Saturday, March 10


Tomorrow is my birthday, and I will be receiving a turntable. In preparation for this much-needed gift, I went to a store that carries a bunch of old used vinyl, and picked up a few albums. I also grabbed a new CD, and three CDs that I ordered a few weeks ago just arrived. So my new stuff:

Vinyls:
King Crimson - Lizard
Brand X - Product
Jean-Luc Ponty - Cosmic Messenger
Kansas - Song For America
Beach Boys - High Water
Jethro Tull - Songs from the Wood
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Alan Parsons Project - Turn of a Friendly Card
PFM - Cook

CDs:
Tortoise - TNT
However - Sudden Dusk
Höstsonaten - Mirrorgames
Runaway Totem - Andromeda

I want a turntable so I can load up on classic rock, jazz, classical, etc. cheap, but I had to grab these first (most of which are prog or prog-ish, save for the Beach Boys). Some of the specific rock artists I was looking for (The Who, Iron Maiden, etc) were woefully under-represented at the store I was at, so I'll have to look for them later. Some other rock albums I left on the shelf simply because I wasn't sure which albums of a particular artist I should go for. I'll spend some time researching before my next trip. Since most of the vinyls sell for 98 cents, I'll grab five or so every time I go there (which is about once a month).

Some stuff I've listened to over the past couple of days:
Bi Kyo Ran - Parallax
DFA - Duty Free Area
Faust - IV
Tortoise - TNT
Magma - 1001° Centigrades
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies EP
The For Carnation - The For Carnation

Bi Kyo Ran gets slammed a lot for being a King Crimson clone, but dammit, they do it so well! At least on Parallax they do. Some of the stuff on that CD is easily comparable with typical "good" Crimson material. Not super original, but that's not a crime.

DFA gets better *every* time I listen to it. Duty Free Area is godly. I praised it here a few days ago, but dammit it deserves more. I originally thought it was good, but felt Brandon Wu's review (http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/dfa-dfa.html) was overly positive. But now, I understand Wu's zeal. It's an album that just seems to do everything right.

I was about to buy a new 2-on-1 CD release of Faust's first two albums (Faust and So Far), but Mike McLatchey successfully talked me into saving my pennies and buying the The Wumme Years 1970-1973 Faust box set. McLatchey insisted that the sound quality is superior, and that all of the material on the set is worthwhile. Mike's opinion holds a lot of weight with me (especially when it comes to Krautrock), so I put the brakes on the 2-on-1 CD purchase and will get the box set in the near future. Thanks for turning a $12 purchase into a $55 one, Mike.




Thursday, March 8


On the stereo today:
Atavism of Twilight - Atavism of Twilight
Univers Zero - 1313
Steely Dan - A Decade of Steely Dan
Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) - Storio di un Minuto
Kultivator - Barndomens Stigar
Labradford - fixed::content
Tortoise - Standards

I can't decide on whether I like Steely Dan or not. My opinion can change 10 times over the course of a single song. I don't know if I find them catchy or annoying. Interesting or boring. I can say that the lyrics tend not to inspire me, but neither do Gong's and I still enjoy "the trilogy".

Both the Labradford and Tortoise albums (each of which are new releases) started to grab my attention today, after less-than-compelling listens before. The Labradford particularly caught me, as long as I don't try to compare it to Mi Media Naranja (which, as it stands now, would be a "desert island disc" for me).

As for the Kultivator... when will I be able to get a real CD copy of this?!? Ulf Danielsson of APM (Ad Perpetuam Memoriam) goes through all the trouble to re-issue this lost Swedish gem, then disappears from the face of the planet before I could order one! As I say to anyone that I can get to listen, I owe Ulf a swift kick to the balls. Luckily, I was able to grab a couple of must-have APM titles (Atlas's Blå Vardag, Eskaton's 4 Visions) from Greg Walker after APM pulled the disappearing act.

Hmm.... as of right now, I can't access APM's site (http://www.apm.se). It had remained online well after Ulf went AWOL. Is this a sign that the plug has been completely pulled?

Will I ever get a copy of Barndomens Stigar?

Tune in next week!

(well, it might take a whole lot longer than that)

Wednesday, March 7

THREE exams in four classes today. And an assignment due in the 4th. That ought to be illegal. At least this means that I have next to nothing left to do this week.

Today's playlist:
Clearlight - Symphony
Rush - Signals
The Who - Quadrophenia
Rush - A Farewell to Kings
Miles Davis - Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (discs 1 and 2)
Solaris - Marsbéli Krónikák

I was surprised at how much I liked some of the Rush stuff. I was also surprised at how little I liked some of the other Rush stuff. I hadn't listened to Rush in a while (save for Counterparts), but as it stands now, the band seems to either hit-or-miss with me.

Every hard rock band that wants to get a record contract should be required to write a dissertation on why The Who's "5:15" kicks so much ass.

No, I haven't joined BMG and received Complete Bitches Brew Sessions yet, but I do have the set in MP3 format. What's interesting is how much Disc 1 of the album reminded me of Isotope 217°'s The Unstable Molecule. Naturally, Isotope 217° is Bitches influenced (not the other way around), but since I'm more familiar with Isotope at this point, that's the connection I drew in my head.

Tuesday, March 6


I'm typing this with a Calculus book in my lap, perfecting my implicit differentiation (well, at least learning it well enough for an exam tomorrow).

Today's rotation:
Asia Minor - Crossing The Line
Höyry-Kone - Huono Parturi
Änglagård - Epilog
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - Darwin!
Low - Songs For A Dead Pilot EP
Kenso - Zaiya Live

The Änglagård and Banco are classics. Picked up the Änglagård after Minion (an online comrade that I may often reference here) started praising the song "Höstsejd" from the album Epilog (I always sit up and take notice when Minion praises prog outside of the "prog mainstream"... I think he's grown more receptive to it since I've eased off of my prog-pimp ways. He still doesn't care for Italian... well, "classical-influenced" Italian at least. I think he likes the DFA songs he's heard. DFA's just symph-fusion that happens to be Italian).

I'm going to have to listen to the Höyry-Kone some more. A lot more. It's very schizophrenic and constantly changing (though I hear that the band's debut album is even more varied!). Kind of hard to get a grasp on the material when it refuses to sit still stylistically. I understand that they're a blast to see live... I can imagine!

Now, the Asia Minor is just divine. How I wish this album were more widely available! It's on Musea, so it's easily mailorder-able, but I wish it could find it's way into record stores the way Magna Carta and Metal Blade releases have lately (though, believe it or not, I've seen recent Cuneiform and Laser's Edge releases in Tower Records! Hot damn!). It could be a lot more popular than it is. The band is Turkish, but sing in not-too-accented English. They play a very pleasing brand of symphonic - definitely influenced by the '70s British scene, but with very identifiable Middle Eastern influences, too.

There's a little discussion going on at RMP (rec.music.progressive newsgroup) about overrated bands. The discussion started with just prog bands, but somebody mentioned listening to REM, Cranberries, and Smashing Pumpkins in the early/mid '90s, and that has sparked a tangent discussion about those bands (primarily REM). Half of the participants seem to think REM (specifically, "Automatic for the People") is fantastic, while the other half dislikes it. Most interestingly, the divide isn't between "progsnobs" and those less "prog-inclined" (ugh, that's a terrible term, but bear with me). Rather, there are so-called "progsnobs" (also a terrible term, which hardcore prog fans have basically taken upon themselves in a tongue-in-cheek fashion) on both sides of the divide.

I don't own Automatic for the People, but I'll pick up a used one sometime. I have Out of Time, which I recently listened to after a long absence, and decided that it's sorta "ehh". AFTP is supposedly superior, so I'll give it a shot whenever I can find a cheap copy.

There is a *ton* of jazz available from the BMG music club. I'm going to need about four memberships to get everything I want. Need to hit up some friends to allow me to have a membership in their name (which I'll pay all associated costs for and all... hell, they can even pick a CD for themselves for their trouble). First targets will be two John Coltrane sets (the 4 CD "Complete Village Vanguard Years" set and the 3 CD "Impulse! Years" set) and Miles Davis's "Complete Bitches Brew Sessions" 4 CD set. That's one membership right there. So much music, so little time...

Monday, March 5


In the CD changer today:
DFA - Duty Free Area
Slint - Spiderland
Labradford - Mi Media Naranja

I'm trying hard to "get" Slint. They're called the godfathers of post-rock (much the way Marillion can be considered the godfathers of neo-prog). And while there are definitely moments when Slint and I connect, so far those moments have proven to be too few and far between. Spiderland needs some more listening time before I make this opinion concrete, but that's where I'm at right now.

Mi Media Naranja, on the other hand, is a different story. I've been addicted to that album since Day One. So much, in fact, that I fear burnout might be setting in. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I should have this afternoon. I'm going to shelf it for a while. I need to listen more to E Luxo So, fixed::content, and Prazision anyway.

The DFA album is one of those CDs that I'll put on in my car when there's a non-progfan in the passenger seat (which is, basically, *anytime* that there is someone in the passenger seat). Duty Free Area rocks. The uptempo jazz/rock blend should appeal to damn near anyone. The Italian vocals aren't overbearing (though the song that has Deus Ex Machina's vocalist Alberto Piras on guest vocals might irritate some - interestingly enough, that song is sung in no less than four different languages, alternating each line). It's just a wonderful album that makes for great driving music.