Now Playing
Last resort when I haven’t got anything worthwhile to blog about - just list the last ten CDs I’ve listened to, and say a few words about each one.
- Opeth - Ghost Reveries: Swedish death-metal that goes “Grrrrrhhhh!”. It’s actually surprisingly melodic if you listen to it closely; it’s just the melodies aren’t Mikael Åkerfeldt’s growling vocals, but in the intricate twin guitar harmonies.
- Mermaid Kiss - Etarlis: A concept album of atmospheric keyboard-led female-fronted prog, based on a fantasy setting that sounds quite gameable. What’s not to like? Hopefully I’m going to get to see this lot live some time in the next few months
- Porcupine Tree - In Absentia: I can never quite make up my mind which PT album is my favourite. Sometimes it’s last year’s “Fear of a Blank Planet”, sometimes it’s “Lightbulb Sun”. And sometimes it’s this one, which marks the point where they started adding a metal influence to their sound. It was The Guardian Readers Recommend Songs about Mental Illness that triggered me to dig out this one. Not that I expect Dorian will pick “Blackest Eyes”, even when it got ‘donded’.
- Mostly Autumn - Storms Over Still Water: Every playlist of mine must include an MA album, it’s a rule. This one was the first of their albums I pre-ordered, and I think it’s one of the most underrated albums of the career. No album containing the magnificent ‘Carpe Diem’ can ever be written off as a dud.
- Fish - 13th Star : Yes, I had mixed feelings about this one when it first came out, but it’s absolutely brilliant; the big Scotsman at his angst-ridden croaky best.
- Gentle Giant - Octopus: I dug this one out following discussion of GG on the Mostly Autumn forum. This is real off-the-wall 70s prog, an eclectic mix of rock, folk and jazz, taking off in several random directions often in the same song. Nothing else sounds quite like them, although you can hear their influence in early Spock’s Beard a generation later.
- Muse - Black Holes and Revelations: From 70s prog to 00s prog, from the band that finally made prog-rock cool again. And I’ve finally worked out what that killer riff that ends ‘Knights of Cydonia’ reminds me of. It’s not Thin Lizzy’s ‘Emerald’. It’s MSG’s ‘Into the Arena’!
- After Forever: Self-titled album by the latest band from the European ‘Lady Metal’ genre, big epic operatic stuff.
- Ordinary Psycho - The New Gothik LP As far as I know, this band only recorded the one album in 2000. Vocalist David Gulvin is a bit on an acquire taste, but this viola-driven prog/indie/goth crossover was well worth revisiting. Whatever happened to them?
- The Mars Volta - Amputecture: They’ve been described as ‘completely bonkers’, and I wouldn’t disagree with that. This is their third and (in my opinion) weakest album, which seems to lack some of the manic energy and inventiveness that characterised the first two. I’m seeing them live in a couple of weeks, and must pick up their (reportedly much better) fourth before then.
So there you have it. All kinds of music, metal, prog and prog-metal.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Magnum: Wings of Heaven Live
It’d be a rare week without the release of a new live set from either Deep Purple or Magnum, and this one is no exception. I haven’t had chance to listen enough yet to pass comment, but it’s one of the last ten I’ve played and so deserves to be logged’n'blogged.
Opeth: Blackwater Park
I pretty much agree with your comments about Reveries. I’m no great fan of the Gunther Grunter style of vocals (”There can be only one, McLeod”) but Opeth balance them pretty well with the more melodic bits. Whilst I’ll probably never collect every Opeth release, I’ve played Blackwater Park twice in the last week so they must be doing something right.
Porcupine Tree: Nil Recurring
It’s PT. It’s one of the most majestic bands on this planet - and probably a few others too. ‘Nuff said.
Riverside: Rapid Eye Movement
A band that just keep getting better and better, IMHO. I think in ten years’ time this will still be one of my all-time favourite albums. Utterly gob-smackingly good, especially the title track - curiously only available on the two-disc special edition.
Thought Chamber: Angular Perceptions
Another one that I can’t just stop playing and another current A-lister. Intelligent prog and metal hybrid with some lovely bass-work.
Threshold: Hypothetical
I’ve only recently noticed how much I play Threshold, they’ve kind of snuck up on me - stealth metal. Fairly standard metal fare, but exceptionally well executed, which is why I probably I press play so often.
Mostly Autumn: Spirits of Christmas Past
A completely unseasonal spin for this one, prompted by the rather late shoving of the Christmas decorations up into the loft at Jones Towers. Awe inspiring vocals on Silent Night (tingle factor ten) even if I don’t much care for the rest of the EP.
Nightwish: Dark Passion Play
I’ve only ever really been interested in the music side of things, whatever the band, so haven’t really batted a mascara-laden eye at the P45-issuing that seems to have been keeping the undead up all day for the last year or so. Some thunderingly good bits on this latest offering, but still enough of a foot in the twee, eurometal sausage-machine camp to stop it getting five stars from me. I’m sure there was a ‘Symphonigotheurometalwithfemalevocalist’ preset on my late Grandfather’s Casio. I suspect I’m being unfairly picky, because on the whole it’s a cracker, but the cheesey formula bits do grate a little with me even if they’re in the minority. I put it all down to a lifetime of diligently keeping a subtantial body of water between Plastic Bertrand and myself.
Sylvan: X-Rayed
Another one for the Can’t Get Enough pile. I’ve actually played three Sylvan albums in the last few days, but this is easily my favourite. Prog with some heavy bits, rather than Death Metal with a token time-sig change thrown in. Not that I’m complaining about heavier stuff, heaven forbid, but I like a bit of light amongst the shade now and then.
Wishbone Ash: There’s The Rub/Locked In
Talking of tokens, here’s the sole retro item on the list - a result of a recent Ash vinyl-replacement purge. A frustrating pairing of my fave and least fave Ash albums on the same CD, but at under a fiver from Amazon I’ll not be losing sleep if I never play Locked In. I’m off to give There’s The Rub another spin, methinks, just as soon as Magnum finishes…
February 29th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
MA’s Silent Night - The ‘tingle factor’ went up to 11 when they played it live just before Christmas last year; especially with the live arrangement; Heather singing the first verse solo, then Anne-Marie, Livvy and Chris joining in for a four-part harmony for the second verse.
I always have mixed feelings about Threshold; it’s always immaculately produced and played, but all their albums seem to sound like the same album. It sounds good when you play it, but you can’t remember the songs afterwards. Like the aural equivalent of Chinese food?