Back to the River : Riverside Omnibus 2 : Voices in my head

This is the EP that makes the permanent addition of keyboard player Michal Lapaj.
 This EP is in two part.
 the second is simply 3 titles from the first CD live, namely out of myself, I believe and loose heart.
They are the side of discovery of this EP, 3 great tracks from the great first CD.
 the second ( or first actually) part are 5 new tracks.
let's focus a bit more on that.
 the first one Us is a gentle acoutic almost ballad about love. hardly similar to the previous album.
Acronym love , is a bit the same , yet slightly more electric and in the style Riverside created.

The next one Dna ts. rednim or F.rat  is a long half instrumental , hypnotic and relentless more in the veins of what the band produce..
After comes the time I was Daydreaming, and we go back to semi accoustic ballad.


Finally , we round the new tracks with Stuck Between , which is a bit less acoutic love issued tracks but still is well stuck between these one and the traditionnal riverside songs.

This EP seems a bit indeed stuck between  the discovery one with the live tracks and the B sides , off course new songs that should appeal to the fans but in the end does not really gives a good starting point to the Riverside kind of songs. Especially since the live ones really outshines the new songs.

So maybe it is a bit of discovery part B sides collection which clearly shows the many talents of Riverside yet is not their best effort.

Back to the River : a Riverside Omnibus review 1 : Out of Myself

First disc from the polish Band Riverside.
 I started going back to them sadly because of the passing of their guitarist Piotr Grudzinski.

The first album, called Out of Myself is short of masterpiece in the old sense of the term. The crafting ability that makes the artists crowned by the profession.
 Out of myself achieves that.
 The album starts by a long and powerful intro going into sparse lyrics setting the tone.
 The album is about a man having probleme either with living in society, or with a companion but can also be seen as a man with schizophrénic problems ( since this album is the First of the reality dream trilogy, named after an instrumental in many parts, two of them in this album)
With a great start then comes out of myself, where the Riverside sound really starts to take shape.
Subtil yet prowerful drumming, gilmouresque guitar sound, shy keyboards  that some times takes center stage as prog goes and the voice  whispering or shouting from groovy bassist and leader, Mariusz Duda.
The music is similar to Porcupine Tree with bits of Anathema and Opeth as it was largely said prior, and that is true. But the band managed to create their own sound, probably due to the front man being  a bass player which writes the lyrics also.
Slightly Metal yet prog with all 4 of the muscians having their say, not doing only rythmic or such. 2 instrumentals, 2 calm intimists songs that goes with the concept running through the album.

This album is a great start for the band and almost a perfect ( the last closing song "ok" being a not very necessary coda)

Arena - Unquiet sky afterthoughts and Review

20 years for the group of Pointer, Nolan and Mitchell. 20 years of neo prog métal, a genre by itself.
 Now with a new bass player here comes the new album with new Vocalist Paul Manzi.


The new album, concept like the last one is based on the short story Casting the runes (which you can read here).
The songs, much like the previous album are rather short ones without an epic like the band used to do.
They seem primarly composed by Pointer and Nolan, Mitchell, being on his Lonely Robot album, managed to still placed great crystal like soli here and there.
 The album flows strangely as right after the kick ass opener, the band gives us a oddly and yet powerful slow song, very moving before re-attacking. As usual the songs are a testimony to the writing skill of the creative force, leaning a bit to the metal with Pointer hammering on his drums.
 Of course the band does not reinvent its sound. It is still the neo prog metallish they created and perfected for the last 20 years.
Mitchell delivers still great solos and rythmns, a truly underrated guitarist in Prog world.
But the bigger asset comes from Paul Manzi who delivers, either powervul vocals and intimate, with this second album he can truly make his claim as Arena's best vocalist so far.
The album in itself does not really gives itself away but cautious and regular listenings makes it shine as a great melodic constructed album with solid songwriting and good performers.
 A good addition to the band, a good jumping point to néophytes and maybe not the best but definitly a great sum of what the band can achieve, just behind the golden duo of the Visitor and Contagion to my opinion.

Toward the blue Horizon - RIP Piotr Grudzinski

Really sad way to start back this blog and writings.
 Just learn the sudden passing of the Riverside guitarist Piotr Grudzinski.

This year has been sadly firmly entrenched in the death of several peoples from the culture and the music.
I was gutted by David Bowie's death but this one, though as untimely as David's, really strikes me.
Because I knew Piotr.
Not as close as friend or other guys, even in the band, but I knew him.
We shook hands, talked a bit but I was around a couple of times. He was more "real" to me than Bowie.

I discovered Riverside on their second album and when they came to Paris, I think it was the first tiime ever to play my city. It was before the happy few in one of the caves of the ex-locomotive. I helped them with the loading of the mini van they were in. Happy memories (except for Michal facking KORG keyboards....^^)
Shared some beer afterwards.

I went to all their Parisian concerts. Piotr was (and still is, on the records) a great guitarist , very gilmourian in his feeling.

We went to the Prognation @sea cruise and sunbathed next to each other (and the Jolly fellows who toured with them once...)

I saw him in July 2015 shake a hand while watching other bands in Be Prog in Barcelona.

Last time was in Paris in October 2015 for the last album. All bearded he was.

I wish I could have exchanged more. I'm at loss of words.
My deepest sinceres condoleances goes to his friends and family.  I will now just shed a tear, thinking of a guy almost my age, very talented and nice who went toward the blue horizon too soon; listening to your glistering sounds..

You'll stay in my memories  in my head.
And you'll be missed Piotr.

Fish out of water : Rip Chris Squire.

This day saw the passing of YES co-founder and only Bassist Chris Squire. For those you knew the musician there is no need for words to describe the talent of the big guy .
For those you don't know, just  go around the web and listen and see him play. No words can be found to measure the loss of one of the best bass player and musician around, not to the prog rock world.
Gone over the edge, condoleances to the family and extended musical world family.

The Gentle Storm- The Diary (review and live)

The new project from Arjen Lucassen (of Ayreon fame) comes In the form of a double CD.
 Th whole concept of this one is the story of two lovers, one ais a voyager going to India in the  old days  the other is his wife, waiting for him in Amsterdam and both sending letters which arrive by the biais of other sailing ship with of course a bit of décalage...
For this one, Arjen does the Music but does not sing.. the whole parts (both woman and man) is sung by Anneke Van Giersbergen. The songs are basically put on two versions, a gentle one, more acoustic and a Storm one, more full metal band. Both CD are together.
 The songs are classic Lucassen albeit not very heavily riff oriented.
 The songs does not really differ from one version to the other save for the shores of India and the heart of Amsterdam (damn jazzy) which are the songs that really stands out. Anneke does a really lovely work but when she sings about forlorn love, she is at her best. The moment is another of this highlight.

Live the songs really kick off. the metal version mostly takes the part and really soars giving depth and power.
 On the contrary the gentle version like the moment are stripped to the bone and are really gems that makes Anneke's voice shines.


The albums is a really nice concept album with great artwork and two cd that makes you choose which versions you like.
 It was some times said that Russel Allen could have sung the album. I guess a duet would have been better suited. Not that Anneke does not do good work on the male vocals but her feminine parts are so much more lively when she sings about love and lingering feeling towards the missing one....

But enough of what ifs, very nice release, maybe  not a big highlight in both performers discography but a solid one, far from the bottom.

Hand.Cannot.Erase. Afterthoughts (and live)

The new album from Steven Wilson is here.
For those who do not know... well it is hard to sum up the workload of this musician.
 He comes here with his 4th solo album. It is a (almost) concept album based on a true story of a girl found dead in London 2 years and an half after her actual death...And a young one with still family on top.
 As usual, Steven Wilson use the childhood and dark theme to weave a new CD  with a now constant line up (Govan, Minnemann, Begg et Holzman et Travis plus a female singer Ninet Tayeb on some songs.).
The music is still prog rock but as always reflecting most of Wilson's early career, like the very no-manesque Perfect life or the pop blackfieldish title  track.
 The highlight comes mid way with Routine (which is back up with a nice visual very ...depressing. Never gonna wash up the plates again...)
The rest is great songwriting with killers solos from Govan until the final song and it's coda with, as usual from Wilson, never goes out with a Bang but in a whimper.
A very good and tightly produced records that, to my taste is the best solo album produced by Steven.
Very cinematic record full of great songs and wonderful (though kinda depressing) mood.


Live , the show is also a success not only by the usual great talent of the musicians but by the visuals provided (mostly by Lasse Hoile). Most of the songs have short movies attached  to them enhancing greatly the mood conveyed.

Here's the set list from Paris :

1. First Regret
2. 3 Years Older
3. Hand Cannot Erase
4. Perfect Life
5. Routine
6. Index
7. Home Invasion
8. Regret #9 
9. Lazarus
   (Porcupine Tree song)
10. Harmony Korine

1. Second part
11. Ancestral
12. Happy Returns
13. Ascendant Here On...

1. Encore
14. The Watchmaker
15. Sleep Together
    (Porcupine Tree song)

1. Encore 2:
16. Sectarian (Lucky us, seldomly played on this tour..)
17. The Raven That Refused to Sing

Losing my religion 2 (or GodisTea)

 

God is a tea.

 

For all purpose God is like tea.

Not that you need hot boiled water to believe but just that God is a Tea.

It doesn’t matter what kind, any kind will do.

You develop or not a taste for tea

You can try different tea or stick to one

In the end the taste of good tea is only for your mouth

You can discuss tea with other people.

You can try to make them try your favourite

Each tea has its taste, pros and cons.

Even blended tea exists.

Tea helps you on your own

Tea makes you awake

Tea makes you warm

Tea makes you happy

Tea comforts you

You can have tea with lots of people too;

Tea is convivial and gets people together to exchange.

You can have your tea with someone having his own and enjoy every minute of it

Tea is good for you.

 Too Much tea may cause problems

You can’t force people to try Tea nor can you

Your tea is not better than another. Not that maybe you can prove it is indeed better for health, digestion or whatever but simply because it cannot taste good to someone else.

Trying different teas can be interesting to pick up your favourite.
 You can see in tea lots of things from the future to just plain serenity.

Do not try to force tea unto others. Tea and taste in tea can be discussed but with respect.

Tea is not sacred, it is tea. It should be, as any other thing, respected.

Plenty of tea, cheap tea, expensive tea

You don’t hate tea, you just dislike it or don’t feel the need to drink it.

You could have your tea anyway you like

Mouth of swords (or the 3 reasons why you'll get to love the new lightsword from SW7)

The trailer for Star Wars 7 is out.
No I did not see myself but being on the social network linked with quite a bunch of geeks ( and that is good 'cos I'm a bit Geeky myself) I could not really escape the turmoil that this new trailer has raised.

The real one not the false ones that sprouted some days prior.

The fans are edgy and when it finally hits..... All we could hear about is the light sword.
Not the traditional light sabre but a sword, Game of Throne style, with a light-whatever on its handle

It is fun, it is ugly, it is a treason...... Hear a bit all or nothing on this one.

So here's the three reasons that settle this question.

1- It is done !

You can bicker, pester, marvel all you want. The trailer is something that is gonna be part of the final movie. You can use a trailer to get excited or bitch all you want. You know you're going to see the movie by yourself just to love or bitch some more about it.
Trailers are supposedly made for people who needs a invitation to go see a movie. All those who waited eagerly to see it are die hard fans who just want to get a taste of love or something to moan and bitch 'cos that is what fanboys (and girls) do.
Me ? don't care, gonna see the movie anyway.
So about this sword ? well they choose to do it, not gonna change. might like it might not. Don't have much of a choice. Either go see it or not,. have your opinion later.


2- Betrayal ! Foul play !

Lucas would never allow that...It is betrayal of the universe.
First I doubt Lucas has not his say in this.
Second, talking about the guy who, in my opinion did a big low kick balayette to his own universe with the prequels.
Lucas works better when people use his Ideas...Because back to the light sword, he is the one who made a sith use 2 light sabers as one (bo) staff. Yes  a staff, not a sword. Don't recall that much ruckuss on this one (besides the rest of the movie) before....

3- And in the end.

You know what they say.... It is not what le light sword looks like that it is important... It is how you use it.

And I hope they 'll make something out of it rather than just a cool/uncool design that make the internet talk about it.....
So you can debate love and bitch, it is your right...but what for ? Heard there were some important stuff happening in the world that should be of your concern...And where you can actually make an Impact.

Opinion... Opeth -Pale Communion

The brand new Opeth observation. So let’s get clear. The death metal Opeth is not coming back with this one. It is a follow up of the Heritage. Rising from the ashes of the 70ies prog metal era, Opeth delivers another solid album, though not really metal, but more solid than the precedent.

 The riffs are great, the moody songs are melancholic as ever., the rythmn session is well in place. Axenrot never sounded so jazzy and really remind of Martin Lopez’stouch missed by some.

Disc starts of strong, great riffs. The third song has a killer chorus in the end. Then a couple of ok-songs before the moody rain going to the great beat of treason before falling out in a quiet style with the final one.

The songs are not really complicated and strange but are supported by great melodies and rythms and clear vocals that makes Opeth the best 70ies band of the 2010ies.

With this album they entrenched their love of great 70ies prog and deliver a solid release that of course will disappoint the hardcore fans of death metal but not by the fans of great music.

TRANSATLANTIC Kaleidoscope. quick review (sort of)

Brand new album (with bonus disc or dvd too) from super groupe transatlantic.

We’ll do it the quick way. Transatlantic is much more a Live band than a studio one. The epics works (at least for me) much more live than on a disc player or such.

But let’s sum it up quick. It is a classic (as in the first two ones) transatlantic album.

First an epic, not good, not bad. Typical if you like transatlantic..

Then a ‘single’ not very good song (Shine) and a great mi epic songs ‘Black as a sky’ showing how you do not need 25 minutes to do a great song.

Then the Traditional Neal Morse’s acoutic song (forgetable)

And the last epic which is Way better than the first one ( despite some feeble vocals by M Trewavas – sorry pete- on a chorus.)

The bonus disc is nice as always, classic and songs covered from prog bands.. or not. A curiosity for fans of the groupe mostly (but it was nice to rediscover Night in white satin and discover –shame on me- king crimson)

So to sum up. Nothing new nothing original, nothing badly done, return to the average Transatlantic disc with a wonderful song, a great Epic, a meh epic, and two forgetable /filler songs.

Not bad to discover Transatlantic the first time, not bad for the usual fan

Selfconsumming fire (or how the New Iphone6 changed everything...just kidding)

Talking about art and softpower. A few weeks ago I woke up to the usual newsflash à 7.30 am. Usual local politics, Ukraine, ebola and so on.

Then, near the end, they start talking about the New Iphone 6 presented by Apple (with all the traditional ‘one more thing’ etc, etc).

I was outraged.

Not by Apple because for the matter, they are really the perfect incarnation of the soft power.

Here is a company doing which is simply a traditional commercial presentation of a new product.

Of course they do it the American way. With style, U2, catch phrases and such. Apple is now renowned for that. It is a mass, it is expected.

And the crowds all around the world go wild with the new products they are putting out.

Because what they sell is a way of life, something that is supposed to be cool, Hype, make your life easy like a stroll in the park. ( won’t be asking which park and at what time….)

And all over  the world we got Medias relaying this.

And mind you, not in specialized technology reportage. No, plain regular information, just before the sport reviews.

What bugs me the most is that not they do not speak about it.

 We speak of movies that are out almost every week, have some here and then news about a CD or a concert but these are well categorised and moreover, most of the times, criticized.

They talk about stuff but they really have tested before (or saw or heard).

But not here. Not only Apple does have more coverage than the competition but the Medias relay the information solely based on Apple declarations. No test whatsoever.

And it makes me wonder as the song says, are they paid for that advertisement? Or is it free ? Because I can understand (not condone mind you) if a newsroom’s been greased to sell a product. But if they are doing it for free, it is as much frightening as it is astonishing. To witness the power of the soft, cultural and marketing prowess of selling something that makes it to the news. Imagine the new fruit yogurt unveiled for you right before the weather report. Thrilling isn’t it ? The soft power has many uses, it could be harnessed for ideology like during the cold war but it is also a powerful economic tool as shown (and a great communication bill saver to boot !).

But in the end, the insidious power softened our perception of the world, making the keen and sharp reporters believe that a commercial presentation is news. Meaning that if you hear about it on the telly or the radio, then it is true, it is important, it is worth investigating and moreover important to have and own !

If the people we trust to give us information are starting to get tainted with the slithering sneaky and insidious power used by merchants, we must rely on the sharpness of our senses to continue to be astonished, even year after years, that this kind of thing happens and are not so familiar that it seems so natural to accept them.

And nowadays, it is one hell of a fight.

IQ- Road of Bones ( kinda review)

 The brand new IQ album is out for some times now. And it is almost a double album.

I say almost because the darkly named ‘road of bones’ is single album that exist in a special edition with 45 or so minutes of bonus music.

So the first question is: is that bonus disc any worth?

Well actually the first question should be the first disc is any good?

For those who do not know IQ, they are a Neo prog band from England. Lots of keyboards and nice guitar sounds with a broken voice like (and full of cryptic lyrics) front man in the guise of Peter Nicholls.

For those who know them, we recognise the IQ sound (hell we have almost the first line up of the band, baring keyboardist Martin Orford, casualty of the download war) but with an edgier sound.

The guitars of Mike Holmes are more into riffs than solo on this release that sounds definitely more metal, or at least darker.

And the lyrics and the songs show that.

Hence the serial killer (that Steven Wilson would not forsake) song that gives the name of the album:  the road of bones or the not very bright future of living together in until the end.

All the songs (with the short exception of calm and peaceful Ocean) are very dark and loaded with heavy riffs and hard bass lines.

And it is a good one. Great lengthy songs, very moody as IQ tends to do them. A nice addition much more crafted and built than the previous one, Frequency.

So back to our previous question, what is this bonus CD all about ? Covers ? Crappy demoes ?

Well no, you have full length songs and instrumentals. Fully produced and original, some could have been on the main dish (Ten million demons but the disc would have been waaaay too dark) but the ‘mood’ of these songs do not really fit the album. Could they have make a EP-album on their own ? I would say almost. We’ve seen fill in songs worst than those.

But strangely, the concept as a double album does not really fit for between the first disc and the second, there are too much differences and yet they are all quality products.

So people into IQ or who wants to discover the band,  can buy this new album but preferably the double discs version, the second being not exactly a full album and way to good to be simply a bonus one. So great bunch of music for less than two albums ! Goody !