My last music blog was a month ago (slacker!) though it didn’t intend to be that way. Twice I attempted to put together a new list and the results sucked. I didn’t like most of the music I selected. Was it a case of getting more persnickety in evaluating the music? Is this a period of malaise that happens in any hobby or endeavor? Can’t tell. But sometimes the best thing to do when you find yourself stuck is to go back to the basics. In this case, it's to go to Prog - the magazine that has dozens of reviewed material that covers a multitude of prog music styles and pushes the boundaries. It worked. Almost all the selections are current releases. Many have more of an electronic music keyboard centric vibe, something that was more accidental than intent.
Best of the Week
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Robert Crosbie / Geisha - The Global Machine
2022 9 tracks (44:41)
The sounds will remind many of the King Crimson in the Discipline era because of the rhythmic guitar fingering Fripp used, but the songs have a more conventional, and likable, feel. Instead of KC’s edgy dynamics, this instrumental album has a broader base of tools to produce well rounded songs, accentuated by very good production.
Zach Tabori - Soft Boiled
2022 8 tracks (24:13)
Holy Foghorn Leghorn, is this good. Multi-instrumentalist Tabori has a flair for the dramatic and unconventional pop. Think 10CC, Queen, Todd Rundgren, and evidently one of his heroes, Frank Zappa. You hear them all in this quick paced extravaganza that paces at a brisk 24 minutes. Just listen to the whole thing in one sitting.
VOLA - Live From The Pool
2022 13 tracks (1:03:23)
They did the most pandemic thing ever by holding a live on-line event from an emptied swimming pool. But the product doesn’t feel “watered down” and still is tight and well-recorded. The (mainly) Danish band sites their influences as Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Ulver, Mew, Massive Attack, with a big shoutout to Steven Wilson. You know they are on the right track.
Rod While - Vigil
2022 10 tracks (45:59)
While plays a restrained version of Joe Satriani, and it works for him. Where Satriani attacks his fretwork with wild abandon, While uses precise well defined textures. The two artists are obviously quite different, but both produce rich compelling work. While knows he is just one part of a collective and sometimes isn’t the star. However, the grace and elegance of his playing speaks volumes even if it doesn’t punch you in the face. I find that refreshing.
Interesting Finds
Worriedaboutsatan - Bloodsport
2022 8 tracks (41:42)
I’m not opposed to dark brooding industrial music, but it must have tonality and some degree of musicality to be enjoyable. Bloodsport treads that boundary frequently. A little less harshness would have made this a good listen, but it still has its moments.
Wardruna - Kvitravn First Flight of the White Raven
2022 24 tracks (2:14:00)
If there is such a thing as Norwegian tribal music, this would be it. Haunting sounds with basic bold rhythms sung in a native Norwegian dialect is often captivating. Chants and soulful woodwinds add to the austere passages, like boating down a long, lonely fiord on a dark starless night. At two hours, listening to the album in total would be a chore.
Zombie Zombie - Vae Vobis
2022 12 tracks (42:15)
Struggling to come up with comparatives on this combination of instrumentals and songs. When there is a song, it is sung in Latin. It fits the music in a processional and spiritual manner. Some of the vocals use a vocoder to either disguise lack of singing ability or add mystique, but surprisingly, it isn’t a bad effect.
Geoff Proudley - Tales from Strange Travels
2021 12 tracks (1:00:40)
If I said Geoff Proudley is the second coming of Rick Wakeman, would you go running and screaming from the room? He isn’t, but the keyboard centric flow of the album certainly feels like it. But where Wakeman was into keyboard flair and pyrotechnics, Proudley concentrates on more conventional lines and adding pieces here and there to make it feel more like a band.
Propaganda - A Secret Wish
1985 9 tracks (51:46)
xPropaganda - The Heart is Strange
2022 8 tracks (42:42)
The similarity in group names is for a reason. While Propaganda was a four-piece band in the mid-80’s, xPropaganda is the current rendition featuring half the original band. The original Propaganda was a flash in the pan with great success in two short years before complications set in by the recording contracts. No form of them materialized until the two women decided to produce a modern version. They are both good. You can feel the fibrance and energy of the 80’s band and enjoy the sophistication of the new group, but realize the central core of the electronic dance is the same.
Forgettable
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