REVIEW: Riverside - Shrine Of New Generation Slaves (2013)

Progressive Rock: a genus of rock n' roll which embodies instrumental, lyrical, compositional....progress through complexity I suppose. Bombastic suites, time changes, jazz and classical progressions: this is how we've boxed in many a great band since the style's heyday of the early-to-mid 70's. And yet this definition has been changing ever since the 80's: more kids today have been introduced to the "proggier" side of alternative musical styles by bands like Porcupine Tree, Muse and The Mars Volta since Y2K as opposed to Yes or Van Der Graaf Generator. These newer bands are simply better at incorporating other contemporary styles into the classic prog. rock architecture, and that's what moves merchandise. Overall result? The 2000's and beyond have been kinder to the genre than any other decade since the golden era, if not downright affluent.

And yet, we are living in a musical era where the old becomes new and vice versa, a trend never more prevalent or clear to see than in Poland's top progressive rock export, the magnificent and ever prodigious Riverside. Their Reality Dream Trilogy of albums (Out Of Myself, Second Life Syndrome and the particularly fantastic Rapid Eye Movement) are considered to be contemporary classics in the early 2000's 'nu-prog' canon, with each album being a vehicle for the gorgeous vocals of Mariusz Duda and his psychedelic blend of alternative rock atmospherics with a certain edge more akin to modern metal groups like Tool or Deftones.

So here we are in 2013 with long awaited opus Shrine Of New Generation Slaves (or S.O.N.G.S.), an absolutely gorgeous LP sitting somewhere between a condemnation and a concept record, a way station for sounds and ideas heading towards the modern world from an antiquated small town somewhere far behind where people still sing about fairies and jam on Hammond organs. And boy when it works.....you can hear the Earth's crust shifting beneath your speakers.

The past is inescapable, and its hard to deny that Pink Floyd is all over these wicked songs by accident, design and perhaps well-meaning coincidence. Less drugged out spaciness, more snow blind melancholia and the sort of luscious guitar contemplations that paint a sky grey, but I digress. The title track is bluesy, repetitive, and even fires up a bit about midway through. The blood really starts flowing when we come to 'The Depth Of Self Delusion' and 'Celebrity Touch' though: the former is chill yet armed to the teeth with a bassline that could crack concrete and the latter is a woodland headbanger with a killer chorus and some beautiful bridges to burn. What's not to like?

By the time we get to album anthem 'Feel Like Falling' and very dreamy 'Deprived (Irretrievably Lost Imagination)', I'm goddamn elated. Mariusz goes into falsetto of all things on 'Falling', and they bring in some glorious saxophone on the last couple of minutes on the latter of these two tracks....and I'm just wondering why the whole world can't be celebrating this album as much as I want to when these fantastic songs sweep over my room.

We close off S.O.N.G.S with a suite-de-grace in the form of 'Escalator Shrine' (which is what you're seeing on that thar album cover if I'm not mistaken). It's the penultimate statement of the record, a 12 minute promenade of lip-smackin' guitar solos, spacey Hammond mediation and enough jam to soak your toast from crust to crumble. Whew!

I could have asked for a better album to start 2013 off with nor a more splendid collection to introduce other people to the musical institution that is Riverside. Go buy the damn thing: they deserve every penny for something of this caliber.

Buy It Here!

Kεn Nαvαrro - Drεαming Of Trαins (2010)

Known predominantly for his easy listening, smooth jazz output back in the late 80's and through the 90's, Drεαming Of Trαins is a whole different kettle of fish entirely for jazz guitarist Ken N. Technical, lush and full of beautiful, ethereal arrangements not unlike some of the best records of the Pat Metheny Group, these are some really gorgeous jams that do much good for contemporary jazz's credibility!

Try It
Buy It

Hαrold Bυdd - Lovεly Thυndεr (1986)

Classy deep ambient record straight outta the synthesized, fantastical side of the mid 80's. Budd treads some interesting ground here, as if trying to one up both Brian Eno and David Sylvian simultaneously in a single fell swoop of the keyboard.

In other words, not a bad soundtrack to someone's hypothetical alternative take on Blade Runner. Makes for a helluva sleeping aid too!

Try It
Buy It

Pεt Shop Boys - Bεhaviour (1990)

This is a point of contention I suppose, but I personally consider this turn-of-the-decade album one of the best synth-pop excursions ever crafted and the magnum opus of the Boys from the land of ice and snow. Those gorgeous keyboard textures, dem early 90's beatz, all the slick orchestral flourishes on tracks such as 'My October Symphony'...its a stone cold classic, ladies and gents. Opening number 'Being Boring' features the ever popular Johnny Marr on guitar as well!

Try It
Buy It

Fridriк Kαrlѕѕon - Chillout Hεavεn (2007)

New Age chillzak to the extreme-o. Most of this bro's output is the stuff of dentist offices and message parlors, but this particular record tries a bit more on the composition front and thus comes rather recommended to the particularly laid back among you.

Try It
Buy It

Kεnmochi Hidεfumi - TIGER LILLY (2005)

A label mate of the late and great Nujabes (Hydeout Records), Hide-san specializes in Worldly, percussive instrumental hip-hop which proves a bit more hypnotic than your typical Japanese jazz-hop excursion, particularly on some of the drive-friendly longer cuts like 'Bridge Of Sunshine'. Steller!

Try It
Buy It

Single Mothers - Indian Pussy (2012)

Primordial, filthy and sounding like something fresh out of an archeological dig for some kind of badass Californian pharaoh, Single Mothers are an L.A. act (led by singer-songwriter Harry Cloud) who are pioneering new, whacky ways to grind your brain to mush with their bizarre, yet beautiful take on buzzed out, modern day psychedelia.

Sonically, there's a billion comparisons but no true parallel within these seven cuts. There's a haziness throughout that brings back fond memories of everyone from Sleepy Sun a few years back to Kyuss, the Melvins... and even some of the more bizarre collectives out in Japan such as Acid Mothers Temple and Ghost. Unlike some of these aforementioned acts however, Cloud and co. never repeat themselves, and demonstrate diversity without fail: 'Tae's Watch' is comes across as gloriously pastoral despite some spaced out vocal madness early on, culminating in a blissful guitar solo in the second half of the piece, while instrumental 'Drowning' oscillates waves and waves of distortion that slowly gives way to soaring, choral serenity that soars above the noise.

My favorite cut, however, is the anthemic, chest-thumping 'Helicopter', a song that sounds straight out of the mid 90's in the best way possible. It's marijuana-laced pond scum with a pop sensibility, and I can think of a thousand bands out there who'd have killed to write something this good.

While I'm sorry to say I've never been to L.A., bands like Single Mothers keep giving me reasons to go and stay for a show, and that's not something I can say for just anyone.

Don't wait. Get this NOW...or regret it later!

Download/Buy Here!

Coиstαиcε Dεmby - Aмbrosiαl Wαvεs - Hεαling Wαtεrs (2011)

Latest offering from Space Ambient's reigning, Grammy Award-winning queen, and it is indeed illustrious: a 72 minute long monolith of a composition better suited to dream therapy than active listening. In that sense, this is a great record right up there with the output of post 90's Robert Rich and Steve Roach: a massive, endlessly layered soundscape smorgasborg to ease the toils of your waking hours.

Try It
Buy It

REVIEW: The Residents - Coochie Brake (2011)

Around the time that psychedelia was falling out of sorts across the world, there was an emergent force out of the deep bayous of Louisiana who traveled north and west, perplexing the world wherever they went and leaving only mystery and awe upon disembarking from the latest wharfside gig. If The Beatles had changed the way the world saw music from the outside in only a few years before Flower Power met its demise, then this band was shifting new terrain from the inside out...crawling out and about dimensions alien to all but a receptive, whimsical minority.

Since 1969 and counting, an anonymous eyeball-donning outfit known as The Residents have been and still remain the greatest enigma in today's musical world, the godfathers of all that's strange and outside convention in the world of rock n' roll. Sixty-something albums, countless live recordings and many a world-tour later, we are living in the second decade of a new century, and these strange beings from a time before most of us were born continue to dazzle new generations unabated by changes in sonic fashion or whatever major labels decide is worth trending.

It stands to reason, then, that last year's Coochie Brake (the titular marshland where this band supposedly spent their youth) may be the first time any relatively normal music-faring individual has encountered this esoteric ensemble...and they couldn't have found a better starting point.

To elaborate, The Residents only create (basically) two kinds of albums: those which are satirical in nature and/or those which tell some kind of bizarre, sometimes unfathomable tale. Enthusiasts of this bunch will regale you with praise upon their 70's period, the decade where some of this group's unquestionable classic additions to the canons of avant-garde rock were unveiled and released (the ambient histrionics of Eskimo, the unsettling Not Available, the synth-haunted Fingerprince), all of which were concept albums. Coochie Brake continues that tradition via an untypically semi-autobiographical account of the band's beginnings in their swampy homeland.

And it's a hell of a trip, like a dream you were thoroughly immersed within before the waking world reeled you back into the open air of day-to-day sense & logic. Sludgy guitars straight out of the fevered murk, horns, glittering electronic landscapes that juxtapose and enhance the production, topped by menacing monologues echoing above the dim, rich mixture in...Spanish? Guttural mantras reverberate like flesh-formed didgeridoos, and it's all so deliciously voodoo and indifferent to anything the group has done before, much less what anyone else is doing musically at the moment.

It's weird to the point of obsession, and richer than anything this one-of-a-kind act has done in decades. You could die happy with just this on repeat, cycling unto eternity as vague aspirations disintegrate with dawn's untimely arrival at your windowsill.

Buy It Here!

Aτoмα - Sкyligнτ (2012)

Sweden is no stranger to great metal from a variety of disciplines, but this is a sheer dose of layered magnificence from a band nobody saw coming. Think Devin Townsend circa Ocean Machine: Biomech with a heavy dose of classic early 90's Dream Theater and you've got nigh-quantum perfection in the fabled year of 2012. Eat 'er up while she's hot!

Try It
Buy It

Jεff Ostεя - Suяяεиdεя (2011)

One of the most promising artists associated with Windham Hill Records, Jεff Ostεя is a fantastically forward thinking trumpeter and flugelhorn player who dabbles in deep electronic texturing and experimentation to give his horn-led compositions an almost supernatural edge that most traditional cats in the greater jazz stratosphere are missing out on.

On that note, his latest release Surrender was perhaps the best jazz-anything to come out last year, giving folks such as Nils Petter Molvaer and The Submotion Orchestra a real run for their money in sheer sumptuousness. Cruise-perfect cuts like the danceable 'The Theology Of Success', Trip-hop friendly title track and even 70's-feelin' fanfare of 'Essence Of Herb' turned my afternoon jog into a golden, harmonious dreamscape where shadows wither and writhe under still light. One can only imagine what something this killer could do for a mind at rest!

Try It
Buy It

Jεαи-Lυc Poиτy - Tнε Gifτ Of Tiмε (1986)

After singlehandedly redefining the violin for all jazz-fusion heads everywhere back in the 70's as part of Mahavishnu Orchestra and via some classic solo records of his own, Monsieur Ponτy steered his ship to new waters in the advent of the 80's, pushing the boundaries of just how far one could take experimental synth-violin in an era where, surprisingly....nobody had really tried yet.

The title track on this late-80's gem of his should be indicative enough at just how monstrously successful some of these experiments were, but I digress: if you be a'lookin' for smooth jazz that bores you out of your skull and doesn't hypnotize and amaze in equal measure, you are looking in the wrong freakin' place.

Try It
Buy It

Eиigмα - Thε Cяoѕѕ Of Chαиgεs (1994)

I'm sure most of you probably know a little something or other about this rather famous (or infamous) Electronic/Dance musical project from guitarist/producer Michael Cretu. Yes, the first album had that one Gregorian chant house cut called 'Sadeness' which is overplayed to shit and singlehandedly helped define the first half of the 90's sonically. Yes, this sophomore release has that one song from the car commercial where the "Aye-oh-AH-eeya-ahyaaa" is sampled. And, yes, this is one of the most well known New Age albums on the face of planet Earth, a frontrunner for "exotic" music that most people hate...

...but this is still still freakin' awesome! Everything from Led Zeppelin to Genesis to obscure classical opera is sampled within this record, and nowhere has such a mismash of muzakal sensibility and progressive songwriting idealism melded so profoundly and strongly in the world of ambient dance than here in Thε Cяoѕѕ Of Chαngεs.

Listen Here -"I Love You... I'll Kill You"


Try It
Buy It

Mooияisε - Soυl's Iииεя Pεиdυlυм (2009)

Stellar neo-prog. project by Polish multi-instrumentalist Kamil Koniecznika and a couple of interesting cohorts to spice things up with vocals, sax, etc. Keyboard/guitar led for the most part, giving things a distinctly Camellian feel that makes one feel perfectly at peace when the clock strikes twelve and the waking world begins to seem a distant place.

Try It
Buy It

Kiτ Wαlkεя - Fiяε Iи Thε Lαkε (1989)

Another late-80's smooth fusion classic from the masterful Mr. Wαlkεя to melt your nights away! Lots to like here, with drumming and keyboard work in particular as classy as such can be, and on the whole sonically this release gives off a glorious layered vibe which recalls the best of Pat Metheny during his "world music" period, albeit less guitar oriented.

This record, therefore, comes with my highest recommendations, with a big nod specifically to fans of the previously mentioned Metheny and The Rippingtons.

Try It
Buy It

Hαшkшiиd - Spαcε Bαиdits (1990)

Another vacuum packed classic from the lords of space rock, complete with a (then) fantastic new frontwoman Bridget Wishart. Unlike past releases though, this one emphasizes atmosphere and post-punk obstrusiveness in favor of shredding asteroids to dust with amp n' axe in hand. That being said, the opening 9-and-a-half minute astral grind of 'Images' is worth the price of admission in and of itself, a classic in all but name.

Although this album's reputation is one that is unfairly maligned, more astute listeners will give it the attention it deserves and let those solar winds take them for the ride of their lives.

Try It
Buy It

Jαи Schεlhααs - Dαяk Ships (2008)

Lush and pacific in a moody sort of way, this solo effort from a former Camel keyboard whiz Jαи Schεlhααs is a fine record that listlessly sails to new neuron pathways via waves of synth and a camaraderie of other instruments. Vocals aren't too bad either: layered yet whimsical in neo-Canterburian tradition. Rawkin'.

Listen Here -"Dark Ships"


Try It
Buy It

Mαяillioи - Sεαsoиs Eиd (1989) [Rεmastεяεd]

Although their original vocalist Fish jumped ship in '88 to many a disgruntled art-rock fan's dismay, neo-prog. progenitors Mαяillioи came back stronger than ever with the magnificent Sεαsons End in 1989...and on top of that, they did so with a brand new vocalist named Stεvε Hogαrth..a man who was a polar opposite to Fish in every way imagineable, yet just as talented and powerful behind the mic.

Although not a perfect album by any means, there are several cuts here ('The King Of Sunset Town', 'Easter', 'Berlin' and the title track) which should be considered essential to any fan of melodic progressive rock, and the rest ain't half bad either. The first of those four develops gorgeously over its 8-minute span, given resonance thanks to the incredible synth work throughout and a killer hook to boot, while the folkish anthem 'Easter' boasts the band's single best guitar solo of the 90's and a two minute mantra of an outro that immortalizes the song as a classic with unbelievable ease. 'Berlin', meanwhile, features some sweltering sax on it's melody line and the title track tells a downtempo, atmosphere-laden tale of a changing environment and what may come in time.

Although this excellent band as many a great record to its name, Sεαsons End is a late 80's classic and the ideal introduction to the amazing voice of Stεvε Hogαrth, making it a class addition to any collection.

Try It
Buy It

Ioиα - S/T (1990)

An excellent, unique and rather unconventional debut by progressive Celt rockers Ioиα, and probably my favorite record by the band overall. Neo-proggier in some ways than what would come later, the Clannad influences are more heavily tempered and reigned in by complicated and at times breathtaking instrumental interplay, particularly on numbers like 'A'Machair' and the 8-minute 'Trilogy'. Although not quite everyone's drink of choice (as is the case with many musical hybridists), I guess when you have someone as amazing as Joanne Hogg at the mic they could be doing half-assed polka-punk folk and still sound like a million bucks.

Oh, and it's got that "fresh out of the late 80's" production I love so much too, which makes the deal even sweeter from an atmosphere enthusiasts's point of view.

Try It
Buy It

Dεαd Cαи Dαиcε - Wiτнiи Tнε Rεαlm Of A Dyiиg Suи (1987/2008)

Ripped from the Japanese remastered SACD.

More often than not, I find that words fail me when it comes to a group like Dεαd Cαи Dαиcε. Their two-decade long discography explored, from perfect record to perfect record, the recesses of atmospheric post-punk, world music, New Age and an unbelievably cinematic grasp on the whole neoclassicism spectrum of musical indulgences. Before veterans like Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon jumped on the African pygmy-chant bandwagon and unleashed the savage jungle into contemporary Top-40 territory, this illustrious duo were cutting 3rd World masterpieces with a feudal edge that took even scenesters by surprise.

But, I digress. If one had to pluck but a single record from DCD's divinely inspired catalogue to get a newbie's ears wet in the ethereal woodwork, then 1987's Wiτнin Tнε Rεαlm Of A Dying Sun is the place to start. Not only are these songs some of the best crafted in a career long-canon, but with Side A being dominated by the grave croon of Brendan Perry and Side B an ideal slice of the heavenly pipes of Lisa Gerrard, the listener gets to experience both sides of Dεαd Cαи Dαиcε's musical cerebrum and...hell, maybe even reach enlightenment through doing so.

Like a narcotic you just can't quite get out of your system, this record casts a long, haunted shadow over your mind...and I'm more than happy to let it envelop me when I least expect it.

Try It
Buy It