"Shackleton's Voyage"

Following the comment from Anonymous on yesterday's post, I thought I'd draw your attention to a rather interesting re-telling of story of The Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition  and of Ernest Shackleton's remarkable achievement.

"Eureka" were not a band that I'd come across before, but Amazon suggested that their CD, "Shackleton's Voyage" was something I might consider worth buying. I listened to the short samples of each of the tracks and was impressed enough by what I heard to order it.

If you are totally averse to Prog Rock or the very idea of a "Concept Album", you may well be strongly inclined to dismiss this piece, but as far as these sort of compositions go, I reckon that it is almost too accessible. If I was forced to compare it with any other album, I'd say that some of it was reminiscent of early Mike Oldfield. There are a few short spoken passages which may remind you of "War of the Worlds" and there is a particularly celtic feel to some sections.

I had a quick trawl through YouTube and found several clips from the album, so here is "Going Home". 

Return of the Prog-monster

I've got myself involved in a slightly unusual musical project.

When Blight-of-my-life had her birthday party, last April, I was approached by three of the folks who I shared a house with, back in the dim'n'distant, to play a bit of bass with them.
Well, I say "approached", but what with all of them clustering around me and  bouncing up and down with enthusiam, it was actually more like being mugged by the some of the world's oldest puppies.

As these were some of the people who shared the Christmas meal I posted about last month, you'll appreciate that we've got some history.

I was fairly reticent about getting involved to be honest, as I'm a believer in the philosophy that you should "never go back". The memory is a dangerously selective beast and if you aren't careful it'll conveniently edit out all the stuff that, if you're brutally honest, you're glad to have grown out of.
I said "I'll think about it...", and left it at that.

As the months went by, I decided that although it would undoubtedly be a bit odd, it wouldn't represent a true musical reunion, as I was never actually a player in the old band.
As such, getting involved wouldn't mean that I was "going back".
Having squared it with my conscience, when a second invitation to participate arrived in amongst the Christmas cards, I accepted.

A couple of weeks ago, I drove down to Pershore to see what we can do.

After three hours in the rehearsal room at Tower Studios, things were a bit clearer.
I had a pretty good idea of how the piece should go, although some reservations about how easy it will be to get desired end result.
Musically it shouldn't be too problematic, but the difference in compositional style from the way we work in Nightflight is quite unsettling.

In spite of this it's good fun, and that, for me, is what playing music with other people is all about.

Comfortably numb

It's often a pleasant surprise to hear versions of songs that you've known for years, performed by other artists, so I was intrigued to discover a video clip of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably numb', that was posted earlier today by Wyrdwhorl on Wyrdsongs, her other blog.

This is a song that my band has been gigging for several years, and it invariably goes down well with just about any audience. Whenever we play it, there are usually men-of-a-certain-age, singing along and often some discrete air-guitarists attempting those enormous string bends that make this a Dave Gilmour signature piece.

If you want to see what the combined might of prog-rockers "Dream Theater" and metal-monsters "Queensryche" have done with this classic,
click this link to Wyrdsongs.

Thank you, Wyrdwhorl.

Experiments in mass appeal

I chuntered on about Prog Rock, a few posts ago. Most of the usual suspects got a mention, and you could have been forgiven for getting the idea that the term 'Progressive' was mere irony, so I thought that I'd draw your attention to some lovely fresh prog. (Yum)

I've been listening to 'Experiments in mass appeal', which is the new album from 'Frost*', and I'm delighted to report that it is splendid.
This is their second album, and I was pretty worried that it would be incapable of living up to the standard set by their debut, 'Milliontown'.
I needn't have worried. It's fair to say that Frost* has moved on and that the new material is not as instantly enjoyable as stuff on the first album, but it's becoming more so with each successive hearing andl it may be all the better for that.

If you are tempted to buy this album, make sure you get the special edition which includes a bonus DVD. The stuff on this DVD is fabulous; a compilation of the video diary of the writing, recording and production of the entire album, back-stage footage of the 2008 tour and instrumental versions of the songs from the album. The video diary alone is worth the price of admission. If you've ever wondered what was going on in the mind of the artist who created a piece of music, this is for you. It's also good fun too.

If you want to hear a track from 'Milliontown', nip over to Progarchives.com, and listen to 'Black light machine'. There are also various chunks of video on YouTube, and at Morow.com, the internet Prog Radio Station.

Prog Rock

Progressive rock music, or 'Prog' as it is sometimes known, has been a major part of my musical listening pleasure for many years. Although it was never a truly mainstream genre, a few of the founding fathers are still trundling on; 'Genesis' and 'Pink Floyd' have managed to become respectable and the likes of 'Rush', 'Jethro Tull' and 'King Crimson' refuse to retire from the fray. Even comparative late-comers 'It Bites' have re-formed and are touring with a new album.

So it was a particular delight to see that BBC3 were having a 'Prog Weekend', and showing a documentary from the 1970's, of Emerson Lake and Palmer's European tour. I could have done without seeing Greg Lake languishing in his bed with laryngitis, but it was great to see the way big gigs used to be done.

ELP were pioneers of the idea that it was easier to take your own stage with you, rather than try to fit into what was already at the venue. There was lots of footage of very hairy roadies clambering about on steel scaffolding trusses, while other bush-bearded and be-denimed blokes threaded cables into mixing desks. Teams of guys manhandled enormous flight-cases out of articulated trucks, as the rock stars strolled through the chaos in their loon pants and leather jackets.

I can remember watching this film when it was first broadcast. It had all seemed so glamorous; everything looked so modern. Thirty-odd years on, and it all looked a bit grimy and dangerous. The scaffolding and lights were being raised with a manual block and tackle; no sign of the electric winches used today. Everything was hand carried from the trucks to the stage; no forklift trucks.

There was one thing that hasn't changed over the years though.

Gaffer tape.