Dziś krótko, ponieważ mam odrobinę głupiej nauki. Słuchałem właśnie The Swell Season, który pojawił się na blogu kilka ładnych tygodni temu i Falling Slowly z bonusowej płytki absolutnie mnie zmiażdżyło. Sprawdźcie sami, ja wracam do garów.

I, ponieważ uwielbiam wszelkie podteksty, dorzucę słóweczka tej pięknej piosenki.

I don’t know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can’t react
And games that never amount
To more than they’re meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We’ve still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You’ve made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can’t go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I’m painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It’s time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We’ve still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You’ve made it now

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We’ve still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You’ve made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I’ll sing along

(+1 rating, 1 votes)

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W historii muzyki raz na jakiś czas pojawiały się albumy absolutnie przełomowe, tak pod względem kompozycyjnym, jak i  aranżacyjnym, bądź – jak kto woli – technicznym, lub też czysto-inżynieryjnym. Symphonic Slam zdecydowanie do takich albumów należy. Na tym krótkim wstępie zakończę, co wcale nie jest spowodowane moim totalnym lenistwem. Wcale.
Poważnie – wcale.

Symphonic Slam reminds me to the period when I bought the cassette of Pink Floyd “Animals” whereby the B side leftover was filled up with a band “unknown” and unfamiliar to my ears. Symphonic Slam! The name itself scared me because at the time I was not aware of anything called “symphonic”. I thought it would be something that would sound like a a symphonic orchestra. But it was not because what I heard was a bunch of shows on electronic equipment with state of the art technology. As this was leftover, I only played after I played Pink Floyd “Animals”. I got no idea at all about the “band”. Only couple of years ago (I think sometime in 2001) I purchased the CD version and I came to know the band – a bit.

Timo Laine and his family emigrated from Finland to America in the 50’s. He began playing guitar at the age of 12 and became a guitar teacher at a local music store during his late high school years. He worked with new guitar synthesised technology and was therefor a pioneer in this genre. After quitting college he began performing in the club scene where his band was discovered by A&M Records. They released the self-titled album “SYMPHONIC SLAM” in 1976, which contained 10 magnificent and diverse songs, ranging from jazz-rock to symphonic & progressive rock. When Timo was asked to record a follow-up, the record label wanted a disco album. This was of course a humiliation for Timo, he said no, and since then he has been doing film music and albums. As far as I can remember, this is the earliest album I’ve heard containing guitar- synthesizer. This is an interesting historical musical moment captured on vinyl/CD. I don’t know which dignity and impact this album has had on guitarist who play guitar-synthesizers. I hadn’t heard about Timo Laine and SYMPHONIC SLAM until I heard this album in 2001, but it’s however a real masterpiece, and it’s a shame that it hasn’t been re-released until now.

Review by Greger

It’s basically a Canadian with Norwegian origins Timo LAINE who was recognized as the true pioneer of synthesizer-guitar. After 40 years of guitar playing, Timo has seen the road and eras of music. “I’ve played on stage with everybody, from Dick Dale, to the Stones, Chuck Berry, BB King, Cher, Tina Turner, and Rush” and the list could go on! He’s spent twenty years playing clubs and concerts plus a few record deals in between. Timo Laine has been referred to as the “Father of Guitar Synthesizer”. He pioneered its technology during its infancy by performing and recording the first major guitar synthesizer record known: Symphonic Slam.

“Universe” is of course very memorable for me not because I was so familiar when I was at school age but its melody is really catchy. This kind of track suits the definition of what so called at the time as Heavy Slow Rock – a sub genre that we, at our country, created as category for songs with slow tempo / mellow with tight composition. “Universe” definitely fits into the definition. On top of great melody it has nice combination between guitar and synthesizer. “Everytime” lends its bed from the first track with similar style and nice melody with synthesizer-drenched music. “Fold Back” brings the music much more dynamic with powerful drumming and pulsating synthesizer in a rocker style. “I Won’t Grow” shows much more aggressive synthesizer work which make the vocal a bit go to drain swept by the synthesizer sounds.

“Let It Grow” as well as “Universe” were quite well known in my country for some people by the time it was released. Again it shares great melody as “Universe” that’s why it’s memorable. “Let it grow .. my love”. “How Do You Stand” concludes the album with an upbeat tempo music and straight forward structure. It’s a classic and it’s recommended.

Review by Gatot

1. Universe
2. Everytime
3. Fold Back
4. I Won’t Cry
5. Let It Grow
6. Modane Train
7. Times Run Short
8. Days (Instrumental)
9. Summer Rain
10. How Do You Stand (Before The Lord)

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Przepiękny, przecudowny, przemagiczny, przegenialny, przewzruszający, przeobezwładniający, przeuderzająco przezniewalający. Tak w kilku słowach opiszę ten album. :-) Można słuchać w kółko – się nie nudzi. Poważnie.

Dedykacja? Tak.

From rateyourmusic.com:

• Stan Getz made this live recording a few months before he passed away in 1991. The album contains a very moving passage of tunes delivered in an emotionally charged manner. Disc two begins with “First Song (For Ruth) and is a morosely tinged piece of expression. It was later to appear in the dance scene in the futuristic film “Gattaca”, and never in a hurry, it sparkles in a way that touches the senses.
  Kenny Barron is a modern piano player with romantic sensibilities. He also succeeds in rhythmic dimensions on this record as “No Greater Love” illustrates his ability to sound as though there is more than one musician operating as the rhythm section.
  “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” starts with Barron in upbeat fashion, and then Getz gets going in a style not unlike the great Coleman Hawkins. Yet another intense performance of interplay by the duo. “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise” is a tuneful highlight for those listening post attenders seeking a track that clinches the deal for them. The title track meanders in a seductive nature, whilst “Hush-A-Bye” is a quirky tale by saxophone and piano at its best.
  “Soul Eyes” completes the disc in a way like it began – with a more introspective feel and the addition of some flurries of uptempo cohesion.
• This double CD was Stan Getz last album. Recorded during March 3 till 7, 1991 in his favorite Copenhagen in café Montmartre with Kenny Barron on the piano. A few months later on June 6 Getz passed away. For that reason there’s a lot of emotion in this album. Disc 2 starts with Charlie Hadens “First Song”, dedicated to Hadens wife Ruth. Getz and Barron show a lot of emotion, sorrow, melancholy, desire in their performance of this song. Did Getz choose this track because of his emotional situation?  His goodbye to his fans.
  The whole album is impressive.

1. East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)
2. Night and Day
3. I’m Okay
4. Like Someone in Love
5. Stablemates
6. I Remember Clifford
7. Gone With the Wind
8. First Song (For Ruth)
9. There Is No Greater Love
10. The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
11. People Time
12. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
13. Hush-A-Bye
14. Soul Eyes

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(+3 rating, 3 votes)

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Stary, holenderski symfoniczny progresywny rock. O wczorajszym albumie napisałem, że jest bardzo pomysłowy, co odrobinę mija się z prawdą. Jeśli założymy, że Intruit jest kompleksowy, zabraknie nam słów, żeby określić muzykę Finch, w której można zatonąć jak w doskonałej, wielowątkowej książce. Sprawdźcie, gdzie leży granica pomiędzy chałturą, a najprawdziwszym, muzycznym kunsztem.

Slightly less frantic and a bit more challenging, Finch’s second rounds off some of the sharp edges, but it’s no less adventurous than the debut. The 20-minute “A Passion Condensed” will probably stand for all time as their defining masterpiece, its mood changes and structural layers revealing themselves after many attentive listens. Each passage merges easily into the next, showing Finch at the top of their game, each member completely dialed-in and making this huge piece work. “Scars On The Ego” smashes through next, standing as their heaviest-ever track. Based around a riff that feels like pure epic metal, the middle of the song settles into a hypnotic cosmic caress before erupting in a fury of sparks and fire (thanks to the wailing punishment keyboardist Cleem Determeijer and guitarist Joop Van Nimwegen dish out to their instruments). While the title of third track “Beyond The Bizarre” would seem to indicate a wilder ride ahead, it is simply 14 minutes of typical Finch. It bounces between mellow and manic, highlighted by a joyous lightning-speed workout from the stringed instrumentalists. The middle-to-end section of this bouncy piece gives Determeijer several minutes of spotlight time before a rather dramatic ending brings things to a close. Straight piano doesn’t often convince in progrock-we’re totally spoiled by Moogs, Hammonds, synths, Mellotrons and such, no?– so this section of “Beyond The Bizarre” is a bit boring, offering the only real lull on the album. Not as direct as their first, nor as refined as their third, this can probably be considered the most challenging and eventful of the three Finch albums.

Review by slipperman

Finch evokes very pleasant adolescent memories. I had a kind of competition with one of my best friends: “Who will discover the best prog?”. In general it was me because of my fanatic attitude, close to compulsive behavior. One day he came with the LP “Beyond expression” from Finch and I was so jealous because this album could compete with the best from other Dutch masters like Focus, Trace, Earth & Fire, Ekseption and Kayak ! But what a fine coincidence that many years later, when I worked for several progrock magazines, I was invited to write the linner notes for Finch their 2-CD “The making of galleons of passion../Stage 76″. As an adolescent the Finch musicians were my heroes and 20 years later I was allowed to do interviews with them in order to write a histroy of the band, A VERY EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE! Finch has always played in the shadow of the more famous Dutch progbands Focus, Ekseption. Earth & Fire and Trace. But they were excellent musicians who created an own sound on their best album “Beyond expression”. The longest suite “A passion condensed” starts bombastic with a fiery electric guitar, delicate piano and a soaring string-ensemble. It slows down and after a short bass-run the focus is on the excellent guitarplay of Joop van Nimwegen (famous Focus guitarplayer Jan Akkerman called him a great talent when he saw him on a German festival!). The music contains lots of changes in movement and climate with a strong and adventurous rhythm-section (with Chris Squire inspired bass play) and tasteful keyboards (fine solos on the ARP synthesizer and Hammond organ). Halfway a twanging electric guitar starts to blend with a Wurlitzer electric piano, a beautiful combination. Suddenly the electric guitar speeds up the rhythm to culminate in an exciting solo with lots of biting runs. Then again twanging electric guitar and electric piano, joined by another exciting electric guitar solo with inventive keyboards (organ, strings, piano). The music continues with a swinging rhythm, flights on the synthsizer and a phaser-drenched electric guitar. After a short piano break a sensational duel between a flashy synthesizer and a biting electric guitar follows. The music continues with a swinging rythm to end with a bombastic grand finale containing beautiful strings, a powerful electric guitar and a propulsive rhythm-section. Technically this music can compete with the other, more famous bands but commercially it didn’t reach that sales to make a breakthrough to a wider audience, unfortunately. THIS IS A DUTCH PROGROCK CLASSIC!!

Review by erik neuteboom

1. A Passion Condenser
2. Scars On The Ego
3. Beyond The Bizzare

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(+2 rating, 2 votes)

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Trochę to spóźnione, ponieważ album został wydany w sierpniu zeszłego roku, ale… Ale! Przednie słuchanie. Spore instrumentarium, w tym dużo elektroniki, oraz całe mnóstwo pomysłów na jego wykorzystanie. Doskonały album freakfolkowy.

Few oppinions here:

• Too many ideas and instruments crammed into some of the songs. Some really great musical moments though.
• Beautiful and just a little offbeat. Overall, I found it a little too middling, but it’s an enjoyable listen regardless.
• A grower. May turn out to be among the best of 2009.
• “Pedestrian” has a new definition in the contemporary climate of independent proliferation that now allows the overstuffed and idiosyncratic frippery of albums like Intuit to nestle up cozily with the likes of those older, tried and true standbys of mediocrity.

1. Melectric
2. I Say Fever
3. Clover
4. Russia
5. Going Once, Going Twice
6. Salt Sack
7. Boy Ant
8. Always Right
9. The Darkest Day
10. Bellyfulla
11. Diamond Shovel

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(+3 rating, 3 votes)

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Z dzisiejszym albumem postanowiłem dorzucić małą niespodziankę. W ramach poszerzania działalności bloga uruchomiłem twittero-podobne-forum, które powinno przypomnieć niektórym czasy licealnego, a prawie zapomnianego już, “Punktu G”. Do udziału w tym przewrotnym eksperymencie zapraszam wszystkich, którzy poszukują w internecie cynizmu i całkowitego braku zrozumienia. Nowe konta muszą przejść proces weryfikacji oparty na znanej wszystkim wyliczance o misiu. Do dzieła!
Link po prawej stronie. :-)
Myślę, że ułatwi to wymianę informacji między osobami przeglądającymi ten bałagan i w ogóle – będzie okej.

Strona za kilkanaście minut dostępna będzie również bezpośrednio, pod adresem http://forum.oinfo.eu.

01 – No Alternative
02 – Heaven
03 – Mind of The Century
04 – 1958
05 – Pollution
06 – Ricochet
07 – Growing (Bonus)
08 – Hard Road (Bonus)
09 – Jonesy (Bonus)

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Pierwszy album doskonale wszystkim znanej i lubianej kapeli Livin’ Blues, czyli porcja najbardziej czadowego, bluesowego grania. Jak ściągniecie i posłuchacie, będziecie wyglądać jak ten pan z okładki. Istnieje szansa, że niektórym zostanie tak do końca życia, więc dobrze się zastanówcie, czy na pewno tego chcecie.

Fanów dobrego, starego rock’a chcę odesłać na blog Piotra K. Doceńcie to. :-)

01 – Waitin’ On You
02 – One Night Blues
03 – Bowlegged Woman
04 – Hell’s Session
05 – Big Road Blues
06 – Black Panther
07 – Worried Dreams
08 – Big Black Train

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Niektórzy pamiętają zapewne, że album ten pojawił się dawno temu na starym blogu. Kilka osób zatęskniło za działającym linkiem, więc wrzucam po raz kolejny. Ubaw po pachy, doprawdy.

A very good psych, prog folk album with a bit of that intangible mysticism that I like so much but can’t quiet define. They run the full gamut of folk styles here from acoustic and voice numbers to instros with violins, penny whistles, recorders, flutes, mandolins, etc.. The Akarma reissue I have sounds very nice and has 4 bonus tracks. The album is pretty strong and the bonus tracks are pretty solid, tho’ they are much more progressive and rock than most of the lp. Good stuff. If progressive, acid folk is your bag then you will like most of what’s here. Not one that is in a semi constant rotation, the style and my preferences don’t allow that, but one that when I’m in the mood never fails to deliver.

An Irish group who formed in Dublin in 1972. Their album is very rare and expensive to obtain, some copies included a poster and naturally these fetch a little more. Their 45s are minor collectables too. Their blend of progressivism and Irish folk music is well worth seeking out so snap up the Little Wing reissue, which also includes both sides of their first 45 while you can.

This album, if you can find it, is a truly brilliant piece of musical excellence. The traditional aspect of their music mixed with undoubted rock influences is continued by other artists such as the Horslips, but I believe that Mushroom have pioneered the genre with this album. Some classic tunes include Liothdon (along with it’s counterpart Crying), and the second side of this disc is almost all memorable rock riffs mixed with fantastic flute reels and minor chordage, such as Standing Alone, Johnny The Jumper, Potters Wheel, King Of Alba et al.

A definite purchase for anyone wanting to explore the Irish side of progressive music. Horslips were not the only band to call themselves traditional rock in Ireland!

01 – Early One Morning
02 – The Liathdan
03 – Crying
04 – Unborn Child
05 – Johnny The Jumper
06 – Potters Wheel
07 – Standing Alone
08 – Devil Among The Tailors
09 – Tenpenny Piece
10 – Drowsey Maggie
11 – King Of Alba

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Nie da się ukryć, że powinienem teraz dość pilnie zdobywać wiedzę. :-)

Pretty good hard rock with some progressive leanings.  ”Stone Woman” has some fantastic slide guitar.  ”Goin’ Easy” has a slower more bluesy vibe while “Love Me Hard” come back with some hard-hitting guitar.  ”From a Dry Camel” is a long, but rather effective jam.  The last two songs are average, but suffer due to excessive meandering jams.

[posted at rateyourmusic.com]

This isn’t nearly as heavy as some people would have you believe, especially by 1971’s standards. The heaviness that this band does possess is minimised by the ultra-polished sound that became popular by the 80’s. It would’ve sounded MUCH better with a low-budget mix like Budgie’s and Black Sabbath’s debuts.
“From a Dry Camel” is easily the best song. It’s the only one that I actually noticed on my first listen, and its catchy melody instantly became stuck in my brain.

[posted at rateyourmusic.com]

One of the bands that really put the POWER in power trio, Dust (who hailed from the NYC area) have mostly faded into the corners of metal’s hung over and misplaced past glories. Fortunately guys like me won’t shut up about them, so their legacy does (modestly) survive. And their first outing is a fun romp down the paths previously trodden by Blue Cheer and Sir Lord Baltimore, albeit with slightly more finesse. The album’s sleeve was gruesome enough, featuring a lineup of very decayed corpses, but the album’s contents were slightly less gloomy, for the most part up-tempo and forceful numbers like “Love Me Hard” (oodles of Cheer vibes here) and “Chasin’ Ladies.” For my aged ears, though, the standout is the nearly 10 minute psychedelic monster “From A Dry Camel,” which drops giant dollops of wah-wah drenched guitar all over the place, as it slothfully passes by. Once very rare in its initial vinyl form, it’s been reissued on both wax and in glorious digital plastic several times. That said, its current availability is unknown to me. Which means, simply, start hunting, spud.

[posted at rateyourmusic.com]

01 – Stone Woman
02 – Chasin’ Ladies
03 – Goin’ Easy
04 – Love Me Hard
05 – From a Dry Camel
06 – Often Shadows Felt
07 – Loose Goose

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Odjazd na całego! ;) I… Ten… Zmieńcie tagi z “Birthcontrol” na “Birth Control”, bo mnie się już nie chce tego drugi raz załadowywać. Dziękuję. :-)

[Originally posted at Progarchives]

Yet another switch in organists, this one features Wolfgang Neuser on keys. The prog feel is a bit more overt this time, though it’s still basically heavy rock in the DP/LZ mould. The protest-number “Gamma Ray” is justifiably considered a rock & roll classic in Germany, but the whole album is pretty solid, with the title track (gotta love that pipe organ!) and the rollicking “Get down to your fate” being particular faves. “Kaulstoß” is a whimsical synth-fueled take on Scottish bagpipe music, showing the band have a sense of humour.

Mindblowing early 70s German psych — this is one of those albums that truly is underrated  – it has nothing to do with collectability, vinyl snobbery, or snazzy reissues.  Monster texts like “Get Down to Your Fate” and the title track feature lengthy, beefy guitar jams with loads of Jon Lord-style keyboard embellishment.  This is an excellent starting point for your flourishing psych or krautrock collection.  The ZEP-style guitar/vocal interplay in “Gamma Ray” is arse-kicking low-sideburn gawdliness.  If you’re a fan of short, sweet classic rock songs like “Communication Breakdown” or “My Generation” – this disc is not for you.

01 – Buy!
02 – Suicide
03 – Get Down To Your Fate
04 – Gamma Ray
05 – Hoodoo Man
06 – Kaulstoss

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