Riff

Riff er en instrumental melodifrase som gjerne gjentas flere ganger i en sang. Uttrykket oppsto blant jazzmusikere på 1920-tallet.

Riff kan enten bestå av en akkordprogresjon, en melodisk ostinatofigur, et rytmisk mønster eller en melodifrase. Enkelte gode riff blir standardisert til allemannseie og brukes ofte med mindre variasjoner i en rekke komposisjoner.

Vi finner riff brukt i jazz, rock, latinomusikk, funk, m.m. Selv i klassisk musikk kan en snakke om riff, f.eks. i Maurice Ravels Boléro.

David Brackett definerte i 1999 riff som en kort melodisk frase, mens Richard Middleton samme år beskrev riff som en kort rytmisk, melodisk eller harmonisk figur gjentatt for å gi en strukturell ramme. Ricky Rooksby slår derimot i 2002 fast at et riff er en kort, gjentatt, lett gjenkjennelig musikalsk frase, ofte spilt dypt på gitar, for å gi rocken energi og spenning.

Roy Orbinson og Orectochilus Orbisonorum

Roy Orbinson til venstre, billen til høyre.

Tidligere i år ble en svarthvit bille, Orectochilus Orbisonorum oppkalt etter Roy Orbison og hans enke Barbara.

Rokokko

En undersjanger av klassisk musikk. Den kunstneriske epoken i tidsrommet ca. 1725-1775, mest relatert til billedkunst, dekorasjon og interiør. Overlapper barokken og wienerklassisismen.

Kalles gjerne førklassisk epoke. Preges av begge hovedepokene, med fortsatt sirlige detaljer, men ofte enklere og mer avslappet, elegant, lett og leken stil. Musikken er ofte innsmigrende og underholdende.

Rokokko er nærmere en stilhistorisk betegnelse fremfor en bestemt tidsepoke. Deles ofte i to stilarter, den ekspressive stilen og den galante stilen.

Ordet rokokko er avledet av det franske rocaille, som betyr skjell eller ujevn klippeformasjon.

F.eks. musikk komponert av:

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Johann Christian Bach

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach

Francois Couperin

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Domenico Scarlatti

Georg Philipp Telemann

osv.

Radio på nett

Her finner du en samling med nettradiostasjoner, listet opp etter følgende kvalitets kriterier:

Gratis (free)

Enkel tilgang (easy access)

Ingen pålogging (no login)

Ingen registrering (no registration)

Viser hva som spilles (now playing, playlist)

Se nedenfor, for radiostasjoner med diverse sjangere.

 Country

atlantabluesky.com
countrylegends971.com
k955fm.com
k95country.com
kkbq.com
kqlx.com
toastedrav.com
woko.com
wygy.com
y100fm.com

 Hip-Hop / Rap / R&B / Soul

k97fm.com
thevoicetv.no

 Jazz

atlantabluesky.com
dr.dk
kcck.org
ksbr.net
radioio.com

 Klassisk

Arnold Schönberg Center
kbaq.org
king.org
nrk.no
platforma.pl
radioio.com
radioswissclassic.ch
wbhm.org
wgms.com

 Metall

epicrockradio.com
heavymetalradio.com
kinkfm.com
knac.com
knac.com
metalexpressradio.com
radiostorm.com

 Prog

auralmoon
deliciousagony.com
gdrmusic.com
morow.com
progradio.org
progressivesoundscapes.com
progrock.com
yurstunes.rantnrave.com

 Rock

933thebone.com
965theplanet.com
callfm.com
kxul.com
munichshardesthits.com
star103fm.com
wcsx.com
wutkradio.com
y101rocks.com

Reggea

En musikksjanger med røtter til tradisjonell afrikansk, afro-amerikansk og afro-karibisk popmusikk. Stilarten som er fra Jamaica ble kjent og kommersialisert i resten av verden mot slutten av 1970-tallet.

Tekstene omhandler ofte rastafari-bevegelsens religion og politiske opprør. Musikken karakteriseres ved en "snudd på hodet" off-beat rytme der basstromme og skarptromme nærmest har byttet plass.

F.eks. artister som:

Jimmy Cliff

Bob Marley

Peter Tosh

osv.

Rastafari

Religion og folkebevegelse mot undertrykkelsen av den svarte befolkningen på Jamaica. Påvirkning fra Europa og Afrika resulterte i en egen tolkning av Bibelen, der blant annet Etiopias keiser Haile Selassie ble hyllet som den nye messias.

Jamaicas sosiale situasjon i ghettoen skapte store drømmer om å vende tilbake til Afrika. Ellers forherliges bruk av marihuana (narkotika) og den kapitalistiske vestens undergang. Rastafari-bevegelsens musikk er reggae, med artisten Bob Marley i spissen.

Rock er helsefarlig

I tilfelle du ikke visste det fra før: Nå har engelske forskere, til alt overmål fra Beatles sin hjemby, funnet ut at det å være rockestjerne ikke er bra for helsa.

Vi vanlige dødelige kan jo bare nevne navn som Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Bon Scott og Jim Morrison for å skjønne det, men forskerne ved Centre for Public Health i Liverpool har gått mer vitenskapelig til verks.

En systematisk undersøkelse av artisters levealder har aldri tidligere blitt gjort, skriver forskning.no.
 

De engelske forskerne skred til verket og konkluderer med at dersom bandet ditt slår gjennom, er du dobbelt så utsatt for en tidlig død som oss vanlige dødelige.

Farligst er det de første fem årene etter gjennombruddet, mens dødeligheten synker til vanlig nivå 25 år etterpå.

Liverpool-forskernes undersøkelse er basert på et utvalg av mer enn 1.050 amerikanske og europeiske artister som ble berømte mellom 1956 og 2005. Utvalget inkluderte artister fra mange forskjellige sjangre, fra rock og punk via rap og R&B til elektronika og new age.

I løpet av disse årene døde 100 stjerner, hvorav en firedel av dødsfallene skyldtes alkohol eller narkotika.

Gjennomsnittsalderen ved livets slutt var 42 år for amerikanske og 35 år for europeiske stjerner.

En annen variant av rock som et helseskadelig medium.

Endelig har forskerne funnet ut det alle har visst hele tiden - å spille rockemusikk er skadelig for helsa.

Egentlig har vi visst det hele tiden, at rock og ung død går hånd i hånd. Eksemplene er mange, gjengangerne i denne sammenheng er Janis Joplin, Marc Bolan, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison og Kurt Cobain.

Nå bekreftes myten av en undersøkelse utarbeidet av forskere ved Centre for Public Health ved Liverpool John Moores University.

Verst går det dersom bandet ditt faktisk slår igjennom. Da er du nemlig dobbelt så utsatt for en tidlig død.

Trond Granlund har holdt på siden tidlig på 70-tallet. Her under Konserten sammen for livet, i 1985

Det kommer fram i undersøkelsen som bærer det lange navnet «Elvis to Eminem: quantifying the price of fame through early mortality of European and American rock and pop stars», hvilket betyr noe sånt som: «Fra Elvis til Eminem: Forsøk på å tallfeste prisen for berømmelse hos europeiske og amerikanske rock- og popstjerner».

Dette er faktisk første gang det er utført seriøs forskning på området. Undersøkelsen er basert på et utvalg av mer enn 1050 amerikanske og europeiske artister som ble berømte i perioden 1956 til 2005.

Utvalget var bredt sammensatt. Forskerne så på artister fra et vidt popmusikalsk spekter, fra rock og punk, via rap og R&B, til elektronika og new age.

Det ble registrert hundre dødsfall blant stjernene mellom 1956 og 2005. Gjennomsnittsalderen var 42 år for amerikanske stjerner og 35 år for europeiske.

- Myten har jo alle kjent, og det er nok noe i den, sier den norske artisten Trond Granlund, som har holdt det gående siden tidlig på syttitallet, til ABC Nyheter.

- En del av fascinasjonen var jo festing og rock'n roll-liv, det er jo ikke til å komme fra.

Selv kaller ikke Granlund seg rocker lenger, og det ville livet tok slutt for mange år siden.

- Mange tror at da blir moroa blir borte, men det stemmer ikke. Er du på scenen med full konsentrasjon, så blir det mye bedre.

Trond Granlund mener også at ting har forandret seg.

- Når jeg ser rundt meg i dag, ser jeg rockere som er mye mer seriøse med det de gjør enn vi var før. Dette er også noe undersøkelsen bekrefter.

Og helsa til 57-åringen Trond Granlund?

- Jo, takk den er bare bra.

Root

Illumination

Root, in the form of multi-instrumentalist David Kendall, kicks off 2005 with a new album, Illumination. Expressing a desire for each album to be a "progression from the last" has meant that Kendall is putting more thought into each release, as he explains himself: "As I write and record each album I feel that I become more driven by a need to be 'true' to the songs. The songs arrive quickly and easily, but the lengthy part of the album is deciding how the songs should sound and how they should be arranged." This philosophy seems to be working as it would be hard to describe a specific Root sound, no bad thing in this age of universal conformity.

Opening track Wishing Man starts off quite the up tempo rocker with a prominent guitar, a funky rhythm and layered vocals. The quieter sections, with faux keyboard horns and a rather jazzy guitar solo, sound vaguely reminiscent of early Chicago, if only in the quality of the playing and arranging. Anything takes the tone down with a gentle piece and is more representative of the album as a whole, generally more reflective and pastoral than on previous releases. Kendall has a strong voice which, although not possessing the greatest of ranges, is very warm and is well suited to the more tender love songs. Displaying a pop song feel, The Meaning is a jolly ditty based on a keyboard riff while Healing In Me features impressive harmonised vocals in the chorus and a variety of different instrumental sounds, although I felt that the keyboard solo was a bit sparse. Sometimes ups the ante somewhat with another very impressive love song which begs to be fully orchestrated with sweeping violins, gentle wind instruments and the magnificence of a concert grand piano. Obviously Kendall's limited budget doesn't allow this but he has done a very impressive job suggesting these parts with the instruments he has available to him.

The slow tempo is maintained throughout Anymore and The Most, the latter employing a keyboard-generated string quartet underpinning a lovely melody topped off with a simple, yet effective, guitar solo which progresses from acoustic to electric - nice song! Always is a tad more mysterious with Eastern undertones; again the layered vocals stand out and the sound of the guitars and keyboards is well considered. My Pride is a big song that is, in my opinion, not fully realised. The elements are all there but I feel that it deserves to be rather more dramatic with a punchier ending. By emphasising, or indeed over emphasising, some sections and maybe extending the piano solo it would make the song stand out more amongst the abundance of slower tempo songs. In contrast, No Mercy is what Kendall does best, extended pieces that chop and change but maintain a coherent inner structure. The song sits admirably well within the general mood of the album but stretches out with more up tempo sections mixed with areas of reflection. Slight resemblances to Pink Floyd of the Wish You Were Here era can be made but that is more in terms of song structure (and the guitar solo!) than song style. The album is rounded off with Younger, probably my favourite track on the album simply because it is so good and Boy Genius which is the most incongruous track on the album. Not that it is bad, although I wasn't that enamoured with the lyrics, just that it did stick out as being of a different style to the rest of the album. Best viewed as a bonus track perhaps and considering the album proper to end with Younger.

Kendall has managed to maintain the high quality standards he set himself on previous albums while producing something a bit different. Illumination is a fine set of songs, and at nearly seventy minutes is great value for money. This is an album to really listen to, late at night or early in the morning, when all else is quiet and dark - a progressive chill out album if you will. As much as we may dislike it, the future of prog largely lies in musicians doing it themselves. Fortunately, with people of the talent and calibre of David Kendall, the immediate future is secure.

Tracklist: Wishing Man (5:55), Anything (5:06), The Meaning (5:07), Healing In Me (6:17), Sometimes (4:25), Anymore (4:09), The Most (5:36), Always (5:45), My Pride (5:00), No Mercy (9:40), Younger (4:43), Boy Genius (5:38)

Resolution

Every so often one comes across something that grabs the imagination, presses all the right buttons and clicks instantly into place. It happened to me on hearing Resolution the latest album by Root (aka David Kendall). With three prior albums to his name, David has pushed the boat out and produced a double album of unfaltering quality. Positioned within the realms of melodic progressive rock, the album is imbued with some very strong melodies which are often accompanied by wonderfully textured harmony vocals. David is both a competent keyboard player and a fine guitarist, taking his influences on such tracks as Equal and the three-part Resolution from Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. Further Floyd influences are heard on Falling which features a keyboard chord taken directly from Echoes. However, this is not to say that the music is in any way derivative, just that many of the songs have a familiar feel to them, a sure testament to the composing and arranging abilities of Mr. Kendall.

With slight rearrangement, Shine would make an excellent single, blessed as it is with a great chorus, while Welcome Glow has a Beatles feel to it. The title track is a well thought-out piece justifying it's 20-minute duration; indeed none of the long tracks on the album felt as if it had outstayed their welcome.

The lyrics are also worthy of mention, being a cut above a lot of the slap-dash rubbish that some bands think they can get away with. They meld seamlessly with the music forming another layer to the textures of the songs. They also follow a common theme, that of understanding, hope and ultimately, resolution.

It seems that the notion of forming a band with one's mates in order to create music is rapidly becoming a thing of the past as Root is another example of one man taking the solo concept to the extreme and doing absolutely everything - writing, playing, singing, promoting and even designing, illustrating and printing the very impressive CD booklet. Sure, modern technology has made it easier, and cheaper, for individuals to compose in relative isolation, but I have the ominous suspicion that the general state of the music industry and the lack of live venues in the UK has forced the hand of musicians somewhat in that maintaining a band is not economically viable these days. This is a real shame, as had David Kendall been born a couple of decades earlier I have no doubt that he would be packing out stadiums accompanied by a stellar cast of backing musicians while his albums racked up endless weeks in the charts.

For fans of melodic progressive music who have their pop sensibilities intact, you could do a lot worse than get hold of a copy of Resolution. At £9 (under 15 Euros!) for over 90 minutes of high quality music the album is also exceedingly good value for money!

Tracklist: Disc One: Jubal (9:56), Equal (8:58), Motherhood (6:16), Shine (4:21), Resolution (i Pull You Down, ii Seven Sins, iii The Fire) (19:39) Disc Two: Change (7:42), Falling (7:43), Welcome Glow (4:38), Honesty (10:47), Flying Blind (5:18), Need (8:00)

Poles Apart

A highly impressive release, considering the fact that only one person is responsible for composition, artwork (although I am not too impressed by that), playing all the instruments, vocals, production etc. In fact, I wasn't even aware of that initially, only by reading the sleeve notes I found out about the fact that this is a solo production of David Kendall.

The opening track Kim of what is already the third album by Root, starts with some Floydian synth tunes and voices, but soon it goes into a Marillion (Hogarth era) type of power sympho, combining the dynamics and sensitivity of an album like Season's End into this track. Some excellent solos on both keyboard and guitar are of course the obligatory ingredients of a track in this style.
Perfect is a ballad, a bit in the Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Power of Love style. I quite like this type of power-ballads, and this is just a typical example of that style.

Poles Apart is on the other hand more of the lullaby-type ballad, reminding of the latest Flower Kings or again Marillion, with a Floydian (Division Bell type) interlude and an extremely long fade-out. Should've Known is one of those eighties sympho tracks, which were then produced in masses. You know, these uptempo, sort-of-happy songs. Blind Faith sort of continues this style, vaguely reminding me of Yes or ABWH.
The next track, All That He Could Be, again prolongs the style which by now becomes a bit annoying. A bit more variation would have been in order here. The excellent use of keyboards is worth mentioning though. The track finally gains some momentum at the end with a Gilmouresque guitar solo. Then it's back to Marillion again with Natural Gift. Even the voice of David Kendall is not unlike Hogarth's at times, but with a rockier edge. Right on time a slow interlude starts, too bad this only acts as a foreplay to a guitar solo of the same melody line as the main one, which makes it a bit less interesting.

A U2 like slide-guitar opens Only You. The vocals are a bit reminiscent of Bon Jovi in this rock-ballad. The result is a commercial track which might do well in terms of airplay, but may be to cliché for average prog lovers. Brightest Star opens with a Dire Straits like acoustic guitar, in the style of a lullaby. Slowly it builds up to a climax with some nice bombastic keyboards and guitar work. I suspect that the drums are electronic as is probably the case on the rest of the album as well, but it never gets really annoying. The rest of the track dies down a bit though.

All in all an impressive release, and definitely worthwhile for any record label to pick up. I think that, with the right people around him in a band, Kendall will be able to produce some high quality works in the future. I do hope he will leave the artwork of the covers to others, though, because initially I thought I was send a Hip Hop album to review.... If you are looking for something independant to add to your collection and you like the eighties style of prog,

Tracklist: Kim (8:03), Perfect (4:00), Poles Apart (4:51), Should've Known (5:34), Blind Faith (5:09), All That He Could Be (7:45), Natural Gift (6:17), Only You (7:27), Brightest Star (9:59)

Røykejakke

Dette har egentlig ikke særlig mye med musikk å gjøre, men saken er så spesiell at den bare må med.

 Er du lei av røykerne rundt deg, som stadig sniker seg av gårde på røykepauser? Da kan du foreslå denne jakken, som virkelig stigmatiserer nikotinslavene iblant oss.Jakken har et sinnrikt system av rør og slanger på innsiden, og et par svært synlige lunger på utsiden.

 Meninger er at røykerne skal tvinges til å blåse all røyken ut gjennom en slange i jakkekragen. Røyken samles så i et sett med gjennomsiktige lunger, som blir gråere og eklere etter hvert som bæreren fyller dem med tjære og CO2.

 Vi er litt i tvil om den potensielle kundegruppa, men er likevel sikre på at Dagfinn Høybråten vil applaudere dette initiativet. Om ikke annet, så fordi det sparer atmosfæren for alle de slemme klimagassene røykerne slipper ut.

Riverside

Polske Riverside slipper ny skive tidlig til høsten. Navnet blir "Rapid Eye Movement" (REM) som blir første del av deres "Reality Dream Triology". Riverside planlegger også å utgi de tre første skivene som en 3CD boks, som selvsagt trykkes i et begrenset opplag, slik at det eksklusive blir vel ivaretatt.

Gitaristen Piotr Grudzinski har fortid fra metallbandet Unnamed, mens Mariusz Duda kommer fra progensemblet Xanadu hvor han stod for vokal, bass og keyboards. Piotr Kozieradzki har trommet dødsmetall med bandene Hate og Domain. Lydingerniør med eget studio var det tidligere virket til Michal Lapaj. I tillegg så hjalp han til med kyboardsspilling når det trengtes på de album han promoterte.

Rock In Opposition

Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiated by Henry Cow in March 1978 when they invited four European groups to come to London and perform in a festival called "Rock in Opposition". The groups that performed in the inaugural event were:

Henry Cow (England)

Stormy Six (Italy)

Samla Mammas Manna (Sweden)

Univers Zero (Belgium)

Etron Fou Leloublan (France)

In December 1978 the five bands met in Switzerland to formalise RIO as a chartered organisation. Its primary aim was to represent and promote its members. Three more bands were also added to the collective: Art Bears, Art Zoyd and Aksak Maboul, and further festivals were held in 1979 in France, Italy and Sweden.

Chris Cutler of Henry Cow established Recommended Records in 1978 in the UK as a model for a non-profit music company. Its initial goal was to provide RIO artists with a record label to release their music on.

RIO as a movement did not last long, but its legacy still persists. While RIO never referred to a type of music (the original RIO bands were quite diverse musically), it is still often used by listeners, musicians, and distributors to classify bands (generally bands that appeared at the RIO festivals or bands related to or derived from the RIO bands)Bands familiarized with the RIO movement and genre today include: Thinking Plague (USA), Present (Belgium), Miriodor (Canada), Ahvak (Israel), Neblenest (France), 5uu's (USA), Guapo (UK) and U Totem (USA). The term "RIO" today is almost synonymous with Avant-progressive rock or Experimental Rock.

A "reunion" festival is scheduled to take place in France in April 2007. The spirit of the original festival will be preserved in that only artists of quality, innovation and the willingness to be "in opposition" to the commercial music industry will perform. Currently the lineup is: Magma, Faust, the Peter Blegvad trio (including Chris Cutler), Present, Zao, Mats Morgan, Guapo, NeBeLNeST and GMEA.

Romiskulus

Interview

It seems to me that before you give life to the Romislokus project, all of you
were fulfilling a previous musical research or investigation as you have thus said. Have
you still been in search of new musical experiences, or have you definitely found what
you looked for?

Mihail Voronov: The conception of  the album “Between Two Mirrors” satisfies our requirements to ourselves. This is the result of the long search of the genre and it contains the elements which can be used in the future. From the other side the big amount of the findings were left outside of the frame of the album. The works will be continued.

The computer technologies have furthered in fact the electronic-acoustic music where a
lot of one-man bands have often peered. Have you though sometime about accomplishing
your project by yourself, as it has happened to other musicians who also made up their
minds about performing this kind of music?

Mihail Voronov: We think today one author is uninterested and this fact doesn’t depend on the kind of music we speak about. The computer technologies expand the opportunities for the co-operation of musicians with different views about music. The future technologies are able to get them together. Our band-mates are : “pure” computer programmer, video designer, artist of symphonic orchestra and vocalist from the russian orthodox church although the key figures are rock musicians anyway.
Feeling the computer as one of the band-mates let us constantly look at ourselves with “other” eyes and to give PC the elements which we haven’t got. We call it - to fill spaces. The computer can also  make its move to the art with gluk’s help.

For the description of your words shown on the Romislokus` homepage is really possible
to perceive how painstaking you are toward your work. In your opinion, what kind of
mistake have you committed in this current production, which you intend not to
commit again in the future woks?

Mihail Voronov: The mistakes are the only things that can’t be fabricated, staged. We don’t correct some of the mistakes consciously. When everything is very right it looks unatural. Strongly normalized, the  mistakes are one of the elements of Romislokus’ style.

You have created an unexampled biography for your band where the listeners themselves
will freely idealize it according to their conception towards yourband`s musicality. Don`t
you think this way each one of you will be depicted differently by each listener?

Mihail Voronov: We want the listener to get determined representation of us in his mind. Nevertheless the listener forms the image of musicians in any cases (of course if a record company hadn’t formed it before). We are not the actors of Hollywood and we don’t need fabricated biographies. We want to move over all the barriers between the listener and the music. The music is a biography of special kind.

Still towards the computer and the technology linked to the music. How have you seen
the future for those who still share today their music with a band? 
Do you think most of musicians will substitute their band­-mates for the computer itself?

Mihail Voronov: Our conception of interaction in the band is different from others. Everyone of us is the author. The influence of our band-mates determines and forms musical world of Romislokus. We transmit the influences of each other through ourselves. Everyone of us supplies his own conception. That’s why we can embrace our music as it is, such as the music of another band. The computer is inorganic, co-author for us. The computer has its own volition and we respect its volition equaling to our mind. It is rather difficult to explain it to people who didn’t see how we worked. Maybe it is original and mystic. Nevertheless we are ration.

``It is a matter of great importance for us, that you should receive not a half-finished
product, as it frequently happens but a composition of full value, that satisfies your
requirement``. Don`t you think that`s hard to happen to those who play alternative music
as progressive rock for instance, whereas it is entirely free from any pressure imposed 
by the record companies?

Mihail Voronov: Actually, every progressive band knows when to make the point. We were not right if we’d said about college’s music as about unfinished product. We speak about requirements to ourselves. And we knows exactly the range of preparing of each from our compositions. In some cases it is good to know the listener’s opinion before we make the point with song. There are versions of compositions, which are less open to people’s minds. First of all, we interest in consulting with evolution of perception. In our opinion soon we’ll get to the extending of prog fans auditorium. The Internet is not the last in it. We must consult the properties of the “concert-hall”, physical properties of the room, in which we listen to the music. The Internet-space is a very special “room” for prog rock bands. It isn’t a stadium or a theatre ... it is something absolutely other, new. The sound of Romislokus is being made with consult to the specialty of this space..

In former times when USSR was an only country, bands like Kaseke and In Spe among
others...belonged until then to the same land, however they now have their own
nationality. Do you particularly think the progressive rock scene in your country became
poorer after that transition or, am I therein misinformed toward the greatness of current
Russian musical scene?

Mihail Voronov: Modern music in Russia is directly linked with the West. Most of musicians resound western musical ideas and even do not try to make something new. It is not wondering because Rock ’n’ Roll was forbidden until 90`s. Russia was closed for other countries` music. But even at that time there was the layer of musicians specializing on rock music. Their songs had been played on small stages for the few interested people. We are from this kind of musicians. “Perestroyka” - democratic changes - makes new conditions. But there isn’t the substantial changes in music. Mass media gives nothing besides an absurd. New demander - Business are not intellectual  in any kind. And the demand of public is primal sound. Only the Internet in our opinion is able to change the situation. Today Rock ’n’ Roll exists into two parallel worlds: the first is “live” performance, the second is conservation of musical ideas with help of digital technologies. Composer in studio is not rock musician because his music is hardly played in “live” mode. It’s very important for us to have a possibility to carry the “live” energy of musicians into the digital form. We spend a lot of pains and time to solve this problem. Sometimes we think about our art as about “dance of minds”. Moving of minds directly influence on the musician’s fingers. There are a lot of sadness in our world but also, there is something for which life is worth living. The last is the first.

‘I have particularly seen that a large number of people in your country have lately been
more into playing heavy-styled  music as heavy metal for instance than progressive rock
music. Is there by the way a reason obviously accountable for that?

Mihail Voronov: We can equal art-rock with heavy-styled music only in absolute. Both of that are high-technique music. But art-rock gives us positive energy when “metal” shows the negative extent in the world’s accumulations. We feel Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple closer to art-rock. It is the positive part of the “hard”.

Facts

Evgeniy Gorelov - Keyboards, Vocal
Irina Unakovskaya - Viola
Mikhail Voronov - Lead Guitar
Mikhail Brovarnik - Bass
Uriy Smolnikov - Rhythm-Guitar, Vocal
Romislokus - Drums and Bass Programming&nbssp;

Discography:
"Between Two Mirrors" - 2001
Vinyl Spring, Digital Autumn - 2002

Romislokus Home Page
www.romislokus.com/

The project “Romislokus” was started shortly before the beginning of the XXI century. Up to this time the activity of the musicians has been purely investigative. The membership and musical preferences changed.

At present, due to the switch over to the computer technologies, the electronic- acoustic music has become more preferable. Our album is a variety of it.

As a matter of fact, it’s a kind of a sketch, representing our ideas in general.

They used linear and plane vision of sounding objects. The basic musical blocks have been arranged, the signal row of each of them has been put in order. The tasks of musical dramatic composition are solved according to software. Accidents are hardly possible.

At the same time the posterior imprints, laid over initial, common to the sketches have been preserved. Some remnant deformations of the material, which appeared as a result of competitive variations in the search of optimum decisions have not been done away with.

There exists the list of issues, which are still open to the dispute, because the aim of the album is to find the way out to the level of spatial thinking: musical images must “rotate” and be displayed from different points of view.

That is, the starting-point of the listener will be shifted relatively to the music, and vice versa, the musical objects aren’t static either, some of them are able to shift relatively to the basic structure.

By means of musical dramatic composition they try to construct the world in its diversity, to reflect the reality by means of interaction of 3 aggressive mediums constructed by us: organic, in-organic and intermediate medium, which can’t be defined, and is associated with the magnetic and other fields.

If they’ll judge it from the point of view of mechanics, the human voice and the cells are in charge of organics, the computer and the synthesizer are in charge of the in-organics and the electronic guitars and the processor is the link between them.

Just because of the complexity of the tasks’ solution, and it is an innovation, too – they release a limited number of demonstrative copies of the album “Between Two Mirrors” – a kind of sketch. Its self-sufficiency is considered in the content of the further changes, which will display a different coverage of the events, while creating the final variant.

It was customary to the medieval painters: at first they painted a full-length portrait on a cart board, and only after that they created a fresco, using this cart board.

The space between the two layers of the time a “full-length” sketch and the final variant can be defined as “the seized time”.

They have many reasons to introduce this practice into modern art. And they give a full account of it to you (especially for you), they place several “cart-board” compositions of the album, they can give you an idea of the album as a whole.

Rosseau

Interview

I would like to begin this interview by speaking about the keyboard player
Ulla Boos and the guitarist Peter Stutz, who were the founders of the band. Have they
contributed with any composition on ‘’Flower in Asphalt’’ album before leaving the band?

Jörg Schwarz: Yes, there is one composition from that time of Ulla Boos and peter Stutz. It’s ‘’Glockenrock’’, and I can remember when I had joined the band, I got a tape with ‘’Glockenrock’’ and a few more titles on it. It was quite hard job to learn all the notes, licks and breaks in the songs. The other boys wanted me to play exactly like Peter, and that was what I did in the beginning, but during our live shows and recording (which was the only song on the album without any overdubs. We just played it twice and the third time is what you can hear on the record). The song became more and more my handwriting, but I must say the melody is 95% from Peter. It was absolutely perfect for me and I was feeling very comfortable with it, so why should I change it? Peter is still playing guitar, but not Rock, he’s playing Flamenco and he’s still an absolutely great player and one of my personal favorites.

As far as I know the band’s name represents a homage to the French philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. After all those years from the band’s foundation, do you still
share the same views as him?

Jörg Schwarz: Yes, I think we can say so. His ideas are still young today. Maybe you can find a little bit of it in our music.

It has been quite interesting for me to find a poetry from a Brazilian folksong at the
booklet of ‘’Flower in Asphalt’’ issue. How did that poetry get to your knowledge?

Jörg Schwarz: When we sat together making plans for the cover of the album, Ali came out with this poem, I don’t know from where he has got it, we all felt, hey, that’s exactly what we feel. At the time we have released the ‘’Flower in Asphalt’’ album the charts were stuffed with punk and easy listening pop music and everybody told us, hey you are absolutely old fashioned dreamers. But you see, the dream is still alive.

As all the band’s members were always taken for gifted musicians and your music taken 
as a high-grade one, I suppose you have consequently reached quite a few listeners along
the years, where are most of your fans from, from Germany itself or from abroad?

Jörg Schwarz: Thanks for your compliments. We must say that we have got the best feedback from fans in France, Italy, Japan and Brazil. Our live shows here in Germany were quite successful, but we didn’t get much airplay over here. The German radio only plays pop and dance music. There are just very little radio shows that play music like ours, but the listeners became loyal fans.

Let’s then go to the present time. Rousseau is now being reformed by you and the
drummer Ali Pfeffer. Did the return of some German bands to the progressive scene
contribute as an incentive for you?

Jörg Schwarz: Oh no, this was not the reason. When Ali and I met after quite a long time, we said, what about reforming Rousseau? We just sat together, talked about the old times and I also played some pieces of music, which I have recorded in the meantime, and there were also some Demo tracks. We both thought these Demo tracks had a little Rousseau’s feeling, and we have considered to produce these songs. Everything came out absolutely natural. We just sat together and played with different ideas. Music from the outside has never been a great influence to us. We never said: ‘’Come on, let’s become Genesis or Pink Floyd!’’. All we wanted was to play the music we like. I think bands that only reform themselves to make money; they will fastly disappear again. We had so many new ideas and we just had to let them out.

As you told me previously, this new project would be at first accomplished by you and
Ali. If you had then proceeded alone in this project, would you keep the name Rousseau
upon it?

Jörg Schwarz: When Ali and I started the new recordings, we thought about releasing this project titled ‘’Rousseau and Friends’’ but after Hofi joined us, we were 60% of the old Rousseau line-up. So we think it’s absolutely Ok to use our old name. We did ask Georg Huthmacher our former bass player to join us, but he stopped playing music because he’s very busy with his own shop, he’s in the computer business. Our new bass player Dieter Beermann is working along with me for over 15 years. He fits perfectly to us and he has become a 100% member of Rousseau. I think it’s not fair if an old band is back again, and there is just an only person from the original members left, the rest are young session players, that’s ridiculous to me.

You have told me that 7 new songs were already composed, and some others are still in
process. Will this forthcoming work only feature new songs, or will something from the
past also be included as a bonus track for instance? 

Jörg Schwarz: Right now, we just want to release new material. We have so many new ideas and we can’t just wait to record them all, but there are some songs from the golden 70’s and 80’s on old cassettes; they are some of our live favorites that were never featured on a record. The sound quality is often very poor. However, maybe someday we’ll record them brand new.

The music of Rousseau was always characterized by beautiful folkloric passages and
pastoral atmospheres, do you also intend to keep that characteristic in this new album?

Jörg Schwarz: Yes, of course you’ll find some of our ‘’trademarks’’, but we don’t want to say: ‘’...now it’s time for a flute solo, or I want this string sound’’, we had some brand new ideas and I must say they all fit perfectly into the Rousseau context. We are not stuck in the past; for us Rousseau is a band of the present. And everyone of us has gone on in his own development. On our first LP ‘’Flower in Asphalt’’ I have just played the guitar, but after that I started to sing. So it became absolutely normal for us to record some vocal tracks. In the beginning of Rousseau, we have often tried to sing in our music, but that was very difficult because these songs were composed as instrumental tracks. But now, we have some songs which were written with vocal parts. However, they are typical Rousseau’s songs anyhow.

According to you, the band have no pretence for the time being to perform alive, is that
a matter to be considered later on, or is that possibility discarded?

Jörg Schwarz: I love to play live and I remember some great shows we have played. Even if it was often a fight with our equipment to produce our sound on stage. Nowadays it became much easier and we have thought about playing live again. Yes, but it will depend on how the record will do. A whole tour is a big expense, but let’s see what the future will bring. Definitively we will do our a little gig in our hometown for some friends, old fans and so forth, but this will just be a few songs, not a big production show. But we have not made any concrete plan for this gig.

I would like to hear your opinion towards the current german progressive rock scene
where quite a few bands are turning up day after day as it came about in the past. How
have you seen these new bands and their music likewise?

Jörg Schwarz: It’s great to see the progressive rock scene in Germany is getting bigger. I have read a lot about it. in other countries this step was made a few years earlier, just think about Spock’s Beard, IQ and so on. In German bands like Eloy, Jane and Kraan made history and I have ever hoped their work was not in vain, they have planted a seed and slowly something is growing. But believe it or not, in the 70’s I was not only influenced by Genesis, Eloy or other big progressive rock bands, I have also listened to Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan and even Abba. I always wanted to be open to any style and I hope the new bands will see it the same way, otherwise you will be bored of your own music and you will lose all the fun, that’s why we are making music, fun. Good music was always fun for the musicians, I don’t think the Beatles, Yes or others thought they were just doing a job from 9 to 5.

Just to close this interview, would you like to impart any message for all those who
appreciate your band’s music in Brazil and in the world?

Jörg Schwarz: The band wants to say thank you to everybody out there. It’s just a great feeling that our music means a lot to many people in Brazil and so many other countries where we have never been. People from so many different countries are tied together by an invisible line, and that’s music. Thanks to everybody who believed in us from the beginning until today.

Facts Rousseau

Flower in Asphalt formation:

Jörg Schwarz - Guitars and Acoustic Guitar
Ali Pfeffer - Drums and Percussion 
Christoph Huster - Flute Percussion and Acoustic Guitar
Georg Huthmacher - 
Bass and Keyboards
Rainer Hoffmann - Keyboards

Discography:
"Flower in Asphalt" - 1980
"Retreat" - 1981
"Square The Circle" - 1987

‘’Rousseau was formed in Marl in 1977 by Ali Pfeffer, Georg Huthmacher, Peter Stutz, Ulla Boos and Christoph Huster.

Right from the beginning they had a good response and gathered some loyal fans around them. 2 years later Ulla left the band. She was replaced by Rainer Hofmann on key.

Peter Stutz left the band shortly after that. For him, Jörg Schwarz joined the band. After some rehersals the band started to play life again and lots of new compositions were made.

During the life shows the band tested the new songs and choose out, which song could make it to an album.

In 1980 Rousseau released their first LP: Flower In Asphalt. The new Album was presented life to the fans in a concert at the Marler theater.

The response to the show and the feedback from radio stations were just great! Lots of life gigs followed. In 1983 during the pre productions of their 2nd LP: Retreat, Jörg Schwarz left the band. He was replaced by Christoph Maasbaum and on some tracks Herbert Ruppik joined the band on vocals.

Unfortunatly, at this time the new german wave was the next big thing in germany and stole lots of attention to another great album. The band started a new project. Fools fantasy became a life event with dancers and actors. This show was a great success in germany . In 1986 the band released their 3rd album Square The Circle.

Christoph Maasbaum played bass and on guitar was Uwe Schilling, Dieter Müller became the new singer. They had a very good response from lots of countries around the world but they still didn´t get the `Big Break´. After that, the band started to write some new songs and for the first time they wrote german lyrics. Schlaflose  Nächte (Sleepless nights) was only released in germany.
 

Some of the members left the band to start new projects and Rousseau seemed to be dead.

But 2 years ago Ali and Jörg Schwarz started Rousseau again and the rest of the history (oh no, not history, FUTURE!)’’.

Rick Wakeman

 Interview

Any plans to follow-up the ‘Hummingbird’ project?

The one with Dave (Cousins)? That was good fun that. Dave and I talked for years about doing an album together, as we really are good friends. I just met him in Teddington and he said come and have a coffee. He said I’ve got some songs here and he played these songs, in typical Dave fashion they were all unfinished. I said ‘Well I’ve got a bit that can fit in there’. By the time the afternoon finished we had an album of songs. We went into a studio and it worked out really nicely. People seem to like it and undoubtedly we will do another one but I don’t know when to be honest. Hopefully it won’t be another 25 or 30 years until we do one again! I would think in another couple of years because we really enjoyed it.

There is a Strawbs convention in the US next year. Would you go along?

Yeah, if I am around I’ll go along. When they had their Strawbs anniversary two or three years ago I would have gone if I could have. I am great friends with all of the guys.

What was the highlight of your days with the Strawbs?

Undoubtedly when we did the old QE (Queen Elizabeth) Hall in 1971. It was fantastic and that kicked the Strawbs off in many respects. It took us out of the folk clubs and gave us a chance to go onto the university tours. A good stepping stone. It was great in those days, as there were stepping stones for bands to play. It’s not like that now. There are such great players out there and it’s so hard. Because my kids are in so many bands I meet loads and loads of different young musicians, some of them are so, so talented. We could do the folk clubs, the pubs, the clubs, the polytechnic and university circuits, and the college circuit. Then you could do the small theatre tour, civic hall tour – a whole series of stepping stones for bands that are not around anymore. I will always remember the QE Hall as it was a stepping stone. I always remember events that move you on a step or into different areas. When it was finished, in true rock’n’roll fashion we got on the train back out to where I lived. Went down Clarendon Road, ate fish and chips, then went to bed.

On your new album you’ve got a good line-up. Damian Wilson, former Threshold vocalist. Six years on the trot he’s won the Classic Rock Society’s Best Vocalist Award.

Mind you, he’s the only who enters. No, only joking - he’s a good lad!

How did you hook-up with him?

He’s been with me nearly three years now. About three years ago I got a call from an agent in South America asking me to do some shows. Pretty sizeable ones – 5-10,000 seaters. Only problem is I don’t have a band at the moment. He said two things are important - put a band together for a prog rock show and it’s got to be called the English Rock Ensemble, because everyone will now who it is. I spoke to Adam, my second oldest son, saying I needed a band. He said ‘What to play your shit?’ I want guys, influenced by lots of things. He said leave it to me. We had a warm-up show in Glastonbury. I sent out music to these guys Adam had mentioned. I know Damian from a band he was in with Adam, Joining My Road. I’d seen Damian and like his singing. Such a great range in his voice which was perfect. When you’ve had a few singers in your band they all have different ranges and to find someone to cover all these ranges is pretty tough.

So I said to Adam, ’Who else have I got then?’ Guitar player Ant Glyne. I said I know about him, great player. He’s a prog metal player, that’ll be good, something different. I said ‘What about the bass player?’ He named this guy Paul, can’t remember his second name. I already had my man on drums Tony Fernadez. But for that particular show he couldn’t do, so I got Richard Brook for that particular gig - great, great drummer. So the rehearsal came along, it was really fun. This guy came up to me and said ‘I am your new bass player’. I said hello Paul and he replied ‘I am not Paul’. He offered to change his name to Paul if it helped me! ‘Who booked you for this?’ He replied 'Paul' - I thought hold on, this is getting confusing. I asked him his name and he said it was Lee. Adam turned up and I asked him who the bass player was and he said he didn’t know! I’ve got a massive tour coming up in South America and it’s a bit of a worry when you don’t even know the bass player! I looked over at him, he takes his bass guitar out and puts it on the wrong way round and all the strings are on the wrong way round. I thought this is not confidence building! Adam goes over to have a word with him. So Adam tells me ‘Here’s the situation, the guy I booked Paul gave the gig to this guy. He is the best prog rock bass player around and Paul reckoned it wouldn’t be long until you found out about him and he would be out of a job!’

So anyway we started the rehearsal and asked if they got all the tapes prior to this rehearsal. They all said yes but Lee said ‘No. I probably know what you are going to do anyway’. We ran through ‘Starship Trooper’, from start to finish and it was amazing. Lee was just unbelievably good. Little Lee walked over to me and said ‘Boss’, he always calls me that, ‘That middle section, do you want me to show you where you’re going wrong?’ He then played me the parts again and I replied ‘Thank you very much. Any problems you got just come along to me.’ He does that with everyone in the band, he’s like our musical director.

How is Ant doing now? (The guitarist is currently recovering from cancer treatment).

He’s currently in remission, but he’s very fit. He’s well fit to do the tour. A great, great man. The whole band has bought so much to the music and I’ve had to rearrange parts. It’s been really nice. We’ve played together for 2-3 years before we made an album. Great bunch of guys, completely mad though. You’ve got the new album coming out on March 17th? It’s quite prog metal in parts?

You’ve just got the radio edit right? We have had such a problem with bootleg copies before. Last year I got a phone call about the ‘Live in Buenos Aires’ DVD saying congratulations that this DVD was number 9 in Brazil. It was the first time a music DVD had got into the film charts in that country. I thought that’s great and I made a couple of phone calls. I asked how many copies you’d have to sell to get to number nine. I was told about 120,000 - great! I phoned the distributors up and there was silence at the other end and then they said that the DVD wasn’t out for another three weeks over there. They turned round and said there was no point in releasing it over there now. They now only release previews 7-10 days before the release date, as this doesn’t give enough time to make bootleg copies. They have been really strict and said they would pull it otherwise.

For the radio edits we took out the huge prog rock bits. The metal element comes in from Ant in the way he plays, which I like a lot. It’s interesting that you mention prog metal, there’s a lot of it about. Ozzy’s ‘Ozmosis’ album was a prog metal album, tracks like ‘Perry Mason’. It doesn’t have to be airy fairie and arty farty. I was talking to guy recently at a radio station, where prog rock was like the thing you bought under the counter, in a hidden brown paper envelope. There are a lot of spin-offs from prog rock into different areas. Like early Genesis 75% prog rock, late Genesis 5% prog rock, and King Crimson 90% prog rock. So many bands nick bits of prog rock, like Muse, Furry Animals, which is great.

I like the way the band plays the music in their style and add their own touches. Damian’s very individual in vocals. Damian does things like we are checking into Gatwick to fly to Rio, whilst he’s at Heathrow trying to check into Moscow. He’s wonderful, the Frank Spencer of the band. If rehearsals are at 3 he’ll be there at 5 or 3 the previous day. Love him to death.

How did you come to rejoin Yes again?

When we did the ‘Keys to Ascension’ thing there was a management screw-up with two managers running parallel at the same time. One booked me a solo tour and the other booked a Yes tour for the same time. When one of the managers was sacked I found out I was contracted to do a tour the same time as Yes was. No way of getting out of it. In the end we kept it clear until June 2002. Lots of fans were contacting us that nothing was happening on either side from June and they were asking ‘Does this mean that both of you are working together again?’ Like 2,000 Sherlock Holmes out there! We agreed nobody books anything until Yes are booked and then we all book our various things around this. Hopefully this will continue for a long time yet.

Yes are touring in June?

June, July and August, when we’ll be touring Europe and then Japan and Australia. We were meant to tour there but Jon had his accident. He needs six months to recoup, he’s on his well. We can’t hurry it, as you might get on the road for one month and then be off for eight months because you came back too early.

Your solo tour - you must be looking forward to that. Heck of an extensive UK tour. What sort of setlist will you have?

It shouldn’t be called the ‘Out There’ tour, it should be ‘The I am Completely Off My Head It’s Bloody Stupid Tour’. We wanted to tour with a band and production. It’s got serious front screen projection coming in from JVC. Cameras over the keys as everyone always say we only see you grimacing with the music or either you’ve just farted.

When the tour agency, John Shaw, asked did we want to tour and I said we can’t its far too expensive. We need to do seriously big places, no way we could do a theatre tour. They came back a few weeks later and said you’re dead right. You’d need to do 47 shows in 47 days with a 97% capacity just to break even, so it’s really stupid. I said we quite agree, so we’re doing it then. It’s completely mad but I don’t like days off anyway. If we had a day off we’d only go and lose Damian anyway. He’d go off on a run and we’d never find him again.

Production shows have left the theatres now, we want to bring it back in. A lot of animation in it as well, we’ve done it already for a studio DVD coming in June/July. It’s got the spaceship looking for the source of music, it’s all built around that.

To answer your question - I am like a politician really, talk about anything I want. Talk about Man City in a minute! We’ll be doing stuff from ‘Journey…’ ‘Six Wives…’ ‘King Arthur’ and surprise bits ’n’ pieces. From the new album we will be certainly be doing the title track ‘Out There’ and ‘Cathedral In The Sky’, plus ‘Music of Love’ or ‘Universe of Sound’. Thirty minutes or more of the new album. End of the first half we’ll bring on ‘Out There’ and the first time we bring out the projection, rather than the curtain opens to everything you’ve got. We want to build the show up. If we can make this work we know we can take it to Europe and the US.

Any style of music that you’d still like to play - any musical challenges left?

Some of the things you do for yourself, almost an ego trip. I did a classical album with the English Chamber Choir called ‘The Wizard of the Forest of All Dreams’, which was something I’d always wanted to do. I love classical and I knew it would cost a lot of money. At the very best it would take a minimum of five years at least before it made its money back. If you’re always thinking you can’t afford that you end up not writing what you want to. Some of the pianos cost serious money once you’ve rented the best Steinway in town. Plus a good acoustics studio, you’ll be spending £2-2,500 per day for ten days. I love doing those sorts of things.

I’d like a full-scale ballet. But you know you’re on a hiding to nothing. I’ve had some stuff used in ballet and one in Milan. But I know what it would cost and in a nice sense, ballet soundtracks are not big winners in the market today. Ballet’s a really interesting area. I go to Milan a lot, my girlfriend’s Italian and we go to the Scala a lot. We are great friends with the director there and also in Florence. They are getting more adventurous in their music, some of it is jaw dropping. I think there is room to bring in some modified prog rock – there’s a huge gap there and market to excite. Bring the music to a new audience. I like exploring new avenues. Major problem is that no-one will back anything with no track record in the music industry.

We had a bit of a fight over the front cover. On a CD you can’t get any depth once the band’s name or writing is on there. Adam Lovesey, head of the art department at Classic (Pictures) showed me the new cover with all the writing down the spine, leaving a clear picture cover. I thought it was great. So we knocked it up and showed it to the decision-makers. They said great but where is the title on the front? We said it’s not there and we’re putting it there. They said no one does that but we won in the end and we showed ‘Record Collector’ and they thought it was great.

I also wanted a full colour booklet, but they wanted black and white because of the cost. They wanted to know why but I wanted to go back to the days when the album cover was the introduction to the music. When you go to a bookshop for a book called ‘Killer At Dawn’ you don’t have a mental picture of a little furry monkey holding a lolly do you? Bu that’s what’s been happening with CD covers and we wanted the booklet to give you an idea of the music and it’s quality. I hate those booklets with four pages of black and white and no info. But on the other hand I’ve had some stupid ideas but they’ve quite rightly knocked me back.

Same with the whole prog rock thing. All the people at BMG were looking forward to the new album but didn’t know what prog rock was! They asked what does it sound like? They all love the album. But its like me saying to you that I’ve got this great new colour called ‘splodge’. You’d say what’s that then? If I could show you ‘splodge’ you’d straight away say I like that! It’s like music sometimes its hard to describe and I play the mentally senile, he’s 54 this year let him do what he wants to.

A few years ago you did your autobiography called ‘Say Yes’. Would you like to do another, more updated account?

I had two biographies, the first one was ghost written and six months later I got divorced. The publishers were not happy, as you had these happy family photos. The publishers said that’s complete ruined, we can’t sell that one, thanks very much. Did ‘Say Yes’ with Hodder and Stoughton, it did really well and even made the bestsellers, 34 or 32, did all right. Just about to go into second pressing and I got divorced again. They weren’t happy at all. HarperCollins asked for another one in a slightly different style and that’s what I plan to do. There’s one David Niven did called ‘The Moon’s A Balloon’, which is great. The best autobiography ever, it’s not about him but the people he meets. No particular order, he just rambles on - that’s the sort of book I want to do. There are so many people I’ve meet which is really nice and had an influence on the things I’ve done. Biographies are hard as many people said you didn’t much about Yes. I will do a book about Yes but I won’t do it until I know Yes is coming to an end. Because if you’re going to write an honest book about Yes you have to have an ending.

I have every single book written on Yes, even those in foreign languages. Some are very good like Chris Welch’s book, but it doesn’t tell the story as the only way you can tell the story is from within. They come from a different perspective. A lot of things happened for a reason, nothing against the guys in the band. It will only make people say ‘That’s why that happened’. There were never less than a hundred people around the band – managers, crew – and these all have an effect on the band.

Some of the books are disgusting, Chris Welch is very good but Darren Hedges is disgusting. Darren Hedges is like Salman Rushdie to me! He just wrote what he like. If you’re writing a biography you can’t be opinionated and fill in the facts as you want. They don’t do any harm but some bits should be redressed.

How did you get into the TV work?

In ‘Countdown’ there is no cheating, what you see is what you get. The people sitting next to you in Dictionary Corner are nice ladies from Oxford or whatever, they are unbelievable, absolutely brilliant. They come up with words you have never heard of. The secret is, people like Damian the Scrabble champion, I believe this is right – most people know 10% of the words in the dictionary and use 10% of those 10%. Whereas a Scrabble champion will know 98% of the words in an English dictionary, they won’t know anymore than 8% mean but they know the words.

Invariably I’ll be sitting there and the letters will come up and they will come up with a word. I’ll ask Damian what it means and he’ll say he doesn’t know but it’s there in the dictionary. It might mean a castrated camel’s penis or whatever, but it’s in there. The reason they have someone really clever who passes the words to you after checking them, you’d have no end of letters about words you’d missed. It has a monster audience.

Carol (Vorderman) is lovely, a great person. She comes out and meets the audience each show - she still does it some twenty years or so since the show started. Carol loves the programme, she doesn’t have to do it. I went racing with her, she’s got that knack of being able to talk to anyone. From little old ladies to fourteen year old kids who have a crush on her.

I love the TV, ‘Buzzcocks’ (a BBC TV pop quiz show), Mark Lamar, Bill Bailey and Phil Jupitus - three of my favourate people. I love doing those sort of programmes. Mark likes to get the wrinkly rockers on there and take the piss out of them, but he says I am a waste of space as I just want a laugh.

My great love is the big prog rock stuff. It may sound like a bad analogy but I am a great curry nut. But if I did eat it every day I’d have had enough. The greatest thing for me is that I enjoy all the different things I do because when I come back to prog rock I get excited again. If I’d been doing prog rock for the last ten years I’d a) get as excited as I am about a new album and b) I doubt it would have turned out as it has.

Finally, is the curry-on-stage with Yes story true?

Manchester Free Trade Hall, ‘Tales from the Topographic Ocean’ tour, in the days when my roadie used to hide under my Hammond. Two good reasons, if anything went wrong he could fix it and he could also hand me up me beer and Scotch. Certain bits of ‘Topographic Ocean’ where I had little to do, just ‘plink plink’. We used to have these conversations and he said ‘Fancy a curry?’ but with all the noise I thought he said after the show. So, I said yeah, chicken vindaloo, bombay aloo, popadom. Ten minutes later I could smell curry and he’d only gone and got my order! So I was eating away whilst Chris (Squire) and Steve (Howe) did some intricate parts. Jon (Anderson) starts sniffing the air and comes over, ‘You're eating a curry!’ So yeah it was true, but I didn’t leave the show as I have heard sometimes!

ROSfest

 
RoSfest is honored to announce symphonic prog great Starcastle as our Friday night headliner. It has been three years in the making and finally we are able to bring you the classic 70's progressive rock band back to the stage in 2007.

Starcastle put its own stamp on the progressive rock scene back in the 70's and was one of the most respected bands of the American prog scene. Formed in Illinois in the late 60's, the band that would come to be known as Starcastle toured under various names throughout the Midwest before settling with a name that so perfectly fits the majestic sound they came to be known for. Starcastle played over 200 dates a year in the 70's and continued to perform live into the mid 1980's. The band toured with the likes of Gentle Giant, Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, Kansas, Jethro Tull and Boston just to name a few. The band released four studio albums between 1976 and 1978. Starcastle (1976), Fountains of Light (1977), Citadel (1977) and Real to Reel (1978). The band made a few attempts to regroup after a hiatus in the mid 80s, and work has been ongoing on their album "Song of Times", which will be released in the near future.

Starcastle's style is heavily bass-driven, carried by soaring Yes- like vocals, with superb instrumentation all around. This dedicated group of musicians will feature the lineup that includes vocalist Al Lewis, formerly of Alaska, Starcastle guitarist Bruce Botts, guitarist Matt Stewart, keyboardist Herb Schildt, and drummer Steve Tassler.

In 2007 we see Starcastle at the RoSfest stage for a look into the past and a leap into the future. The band will play an ambitious set playing hits from their previous albums and tracks from their upcoming new album "Song of Times".

 RoSfest gold tickets go on sale Saturday, October 28th at noon eastern time. More information is available at the ticket info tab at

Ricocher

Iterview

In the beginning you were a cover band, however you also had some
self-composed songs as mentioned by yourselves. By the way, what has become of these
old songs, were they cast aside?

John van Heugten: In 1993 we recorded a demo tape with four songs on it. A few of these songs are still in the Ricocher set-list. The other old songs are only played in the rehearsal room to gather some old memories… Mostly because they aren’t as good as the songs we write nowadays.

You have also mentioned that the band was musically growing along the time, and also
personal as well as being a band. Was that change somewhat natural, or did you sit
together to talk about a possible change on the band’s direction?

John van Heugten: Mostly it was a natural change. We grow up and become older and we become aware that there is more than just having fun. Musically we grow as well, because we got more and more live experiences and you get the chance to learn a lot from other music and musicians you hear.

Our first songs were a bunch of ideas in a certain order and that was it. The songs we write today do have a better structure. The different themes inside one song do really fit together. If necessary we cut away a part of the song to improve it. In the beginning we didn’t dare to do this.

Next to that our former guitar player left in 1999 and we had to search for a new guy. The former guitar player was a more blues orientated player and Bart is more rock/soul orientated.  This changes the music a bit as well.

Because we play together for a long time, we get to know each other’s weaknesses and strengths. When we’re playing live and someone makes a mistake, the other four are picking it up and the song goes on. In the first years we didn’t know how to handle with these mistakes.

Another point is the studio. When recording the first album in the studio we learned a lot about song structures and which way to build up a song. We used this to write the new songs. Now we have recorded our second album, again a lot is learned. This again will be used to write new songs.

It seems to me that the first Cd from Ricocher was already to be on the market since a
long time ago, but due to some divergences in ideas between the band and the former
guitar player made all the plans of the band fall through. What was in fact around this
conflicting point between you?

John van Heugten: The former guitar player told us that he didn’t want to make this kind of music and that he wanted to do more live performances. The fact is that he told it to us one hour before we would go to the studio and book it…. He moved to a rock-cover band and at this moment he plays in a band with own written songs. It’s more rock orientated then we are. But we’re still friends, he even told us that it was really hard for him being in the audience and see us on stage as support act for Saga and not being there with us. That’s the risk when you make a certain decision.

Afterward it was good for Ricocher that we didn’t record the album at that time; it gave us the chance to grow and be better prepared before going in the studio. Because this, I also got the chance to meet Mattias Norén (http://www.progart.com/) on the Internet. He has designed the artwork for our first album so we decided to ask him again for our new album. And again he has done a great job.

After a few months of search a new guitar player was finally found. How did you find
him, and what made you say: ‘’This is the guy that we were really looking for’’?!

John van Heugten: First of all he’s my second cousin, so he had to be very good J. We had seen him playing with some of his former bands and we were really impressed by his playing and the easyness he showed (little did we know then…).

Before asking him we had advertised, but non of the candidates met the demands we had for the guitar player we were looking for. So we decided to call him and ask him if he was interested. Firstly he wasn’t really interested, he just quited his last band due to some conflicts. But after hearing our music and playing together with us during rehearsal, he decided to give it a try.

The first Cd of your band ‘’Quest for the Heartland’’ was warmly received by the prog fans
and also by the prog press around the world.  Was this outcome expected already by 
you anyway?

John van Heugten: We didn’t expect this at all. When we started the recording we hoped to get some regional exposure and get some nice gigs in our neighborhood. After sending the album to the Dutch Progressive Rock Page, they wrote a good review. We received a lot of requests to send the album to other reviewers. They all wrote very positive reviews and the requests kept growing and growing.

I also sent a copy of the album to the Arena fan club and after a while they called us if we were interested in playing as support act for Arena on their fan club convention. This also happened with the Bospop Festival.

After the album was reviewed in the Classic Rock Societies magazine, we got a mail from its chairman Martin Hudson if we were interested in playing on their annual Rotherham Rocks Festival amongst bands like Pallas, Threshold and Landmarq. Thanks to this gig we were even voted for “BEST NEW BAND 2001” by the readers of the magazine.

All these highlights were much better than we had ever dreamt of…. It’s very strange to see the band’s name growing. We’re just a bunch of guys who play the music we like and certainly a lot of people seemed to like what we’re doing…Very strange.

Are you able to describe your feeling towards the pleasing words spoken by Martin 
Orford and Clive Nolan about Ricocher’s music?

John van Heugten: What can I say? I’m the keyboard player of Ricocher and these two persons are my heroes… It’s one of the finest things to hear. My big examples are saying these wonderful things about our music. I met them both and they are really nice and very interested in Ricocher!

On December 6th Ricocher won an award at the classic rock society as being the best
new band. Does this event take place periodically?

John van Heugten: Yes, The CRS has his annual Best Of The Year Awards Night. It was a real honor for us to become the Best New Band 2001. This proves that the people who are interested in progressive rock music like us. After our appearance at the Rotherham Rocks Festival a lot of people came to us and gave us big compliments. They wanted to be on pictures with us and they wanted our autographs. It felt like if we were big rock stars….This year we will again appear on the Rotherham Rocks Festival and we hope people like it even more this time.

It has come to my knowledge that you have plans to record an new Cd whose title will be
‘’Haunted By Dreams’’, however in view to make it possible you have asked the fans of
the band to co-operate financially. By the way, what’s the fans’ reaction so far?

John van Heugten: The album title has been changed to “Cathedral of Emotions” and it is already recorded and mixed. At this moment the master is made, so the album will be available in a couple of weeks. The album will contain 9 songs with a total time of almost 1 hour.

To record an album a very big amount of money is needed. Ricocher already had the biggest part financed, but still a part of the costs wasn’t covered. We decided to ask people to become a sponsor. Another idea we saw other bands used (ex. Marillion, Fish) was to make it possible for the fans to pre-order the album. This way we hoped to sell at least 70-80 albums. Fortunately things went very good and we managed to sell 145 albums as a pre-sales.

We’ve also contacted a lot of distributors who already sold our previous album. They first want to hear the music and if they think it’s worthwhile they will order their copies as well.

Many other plans are being worked out, but they’re not certain yet.

Erwin Boerenkamps - Vocals, Guitar
Bart van Helmond - Guitar, Backing Vocals
John van Heugten - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Maikel van der Meer - Drums, Percussion
Niels Nijssen - Bassguitar, Backing Vocals

Rhapsody Of Fire

 Triumph Or Agony

Who or what is Rhapsody Of Fire? Well, the answer is: that it is the new name for the Italian film score metal band Rhapsody. They had to change their name due to trade mark and copyright issues and so Triumph Or Agony is their first release under their new name. Some people still may not understand why I like this band so much and also lots of music critics call their music pure kitsch. Lots of music lovers even hate this Italian bombastic power metal, but I cannot get enough of it as I can tell you that my weird music side loves this overdramatic Italian film score metal. Maybe the fact that I also adore the music of Richard Wagner and the books of Tolkien and Goodkind explain my feelings towards Rhapsody Of Fire a bit… Furthermore I consider vocalist Fabio Leone as the Pavarotti of the metal world. So, now you know all about my “love” for this extraordinary rock band!

Triumph Or Agony is the second chapter in the Dark Secret saga and the band continues their bombastic tradition with a live seventy piece orchestra and choir, featuring also an array of guest narrators and character actors, making this album almost a true Italian opera. The CD starts with a spooky voice and some opera like strings and choir passages, providing a perfect Rhapsody Of Fire overture. The title track follows and this one is an up tempo Rhapsody-all-over song with lots of harmony vocals, very bombastic musical passages and Fabio singing like a young opera god. The myth of the holy sword features very dramatic and emotional vocal parts, a really addictive chorus, a gooseflesh melody and a short but sparkling guitar solo. Il Canto Del Vento is Fabio’s debut as a songwriter and it is almost a Puccini-like mini aria, featuring Italian lyrics and really dramatic singing, which makes you wonder, again, if this music is art or kitsch?

The band is at its best during the epic (over 16 minutes) The mystic prophecy of The Mystic Prophecy Of The Demon Knight, a great example of a cinema soundtrack adapted to a metal song. This one has it all, medieval musical influences, head banging riffs, strings, choir parts, bombastic orchestral passages, narrative components, speed metal parts with grunts and also some balladesque passages. It is the absolute master piece of this great album proving that Rhapsody Of Fire is still one of the most unusual phenomena in the current metal scene and I cannot get enough of it….. Call me crazy and probably not even objective about this band, but what the heck. Just buy this new album and enjoy!

Tracklist:Dar-Kunor [I. Echoes From The Elvish Woods II. Fear Of The Dungeons] (3:13), Triumph Or Agony (5:02), Heart Of The Dark Lands (4:10), Old Age Of Wonders (4:35), The Myth Of The Holy Sword (5:03), Il Canto Del Vento (3:54), Silent Dream (3:50), Bloody Red Dungeons (5:11), Son Of Pain (4:43), The Mystic Prophecy Of The Demon Knight [I. A New Saga Begins II. Through The Portals Of Agony III. The Black Order IV. Nekron`s Bloody Rhymes V. Escape From Horror] (16:26), Dark Reigns Of Fire [I. Winter Dawn`s Theme] (6:27)

Riverside

Out Of Myself

It took at least three spins of this album for me to really start wondering who the hell Riverside was and how come I hadn't heard of them before. From then on I started discovering this album in every sense, it grew on me so much that it has become one of the most treasured pieces in my collection.

In a way, Riverside's formula for a great musical experience lies in the "simple" approach -- strong bass lines by Mariusz Duda, supporting drum section by Piotr Kozieradzki to form the backbone, Piotr Grudzinski on guitar to create the lead melodies, and back at the recording time Jacek Melnicki on keyboard to take care of the aerial atmosphere. Add great singing by Duda and some creativity and influences by Anathema, Pink Floyd, Opeth and Porcupine Tree. Stir, shake and serve.

The result is a highly emotional album focusing not only musically but also conceptually on emotions, feelings and the struggle in life and endless failure. And all wrapped up in artwork by Travis Smith. The album starts off with a 12 minute track "The Same River." Typical prog metal you say? Naah... Half of the song is an instrumental intro to the album which sets the listener in the proper frame of mind. Starting with haunting atmosphere the song slowly gains speed, might and versatility on the stairs of the underlying bass, layered with guitar melodies that shine with compositional skill. Mid-song hits an abrupt pause and almost starts anew with bass that just makes an imprint in your memory. And thus starts a story that tries to tell about a man facing depression and failures and trying to struggle through it again by entering "the same river."

The second track "Out Of Myself" is where the aforementioned reference to Pink Floyd first springs up. Took me a while to actually find why the beginning guitars sounded so familiar. Reminded me very much of "Let There Be More Light," the opening track from Pink Floyd's "A Saucerful Of Secrets" album. Not exactly the same but the theme is very similar in the beginning. The track feeds on emotions and grows into a rather angry piece and I love when Duda can almost be heard screaming "Let me get this straight / Let me get this right" towards the end of the track.

"I Believe" is a moment of calm, a stop to take a breath to go onto an instrumental journey that is "Reality Dream," a journey where you find beauty, calmness and aggressive speed, stubbornness and the will to fight. It has interesting interplay between guitars and keys, heavy riffing and it builds up some sense of panic, the one that you can feel after waking up from a nightmare. This is the first of the two instrumental flights, challenging pieces that just get remembered for great lines and turns. It is followed by "Loose Heart" which captures Anathema-like atmosphere of loss, with a bit of Opeth coming in when Duda almost growls the lines "Raise me up / Don't let me fall!" The second part of instrumental, "Reality Dream II," is virtuously served next. It's interesting to note that the band has used instrumental tracks to build up momentum and vocal tracks to slow the pace down.

"In Two Minds" is more like a ballad, a slow track accompanied by acoustic and electric guitars. Nothing really special but it suits well with the coming "The Curtain Falls." This track is another strong reference, guitar wise, to Pink Floyd. Some very Gilmoure-like use of guitars from the times of "Wish You Were Here" and especially "The Wall" albums, the track particularly retains similarity with the "Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 1" in the background. Hauntingly familiar and yet it still sounds fresh. The album is closed with "Ok," a peculiar end to the album. It’s a track not really fitting the general style but a good end because of the message it carries. "There is sadness in my mind -- OK," a sadness because the world doesn't change... and because the album ends.

This album might not be one you are going to love from the first listen. In the first place it might not even be anything special. It's just that this piece of art is a bit more delicate and subtle and needs time to live into it. It took me a while till my feet were kicked from under me. In my case this album became dearer and dearer with each spin. And I'm really curious if these guys from Poland can prove with their new album that this gem did not come out accidentally.

Rocket Scientists

American prog band Rocket Scientists have returned to the studio after an 8 year gap and have announced the forthcoming release of their new epic double album Revolution Road. Founding members Mark McCrite (guitar, vocals), Erik Norlander (keyboards) and Don Schiff (NS/ Stick) started writing and demoing songs for the album in 2002 and even played some California concert dates. But following the loss of their drummer, Shaun Guerin, the project was put on hold. The three musicians continued to collaborate on other projects including Lana Lane's Winter Sessions and Lady Macbeth CDs and Norlander's Music Machine concept album. Norlander also produced Don Schiff's remarkable 2005 solo album, "Peering Over Clouds". But following the Lana Lane 10th Anniversary Tour in 2005, McCrite, Norlander and Schiff officially reunited again as Rocket Scientists and began to record this new studio opus.

Revolution Road brings two new musicians to the Rocket Scientists universe. Drummer Gregg Bissonette and South Carolina's David McBee has also been brought in as the second lead vocalist. Revolution Road is produced by Erik Norlander, and it contains artwork from Polish surrealist Jacek Yerka.

Revolution Road is the fourth album by Rocket Scientists and the first on ProgRock Records. Details, audio samples and ordering information can be found at ProgRock Records: . http://www.progrockrecords.com/artists/view.php?id=43

The album is available for immediate order and will ship in early October and be available in stores on November 7, 2006. Also check out the band's MySpace webpage: http://www.myspace.com/rocketscientistsband

RC2

Very much a first for me - a progressive rock band from Venezuela - but yet again RC-2 proves that it really can pay to be brave and try something new.

RC2 was formed in Caracas during 1999 following the collapse of Radio Clip who released four albums in Venezuela between 1988 and 1994. Wanting to be more than a Radio Clip spin-off band, Felix Duque (vocals), Eduardo Benatar (drums), Arturo Torres (base) and Demian Mejicano (guitar) contacted keyboardist Rafael Paz in a bid to create a complete change of musical style.

Citing Marillion, Yes, Rush, Genesis and Camel as major influences, with a new bassist in Pedro Misle they soon formed under the RC2 name and after producing a few demos, attracted the interest of Alexis Lope Bello, a talent scout who has introduced various Venezuelan bands to Musea. After learning the news, the five musicians and producer Francisco Diaz entered the studio to begin recording their debut album.

The album begins with a three-minute Obertura (Overture). This has a nice melody that builds from piano introduction to a synth orchestral arrangement of the pomp variety. Unfortunately the melody is a bit wasted as the track just fades out, instead of building to a climax.

Into the album proper then and the energetic Joroprog is a great opener and my favourite track. As in most of what is follow, it's nowhere near heavy enough to qualify for Prog-metal. Mejicano doesn't ride the crunchwagon. His guitar being used more for background rhythm than being the main attraction. However this track really does show the quality of songwriting that the band has produced - the listener is switched between two musical themes; there's some clever interplay between guitar and keyboards in the solo department; there's a nice atmospheric midsection and most importantly the instruments (including some traditional south American ones) are varied throughout, giving an ever changing sound to the band.

Duque's delivery is great. I just love the way the Spanish roll certain words off the tongue. On the very high notes his voice is a bit strained but thankfully he doesn't go in that direction too often - sticking to a level where the warmth and energy of his voice shines through.

Nada (Nothing) is another favourite. Duque croons delicately over a slightly dark, programmed backing. Then a third of the way in, enters the full band and a captivating guitar solo, before Duque refrains the opening hook, but at a more urgent pace.

The one track I can't stand on the album is Sombras, mainly because I just can't get away from the thought that it sounds like something out of the Eurovision Song Contest. The phrasing, heavy use of the synths and the general corny vibe to it, just reeks of the sort of thing that some eastern European country would get 'Nil points' for.

RM and Fria (cold) is a pair of very different instrumentals. The first is Mejicano's showcase, a delicate finger-picked acoustic guitar number. The second is Paz's chance to shine and since he's the primary writer then it's quite a bit longer. It opens with a dirty, 60's organ lead before the rest of the guys join in to recall burn it up with some roller coaster, whirlwind pairing. Again the interplay between guitars and keys is great as is the development of a couple of nice melodic themes.

I call this an instrumental, as the vocals on Fria actually don't come in until after a complete fadeout at six minutes - eventually running to a whopping 14 minutes in length (really the first six minutes should've been indexed as another instrumental). The vocal portion is a more straightforward classic rock number - featuring a lovely Mark Knopfler-style solo - that eventually builds into the heaviest track on offer.

So far so good - especially, in that the band is not following any set formulas. They are happy to mix up the styles and the mood but somehow manage to keep a central theme and style of their own that holds it all together.

More rabbits are pulled out of the hat on the last four tracks. Gira la Tuierra takes a more neo-prog approach that brings to mind Sylvan and Ricocher. The song is based in a beautiful rolling piano melody with more great interplay between guitar and keys in the instrumental mid-section.

A spacey atmosphere with electronic percussion greets the start of Soledad (Solitude) before Duque's somewhat pained vocals come in (I guess it's quite a sad lyric?). Quite balladic, it doesn't stray to far from the opening melody - although the backing gives it quite a grand, Floyd-ian sound.

Mejicano's second brief solo spot is Voz de Tempestad (Voice of Tempest) before we close with the album's longest track Se Pierde el Sol (Losing The Sun). If epic, symphonic, progressive rock is your scene, then this will have more than enough to hold your interest though its 14 minutes - it's quite bluesy in a Led Zep sorta way as well.

I've read a few other reviews that have pinned the obligatory Dream Theater label on this band. Don't be silly! While there is the occasional rockin' moment, there's not a crunchy guitar or screech to be found here. Plenty of hot playing - Rafael Paz must be up there in the 'Tinkling the ivories league table' - and the songwriting and musical arrangements are from the top draw. And as it's all sung in Spanish, then I'm sure, for those who can understand, there's a whole extra dimension to be had from the lyrics as well.

The band has self-produced this disc and top marks for a sharp sound. There's also a cool picture of a lunar eclipse taken by Spanish photographer Juan Carlos Casado to brighten up the sleeve.

So overall, a great surprise and a very enjoyable listen. If Musea can get themselves behind this band I'm sure they will soon be a big name, much further afield than their home country. They're not easy to pidgeonhole for me, but fans of Arena, Enchant, Satellite and even old school Marillion and Genesis should find enough rewards if you're brave enough to try something new. Impressive stuff!

 Tracklist: Obertura (3.04), Joroprog (6.36), Nada (5.33), Sombras (5.18), RM (2.32), Fria (14.19), Gira la Tierra (7.10), Soledad (8.09), Voz de Tempestad (2.00), Se Pierde el Sol (14.14)

Ring Of Myth

Ring of Myth's origins go back to 1990 when Danny Flores was looking to put together a new rock band. After jamming with many different musicians, Danny felt the time was right to create music with virtually no limits as to style or direction... just music with good vibes.

George Picado answered one of the ads Danny placed in a trade magazine. They immediately hit it off and started jamming with different drummers. "We started writing songs together almost instantly," Danny says, "we also played some local parties as well. George and I started getting really serious about the music and how to navigate the band. The drummer we had at the time was not interested in where we were heading musically, and eventually we had to give him the sack."

Once again, ads went out for drummers; enter Scott Rader. "It was pretty funny, our first meeting with Scott, though not at the time." Danny states. "We borrowed a friend's garage for the audition and I gave Scott the directions, but he ended up getting lost. He had a 20 mile drive from Pasadena to Pico Rivera, but he just drove around for an hour until finally driving back home and calling for the directions once again. This was, of course, before the invention of cell phones."

The audition was a success: they played songs by The Beatles, The Police, Jimi Hendrix, and The Cream. Everything fell together right away. "I noticed how solid, steady and especially loud Scott was as a player; that was something George and I hadn't experienced to that point with other drummers," Danny says.

The first name they chose for the band was inspired by a Jimi Hendrix tune called "Catfish Blues." The trio was known around Southern California as Catfish and they gigged non-stop; they played every club and bar from San Fernando Valley to Hollywood, Los Angeles, Pasadena and Orange County. "We were a very eager band from the start," Danny says, "we played the L.A. Marathon four years in a row. We were basically a cover band mixing in a few original songs here and there." The originals, at the time, were an eclectic mix of pop rock, blues, and hard rock, with a slight nod to jazz rock.

Soon, Catfish started thinking about recording some tunes. It was perfect timing; Scott was attending college for recording engineering, and he offered to record some of the songs to fulfill part of his class requirements. There were late night sessions at the college recording studio almost weekly. The band would record every Thursday and Friday night from dusk to dawn throughout the quarter, and some of the songs would eventually make their way onto the group's first release, Ring of Myth.

With the release came the band's new name, Ring of Myth, taken from a line in a Joseph Campbell book. Danny, Scott, and George formed Cosmic Energy Records label, and they their debuted to very positive reviews in many L.A. based magazines including the Los Angeles Times and La Opinion.

Ring of Myth had been playing together regularly for almost three years when Scott decided to leave the band to focus on his engineering career. Danny and George once more placed ads in the local papers and Rick Striker answered the call, auditioning for the group. He brought unbridled energy and a forceful style of drumming; with a new drummer and more gigs, Ring of Myth charged full steam ahead.

They started writing and rehearsing new material in George's townhouse basement, 'Mung Dungeon' in Pasadena and at Rick's studio in Panorama City. The songs happened rather fast, and soon Danny was calling on former drummer Scott Rader to engineer and co-produce what was to become Unbound. "We did a three song demo to shop around for possible label interest. The songs were "Messanger" "Only A Dream" and "A Transforming". I got a call late one night from Larry Kolata at the record label Kinesis and he was amazed by the songs. He asked how soon the rest of the material would be done as he was really interested and excited to have us on his label." Rick came up with the name Unbound and the band agreed that it sounded just right.

Danny says, "We got some airplay in the Los Angeles market with the demo. Eddie Offord's office called to say that Eddie was interested in the band. The record label Magna Carta was interested in us through the radio airplay, and we were referred to Billy Sherwood as a possible producer. The bottom line, though, was "Big Money" or rather our lack of it." Nevertheless, Ring of Myth pushed onward with Kinesis.

After the release of Unbound, the band started moving toward a more experimental, cacophonous, left field, anything-sort-of-goes mode. Rick wasn't really into it anymore; he had a side group called Mask going on at the time. Rick and the band parted ways.

George and Danny continued to compose songs and put ideas together until they had amassed too many songs to count. They really needed to catalogue them somehow, so once again they called on former drummer-extraordinare-turned-engineer, Scott Rader, for assistance. Scott agreed to help record the songs, play drums, and engineer the project. This move proved the turning point; the official return of Scott to the band.

Ring of Myth's new cd is titled "Weeds" it includes ten new songs: "Offering", "Into Phase", "Plight", "Drone", "Soft Disguise", "Bird's Eye View", "For A Time", "Half Wing", "Drowning In Fire", and "Blue Stem".

Ritual

Album:Ritual

Ritual are a band that definitely consider themselves to be in for the long haul rather than a quick sprint. From humble beginnings in the late 1980s as a band called Bröd playing experimental music (whatever that may entail), Patrik Lundström (vocals and guitar), Fredrik Lindqvist (bass) and Johan Nordgren (drums) linked up with keyboard player Jon Gamble in early 1993 and thus was formed Ritual. The eponymous debut album was given a limited release by Musea in 1995 and was largely ignored outside of some rather small Swedish circles. Persevering the group released the heavier Superb Birth in 1999 and the well-received Think Like A Mountain in 2003. Not that the group members have been idle in the gaps between Ritual albums, Fredrik Lindqvist is a member of the improvisation group Altaír with whom he has released at least one album whilst, Patrik Lundström can be found moonlighting as the vocalist in the reformed Kaipa alongside the ubiquitous Ronnie Stolt. Of course, this is in addition to Lundström's rather less prog past in the principle roles in the Swedish versions of "The Buddy Holly Story" and "Hair", singer in the "One Voice" gospel choir and his 1997 pop album with "Blond" who also had that year's Swedish entry into the Eurovision Song Contest (they came 14th!).

The success of Think Like A Mountain and the two Kaipa albums to feature Lundström have prompted the re-release of the debut album in the hope that it will reach a wider audience this time round. It's certainly deserving of wider acclaim. With a diversity that is largely missing from a lot of progressive releases, Ritual manage to successfully fuse a wide diversity of musical styles and influences into the hour of music presented on this disc.

Wingspan opens proceedings with the twittering of birds before a forceful 6/8 rhythm drives the song along. Lundström sounds remarkably similar to ex Uriah Heep and Lone Star vocalist John Sloman, indeed, Wingspan could almost be a long-lost out-take from the exceptional Lone Star Firing On All Six album. A more folkier, acoustic approach is taken on The Way Of Things which blends nicely into Typhoons Decide, whose string synth backing nods in the direction of Zeppelin's Kashmir. The slow pace is maintained with A Little More Like Me, which features keyboards that are strongly reminiscent of Just The Same by Gentle Giant, before the tempo is upped with Solitary Man, a great rocking track that is one of those rare accomplishments - a heavy song with a great chorus. As the longest track on the album it offers more space for the individual instrumentalists. However, one slight criticism is that the extended keyboard solo, despite some nice moments, is rather pedestrian and the guitar solo doesn't really take off. Good ending though!

A trio of tunes that can loosely be described as folk rock follows. Life Is Just Begun for some reason reminds me of Echolyn (possibly because of the vocals), Dependence Day, a personal highlight of the album, has a great tune featuring violins, a tin whistle and a powerful vocal arrangement (Gentle Giant are, again, the inspiration) and an epic musical interpretation of a Swedish folk tale Seasong For Moominpaapa. This latter track is quite a gem, although the 'drunken sailor' section can be a bit tiring despite the nice little jig in the middle! You Can Never Tell is another wonderfully arranged song replete with harmonics and acoustic interludes. In a subtle twist, Big Black Secret starts with a classical piano solo before shooting off into a heavier direction with robust guitar power cords and a rather ambiguous lyric. Power Place, recorded live in the studio, provides is an enigmatic finale to the album, a rather non-descript track that is the most experimental (how many other songs can you think of that features a hammered dulcimer?!)

If you are a fan of albums that contain a variety of musical styles then the re-release of Ritual's first album could be a great way to start 2004. Let's hope that all other debut albums released this year are of as high a quality.

 Tracklist: Wingspread (5:48), The Way Of Things (3:35), Typhoons Decide (5:19), A Little More Like Me (5:17), Solitary Man (8:11), Life Has Just Begun (3:34), Dependence Day (4:45), Seasong For The Moominpappa (7:35), You Can Never Tell (4:49), Big Black Secret (6:56), Power Place (4:57)

Album : Suberb Birth

The review here is of the original (1999) Superb Birth release and Remco's text remains unaltered. This update to the review marks its world-wide re-release in 2004. The album has been remastered by Hans Fredrickson in the Rommaro Studio (Sweden), and the running order for the tracks has altered (See above).

The second album of Swedish band Ritual, since their self-titled debut album in 1995 (published by Musea). I saw them live in Holland a couple of years ago, and was sold immediately. Their 1995 album is probably one of my most played albums. So when I heard that they released a new album and that DPRP got a review copy, I was very glad I had the pleasure of reviewing it.

The album is different from the first one, in the sense that the songs are somewhat sharper, less symfonic, but the quality of the first album is definitely preserved, including the soaring bass work by Fredrik Lindqvist. Immediately in the first song the new direction Ritual takes becomes apparent: powerful hammering bass and drum, dissonant guitar chords, tumbling vocals and even Steve Howe-like slide guitars. A very impressive opening piece, Dinosaur Spaceship, typical of the general direction modern prog is taking. After this exhausting piece, a semi-acoustic track follows. Again the flirtation with dissonant chords, but the clear vocals of Patrik Lundström keep the song from becoming out-of-control.

Coming Home is more regular rock, with melodic lines that for the first time remind of their debut album. The type of song you want to play loud in your car on a sunny day (that is, if you have a better car than I have ;-). Really Something is really weird. Deep, headache-like pounding of all the instuments together opens this track and continues until a U2-like middle piece breaks things a bit. This modern U2 reference continues with Lobby, but mixed with the typical Ritual sauce. 6/8 opens with a melancholic cello melody and then a cool organ (mellotron?) creates the right background for a Middle Eastern-like track (as they proved they can do on their first album).

The next couple of tracks continue this line. Did I Go Wrong deserves some attention, with a tired, complaining melody, almost New Wave like, with a firm bass melody. This track is very, very Radiohead-like, a reference that they flirt with throughout the album. Actually, this song is released on single, and with the right promotion I think it could even become a minor hit.

Mothersong somehow lacks the production of the other tracks, somehow it sounds pale. What went wrong here? This song contains some sound effects, mixed into the song as in the Cure's Like Cacatoos (for those who know this track). A Voice of Divinity is a piano-vocal ballad, with a Focus-like melody.

And then for the finale: Do You Want To See The Sun. Somehow, sometimes, you have these tracks that do something to you. I immediately felt connected to this one, like I knew it for years. It made me really happy, like sunshine in your stomach. I bet most of you won't have this when listening to this song, since it's not particulary happy or anything, but it's the typical track that is associated with summer, beer, friends and sunshine for me. This is definitely going to be an all time favourite.

OK, concluding: a worthy second album of a very talented band. Less symphonic, more Radiohead than their debut. Great songwriting, great instrumentals and it contains a song that can really uplift me. Their artwork is reviewed in The Artcorner and in contrast to Mattias, I quite like it. Their final rating can come as no surpise.

 Tracklist: Original Dinosaur Spaceship (6:09), Golden Angel (4:27), Coming Home (4:11), Really Something (3:51), Lobby (4:49), 6/8 (3:22), Into the Heat (4:59), Sadly Unspoken (3:53), Did I Go Wrong (5:38), Mothersong (3:53), A Voice of Divinity (3:35), Do You Want To See the Sun (4:00)

 Album : Think Like A Mountain

It is amazing to me the amount of great and diverse progressive rock music that has been coming out of Sweden lately. I became interested in Sweden’s Ritual last year with Kaipa’s return album, which features the singular vocal styling of Patrik Lundstrom, lead singer and guitarist of Ritual. But since I had never gotten a hold of one of their albums, I jumped when the opportunity arose to review Think Like a Mountain. To be sure, this album was not what I expected it to be, and it was different enough from whatever pre-conceptions I might have had that I wasn’t sold on it after my first listen. Given two or three listens though, and I was convinced, this is a great album.

With this CD, Ritual celebrates their tenth year together. It is their third release and comes on the heels of the highly regarded Superb Birth. Think Like a Mountain is not a concept album as such, but an album whose songs are, for the best part, thematically related by an ecosophical thread. Here, the band has put together a collection of twelve songs. You’ll find groove oriented hard edged rock such as the opening track What Are You Waiting For and Infinite Justice and much less driving acoustic folk tinged songs like Once the Tree Would Bloom and the fantastic and haunting Moomin Took My Head. There are lots of unexpected and interesting sounds and effects as well as very creative engineering throughout the album.

Patrik Lundstrom’s unique and expressive high tenor voice can be as aggressive as it can be soothing, sometimes calling to my mind Freddy Mercury, Robert Plant, or even Dennis DeYoung. His guitar playing is likewise impressive and original, whether creating a soul-stirring slide guitar solo or laying down infectious electric or acoustic grooves. Bassist Fredrik Lindqvist does a grand job establishing the bottom end with his fresh, exciting tones and sense of style. John Gamble’s indispensable keyboard playing is equally unique and though rarely in the forefront, is integral to their trademark sound. Drumming on this CD is tremendous. Johan Nordgren establishes some serious grooves here, and has a monstrous and subtle kick drum style that very much resembles one of the masters of his trade: John Bonham.

So what was I expecting? Well, having heard the last Kaipa album, I guess I expected more traditional symphonic progressive rock, which this is not. What this is, is a collection of songs containing a sound, which is entirely Ritual. They have their own wonderful way of balancing unlikely and dissonant sounds with more harmonious ones, mixing acoustic and electric instruments producing a dynamic, original, and exhilarating CD of fresh progressive hard rock tunes. So if you’re looking four some driving eclectic rock that’ll turn your head around then, as the opening track asks, What Are You Waiting For?

 Tracklist: What Are You Waiting For (3:58), Humble Decision (4:04), Explosive Paste (5:03), Once the Tree Would Bloom (3:58), Mother You’ve Been Gone for Much Too Long (7:03), Think Like a Mountain (5:02), Moomin Took My Head (4:32), Infinite Justice (6:36), On (2:59), Shamanarama (4:34), Breathing (4:18), Off (2:16)

Album : Live

It seems almost common practice these days for a live project to be released in DVD format. Not so this set which comes in the form of a double CD, so there’s no need to sit in front of a TV screen for 2 hours to enjoy the show. The album was recorded during the band’s 2004 European tour, with the songs taken from different gigs. The set runs for just under 2 hours, and includes songs from the three previous studio albums, Ritual (1995), Superb Birth (1999), and Think Like A Mountain (2003). They are each fairly well represented here, especially the last album. The band’s music has been described as “Swedish progressive folk”. If that’s difficult to picture, then consider a style that includes elements of folk, hard rock, space rock, and progressive rock with Eastern and North African influences. This combination gives the band quite a unique sound, although I was often reminded of Led Zeppelin at their most eclectic as the album progressed.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Patrik Lundström is the band’s obvious focal point. His rapport with the audience between songs has warmth and sincerity; this is a man who clearly enjoys his music. He is possibly just as well known as vocalist with symphonic prog band Kapia, although I’m not entirely convinced that his voice works in that setting. Here, he is given far more freedom to express himself, which he uses to his advantage. His distinctive high vocal has been compared to several singers, and I would add Dave Lawson the original vocalist and keyboardist with UK prog band Greenslade to that list. If I give the impression that this is a one man band then I’ll redress that by stating that Patrik receives superb support from Fredrik Lindqvist on bass, bouzouki, mandolin, tin-whistles and backing vocals, Johan Nordgren on drums and percussion, and Jon Gamble on keyboards and harmonica. The album has a clean and clear sound, effectively capturing the atmosphere and dynamics of a live show.

Disc one gets off to a fairly low-key start with the ambient instrumental Vision Quest, full of mystical eastern overtones. It dovetails seamlessly into the rocking What Are You Waiting For from the last album. Patrick asserts himself from this point on with Robert Plant like vocal gymnastics and spirited guitar. The busy support from the rest of the band is one of controlled aggression. With its conspicuously catchy chorus, Typhoons Decide revisits the first album, and includes skilful interplay between guitar and violin courtesy of keys. A pounding riff, Freddie Mercury style vocal phrasing, and a U2 bell like guitar tone gives Really Something from the band’s second album a commercial edge. Moomin Took My Head has bags of charm and a childlike (as opposed to childish) quality. The heavy rhythm and proggy synth solo half way through contrasts strongly with the rest of the song. The forceful Infinite Justice has an infectious Jimmy Page style riff and a majestic chorus. This is possibly my favourite song on the set.

A brief introduction to the band members from Patrik is followed by Humble Decision. This is a melodic song resplendent with string samples, mandolin, and an excellent choral refrain. The band remains in acoustic mood for Once The Tree Would Bloom, although this time with an Eastern flavour. A return to the second album for the bass dominated Did I Go Wrong, with its edgy atmosphere. Think Like A Mountain has all the hallmarks of King Crimson at their most unsettling, but sadly the vocal effect used throughout becomes tedious after a while. The lengthy Solitary Man was the centrepiece of the band’s first album, and here it’s given an extended instrumental workout. Organ and a solid rhythm section impress, as does guitar for the most part, although the prolonged solo and repetitive chorus tends to drag towards the end.

Dinosaur Spaceship kick-starts disc two, as it did the second studio album, with its heavy and slightly disjointed tone. Another return to Zeppelin territory for the riff driven Explosive Paste, complete with a slightly off the wall chorus. The guitar solo has a memorable Steve Howe style slide effect. The Acoustic Medley is another highlight, made up of the folk oriented songs from the first album, including A Little More Like Me, The Way Of Things, and Life Has Just Begun. It features a beautiful instrumental section dominated by whistle and keys, followed by a glorious Gentle Giant style a capella vocal. Mother You’ve Been Gone For Much Too Long is another large-scale piece, with dramatic keyboard punctuations providing a sense a scale and drama. The playing becomes a little chaotic as they build an emotional wall of sound, but its rousing stuff with a distinctive prog edge.

Do You Wanna See The Sun is an aural delight, combining a warm sing along chorus with dramatic instrumentation. The highlight of disc two for me, and the audience clearly agree as they join Patrik for the chorus matching him note for note. Following a lyrically classical piano introduction, Big Black Secret takes off into a bombastic piece, propelled by a commanding bass line. With Seasong For The Moomin Pappa, disc two follows the lead of disc one and ends with an extended opus from the first studio album. After a graceful opening section with inventive harmonies, the song develops both musically and lyrically into a humorous variation on ELP’s Pirates. The joke starts to wear thin after a while, concluding with a Message In A Bottle Sting parody against a backdrop of Yes style atmospherics. A bizarre ending from a band that is anything but predictable!

Although the band integrates a variety of styles into their music, the approach to song development is straightforward, with the emphasis on songs that are concise and structured. The musicianship remains solid for the most part, with momentary lapses as a reminder that this is a live recording after all. It’s the changes in mood and style that catch the listener out, and is comparable to riding a rollercoaster blindfolded. It’s exhilarating stuff, but you’re never sure which way it’s going to turn next. If you’ve yet to sample the music of Ritual, then this release would make a good starting point.

 Tracklist:

Disc 1 [59:17]: Vision Quest (3:24), What Are You Waiting For (3:36), Typhoons Decide (5:41), Really Something (3:39), Moomin Took My Head (4:13), Infinite Justice (6:25), Humble Decision (4:03), Once The Tree Would Bloom (4:01), Did I Go Wrong (5:43), Think Like A Mountain (4:49), Solitary Man (10:08)

Disc 2 [55:40]: Dinosaur Spaceship (5:54), Explosive Paste (4:46), Acoustic Medley (8:38), Mother You’ve Been Gone For Much Too Long (10:31), Do You Wanna See The Sun (5:27), Big Black Secret (7:32), Seasong For The Moomin Pappa (10:45)

 Retroheads

The Retroheads-project was started in 2003 by Tore after he had been working several years as a commercial music- and sound-producer for radio and TV in Norway. He desperately needed to do something else. Something good and inspiring. Like going back to the roots. Like starting a great new band called Retroheads. From August 2003 - April 2004, Tore had composed and arranged enough music to fill a 60 minute album. After contacting Ann-Kristin, Tommy and Harald, as well as Pål Søvik and Wade Markham on some of the lyrics, the CD was pre-recorded at Tore's homestudio and Tommy's music studio, and mixed by Odd Harald Jensen at Urban Sound studios in Oslo in July 2004. The album was then mastered at Trillium Sound Studios by Richard Addison.
 

The band now consists of 5 musicians with various musical backgrounds; from jazz, pop and rock to African and world-music. 5 musicians who all share the same vision that music must be made and performed without limits, borders, restrictions or commercial angles. In other words : With creative freedom ! The Retroheads are no copycats of the past, although the band uses instruments with significant sounds and links to the 70's, like the Hammond B3, Mellotron, ARP, MiniMoog and Taurus bass pedals. They use the latest available technology and VST instruments to emulate the real thing. After all; It's not the way you create music that matters

:It's the way you think!

 

Rer Circuit

This is a debut that will please fans of progressive metal after Symphony X and Vanden Plas model. The name Red Circuit may still be unknown, yet there are a number of top musicians in this band. Eye-catchers are the Sri Lanka born singer Chity Sompala ((ex-Avalon, ex-Firewind) and keyboard player Markus Teske. The last one earns some words of explanation, because he wrote the songs and got some help from Vanden Plas singer Andy Kuntz. Together they were responsible for the production too. So it is not that surprising that there are some similarities with Vanden Plas. Markus Teske himself is a famous producer. He sat behind the mixing table with renowned artists such as Neal Morse, Symphony X, Mob Rules, Weissglut, Ian Parry’s Consortium Project and, oh surprise, Vanden Plas.

 Besides three virtuoso musicians on guitar, bass and drums (see above), three star guitarists were invited in the studio to give an extra dimension to the songs. We note Patrick Rondat (Elegy) in ‘Search For Your Soul’, Stephan Forte (Adagio) in ‘Is It Gold?’ and Stephan Lill (guitarist Vanden Plas) in ‘The Veil’. Can anything go wrong? Surely not, ‘Trance State’ contains ten firm, steady compositions that rumble through your living room like a train and they even get better as you hear them more times. With Teske as initiator it is normal that keyboards have a leading function in the progressive metal of this quintet.

 Vocals are sonorous without sounding forced, an item worth mentioning in prog music. The summit is the slightly wavering and therefore very intense ‘Where You Are’ that starts with violin (anyway so it seems and sounds like) and it has a delicious begin with heavy riffs and a magnificent solo. The vocoder backing vocals are charming too. But songs like ‘The Screen’ and the Dream Theater alike ‘So Hard To Be Like God’ are stunning too. What above all pleases me it the vigorous momentum of every song so that you’ll never get bored.

For the lyrical fanatics amongst you there is a reason for joy. Because this album is lyrically inspired by the works of Klaus Kinski. Central theme is the dishonesty of mankind in all its forms. The album was recorded at the Bazement Studios near Frankfurt. A very nice achievement of these Germans.

 A true prog metal supergroup melodically with a view to the highest standard of this genre ! Feat members of AVALON, FIREWIND and SHEELA as well as guests from ELEGY, KEAN MICHEL JARRE, VANDEN PLAS and ADAGIO.

Rolling Stones

62 år gamle Richards og bandmedlem Ron Wood ferierte på den tropiske øya Fiji da ulykken skjedde.
 
De skal ifølge australske medier ha forsøkt å klatre opp i ett palmetre da Richard skled og falt. Han skal ha påført seg alvorlige hodeskader.
 
Den gamle rockeren ble først fraktet til et lokalt sykehus, men ble deretter fløyet med luftambulanse til Ascot sykehuset i Auckland på New Zealand.
 
Richards er i området i forbindelse med Rolling Stones' Australia-turneen. Bandet reiser verden rundt i forbindelse med turneen «A Bigger Bang»nne saken

Siste om denne saken:

Stones-gitarist slipper hjerneoperasjon

Superspreke Keith Richards klatret opp i et palmetre, falt ned og slo hodet. Men nå vil han på Europa-turné.

Etter at Rolling Stones-giarist Keith Richards (62) klatret opp i og falt ned fra et palmetre på Fiji 29.april, har man fryktet for hans helsetilstand. Den spreke gitaristen slo hodet sitt kraftig, og flere har vært redde for at han ikke ville kunne turnere i Europa som planlagt.

Slipper å operere

Keith Richards slipper imidlertid hjerneoperasjon. Han ble etter ulykken fløyet til et privat sykehus på New Zealand, og oppholdt seg der noen dager.

Han ser ut til å ha klart fallet bedre enn man fryktet, og talsmann Fran Curtis sier til BBC at:

- Han er i god form og føler en indre styrke.

Turné-forberedelser

Bandet kan nå begynne å forberede seg på den europeiske delen av sin verdensturné, som starter i Barcelona den 27.mai.

Rolling Stones har allerede spilt i Japan, Kina, Australia og New Zealand som en del av stor-turneen.

Enda en oppdatering i denne saken:

Keith Richards- som sammen med Mick Jagger utgjør kjernen i legendariske The Rolling Stones- ble i dag morges operert for hjerneblødning på The Ascot hospital på New Zealand, melder nyhetsbyrået Reuters.

Dermed har bandet sett seg nødt til å utsette avsparket for sin kommende Europa-turne. Turnees skulle startet i Barcelona 27 mai, og i Madrid to dager senere, men er nå forskjøvet til et sted i begynnelsen av juni, ifølge bandets egen hjemmeside.

- Tror ikke det blir avlyst
The Rolling Stone skulle stått på scenen Kuengen i Bergen 6.juni, men nå kan altså Norges-besøket bli utsatt. Konsert-arrangør Rune Lem har imidlertid ikke fått beskjed om noen forskyvelse når Dagbladet.no snakker med ham.

- Jeg kjenner til at turne-starten er utsatt, men vi har ikke fått noen henvendelse fra arrangørene som tyder på at konsert-datoen i Bergen endres. Dersom den blir det, vil den mest sannsynlig bli lagt til slutten av Europa-turneen deres i slutten av august, sier Lem.

Han tror det er liten sannsynlighet for at konserten vil komme til å bli avlyst.

- Nei, det tror jeg absolutt ikke, sier Lem.

Måtte operer etter fall
På The Rolling Stones hjemmeside annonseres det i dag at Keith Richards har det helt fint etter å ha gjennomgått operasjonen, men at han vil trenge et par uker på å komme seg.

Richards var til observasjon på sykehuset i Auckland sist uke etter et fall på Fiji. Han dro siden hjem, men etter at han stadig klaget over hodesmerter bestemte legene seg for likevel å operere og å forsøke å fjerne trykket mot hodet.

Over 1 million på Rolling Stones-konsert

Rolling Stones åpnet lørdagens gratiskonsert i Brasil med låten «It's Only Rock and Roll» foran anslagsvis 1,2 millioner frammøte. Konserten er en av de største gratiskonsertene som noensinne har vært arrangert.

 To telekommunikasjonsselskaper og kommunen plukket opp regningen på i overkant av 30 millioner kroner.

Sang med

Tusener av fans sang med fra hotellenes vinduer og balkonger og fra båter langs kysten. Gruppen, som har utnevnt seg selv til verdens beste rock'n'roll-band, hadde 20 låter på programmet for konserten, som markerer starten på en turné i Sør-Amerika.

Været var det ikke nå å si på. Solen brant etter flere dager med piskende regn. Blant fansen var det tilreisende fra Argentina, Nord-Amerika og Europa foruten brasilianerne selv.

Rio-politiet gjennomfører sin største operasjon noensinne og har satt inn 15.000 politifolk. 2.050 av disse var utplassert på stranda.

 Frykter vold

Sjefen for sikkerheten i Rio var skeptisk til konsertstedet og har sendt kraftige forsterkninger til byens slumområder i et forsøk på å hindre vold og ran under konserten. Mange av slumområdene er kontrollert av mektige og voldelige narkogjenger. I fjor ble om lag 6.600 personer drept i Rio, hvor det bor 6 millioner mennesker.

- Det er en enorm menneskemasse på ett sted, og det er ikke akkurat et rolig show med klassisk musikk, sier sikkerhetssjef Marcelo Itagiba.

En kjempescene er rigget opp på sanden tvers overfor Copacabana Palace Hotel, hvor de britiske rockestjernene bor. Det er også bygd opp 23 tårn for at politiet skal kunne overvåke stranden

 Rolling Stones må droppe fem sanger

Kinesiske sensurmyndigheter har bedt rockegruppa Rolling Stones om å droppe fem av sangene i konsertopplegget sitt, når de skal spille i Shanghai lørdag.

 Stones-sangeren Mick Jagger fortalte om sensuren fredag, men virket ikke nevneverdig provosert over ønsket fra kinesiske myndigheter.

- Dette er egentlig en ikke-sak. Men jeg er glad for at kulturdepartementet beskytter anstendigheten til de utenlandske bankmennene og kjærestene deres, sa Jagger fredag.

Rolling Stones skal lørdag spille sin første konsert i Kina noensinne.

- Da vi søkte om å få spille her sist, ba kulturdepartementet oss høflig om å droppe visse sanger fra albumet «Forty Licks», sier Jagger om konserten i 2003 som ble avlyst på grunn av sars-utbruddet i Asia.

- Denne gangen håpet jeg det ikke kom til å bli spørsmål om sensur, men så kom de med den samme listen over fire sanger og hadde også lagt til en ekstra, fremholder Jagger.

De fire sangene som skal ha stått på sensurlisten helt siden 2003, er «Honky Tonk Woman», «Brown Sugar», «Beast of Burden» og Let's Spend the Night Together"

Høflig og historisk Stones-show i Shanghai

Den britiske rockegruppen The Rolling Stones' første opptreden i Kina gikk av stabelen nesten uten frekkheter i landets største by Shanghai.

Mick Jagger lurte trolig likevel sensorene som overvåker den offisielle moral, og som på forhånd hadde forbudt verdens mest legendariske, eksisterende rockegruppe å spille fire av sine klassikere fordi de inneholdt for vovede tekster.

Det gjorde han ved å synge «Oh No, Not You Again», en ny sang som sensorene trolig ikke hadde hørt om, og hvor han beskriver hvordan han kikker ned i barmen til en brystfager kvinne.

Kanskje kompenserte det at klassikerne «Honky Tonk Woman», «Brown Sugar», «Beast of Burden» og «Let's Spend the Night Together» var satt på forbudslisten. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts og Ron Wood spilte seg gjennom 18 sanger.

I klassikeren «Wild Horses» delte Jagger scenegulvet med Kinas store rockenavn Cui Jian.

Høflig

- Det var veldig disiplinert alt sammen, sa en tysk tilskuer etter konserten, mens en danske beskrev sceneshowet som «høflig».

- Det er hyggelig å være her. Det er første gang vi spiller i Kina, sa Mick Jagger til de 8.000 tilskuerne som hadde betalt fra 250 til 2.500 kroner for å være til stede. Det er det samme som det koster i USA og Europa, og mye penger i en by der gjennomsnittslønna er 1.500 kroner måneden. Svært mange av tilskuerne var utlendinger som bor og arbeider i Kina.

- Vi velger ikke publikum, svarte Jagger på spørsmålet om hvordan det var å være i Kina for første gang og så spille mest for «egne». - De kan se den på TV, tilføyde han. Konserten skal senere vises på kinesisk TV.

Konserten varte i halvannen time, og applausen klarte å få bandmedlemmene tilbake for å spille tre ekstranummer, inkludert «Satisfaction», som sensorene ikke hadde strøket fra listen over upassende tekster.

Tidligere forsøk

En planlagt konsert i Kinas hovedstad Beijing for tre år siden ble avlyst, offisielt på grunn av sars-epidemien som hadde brutt ut. Informerte røster mente imidlertid at antall usolgte billetter spilte en minst like stor rolle.

Også i 1980 var det snakk om en Rolling Stones-konsert i Kina. Men et møte mellom kinesiske representanter og Mick Jagger i Washington skal ikke ha blitt direkte hjertelig, og konsert ble det derfor først i 2006.

The Rolling Stones har ingen stor tilhengerskare i Kina. Musikken deres var forbudt på 1960- og 1970-tallet, og etter at Kina åpnet opp har mange andre vestlige pop- og rockeartister vært i Midtens rike.

Musikken til The Rollings Stones er dessuten både råere, skarpere, mer krevende og utfordrende enn de langsomme sviskeballadene som for tiden erobrer hjertene til det kinesisk publikum

Residents

Et varemerke for Residents er å trosse musikalske normer. I tilegg klarer de å gestalte musikk som er totalt forskjellig fra alle andre. Rett nok så finner vi hos svenske Samla Mammas Manna en del fellestrekk. Videre så har også Frank Zappa fra de 5-6 første utgivelsene, og Captain Beefheart en del likheter. Residents har alltid vært nært knyttet opp mot RIO ( Rock In Opposition ) bevegelsen og ikke minst frontmannen Chris Cutler.

Residents opptrer alltid i deres velkjente ”uniform”. Denne består av dresser i diverse farger, men som oftest svart. I tilegg så er alltid flosshatten på plass oppe på masker som er utformet som digre øyeepler. Utrolig nok så er det med unntak av manageren fortsatt ingen som vet hvem som skjuler seg bak maskene. Denne bevisste og totale anonymiteten har foregått i snart 34 år nå. Ryktene vil selvsagt florere, og mange artige konspirasjonsteorier har dukket opp. Jimi Hendrix og diverse avdøde musikalske ikoner har selvsagt vært skrevet inn i gruppa.

 De er naturlig nok vanskelig å si noe helt sikkert om gruppas opprinnelse. Det antas at de er fra Louisiana, og nærmere bestemt fra Shreveport. Her brakte deres felles fascinasjon for James Brown og J.D.Salinger dem sammen. En annen felles faktor var fokus på California og innbyggernes frigjorte og liberale holdninger og atferd. Etter at High School var slutt stuet de seg inn i en truck med solfylte California i blikket. Like utenfor San Francisco punkterte de, og småbyen San Mateo ble deres hjemsted de neste årene.

 Sagaen sier ingenting om hvorledes de livnærte seg, men de klart å kjøpe instrumenter, og spilte inn en tape. Denne ble visstnok overlevert til Hal Halverstadt hos Warner Brothers. Han hadde nære relasjoner til Captain Beefherat, og en kvalifisert gjetning var jo at han sannsynligvis ville like musikken på tapen. Halverstadt`s  musikalske preferanser ble på ingen måte vekket, og han returnerte tapen og dermed var en legende var født. Han adresserte den nemlig til ”The Residents” ( beboerne ) siden de ikke hadde oppgitt noe navn på returadressen. Heldigvis så var det noen andre som var våkne, og så potensialet i Residents tilsynelatende sære musikk. Nigel Senada, og Snakefinger alias Phillip Lithman hadde merket seg gruppa, og et musikalsk samarbeid var i gang.

I 1972 ble San Mateo byttet ut med San Fransisco, og her etablerte Residents sitt eget plateselskap, ”Ralph Records”, hvor den doble 45-singelen ” Santa Dog” var første utgivelse. Selvsagt måtte det spekuleres i om Santa Dog var et anagram for Satan God. Musikken er rimelig kontrastfylt, både forstyrrende og behagelig samt støyende og vakker. Ingen hadde tanke for at plata kunne selge, så det ble bare trykt opp 400 eksemplarer. Disse ble i god Residents ”ånd” gitt bort. Både fiender, venner og radiostasjoner ble beæret med gratis eksemplarer, og ikke minst Richard Nixon og Frank Zappa var blant de heldige som fikk singlen i postkassa. Hvorvidt Nixon likte musikken, sier sagaen ingenting om. For å skikkelig lage komplett forvirring om noen skulle fatte interesse for musikken så var den ikke kreditert Residents engang. De fire sporene var tilegnet de falske gruppene: ” Arf And Omega feat. The Singnig Lawn Chairs”, ” Delta Nudes”, Ivory And The Braineaters”, og ” The college Walkers”. Morsomt og kreativt i det minste, om ikke salgsfremmende. Respons var selvsagt lik null.

Full av pågangsmot bruker de et drøyt år på å mikse deres første fullengder. Barnet blir hetende ” Meet The Residents”, og her brytes alle regler for musikalsk struktur. Ikke er de enda særlig habile musikere, og prosjektet reddes av en særdeles oppfinnsom lydmiks. Av mangel på syntesizsere så brukes diverse akustiske instrumenter, og hva de ellers måtte ha tilgjengelig som det er mulig å lage spennende lyd med. At denne heller ikke blir noen kommersiell suksess er vel knapt noen overraskelse, men den er absolutt verdt å låne øret til da det er masse spennende og uventet om skjer, samt at den er hektisk og krevende.

Parallelt med ”MeetThe Residents” hadde gruppen jobbet med et filmprosjekt. I 1976 ble selve filmen oppgitt, men ”diehard fansen” fikk en redigert ugave på video i 1984, som heter ” Whatever Happende To Vileness Fats?” Neste utgivelse ble et offer for Nigel Senadas såkalte obskuritetsteori, som sier at: ” Kunstneren kan bare produsere kunst når det ikke tas hensyn til omverdenen forventninger og innflytelse”. Akkurat her har jo mange av dagens artister noe de burde tenke gjennom, selv om det blir litt vanskelig å følge slavisk. Uansett så ble ”Not Available” lagt tilside for i utgangspunktet å bli der til den var glemt!

Neste utgivelse skapte en viss kontrovers med sine hakekors, som ble fjernet fra de europeiske utgavene. Heldigvis er mitt eksemplar med hakekors, da det er på ingen måte en hyllest til nazismen. Tvert imot er det en klar satire over maktsyken og ensrettingen i platebransjen, og analogien på plata som heter ” Third Reich`n Roll”, er rimelig opplagt. Opprinnelig var plata ment til å bare ha to kutt, ” Why Hitler Was A Vegetarien”, og ”Swastikas On Parade”. Nå endte det opp med forvrengte, og til dels skrekklige og vagt gjenkjennelige versjoner av kjente låter. ” Satisfaction” og ”Hey Jude” er så dyrisk suverent bra at de alene forsvarer å kjøpe dette åndsverket.

Året 1977 markerer et vannskille for Residents.  De får økonomisk ryggdekning, og kan konsentrere seg om å skrive musikk. En viss struktur tre frem, og deres typiske kjennetegn blir også meislet ut. Tekstene er morbide og kryptiske, og melodiene er komplekse. Stemningen er poetisk, humoristisk og forstyrrende, ofte på samme tid. Alt dette kan høres på ”Duck Stab/ Buster Glen”, hvorav ”Duck Stab” er en Ep som er slått sammen med ”Buster Glen”. Den økonomiske biten kom på plass med Cryptic Corporation som er etablert for å promotere Residents. Cryptic Coporation består av gamle venner fra Louisiana med nyrike John Kennedy i spissen, som har falt for Residents musikalske krumspring. Antakeligvis er John Kennedy et dekknavn, og mistanken blir ytterlig styrket når en ser på navnene til styret i Cryptic Corporation. Foruten John Kennedy har vi Jay Clem, Hardy Fox og Homer Flynn. Uansett så blir disse The Residents ansikt utad, og det virker å være ganske vellykket ikke minst basert på at merkevaren Residents nå blir styrket. Brått er gruppa kritikernes favoritt, og ”Duck Stab/ Buster Glen selger brukbart. Egen fanklubb opprettes også. W.E.I.R.D. – We Endorse Immidiate Residents Dification.

Alt ser ut til å være såre vel, men gruppa skal visstnok ha vært skuffet over Cryptic Corporations forretningsmetoder. På ren trass gjemmer de seg i studio i London for å jobbe med sin neste utgivelse. Når katten er borte osv, det trengs penger i kassa og Ralph Records og Cryptic Corporation henter fram ” Not Available” og gir den ut. Akkurat denne handlingen bedrer jo ikke klimaet mellom partene, og det blir full krise. Heldigvis spiller Cris Cutler perkusjon på den kommende plata. Hans jobb blir da å være fredsmekler, og snart er Residents tilbake i studio i San Fransisco. Her ble de møtt av et nytt studio, og vi kan vel snakke om en moderne ingrediens i det å røke fredspipe.

Musikken som ble gestaltet i dette studio skulle bringe Residents til ny høyder. I 4 år hadde gjengen jobbet med dette konseptalbumet, og det var totalt forsjellig fra tidligere utgivelser. Lydeffekter og musikk er jevnlig fordelt på denne mørke og primitive plata. ”Eskimo” er konseptet navn, og naturlig nok er det eskimoens folklore som er i sentrum for historien. Vokal i vanlig forstand er fraværende, men messende stemmer samt  den sure vinden som stadig ligger i bakgrunnen gjør dette til en utrolig spennende lytteropplevelse. Akkurat det er jeg ikke alene om å mene, fordi både kritikere og publikum er fra seg av begeistring. New Musikal Express journalist Andy Gil utroper albumet sågar til et av de viktigste album noensinne, om ikke det viktigste.

Residents kreativitet og virketrang ser ut til å ingen grenser har, og Eskimo har utvilsomt skjerpet smaken på konseptalbum. Likevel settes det av tid til å lage ” Commercial Album” og ” One Minute Movies”. Sistnevnte er videoene delvis basert på plata, og de ble faktisk jevnlig spilt på MTV da kanalen starter opp noen år senere. Selve plata var basert på at Residents ønsket å skape sin egen ”Topp 40 liste”. Låtene klokker inn på rundt ett minutt, og er vel verd en runde i spilleren. Kritikerne kan styre sin begeistring, men plata selger rimelig bra. Skuffet over manglende respons fra kritikerne setter Residents i gang med sitt mest ambisiøse konsept noensinne: The Mole Triology.

Triologien var ment å skulle være på 6 album, men foreløpig er det bare kommet tre stykker. Selve plottet handler om det arbeidsomme Muldvarpfolket ( Mole People ) som må flykte etter at kolonien deres blir ødelagt av flom. Visse likheter med både Magma og Gong`s epos kan nok spores her, selv om vi ikke skal ut i det ytre rom. Mulvarpfolket - som er enkle folk -flykter til Bukene (Chubs), hvor de får være fordi de er billig arbeidskraft. Møtet med de dekadente og livsbejaende Bukene må føre til kulturkollisjon, og til slutt konflikt. ” Mark Of The Mole” omhandler selve flukten, og til konflikten oppstår. Når vi så kommer til ”The Tale Of Two Cities”, så er det musikken til de to folkeslagene som er i fokus. Muldvarpsfolkets musikk er suggererende, primitiv og naken, og på mange måter lik musikken til eskimoene i ”Eskimo”. Bukkenes musikk er glatt, strømlinjeformet og elegant og spilles av storband.

Historien om muldvarpfolket ble nå gjort klar for å fremføres i konsertsammenheng. Akkurat dette var slett ikke enkelt. Det ble et slags episk teater med dansere, kulisser og tryllekunstneren Penn Jilette som forteller. Verdensturneen ble gjennomført, men store ovasjoner var nokså fraværende. Det var mye som tydet på at en slik verdensturne ville bli den siste. Et resultat av The Mole Show var live-album og video, noe som var nødvendig for å ha til salt i grauten så å si. Økonomien var mildt sagt skral, og nyhetens interesse var ikke tilstede lenger. Selv turneen gikk med underskudd, og bandet måtte låne penger av familie og venner for å finansiere turneen. Lufta var godt solid ut new wave ballongen, og selv om The Residents ikke hørte til denne bølgen hadde de likevel nytt godt av new wave hypen.

Tiden var inne for et nytt ambisiøst prosjekt for The Residents. Kjente melodier fra store amerikanske artister i ny og alternativ tapping. The American Composer series var født. Planen var at det skulle komme 16 slike verk, med et nytt årlig frem til år 2000. Det ble med to utgivelser. I 1984 kom ”George And James”, om tok for seg Gerschwin og James Brown. John Phillip Sousa og Hank Williams ble behandlet i ”Stars And Hank Forever” fra 1986. Ambisjonene er som alltid på topp hos Residents, og som regel når de ikke helt opp, men 2 av 16 var jo lovelig langt fra målet.

Da var tiden inne til å fortsette Mole-triologien. Nummer tre ble elegant hoppet over, og nummer fire fikk navnet, ” The Big Bubble”. Musikken her er en tenkt popgruppe med mole/chub krysninger. Disse skaper masse fuzz med sine vokalinnslag på det forbudte Mohelmot, molefolkets gamle språk. Denne musikken tok de med seg til Japan. Her skulle de ha noen få konserter, men responsen var enormt positiv. Dermed ble det masse turnering, og Norge fikk faktisk gleden av å ha dem på besøk. Selve evenementet forgikk på Den Norske Opera, og ble tapet av NRK. Konsertene ( ”The 13th Anniversary Show”) ble en sammenhengende triumfferd, men tragisk nok så døde Snakefinger (som var med på turneen) like etterpå av hjerteinfarkt.

Ny teknologi, nyt sound, nytt plateselskap, nytt fokus på tekstene . Ja det skulle være hovedingrediensene på utgivelsen fra 1988 ” God In Three Persons”. Det nærmest manisk-kaotisk lybildet er fraværende, og det er mer behagelig, ordentlig og proft. For første gang er Ralph Records ikke utgiver, men Ryko Disc.  MIDI teknologien har gruppa lært seg å bruke mens de lagde diverse musikk for TV. I det hele så er The Residents nå blitt et skikkelig proft, velspillende og gjennom musikalsk ensemble. Tekstene er dog meget spesielle, og handler om en mann som forelsker seg i en siamesisk tvillingpar. For så å innse at han også er tiltrukket av den mannlige halvparten. Typisk Residents kan man vel si.

Denne utgivelsen –”The King & Eye” – med rå og forenklede versjoner av Elvis-slagere, ble fulgt opp av nye sceneshow: ” The History Of American Music In Three E-Z Pieces”.  En oppsummering av amerikansk musikkhistorie, og på typisk Residents vis: spektakulært. Igjen en kunstnerisk og økonomisk fulltreffer ved inngangen til 90 tallet. Et tiår som blir dominert av multimedia for The Residents, der 80 tallet hadde dreiet seg om sceneshow og TV. De såkalte ”Freak Show” blir nå gjenstand for gruppas oppmerksomhet. Slike show var vanlig i USA frem til 50 tallet. Freakshowene reiste rundt sammen med tivoliene, og viste frem folk med diverse misdannelse, til publikums store glede. Hos residents er det ingen elefantmenn eller, minidverger. Neida, det er Bouncing Benny som viser frem sin gigantkropp på scenen, Jelly Jack den benløse gutten, som ønsker han var fugl, og Wanda som har mark i håret. Musikken er dyster og høyst forstyrrende, men pirrende og intens. ”Feak Show” kommer ut som en kombinert CD-rom med animerte scener fra de vanskaptes liv foran og bak scenen. Sentralt i dette er Jim Ludtke, som er en trollmann med dataanimasjon.

Det ble færre studioalbum fra Resident på 90 tallet, men de hadde mer enn nok aktivitet m.h.b. på musikk. Laserdisken ”Twenty Twisted Question” som kom til 20-årsjubileumet, oppdrag for TV, ved Discovery Channel og MTV. CD-en ”Our Finest Flower”, var også til jubileet, og inneholdt nyinnspillinger av gamle Residents-favoritter. Fanklubben UWEB utga en hel serie med ”raritets” –CD-er. Det ble også en utstilling av diverse Residents sceneeffekter og videoer på New York Museum Of Moderen Art. Archa-teateret i Praha oppførte et skuespill basert på ” Freak Show”, og i tilegg kom det en tegneserieversjon av samme. Det utkommer også tre biografier.

På 94 utgivelsen ” Gingerbread Man” ble det enda mer samspill mellom musikk og grafikk. Noe som ytterlig ble forsterket i 95 da CD-rom spillet ” Bad Day On a Midway” kom før, selve CD-en ” Have A Bad Day”. På ”Wormwood – Curious Tales From The Bible”, er Residents atter tilbake med det dystre, det elendige og ofte det makabre. Her er det gjenfortellinger av de mer ubehagelige historiene i bibelen, hvorpå det ble turne med dette som konsept. Naturlig nok var dette noe som falt enkelte ”USAkristne” tungt å svelge. Noen konserter på Wormwood-showet ble kansellert, men turneen ble ellers vellykket.

I dette århundret er The Residents like vitale som før, og i 2001 slapp de ” Icky Flix”, som er en musikkvideosamling på DVD. Med studioalbumet ”Demons Dance Alone” er de inspirert av 11 september hendelsene, og 2004 utgaven heter WB:RMX. 2005`s  slipp heter ” Animal Lover”, som er typisk for Residents, men likevel med såpass mye nytt at det er snakk om noe nytt og spenstig. Hvor The Residents går er jo som å forutsi hvor haren hopper. Sikkert er det at det kreative, det overraskende og det innovative vil bli vel ivaretatt i årene som komme. Jeg anbefaler selvsagt alle å få tak i Residents sine utgivelser, men ikke uten forbehold! Har du ikke tid til å virkelig lytte til musikken, så er det bedre å la være, da vil du nok ikke like det, og det er bortkastet tid. Investerer du derimot en del tid og konsentrasjon vil du sannsynligvis oppdage at – svulstig og bibelsk sagt – ”En ny verden åpner seg”.

DISKOGRAFI THE RESIDENTS

Rimelig detaljert diskografi følger her:

SANTA DOG

• Fire

• Explosion

• Lightning

• Aircraft Damage

Note: This double 7" single set with a gatefold sleeve is the first official Ralph Records release. Roughly 500 were made and many have the gatefold sleeves stuck together because they were folded and packaged before the varnish, applied to seal in the hand silk-screened cover art, had sufficiently dried. All copies are signed and intentionally misnumbered.

MEET THE RESIDENTS

• Boots

• Numb Erone

• Guylum Bardot

• Breath and Length

• Consuelo's Departure

• Smelly Tongues

• Rest Aria

• Skratz

• Spotted Pinto Bean

• Infant Tango

• Seasoned Greetings

• N-ER-GEE (Crisis Blues)

• Fire †

• Explosion †

• Lightning †

• Aircraft Damage †

†CD only tracks. Not on 1997 releases.

Note: The original version of 1000 copies of this album featured the infamous alteration of the Meet The Beatles album cover art. After this edition sold out they remastered the album and re-released it with different cover art. This re-release runs roughly 7 minutes shorter than the original. The picture disc version (made to commemorate The Residents 13th anniversary) is mastered from the original master tapes from the first edition. Cassette copies of the 1977 re-release dubbed on Maxell tapes with no accompanying artwork were also offered in the Ralph Records catalogue. All versions since 1985 are the original full version of the album.

MEET THE RESIDENTS SAMPLER

• Numb Erone †

• Smelly Tongues †

• Rest Aria †

• N-ER-GEE (Crisis Blues) †

†Only excerpts of these tracks are heard.

Note: This 8" flexi-disc was produced to promote the Meet the Residents album and was inserted inside FILE magazine. The remaining 1000 copies of these flexi-discs were stapled to a reproduction of the album cover art and sold to Ralph Records mail order customers.

NOT AVAILABLE

• Part One: Edweena

• Part Two: The Making of a Soul

• Part Three: Ship's A Goin' Down

• Part Four: Never Known Questions

• Epilogue

• Intro: Version †

• The Shoe Salesman †

• Crashing †

• Monkey and Bunny †

• Mahogany Wood †

• The Sailor Song †

†CD only tracks from "Title In Limbo". Not on 1997 releases.

Note: Although this album was recorded in 1974 and was The Residents' second full length recording, they decided to put it in storage and not release it until they forgot it existed in 1978.

THE THIRD REICH 'N' ROLL

• Swastikas on Parade

• Hitler Was a Vegetarian

• Satisfaction †

• Loser Weed †

• Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life †

• Flying †

†CD only tracks. Not on 1997 releases.

Note: In 1980 a Third Reich 'N' Roll Collectors Box was produced in a limited edition of 30 copies of which 25 were released. These came with a hand pressed red marbled vinyl edition of the record with silk screened sleeve and labels, in a velvet-lined black wooden box with a sliding panel featuring hand-screened version of the cover art. Also enclosed are two signed and numbered lithographs by Irene Dogmatic. The entire box was enclosed in a drawstring bag made from a piece of Christo's work "Running Fence". A censored version of the cover art was created for 2500 copies for export into Germany were Nazi symbolism is illegal. The EuroRalph CD comes with no bonus tracks and was offered through mail-order with a double floppy disk set of the "Third Reich 'N' Roll" multimedia program.

SATISFACTION

• Satisfaction

• Loser Weed

Note: The 1976 release was a run of only 200 copies with hand screened covers with 3 colours and then hand inked with 3 more colours. The 1978 re-release was an edition of 30,000 copies pressed on transparent yellow vinyl and in a slightly redesigned 2 colour sleeve.

FINGERPRINCE

• You Yesyesyes

• Home Age Conversation

• Godsong

• March de la Winni

• Bossy

• Boo Who?

• Tourniquet of Roses

• Death in Barstow †

• Melon Collie Lassie †

• Flight of the Bumble Roach †

• Walter Westinghouse †

• You Yeyesyes Again

• Six Things to a Cycle

†CD only tracks from "Babyfingers".

Note: Cassette copies of this release dubbed on Maxell tapes with no accompanying artwork were also offered in the Ralph Records catalogue. On the CD release "You Yesyesyes Again" is put after "Six Things To A Cycle". The original "Babyfingers" tracks including "Monstrous Intro" are included on an extra CD3 with the EuroRalph version.

BABYFINGERS

• Monstrous Intro

• Death In Barstow

• Melon Collie Lassie

• Flight of the Bumble Roach

• Walter Westinghouse

Note: The 1979 edition was 35-40 copies with no artwork. About 10 of these were later hand decorated in 8 colours with felt tip pens, packaged in modified Santa Dog '78 sleeves and sent to people who had been waiting more than 2 years for their Third Reich 'N' Roll Collectors Box. The 1981 edition released the The Residents Fan Club WEIRD (We Endorse Immediate Residents Deification) was a limited run of 1500 copies in black and pink cardboard covers. The 1985 Ralph Records re-release was a limited edition of 250 copies on Pink vinyl and clear plastic sleeves.

THE BEATLES PLAY THE RESIDENTS AND THE RESIDENTS PLAY THE BEATLES

• Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life

• Flying

Note: This was a limited run of 500 numbered copies with hand screened 3 colour jackets.

THE RESIDENTS RADIO SPECIAL / EAT EXUDING OINKS

• Introduction

• Death in Barstow

• Interview

• Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life

• Flying

• Satisfaction

• Interview

• Loser = Weed

• Interview

• Melon Collie Lassie

• Interview

• Santa Dog [medley]

• Interview

• King Kong

• Interview

• Kamakazi Lady

• Whoopy Snorp

• Interview

• Walter Westinghouse

• Credits

Note: 300 copies of this 1 hour show were sent to radio stations. No artwork was included. Only printed sheets which contained track listings. In 1983 Ralph Record began to sell copies to the public. The first 100 copies came the same as the original. The second pressing of 700-800 copies listed the contents on a white card in the cassette box. The final edition of 1000 copies has a blue card listing the contents.
The album was given another limited release of 1003 hand-numbered copies under the title Eat Exuding Oinks - Ralph Records' 1977 Radio Special in 2002. The CD was mastered from one of the old cassettes an therefore has a "vintage feeling" but the music is mastered from the original recordings.

DUCK STAB

• Laughing Song

• Blue Rosebuds

• Constantinople

• The Booker Tease

• Sinister Exaggerator

• Bach Is Dead

• Elvis and His Boss

Note: The second pressing was also sold as a combo pack with a poster and T-shirt (750 copies).

DUCK STAB / BUSTER AND GLEN

• Constantinople

• Sinister Exaggerator

• The Booker Tease

• Blue Rosebuds

• Laughing Song

• Bach Is Dead

• Elvis and His Boss

• Lizard Lady

• Semolina

• Birthday Boy

• Weight-Lifting Lulu

• Krafty Cheese

• Hello Skinny

• The Electrocutioner

• Disaster†

• Plants†

• Farmers†

• Twinkle†

†CD only tracks from "Goosebump". Not on 1997 releases.

Note: All releases from 1987 onward are titled only as "Duck Stab" except the 1995 Euro Ralph edition which uses both titles and covers as in the original LP edition.

SANTA DOG '78

• Santa Dog '78

• Fire

Note: Side two is the same recording as the original Santa Dog but is mastered at 40 RPM (not 45) which makes the playback a little faster. This was given away to mail order customers.

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL IT!

• You Yesyesyes

• Santa Dog '78

• Gloria

• Rest Aria [Excerpt]

• Semolina

• The Spot

• Never Known Questions [Excerpt]

• Constantinople

• Laughing Song

• Making of a Soul [Excerpt]

• Skratz

• Good Lovin'

• Blue Rosebuds

• Six Things to a Cycle [Excerpt]

• The Electrocutioner

Note: This was a promotional album sent to radio stations.

NIBBLES

Note: Please Do Not Steal It! was made available in Europe and Australia with a different cover and title. The track listing is the same.

ESKIMO

• The Walrus Hunt

• Birth

• Arctic Hysteria

• The Angry Angakok

• A Spirit Steals a Child

• The Festival of Death

• I Left My Heart in San Francisco†

• Dumbo the Clown (Who Loved Christmas)†

• Is He Really Bringing Roses? (The Replacement)†

• Time's Up†

†CD only tracks from "The Replacement". Not on 1997 release.

Note: The first pressing of 10,000 copies came on white vinyl and says "FIRST PRESSING - 1979" on the inside of the gatefold cover. The following 45,000 copies were on black vinyl. In 1980 the gatefold cover was eliminated for a standard record jacket and the Eskimo stories which were on the inside were moved onto the record sleeve. 100 pairs of 1 sided discs on white vinyl were also pressed to be used in an Eskimo Boxed Set.

DISKOMO

• Diskomo

  • Theme from The Walrus Hunt

  • Bladder Music

  • Crossing the Tundra

  • Spirit Battle

  • Sunrise

  • Reprise Theme from The Walrus Hunt

• Goosebump

  • Disaster

  • Plants

  • Farmers

  • Twinkle

• Whoopy Snorp†

• Saint Nix†

• Diskomo (Live)†

†Tracks only on the Torso releases.

Note: "Goosebump" is not on the Torso releases.

COMMERCIAL ALBUM

• Easter Woman

• Perfect Love

• Picnic Boy

• End of Home

• Amber

• Japanese Watercolor

• Secrets

• Die In Terror

• Red Rider

• My Second Wife

• Floyd

• Suburban Bathers

• Dimples and Toes

• The Nameless Souls

• Love Leaks Out

• Act of Being Polite

• Medicine Man

• Tragic Bells

• Loss of Innocence

• The Simple Song

• Ups and Downs

• Possessions

• Give it to Someone Else

• Phantom

• Less Not More

• My Work is So Behind

• Birds in the Trees

• Handful of Desire

• Moisture

• Love is...

• Troubled Man

• La La

• Loneliness

• Nice Old Man

• The Talk of Creatures

• Fingertips

• In Between Dreams

• Margaret Freeman

• The Coming of the Crow

• When We Were Young

• Shut Up Shut Up†

• And I Was Alone†

• Theme for an American TV Show†

• We're a Happy Family/Bali Ha'i†

• The Sleeper†

• Boy in Love†

• Diskomo (Remix)†

• Jailhouse Rock†

• This is a Man's Man's Man's World†

• Hit the Road Jack†

†CD only tracks. Not on 1997 release.

COMMERCIAL SINGLE

• Amber

• Red Rider

• Picnic Boy

• Shut Up Shut Up†

• When We Were Young

• Phantom

• Moisture

• And I Was Alone†

†Tracks not listed on sleeve or label.

SHUT UP SHUT UP

• Shut Up Shut Up

• And I Was Alone

Note: This release was not sold separately, but was packaged in the French edition of the album.

Santa Dog
Meet The Residents
Meet The Residents Sampler
Not Available
The Third Reich 'n' Roll
Satisfaction
Fingerprince
Babyfingers
The Beatles Play The Residents And The Residents Play The Beatles
The Residents Radio Special / Eat Exuding Oinks
Duck Stab
Duck Stab / Bust & Glen
Santa Dog '78
Please Do Not Steal It! / Nibbles
Eskimo
Diskomo
Commercial Album
Commercial Single
Shut Up Shut Up

MARK OF THE MOLE

• VOICES OF THE AIR

• THE ULTIMATE DISASTER

  • Won't You Keep Us Working?

  • First Warning

  • Back to Normality?

  • The Sky Falls!

  • Why Are We Crying?

  • The Tunnels are Filling

  • It Never Stops

• MIGRATION

  • March to the Sea

  • The Observer

  • Hole-Worker's New Hymn

• ANOTHER LAND

  • Rumors

  • Arrival

  • Deployment

  • Saturation

• THE NEW MACHINE

  • Idea

  • Construction

  • Failure/Reconstruction

  • Success

• FINAL CONFRONTATION

  • Driving the Moles Away, Don't Tread on Me, The Short War, Resolution?

  • Light's Out (Prelude)†

  • Shorty's Lament (Intermission)†

  • The Moles Are Coming (Intermission)†

  • Would We Be Alive? (Intermission)†

  • The New Hymn (Recessional)†

†CD only tracks from "Intermission". Not on 1997 releases.

Note: A Collector's Edition of 900 copies was released in 1982 and came with silk-screened record covers and sleeves with a brown vinyl pressing of the album. The lyrics were printed on the inner sleeve and the back cover was signed in pencil by The Residents. Some of the original pressings were shipped with a folded 50cm x 70cm promotional poster for the album.

THE TUNES OF TWO CITIES

• Serenade for Missy

• A Maze of Jigsaws

• Mousetrap

• God of Darkness

• Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)

• Praise for the Curse

• The Secret Seed

• Smokebeams

• Mourning the Undead

• Song of the Wild

• The Evil Disposer

• Happy Home (Excerpt from Act II of "Innisfree")

• Open Up †

• Anvil Forest †

• Scent of Mint †

†CD only tracks. Not on 1997 releases.

INTERMISSION

• Light's Out (Prelude)

• Shorty's Lament (Intermission)

• The Moles are Coming (Intermission)

• Would We Be Alive? (Intermission)

• The New Hymn (Recessional)

RESIDUE

• The Sleeper

• Whoopy Snorp

• Kamakazi Lady

• Boy in Love

• Shut Up! Shut Up! [Alternate Version]

• Anvil Forest

• Diskomo [Remix]

• Jailhouse Rock

• Ups and Downs [Remix]

• Walter Westinghouse †

• Saint Nix

• Open Up

†Edited version.

RESIDUE DEUX

• The Sleeper

• Whoopy Snorp

• Kamakazi Lady

• Boy in Love

• Shut Up! Shut Up!

• Anvil Forest

• Diskomo

• Jailhouse Rock †

• Ups and Downs

• Scent of Mint

• Saint Nix

• Open Up

• From the Plains to Mexico

• THE REPLACEMENT

  • In San Francisco

  • Dumbo The Clown

  • Is He Really Bringing Roses?

  • Time's Up

• Daydream Believer

• SAFETY IS A COOTIE WOOTIE

  • part 1 - Prelude for a Toddler

  • part 2 - Toddler's Lullaby

  • part 3 - Safety is a Cootie Wootie

• Daydream in Space

†Different version than appears of "Residue".

Note: This is a re-release of "Residue" with some major additions. Tracks 1 - 12 are the same as the original LP except "Walter Westinghouse" is replaced with "Scent of Mint". All other tracks were added for this release.

THE MOLE SHOW LIVE AT THE ROXY

• Voices of the Air

• The Secret Seed

• Introduction

• Won't You Keep Us Working?

• First Warning

• Back to Normality?

• The Sky Falls!

• Narration

• God of Darkness

• More Narration

• March to the Sea

• The Observer

• Hole Workers' New Hymn

• Rumors

• Arrival

• Deployment

• Saturation

• Still More Narration

• Idea

• Construction

• Ugly Rumors

• Failure/Reconstruction

• Success

• Upset Narration

• Call of the Wild

• Driving the Moles Away

• Don't Tread on Me

• The Short War

• Frantic Narration

• Resident Speech

• Satisfaction

• Happy Home

Note: This was originally a bootleg of a performance at The Roxy. Ralph released it after gaining possession of the master tapes.

GEORGE AND JAMES

• Rhapsody in Blue

• I Got Rhythm

• Summertime

• Live at the Apollo

  • I'll Go Crazy

  • Try Me

  • Think

  • I Don't Mind

  • Lost Someone

  • Please Please Please

  • Night Train

• It's a Man's Man's Man's World †

†Added to the cassette release on Korova.

THE WHITE SINGLE

• It's a Man's Man's Man's World

• Safety is a Cootie Wootie

• I'll Go Crazy †