILPS 9126; 1st pressing, pink label with 'i' logo Value BS20.00; 2nd pressing, pink rim label, palm tree logo Value: BS10.00) and was subsequently re-release on the Polydor label (2302 070 Value: BS12.00) In the United States the album was released on the Polydor label (2302 070 Value: BS12.00) and on the Cotillion label (SD 9042).
The gatefold sleeve depicted the two musicians with their "loves". Ian McDonald's girlfriend at the time was called Charlotte while Michael Giles' was called Stephanie and they are photographed outside their apartment in Earl's Court in London.
Unfortunately the album did not meet the necessary expectations in terms of sales and both musicians agreed to go their separate ways. In a number of interviews, McDonald has often hinted that the recording of the album took a lot out of him resulting in him having a near nervous breakdown. Of the two musicians, Ian McDonald would achieve most fame mainly with his work on the first three of stadium rock band, Foreigner. However he was also linked to the post-Red King Crimson lineup for a time and has made a few guest appearances on albums by T. Rex, Fruup and Wolf just to name a few. Michael Giles played with the short-lived Jackson Heights and worked as a session musician with Anthony Phillips as well as a composer for musical scores. Peter Giles, on the other hand, left the music business and turned to the accounting trade.
However close McDonald and Giles were as friends, the two never got down to working together until 1999 when Ian McDonald released his first solo album, Driver's Eyes. The two collaborated on the track Straight Back To You while the album also featured the lyrical contribution of Pete Sinfield.
The only album from McDonald And Giles is contrastingly different to much of what one experienced on In The Court Of The Crimson King, though nevertheless the album remains an important and sadly neglected album from the days of early progressive rock.
Suite in C; including Turnham Green, Here I Am, and others immediately sets the standard for the album showing the complete turn around in musical events with a much warmer atmosphere exuded from the music with touches of psychedelia and various references to the sixties British beat movement. The track itself was written during the King Crimson tour in between dates and Ian McDonald describes the dates of writing the track as "in Detroit, Los Angeles and Earls Court between December 1969 and February 1970". Percussion is an important feature of the album and is also a sign that though the composition is an Ian McDonald one, the hand of Michael Giles played an important defining role. Of further interest in this track is the fact that Steve Winwood makes a guest appearance on Turnham Green.
The track opens in a Beatlesque vein, very British sounding with the employment of various percussive sounds. Most of the track is set in acoustic mode with lush vocal harmonies though the focal point of the track comes about when the band resurrect one of the main King Crimson elements, improvisation. The flute and piano duet with the catchy jazz riffs make this track a real gem. Of course one cannot really define the track as being progressive in terms of what bands such as Genesis and Yes would create. However, one must admit that though there are definite touches of psychedelia, the music has a definite structure and the solos always seem to be under a pretence of control. One final note that should be mentioned regarding this track is the inclusion of strings within the musical structure. This particular pint comes as somewhat of a surprise, especially when one realises that Ian McDonald was a master of the mellotron, an instrument that should have mimicked the sound of strings without having to deal with an orchestra!
The music of Flight Of The Ibis originally was the music for the track Cadence & Cascade, a track which appeared on the second King Crimson album. Having originally been written when McDonald was still in the band with lyrics by Pete Sinfield, it was agreed that Robert Fripp would be entitled to the Sinfield lyrics (used on the KC album with lyrics by Beep) while McDonald would keep the music that he had written and to which lyrics by B.P. Falon were added. A relatively short piece of music, it is in actual fact a relatively folk-rock affair, something you could attribute to bands such as The Strawbs with a lush acoustic feel to it while the vocals remain placid and laid back.
Is She Waiting, was penned "in Earls Court in the summer of '69, between [Crimson] gigs" and would have undoubtedly ended up on the next KC album. A love song, the music features just McDonalds vocals accompanied by piano and acoustic guitar, a far cry what one would have expected alongside In The Court Of The Crimson King, and possibly a valid indicator at why the two wanted out of King Crimson.
Tomorrow's People- The Children of Today closes the first side of the album and is the oldest penned track on the album. In fact Michael Giles had originally started writing the track back in 1967, when still playing with Giles, Giles & Fripp. This could also explain why the track has a pop feel to it with the inclusion of a brass sound courtesy of Michael Blakesley on trombone. However when compared to the Giles' penned tracks from that era this time round there is much more of a mature feel to the music which is also more ambitious. Ian McDonald's contributing flute solo is outstanding and it is no wonder why many critics consider the track as one of the highlights of the album.
The entire second side of the LP was taken up by the twenty one minute plus Birdman involving The Inventor's Dream (O.U.A.T.), The Workshop, Wishbone Ascension, Birdman Flies!, Wings In The Sunset, Birdman- The Reflection. The track was a collaboration between Peter Sinfield and Ian McDonald, though the main concept was devised by Sinfield way back in the spring of 1968. In fact early recordings of King Crimson, such as the Live At The Marquee Club 1969 album has the band playing bars from Slowly Up, Then Slowly Down during the track Trees. The concept of the track was about an inventor who dreamt of flying and built the wings that allowed him to do just that (something like The Flight Of Icarus!). The music itself is extremely very British sounding with humour present throughout the entirety of the track. As always the solos from McDonald are impeccable as is the rhythmic backbone provided by the Giles brothers.
There is no doubt that after hearing this album one must ponder about how King Crimson would have evolved should McDonald and Giles remained within the band. On the other hand this album is a sadly overlooked gem of progressive rock that can stand on its own merits. Unfortunately it is unavailable on the European market, though it is available in Japan and via the internet can be readily bought from various CD vendors. Get this album, you won't be disappointed.
Tracklist: Suite in C including Turnham Green, Here I Am And Others (11:21),Flight Of The Ibis (3:18), Is She Waiting? (2:40), Tomorrow's People- The Children of Today (7:00), Birdman involving The Inventor's Dream (O.U.A.T.), The Workshop, Wishbone Ascension, Birdman Flies!, Wings In The Sunset, Birdman- The Reflection (21:45)
Musicians: Ian McDonald (guitar, piano, organ, saxes, flute, clarinet, zither, vocals and sundries), Michael Giles (drums, percussion (including milk bottle, handsaw, lip whistle and nutbox), vocals), Peter Giles (bass guitar), Steve Winwood (organ, and piano solo on Turnham Green), Michael Blakesley (trombone on Tomorrow's People)
Michael Lee Gray (conductor, arranger),
Peter Sinfield (lyricist)
Brian Humphries (Engineer), Richard Digby-Smith (assistant engineer)
Tracks 1 and 3 composed by Ian McDonald, Track 2 by B.P.Fallon and Ian McDonald, Track 4 by Michael Giles and Track 5 by Peter Sinfield and Ian McDonald
Moving Gelantine Plates
MOVING GELATINE PLATES is a famous underground french band from the early seventies, it released two albums, plus another one in '80, under the name "Moving". Led by bass player Didier Thibaut, MOVING GELATINE PLATES offered a refined, subtle and clever jazzy progressive rock, in a "Canterbury" vein. With influences from, or similar inspirations as, SOFT MACHINE, early MAGMA, ZAPPA, MGP created two "classics" from progressive french music. And they're back !
Mellow Candle
Swaddling Songs
Irish group Mellow Candle's only album (until the outtakes album ) is one of the most re-pressed progressive rock albums of all time, having had an original Japanese issue, a Korean, a British (the most affordable and current), and also a limited edition LP-cover release in the British Rock Legend Series. This album is the very pinnacle of English progressive folk-rock a la The Trees, Fairport Convention, and Spriguns, and one of the clear masterpieces of the era.
This band had two outstanding female lead vocalists; one of them, Clodagh Simonds, went on to be one of Mike Oldfield's early vocalists (check out Ommadawn for example). Both singers counterpoint each other (or themselves depending on the tracks) to dazzling results carrying each of the album's twelve tracks along by their sheer prowess. What is particularly amazing is that some of the music was written by Simonds when she was very young, including one of the album's most amazing tracks, "Lonely Man," written at the age of 12. One wonders if such a wondrous display of musical serendipity will ever find it's way so strongly to a folk/rock fusion again. Surely this is one of Ireland's most mystical potions.
Swaddling Songs is a superior folk rock album on par with the best of Fairport Convention or The Trees, but with a stronger piano presence than either bands mentioned. In my opionion Mellow Candle have a less traditional and more diverse approach on the style than Fairport Convention. A classic of the folk rock genre
Magellan
Impossible Figures
What a difference a year makes! A few months ago I reviewed Magellan’s 2002 offering, the sporadically excellent but infuriatingly patchy Hundred Year Flood. I must admit that, given the band’s usually tardy release schedule I expected the next outing to sneak out sometime in 2007, with minimal fanfare. However, following an acrimonious split with former record company Magna Carta, the band appear to have been handed something of a second chance, both artistically and commercially, signing a new deal with the excellent Inside Out label, and wasting no time in recording a new album.
One listen to Impossible Figures shows that there’s a newfound confidence and enthusiasm flowing through the band’s sound. Vocalist and keyboard player Trent Gardner has written as strong a set of songs as I’ve heard from him here; in my opinion the material benefits from not being set around a concept, or featuring a multitude of special guests, as Gardner’s recent work (both with Magellan and in various extra-curricular projects) has tended to be. Here it's just Gardner, brother Wayne (guitars and bass), and drummer Jason Gianni, which appears to have given the material and performances a new focus. Gardner states that on Impossible Figures the band have ‘cut out the waste’ and I couldn’t agree more – this doesn’t mean that there aren’t lengthy songs (excellent opener Killer Of Hope runs in at over ten minutes), or that the songs are simple verse-chorus-verse affairs; what it does mean is that there is a greater emphasis on melody and concise song structures.
Magellan’s musical style is often described as progressive metal, though this is a little misleading. Sure, tracks like Killer…, Late For Church and Counterpoints feature sharp cutting riffs, pounding drums, fantastic guitar-keyboard duels and various other facets you’d expect to find in the genre, but these are balanced by more traditional progressive rock elements such as quality melodies, strong choruses and great vocal harmonies. In addition, whilst there are numerous lengthy instrumental sections, these are never subservient to the song. In fact, the sound the band get here, and indeed the structure of the songs (if not the actual music) bears some similarity to that achieved by Rush in the early 80’s (circa Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures).
Magellan balance these lengthy, harder-edged tracks with shorter pieces which show another side of the band – Bach 16 is a classical piano solo (presumably in the style of said composer), followed by a trombone fanfare – sounds foolish and pretentious, but it works. So does A World Groove, a potentially embarrassing track which sees Gardner chuck clichéd samples of various world music styles into a funky hard-rock framework, yet such is the vigour and confidence of the playing and strength of the songwriting that the song overcomes any potential pitfalls and is an enjoyable (if lyrically somewhat cheesy) piece. Hymn For The Heathen meanwhile sees Gardner’s vocals at their emotional best, and is something of a three minute mini-epic, building wonderfully from a simple piano opening to a stirring finale.
Performances throughout are top-notch, with Gardner’s vocals in particular sounding far more powerful than on Hundred Year Flood. The production is excellent, allowing the band to rock out in explosive fashion when called for but also allowing the nuances and subtleties in the quieter sections to come out.
In conclusion, this is an excellent and much improved effort from Magellan which, combined with a new deal with a sympathetic label, should see their profile within the prog community rise considerably. Impossible Figures is recommended particularly to those who like their progressive rock with a harder edge, but with strong melodies and well constructed songs as the focal point.
Tracklist: Gorilla With A Pitchfork (1:24), Killer Of Hope (10:03), Bach 16 (2:46), Late For Church (6:15), Confessor’s Overture (2:24), Hymn For A Heathen (3:15), A World Groove (6:30), Counterpoints (5:59), Feel The Cross (6:36)
Mr Brown
Mellan
Tre Øgon
Det svenske progrock-bandet Mr Browns eneste album fra
1977 er nå tilgjengelig på cd. Det er et meget variert og godt album.
Mr Brown
var et svensk prog-band i stil med Genesis, Focus og Jethro Tull som
bare ga ut ett album i punk-året 1977. Først nå foreligger platen som
cd. Det er et meget variert og elskverdig album.
Av 8 spor er det 3 som er lange
progrockstykker med en utpreget "lag-på-lag"-instrumentering.
Kjerneoppskriften er piano, gitar og fløyte som sammen bygger låten opp
mot et klimaks. Den klassiske analoge ARP-synthesizeren følger opp mer i
bakgrunnen. Ellers får lytteren servert bl.a. et vakkert pianostykke (Resan
till Ixtan), drømmende musikk (Universe) og en lavmælt, stemnningsfull
og rolig rockesang (I'll Arise).
Det åpner dramatisk med engelskspråklige
Suicide, som innledningsvis kan minne litt om Pink Floyd i stemning. Ved
første gjennomlytting trodde jeg det var stemmen til David Gilmour jeg
hørte, men jeg tok feil. Det er laidback og drømmende stemning i flere
minutter før vokalisten kommer inn. Recall the Future er en 10 minutter
lang og kompleks instrumental med piano, fløyte, gitar og
ARP-synthesizer tydelig fremme i lydbildet. Den er tyngre og mer rocka
enn åpningssporet. Kharma 74 er den mest symfoniske låten med en
optimistisk stemning. Mot slutten "tar det helt av" med en flott
saksofon/gitar-duett.
Det er synd Mr Brown bare ga ut ett album,
men til gjengjeld har musikklyttere god grunn til å glede seg over denne
svenske perlen. Mr Brown spiller fengende og variert prog, men viser
samtidig at de kan roe det ned og ta med lytteren på korte og
stemningsfulle musikalske reiser. På de komplekse og symfoniske stykkene
blir det aldri pompøst. Det er tungt, men enkelt på samme tid.
Mr Browns eneste
plate, "Mellan tre ögon", er en meget god plate som byr på mange
gjennomtenkte og sterke låter.
Megadeth
After he left Metallica in 1983, guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine formed the thrash metal quartet Megadeth. Though Megadeth followed the basic blueprint of Metallica's relentless attack, Mustaine's group distinguished themselves from his earlier band by lessening the progressive rock influences, adding an emphasis on instrumental skills, speeding the tempo up slightly, and making the instrumental attack harsher. By streamlining the classic thrash metal approach and making the music more threatening, as well as making the lyrics more nihilistic, Megadeth became one of the leading bands of the genre during the mid-'80s and late '80s. Each album they released went at least gold, and they continually sold out arenas across America, in addition to developing a strong following overseas. By the early '90s, they had toned their music down slightly, yet that simply increased their following; all of their proper '90s albums debuted in the Top Ten.
Throughout Megadeth's many lineup changes, the two core members were bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine (b. September 13, 1961), who was the band's official leader. Mustaine grew up in the suburbs of Southern California, where he was raised by his mother in a broken home; frequently, his mother left him to be raised by aunts and uncles, who never encouraged his musical inclinations and often belittled him for his fondness for heavy metal. In 1981, he formed Metallica with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Mustaine spent two years with Metallica, developing a strong cult following in California's underground metal scene, before he was kicked out of the group in 1983, allegedly over his substance abuse. Immediately following his firing, he formed Megadeth with Ellefson, Slayer guitarist Kerry King, and drummer Lee Rauch. This lineup was extremely short-lived, and Mustaine and Ellefson soon recruited guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson.
For the next few years, Megadeth toured and gained a following, signing with the independent label Combat in late 1984.
The following year, the group released their debut, Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!, which received strong reviews, not only in metal-oriented publications, but also in mainstream music magazines. The album sold very well for an independent release, which attracted the attention of major record labels. By the end of the year, the group had signed with Capitol. Megadeth's first major-label album, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?, was released in the fall of 1986. Like its predecessor, Peace Sells was greeted by strong reviews and sales; it eventually went platinum.
Although the band's fortunes were on the upswing, Mustaine was beginning to sink deeper into drug abuse, specifically heroin. Soon, his addictions began to affect his work. Many stories concerning his erratic behavior were circulating within the metal community, and they seemed to be proven correct when he fired both Poland and Samuelson before the recording of the band's third album; they were replaced by Jeff Young and Chuck Behler, respectively. The new lineup debuted on So Far, So Good...So What!, released early in 1988. So Far, So Good peaked at number 28 on the charts and also eventually went platinum (despite less enthusiastic reviews); it also featured a notorious cover of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK," with incorrect lyrics.
In the years immediately following the release of So Far, So Good...So What!, Mustaine was impaired by his drug addictions. In early 1990, he was arrested for driving under the influence and entered a rehabilitation program. By the end of the year, he was not only sober, but he had reconvened the band; firing Young and Behler and replacing them with guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. This lineup recorded Megadeth's fourth and most progressive album, Rust in Peace. The record peaked at number 23 on the American charts and went platinum. 1991 saw Metallica break through to the mainstream, and sensing the possibility for similar success, Mustaine followed suit in stripping down the band's sound, though it remained as technically perfectionistic as Rust in Peace. The result, Countdown to Extinction, was released in 1992, entering the charts at number two; the record went double-platinum and became the band's biggest hit, confirming that they had retained their audience in the wake of grunge.
Now one of the most popular metal bands in the world, Megadeth moved farther toward the mainstream with Youthanasia in 1994, which entered the charts at number four and, like its predecessor, went platinum. The following year, the group released Hidden Treasures, a rarities collection which featured some of the soundtrack tunes that had helped expand the group's MTV audience in the early '90s. 1997's Cryptic Writings found Megadeth fully embraced by album rock radio, which formerly would never have touched the band. Ex-Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jimmy DeGrasso signed on in 1998, in time for the following year's Risk. In 2000, following the release of the best-of Capitol Punishment, Marty Friedman followed Nick Menza out the door; he was replaced by former Savatage and Alice Cooper guitarist Al Pitrelli. After signing with the BMG subsidiary Sanctuary, Megadeth debuted its new lineup on 2001's The World Needs a Hero.
While on break from touring, Mustaine suffered a serious injury in January 2002 while staying in Texas. He was diagnosed with having radial neuropathy shortly thereafter, a condition that prevented him from playing guitar. The compressed radial nerves in his left arm and hand were strained, leaving Megadeth little recourse but to disband in April 2002, after almost 20 years in the music industry. During his time off, Mustaine prepared an elaborate reissue campaign, remastering each album and reissuing them all with bonus material. This campaign set the stage for a Megadeth revival, which came in 2004-2005 with a surprising comeback album, The System Has Failed, and some heavy touring. Capitol released a new best-of, simply titled Greatest Hits, just as Megadeth hit the summer concert circuit, headlining Mustaine's own Gigantour festival.
Magenta
På 70 tallet var det en britisk folkrockgruppe som gav ut noen meget ok album, men det er ikke dem det her er snakk om. Denne Magenta ble født i 2001 som et et-album prosjekt. Prosjektet ble imidlertid så vellykket at de nå har tre meget lytteverdige album på samvittigheten. Stilen er rimelig sofistikert og neoprog med orginalitet og med vellykede hint til gamle storheter som Yes og Genesis. Vokalisten Christina har en fabelaktig stemme, og her kan du lese mer om Magenta:
Welsh outfit Magenta have
rapidly become the best new thing in Prog. Their debut album Revolutions
was well-received within the prog community when it was released in
2001, and their second album, the DPRP-recommended Seven, which put them
firmly on the prog map three years later. The album ended up in 11th
position in the DPRPoll 2004, and was voted best album by the Polish
Metal Hammer magazine. The Classic Rock Society awarded the band with
awards for 'best live band' and 'best vocalist' in 2004, and 'best band'
in 2005.
In between the band released another two singles, a live album and a
live DVD (which was in the top 5 "best DVD" in last year's DPRPoll),
before releasing their long-awaited third album Home.
Originally Home was intended as a double album, but in the end the album
has been released as a 68 minute single disc concept album, with a
separate EP containing four more pieces, entitled New York Suite.
Magenta mastermind Rob Reed explains:
ROB REED: Home was originally 60 minutes long when I first wrote the demos, but when I listened to it all as one piece, I was worried that perhaps, as you say, it wasn't proggy enough. I went back and wrote some longer songs, but when I finished recording and mixing the discs, I listened to it and found it too long to absorb in one listen, something that this music needed. Also it was running at over 100 minutes and it's difficult for anybody to find that much time for one listen, and with so much dense music, bits where getting missed. I'm much happier with the single disc, as a whole piece.
Those longer tracks that were cut have appeared on the bonus EP New York Suite which comes with the initial release of Home. By doing so Rob take a slight risk that the fans may prefer the more proggy EP. Rob however, doesn't worry too much about it.
This is something that confuses
me, regarding what is and what is not prog. "Dark Side of the Moon" is
the best selling prog album ever, but it is just a collection of great
short songs. "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" is the same, just a
collection of short songs, some of which are joined together.
Both are regarded as Classic prog albums. So it's weird when, as you
say, one is more proggy than the other. Good prog, for me doesn't rely
on "length", but on good melody.
Quality wins over quantity every time.
The important thing is that musically these four songs are not so
attached to the story, whereas all the music on "Home" is directly
related musically and emotionally to what is going on in the story. We
weren't originally going to release the four songs until later in the
year, but when I went back and played them again, I realised how good
they were, so we decided to put them out as a complimentary disc to
"Home". We'll definitely play one or two of them live at some point,
too.
The Concept Of Home
The concept of Home follows a young girl on her journey from England to America and ultimately back again. Once again the concept and lyrics for the album stem from the mind of Rob's brother Steve, who also wrote the lyrics for Revolutions and Seven.
STEVE REED: The basis of the concept is a journey. Not just a physical journey but also an emotional one. The story follows the journey of a young girl who falls on the wrong side of the law, but knows she has to find her true self to survive. She travels to America and journeys through many States until she meets Joe, a native American. This meeting is the pivotal point of the story, and her life from there on takes a new direction, one which leads her to peace and eventually 'Home'.
ROB: Steve and I sat down and decided that we wanted a concept album
telling one story, and that it would be set in the 70s. So musically it
gave us the opportunity to make it a bit like those warm-sounding
classic vinyl albums of the early 70s. We still wanted songs with
different sections and moods, but not just with a prog influence, we
also drew on early Elton John and even early Kiss.
STEVE: We wanted an American feel and to make the music a bit more
mellow. We first had the idea of the journey across America, with the
idea of then using different moods and textures. Originally we were
going to have the main character moving around from place to place –
with a track for each location. From there it developed into a double
album, all vocal tracks with no instrumentals, so we needed a lot more
lyrics, which led to a big development of the actual story.
Stylistically, I draw lot of inspiration from Francis Dunnery for the
lyrics of Home. As many of his songs are drawn from his personal
experiences they feel very real, and it's that sense of reality I'm
trying to emulate in home. There are some autobiographical elements, as
there were with Seven – I've certainly had experiences with downward
spirals and depression. With Home I tried to draw on my own experiences
to get people emotionally involved with the story to make it feel more
realistic, even though the album is about a fictitious character.
Obviously, I'd love for everyone to engage in the story, but if they
just like it as a group of songs, that's fine, or even if they just
engage with one or two moments in the story, as long as they've got
something out of it, I'll be happy.
ROB: I am very proud of the end result, but it's hard to be objective
after spending so long on a project.
I really like the last 8 minutes with Troy Donockley playing his Uillean
Pipes, and I also think the last song features one of Christina's best
vocal performances.
Magenta presents itself as a six-piece live-band, however, the music for the album was still mainly recorded by Rob Reed alone in his studio. This is different however for the two singles Broken and I'm Alive which were released in 2004.
ROB: The singles give an
opportunity for the live band to perform the tracks as a whole. It also
gives the band a chance to explore different styles and arrangements, in
shorter tracks.
"Home" was recorded the same way as the last two studio albums, as I
still play 90% of the instruments. I play a lot more guitar on this
album, but will always go to Chris Fry, and other more virtuoso
musicians, for the more complex solos.
Other Projects
Recently Rob also released an EP which Magenta recorded with Renaissance's Annie Haslam. With Magenta's vocalist Christina Booth being regularly compared to Haslam it was only a matter of time before they would record something together. A chance meeting at Rosfest last year led to this interesting collaboration.
Renaissance are one of my
favourite bands and a huge influence. I only noticed when Tina put down
her vocals on Revolutions that she sounded a little bit like Annie
Haslam. This was bizarre as she had no idea who Annie was.
She then got in contact with her and we all met at Rosfest. She liked
what we were doing and we wrote a song for her to sing. It was a great
pleasure to hear Annie singing one of our songs
While most people will know Rob from his work with Magenta and Cyan, he also works on several other projects, the most have not much to do with Prog. Before Magenta Rob and Christina played in a band called 'Trippa', which was very much inspired by ABBA. And now Rob is undertaking steps more into ambient and dance music.
I have just finished a project
called Chimpan A. Its a project I've written and produced with Steve
Balsamo who has worked with Eric Woolfson of the Alan Parsons Project.
It also features Pink Floyd backing vocalist Sam Brown and loads of
other guests.
It's a mixture of Moby, Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel.
It's very modern prog.
With Magenta (and Cyan) firmly rooted in seventies prog, and some of his other projects touching on different genres like pop and dance, a cross-over of the styles seems only the natural next step...
I listen to a lot of different styles of music from Abba to Elo to Björk and therefore pick up a lot of influences....but I don't think a dance mix of any Magenta would be appropriate... But it would be fun.
Another project Rob was heavily involved in last year was ProgAID. Not only did he write and record the song, he also played a big part in getting everybody together and mixed and edited over 100 tracks from 40 artists into the final result. When being asked how he looks back on this great event event Rob gives a modest reply.
ProgAid was great to be a part
of. It was bizarre and exciting when I was receiving all these
contributions from all these bands, many of which I was a fan of. It
enabled me to have great fun in the studio mixing different bands and
artists together. A very worth while cause. It was very successful and
fulfilling on a personal level.
The Future
So with the new Magenta album out, what are the plans for the future?
I have just started writing the
next Magenta album and this time I'm trying to keep it to a classic
length of 50 minutes. I think that some band make CDs that are too long,
although I'm probably guilty of this myself.
The classic albums of the 70s were all 45 minutes and they were forced
to put their best music on that album with no padding. Also the new
album currently has a 24 minute epic, but again it all may change.
Megadeth
MEGADETH is back and blazing at full force and everything about “The System Has Failed” screams “Classic MEGADETH!” Just to get it out of the way, the year is 2004, not 1986, not 1992, so don’t go there. MEGADETH is 20 years old. Mustaine is still the man and MEGADETH is still the band! Well ok, MEGADETH is still MegaDave, since the whole MEGADETH line-up has been revamped. Marty is doin’ his million mile an hour, Japanese pop-star thing, and Ellefson I guess is working for Peavey and is currently mid-lawsuit with Mustaine for whopping $18.5 million big ones over some merch and publishing royalty issues that came about when Dave decided not to pull the plug on MEGADETH after all, leaving Mustaine as the only returning member, or is he? Technically, he’s not, but we’ll get to that.
You know, when Dave got kicked out of METALLICA so many years back, he made a vow, a vow to kick METALLICA’s ass. Needless to say, even though two decades have passed since then, this is the album that should have Lars and the gang shitting teeth! Not that the past albums weren’t enough, it’s just that compared to 2003’s “St. Anger”, this album puts METALLICA out of the race, it’s just that simple. Once you find you’re formula, keep it, master it, make it you’re own. METALLICA screwed with theirs one too many times unfortunately and as a result it crumbled through their fingers.
One thing that’s definitely a plus about this album is the “oh so familiar” feeling you get from the artwork. Just you’re regular run-o-the-mill MEGADETH cover that may as well be from the 80’s as opposed to now...oop, I went there. Not to mention the listing of who does which solos in the liner notes, always a nice bonus. And just who exactly would be swapping solos with The Man? None other than Chris Poland, that’s right, this album marks the triumphant return of Chris Poland, the original lead guitarist who hasn’t been seen with MEGADETH since “Peace Sells...” However, that’s not to say he hasn’t been busy. Since then, he has appeared on several albums including three solo albums of his own, as well as a few from his current jazz/fusion group OHM, not to mention a guest appearance on the 2003 Metal opus “As The Palaces Burn” from LAMB OF GOD which shows that he has definitely kept up on his metal chops, which as you will hear on this new album are still second to none.
As for Mustaine, well what can be said that hasn’t? The man is, well...The Man. However, Dave suffered a severe arm injury in 2002 that had him convinced he would never play again, so Dave disbanded the group altogether and it seemed as though MEGADETH was through. Supposedly, Dave got drunk and fell asleep on his arm causing severe nerve damage (???). However, with a miraculous recovery and a reworked set of band members, MEGADETH are here to stay.
At just under 50 minutes, Mustaine and Poland give you an ample supply of riffery that never drags for even a nanosecond, and with soon to be classics like “Of Mice And Men“, “Blackmail The Universe“ and “Truth Be Told“, this newest offering from one of the greatest Metal bands of all time clearly shows that the days of MEGADETH have yet to be numbered, even by Mustaine himself.
Genre: Thrash Metal
Label:
Sanctuary Records
Playing time: 48:32
Band homepage:
Megadeth
Tracklist:
Blackmail The Universe
Die Dead Enough
Kick The Chair
The Scorpion
Tears In A Vial
I Know Jack
Back In The Day
Something That I’m Not
Truth Be Told
Of Mice And Men
Shadow Of Deth
My Kingdom
Machiavel
Machiavel were a Belgian band of the mid-seventies, whose brand of progressive rock was very Genesis/Supertramp influenced. Combining Tony Banksian lead keyboard lines with Supertramp-like piano comping, their music was centered around keyboards, and the musicianship of the members was certainly top-notch. Several Albums but only Jester and Mechanical Moonbeams are of interest here. Subsequent they totally sold out. Following comments apply to these two albums only. Belgian band, their sound based on highly melodic yet simple structures, with some general influence from Genesis; some tracks use a piano based style reminiscent of Supertramp, others have an etherialism akin to Pulsar's Halloween. Lots of keyboards, lots of Mellotrons. The vocalist is a chameleon of sorts, can change from a powerful yet pure to a rough gravelly sound on a moment's notice. Vocals are in English. Both are good. One of Belgium's biggest and best-known symphonic prog bands. Jester is very much in the Genesis mould, with lots of ARP synths, Mellotron, and the odd melodic, acoustic-guitar orientated song (notably "Moments"). But Machiavel adds a harder rock feel with the strong guitarwork of Jean-Paul Devaux. Vocalist Mario Guccio is in the Peter Hammill mould, a singer with a wide range, both in pitch and emotions, and may not be to everyone's taste. There are enough disparate dynamics and assymetrical meters (7/8 seems to be a favourite of theirs) to keep die-hard prog-heads in check, yet it's not too far out there to scare off neo-prog fans. Mechanical Moonbeams cranks up the hard-rock elements at times, so occasionally it resembles AC/DC with a Mellotron (listen to "Summon up Your Strength," if you don't believe me). But there still are some more melodic moments: "Mary" and "Rebirth" particularly. Also, the inspiring "Beyond the Silence" and "The Fifth Season" make this one well worth the effort. After Moonbeams, keyboardist Albert Letecheur was given the boot, he was replaced by a second guitarist (Thierry Plas), and you can pretty much guess the result. Stop at Mechanical Moonbeams. Machiavel is back in 99 with a new album, and a new line-up (Guccio vocals, Thierry Plas guitar, Isaye drums, Roland de Greef bass, Hervé Borbé keyboards)(Borbé is the former keyboardist of the Belgian Prog band Now). The style is more back to the Jester era than New Lines. Welcome to Paradise is a wonderful album, with some great songs in the vein of the Mechanichal Moonbeam era.
Magma
Led by classically-trained drummer Christian VANDER, MAGMA helped to
create a whole genre of music (nicknamed "Zeuhl" after the unique MAGMA
language). Their music combined elements of jazz, opera, minimalism and
20th century classical music, yet emotionally rich and undeniably
powerful sound that eventually brought on the ZEUHL sub-genre of
progressive rock. Incredible and intense! This band was as a real source
for many French musicians. Some players were more influential than
others, but with each change in personnel came a slight change in the
sound of the band.
MAGMA is one of the most influential European bands since the early 70's
and has recorded not a good record but several FANTASTIC albums. They
are a concept band whose albums explain the origins and development of
the new civilization on Kobaia, and their interactions with the people
of EARTH and other planets. For beginners, I'...Led by
classically-trained drummer Christian VANDER, MAGMA helped to create a
whole genre of music (nicknamed "Zeuhl" after the unique MAGMA language).
Their music combined elements of jazz, opera, minimalism and 20th
century classical music, yet emotionally rich and undeniably powerful
sound that eventually brought on the ZEUHL sub-genre of progressive
rock. Incredible and intense! This band was as a real source for many
French musicians. Some players were more influential than others, but
with each change in personnel came a slight change in the sound of the
band.
MAGMA is one of the most influential European bands since the early 70's
and has recorded not a good record but several FANTASTIC albums. They
are a concept band whose albums explain the origins and development of
the new civilization on Kobaia, and their interactions with the people
of EARTH and other planets. For beginners, I'd say start with "Mekanik
Destruktiw Kommandoh" (MDK for short) (1973), the magnificent "Köhntarkösz"
(1974), and "Live/Hhai" (1975). MDK features all the hallmarks for which
MAGMA are recognized. "Udu Wudu" (1977) is more for the MAGMA fans while
the first albums are more jazzy. "Attahk" (1978) is another one of the
band's more accessible albums, more song orientated with more pronounced
jazz and rock influences. After that, the albums from "Attahk" on are
something of a step down. Overall MAGMA produced some of the most
important and groundbreaking music of the decade
Museo Rosenach
I highly recommend Zarathustra to all symphonic prog fans. Somewhat heavy progressive (though not as heavy as Metamorfosi or Semiramis) dominated by synth and organ (Hammond and Farfisa) and some guitar. There is some wonderful Mellotron work. Italian lyrics (included). The side long title track is absolutely killer, starting in a moderately lush and melodic form and developing in intensity to the very end. The three songs on the "second side" are also very powerful. Again, I can't recommend this one highly enough.
Zarathustra was a heavy Mellotron-prog album. Heavy guitar meets with grand swoops of Mellotron and Hammond organ. Potentially interesting to Änglagård fans, as some of the motives here sound proto-Änglagård. the final track of this album is great! I wouldn't say that Zarathustra is a must-have, but it's very enjoyable anyway.
Museo Rosenbach were an Italian band who released the brilliant Zarathustra in 1973. The original LP issue commands large sums of money from collectors, but, unlike many others, with very good reason. The music is prime organ/Mellotron-driven progressive rock that sounds like a melodic version of early ELP, with high-energy keyboard and guitar solos. This release falls into the same class as Il Balletto Di Bronzo's Ys, with less ... er ... tortured vocals. The highlight is the 20+ minute title track that goes through a variety of moods, each of which is underpinned by the keyboard work of Pit Corradi, accompanied by the Palmer-like drums of Giancarlo Golzi. Recently, the Mellow Records label in Italy has released limited editions of rarities from the golden age of Italian progressive rock, the early 70s, with unreleased tracks, alternate mixes, etc. Rare and Unreleased is a self- descriptive title for the CD that features a few tracks from Zarathustra, done with a different singer, or instrumental versions. In addition, some previously unreleased tracks are included. The sound quality is uneven, bootleg-ish at times, but for those who enjoy this form of progressive rock, or have collectors' instincts, this is well worth it. In the 78+ minute compilation are also included versions of songs by Uriah Heep, Colosseum (Dave Greenslade's band before he went solo), and The Beatles (!).
The individual who taped this for me summed it up best: Almost a classic but not quite. Yet another 70's Italian progressive band, Museo Rosenbach has been exposed by recent CD re-issuings. Their style is a heavy, thick jamming, in the same league as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso's best. Even the vocalist reminds me of Banco's with his harsh yet likeable voice. Except for the guitarist, the band has impressed me with a busy, over-the-top approach, fusiony at times, and even mellow (again, not unlike Banco) at others. Overall I like it, and while it may not be the best place to introduce someone to the Italian scene, experienced listeners will appreciate it.
Museo Rosenbach re-banded with some line-up changes to create 2001's Exit. They are still working together and have recently released a lengthy composition on the Kalevala project album.
Discography
Zarathustra (73)
Rare and Unreleased (92, Recorded '72)
Live '72 (92, Recorded '72)
Rarities (92)
Exit (01)
Mellotron
Enkelte får hjerteklapp, og blir kortpustede når de hører navnet mellotron. Hvorfor det da det er da bare et monster av et instrument? Årsaken er at mellotronen som ingen andre instrumenter kan fremkalle lyd som gir en gåsehud på ryggen. Den litt ustemte ikke helt konsistente gjengivelsen gir instrumentet "sjel", i motsetning til syntesizere som er altfor "perfekt" i lyden. Geoff Downes har sagt at : " It has a sound that you can`t duplicate on any other instuments excactly. The tapes really sound crude, but even Fairlight won`t duplicate that effect". Fra Jan Hammer kommer følgende utsagn: "People can knock it all they want, but you get flutes out of there that are so amazing, cellos too. The textures it creates is amazing".
MELLOTRON 4TRK
Brødrene Les, Frank og Norman Bradley lagde den førte prototypen an mellotron som ble ferdigstilt i 1964. Navnet mellotron kommer fra melody og electronic. Brødrene Bradley drev et lite firma som var spesialist på båndopptakere og magnethoder. Firmaet het Bradmatic Ltd. og holdt til i Birmingham i England. Deres nyfikenhet var vakt av amerikaneren Harry Chamberline som i 1962 sendte bestilling på 70 avspillingshoder for å lage et tangentinstrument om kunne avspille lydbånd. Inspirert av dette satte Bradmatic Ltd. ethvert i gang med å lage sitt eget instrument, og i 1964 nedkom de med Mark I. Samtidig med navneskifte til Streetly Electronic lagde de i 65, Mark II. Denne produktutvikling passet perfekt med et marked i vekst. Populærmusikkens representanter var gått trøtt av straight popmusikk, og eksperimenteringen innen musikken var i gang. Til dette var mellotronen perfekt. Artister som Mannfred Mann, John Lennon, Paul McCartney og Brian Jones kastet seg begjærlig over dette nye instrumentet. Når så de psykedeliske artistene gjorde sitt inntog ble mellotronen ytterlig etterspurt. Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Barclay James Harvest, Cream, Family, Traffic og Pretty Things var bare noen av artistene som nå brukte den størst musikalske nyvinningen siden den elektriske gitaren.
MELLOTRON M400245
Jeg skal ikke bruke mye tid på tekniske detaljer om mellotronen, men litt er nok på sin plass. Enkelt sagt består den av tangentbord på for eksempel35 eller 52 tangenter. Hver tangent presser et gitt lengde lydbånd ned mot et avspillingshode. Dette lydbåndet har en varighet på 8 sekunder, og det er fjærbelastet slik at når tangenten slippes spoler båndet tilbake. det er altså ingen "tape loop", og dette at båndet alltid returnerer til samme startpunkt gjør at man kan avspille lydsekvenser eller lyder med "attack". Den kanskje mest kjente lydsekvensen er Beatles Bungalow Bill fra White Album. En morsom kuriositet er forresten at denne sekvensen, forøvrig kalt Spanish Guitar Intro ogå kan høres på King Crimson Epitaph CD-boks. For ordens skyld det er ikke Robert Fripp som kopierer George Harrison !!
MELLOTRON M300
De første instrumentene var ekstremt upålitelige. De tålte fuktighet og temperatursvingninger svært dårlig, og var tunge og uhåndterlige og måtte behandles som en helligdom på turne. Robert Fripp sa syrlig at: " Tuning a mellotron doesn`t". Følgelig fikk naturlig nok mellotronen sine klare motstandere. Vic Emerson fra Mandalband og Sad Cafe regelrett hatet instrumentet: " I allways hated mellotrons". Likevel "levde" mellotronen videre i beste velgående fordi den var velegnet til å kreere et lydbilde utover det trommer og gitar kunne få til. Riktignok fantes Hammondorgelet, mens foreløpig var synthesizere noen år unna, og uansett kunne de bare spille en tone av gangen. Mellotronen oppfylte ønsket om et instrument som kunne skape stemninger og drama, og som kunne være et supplement til å legge lydkulisser bak vokal og soloinstrumenter.
MELLOTRON MKVI
Michael Pinder fra Moody Blues jobbet for Streetly Electronic, og kjente instrumentets fortinn og svakheter bedre enn de fleste. Hans bruk av mellotron er utsøkt på Peak Of Hour fra Days Of Future Passed. Lytt også til The House Of Four Doors fra In Search Of The Lost Chord, samt The Voyage fra On The Threshold Of A Dream. Da vil kanskje også du bli hekta på mellotron. Rimelig hekta på instrumentet ble også King Crimson. Deres legedariske In The Court Of Crimson King er en fest i mellotron brukt med kløkt og som skaper av trolske stemninger. Dermed skulle "alle" bruke mellotron. Noe som uvergelig måtte føre til produktutvikling. Mellotron 300 , Mellotron 400og Mellotron Mark V blir derfor skapt. 400 varianten er relativt stabil, og veier bare sympatiske 55 kilo. Mark V er muligens den beste mellotronen som er laget.
MELLTRON SOM LAGER KATTEMUSIKK?
Selvsagt måtte det komme sterke elektroniske konkurrenter på banen. Stabile, robuste og mye lettere, men totalt underlegne lydmessig. Korg Es-50, Freeman String Symhonizer og Elka Rhapsody for å nevne noen slo etter hvert knockout på vår kjære mellotron. Selv om de lydmessige ikke var i nærheten var mellotronen sjanseløs når elektronikken gjorde sitt inntog. Samme sak var det forresten med Hammondorglet som ble utkonkurrert av teknologisk overlegne, men lydmessig mindreverdige konkurrenter. Mellotronene ble ofret på bekvemlighetens alter, og etter 1977 var de en ytterst sjelden gjest på plater fra England. Noe lengre tid tok det før USA og Europa fulgte etter, kun i Japan var den like populær. Edgar Froese sa det slik: " I was one of the biggest Mellotron fans around forvabout ten years ago. Unfortunately, when you listen to polyphonic synthesizers you quickly give up the Mellontron". Som med alt som går av moten ble også mellotronen støtt ut i det ytterste mørket.
CHAMBERLINE M1
Et mørke som varte frem til 1993.Da var det en sær gjeng svensker som kalte seg Änglagård, som børstet støv av mellotronen. CD-en deres heter Hybris, og er et sant mesterverk innen prog, og den første utgivelsen på øre år med mellotron som den store stemningsskaperen. Dermed ble atter instrumentet tatt inn i varmen. Ikke overraskende blir det nå produsert forbedrede utgaver av instrumentet. Prisene på gamle instrumenter er i dag høyere enn nyprisene på 70 tallet. Mellom 10000 og 30000 er en temmelig vanlig pris i dag. Et lite paradoks da du på 80-tallet kunne få er flott eksemplar for en tusenlapp. Det produseres stadig nye instumenter som er blitt modifisert. Svakhetene lukes vekk med mer stabile motorer og nye forsterkere med renere lyd, samt nye tangentbordmekanisme som gir mulighet for mer dynamisk spilling, og båndlengden er økt med 20 %. Vi kan trygt si at mellotronen lever i beste velgående i dag. Den er forøvrig adoptert av norske utøvere som Morten Harket og The Tuesday, samt White Willow, Smell Of Incense og Motorpscycho fra prog klassen.
Alt som er skrevet her er omskrevet fra følgende side, og vil du lese mer detaljert så finner du stoffet her:
Mellotron the complete history
Streetly Electronics: the original Mellotron makers.
Some interesting facts:Mellotrons are comparatively rare, with only 2500 ever being built including all models from 1963 to 1986.
Mellotrons must be the least serviced machines in the history of the planet, earning themselves the reputation of being unreliable.
Mellotrons have put an indelible stamp on rock music for 30 years. Not bad for these over-weight and unreliable heaps of junk!
Mellotrons are once again enjoying the limelight and can be found lurking about in the mix from King Crimson's THRAK to Julian Cope's 20 MOTHERS to Oasis' WHAT'S THE STORY.
Recent customers having had their machines preserved in aspic include Robert Fripp, Paul McCartney and Julian Cope.
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