18 December 2018: A Jethro Tull / California Guitar Trio / Markus Reuter Christmas

The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the 21st studio album released by Jethro Tull, on 30 September 2003 (see 2003 in music). The songs are a mix of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music. In 2009, the live album Christmas at St Bride's 2008 was included with the original album on CD.
Ian Anderson about the song Birthday Card at Christmas: "My daughter Gael, like millions of other unfortunates, celebrates her birthday within a gnat’s whisker of Christmas. Overshadowed by the Great Occasion, such birthdays can be flat, perfunctory and fleetingly token in their uneventful passing. The daunting party and festive celebration of the Christian calendar overshadows too, some might argue, the humble birthday of one Mr. J. Christ. Funny old 25ths, Decembers…"

California Guitar Trio - 10 Christmas Songs

AllMusic Review by Glenn Astarita

Not that there is an abundance of progressive rock-tinged acoustic guitar trios among the ranks, but this aggregation stands tall among its peers as the guitarists' inventiveness surges forward with this altogether warmhearted reckoning of Christmas carols and other pleasantries. The guitarists' nimble yet at times forceful approach is wholly evident during their highly rhythmic spin on "Jingle Bells." They perform the classic "Greensleeves" with a sensitive, chamber-like approach while also tackling the Lennon/Ono favorite "Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)." However, part of the magic resides within the trio's ability to delve into the inherent frameworks of each song, while also reformulating themes and rhythms into personalized statements. Essentially, the artists have produced a rather poignant Christmas outing, awash with interweaving lines and lilting harmonies, as they complement their superior artisanship and forward-thinking deployments with a cheerfully rendered collection of holiday favorites.

Markus Reuter - Winter Solstice EP

Bizarre soundscape versions of traditional songs usually associated with this time of year, at least here in Germany. In addition to the meditative soundscapes (which are based on the series of pitches of each tune) I've also overdubbed straight versions of the original melodies. Enjoy this parallel universe... It's strangely hypnotizing. Only available from December 17th to December 31st.

credits

released December 17, 2018

1. Silent (Night) / Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht

5. Night (Silent) / Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht

11 December 2018: A FreeForm Twisted Christmas

Join us for a FreeForm Radio holiday tradition as we spotlight hilarious Christmas song parodies from the Bob Rivers Comedy Corp.   We'll also hear tunes from the Capitol Steps, the Fools, Mojo Nixon, John Prine, the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and others.  There will be COWS!!!
Both Elvis AND Sarah Palin will be on the show - you won't want to miss it!
And it's not too late to pledge your support to public radio KMXT online at kmxt.org

04 December 2018: Joachim Cooder - Quantum Tangle - Iceberg

Fuchsia Machu Picchu continues Coode's ethereal explorations. The title song, as Joachim explained while opening for his dad in concert recently, began as a simple serenade to a plant he was urging to grow in his Los Angeles garden. Among the best of the seven tunes are “Everyone Sleeps in the Light,” a performance of which you can view below (Hey, who’s that old guy on bass?), and “Because the Moonlight,” which has a little Talking Timbuktu-style guitar sprinkled into the music courtesy of Dad. The album is a definite departure from the conventional roots music often featured on this blog. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re in the mood for some flowing, atmospheric melodies but aren’t looking to go full Eno, Joachim’s music might hit the spot. The EP is available for download at various places around the internet.

Where is the most compelling and innovative music being made right now in Canada? Your first guess might be one of the country’s major urban centres, but a strong argument can be made that Canada’s North is truly changing the game. Case in point is Quantum Tangle who, after their 2016 EP Tiny Hands won the JUNO for Indigenous Album of the Year, have followed it up with a dynamic full-length debut, Shelter as we go…

Quantum Tangle combines the wide-ranging artistic visions of Greyson Gritt and Tiffany Ayalik who draw from their respective Anishinaabe-Métis and Inuit backgrounds to create a fusion of old-world sounds and new-world flair. Woven throughout Shelter as we go…, deep blues riffs, traditional throat singing and haunting melodies intertwine with hard beats and equally hard-hitting storytelling.

Proudly and boldly displaying their Indigenous roots, Gritt and Ayalik tailor their music to examine systemic racism and colonialism, while offering ways to empower marginalized groups. As vocal advocates for gender-equality and the need for safe-spaces, Quantum Tangle looks back through history to challenge, educate and encourage audiences to be socially aware.

With their JUNO win and the release of Shelter as We Go…, Quantum Tangle joins Tanya Tagaq and A Tribe Called Red as artists who are revolutionizing the genre of Indigenous music and bringing it to the mainstream. These are the most vital voices in Canada at this moment, and they will no longer be denied.

1. Tiny Hands Listen/Download on Bandcamp

2. Igluvut Listen/Download on Bandcamp

3. Freeze, Melt, Boil Listen/Download on Bandcamp

4. Love is Love Pt.1 Listen/Download on Bandcamp

5. Love is Love Pt. 2 Listen/Download on Bandcamp

6. Ikersuaq Listen/Download on Bandcamp

7. Tiny Hands (Reimagined) Listen/Download on Bandcamp

8. Angnahiak Listen/Download on Bandcamp

Iceberg biography

Founded in Barcelona, Spain in 1974 - Disbanded in 1979 

ICEBERG from the middle of the 70's were easily one of *the* best Progressive bands to come from Spain. This Spanish band ICEBERG came (like Manuel from Fawlty Towers) from Barcelona and consisted of: Max Sune (guitar), Josep Mas Kitflus (keyboards), Primi Sancho (bass) and Jordi Colomer (drums), Angel Riba (voice) could only be heard on the first record. Their style was definitely jazzier but with continuous conversations between the guitars and keyboards in a mixture of fusion and symphonic sounds. The band mixed RETURN FOREVER or THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA's crazy and energetic music and SANTANA's more latin one.

ICEBERG made four studio-albums entitled: "Tutankhamon" ('75), "Coses Nostres" ('76), "Sentiments" ('77) and "Arc-en-Ciel" ('78). Their final release was the live-LP "En directe" from '79. Their debut album "Tutankhamon" (eleven tracks) is their most 'symphonic': tasteful songs with many shifting moods, ranging from fluent with biting and howling, wah-wah drenched guitar solos to dreamy with floods of choir-Mellotron and tender Fender Rhodes piano. The vocals are often passionate and the interplay between guitar and keyboards is flowing. The other albums contain splendid jazzrock/fusion music with spectacular guitar - and keyboard work. Try for "Coses Nostres" or "Sentiments" as they're a bit better than "En Directe" or "Arc-En-Ciel" though any of these are fantastic. "Coses Nostres" is a very strong release from the ultimate Spanish fusion ensemble. An absolute must if you can find any of the albums. FOR THE FUSION-LOVERS...! 

27 November 2018: People Folk and Blue Tech (DiN57)

NOTE:  I'll also be hosting the "Rural Electric Show" from 7-9 pm Alaska Standard Time this same night.   FreeForm featuring the People Folk and Blue Tech begins at 9 pm AST.

Album release: Friday, July 13, 2018.

People Folk is a five-piece folk-rock band with a concept album related to popular characters, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. 

Guitar, cello, flute, percussion, and a blend of harmonies give off a variety of sounds where there's something for everyone. 

Liner notes from Cellist/vocalist Mary Gaughan:

The fairytale concept of the album was inspired  guitarist, George Macias, who has 3 young daughters and every single night would read his daughters fairy tales before they went to sleep. Slowly over time he began writing songs that encompassed these beloved stories that his daughters loved so much. From there, the band was formed in California through meeting at mutual open mic gatherings and collaborated together on unfinished songs, created individual instrumental parts, unique harmonies, and each member also has an original song featured on the album (mine is Wishing Well). The album took a little over 3 years to fully complete because after the band was fully formed, we had 4 months left before I moved back to Arizona and George moved to Pennsylvania. In those short 4 months, we finished the songs, performed many of them in the southern California area, and recorded all at the same time. Once George and I moved away, we then had to do the rest of the recording, planning, and producing long distance, which is why it took so long to fully finish the project. Even though the band is now split, 3 original members (Chase, Kaitlin, and Ronald) still live in California and continue to perform the songs and they are actually writing new songs for a potential second album, featuring many more beloved fairy tales.

You can purchase the cd and/or a digital download here:  https://peoplefolk.bandcamp.com/album/timeless-tales

1.Roast Ribs 04:08 2.Little Red 04:10 3.Tin Man 05:46 4.Wishing Well 03:50 5.Mary 02:59 6.Naughty in Me 02:50 7.If I Fall 04:58 8.Around the Bend 05:10 9.The Surface 04:36 10.Claudia Maria 03:33 11.Humpty 04:17

Evan Bartholomew has been performing electronic music for nearly 20 years as Bluetech, Evan Marc, Invisible Allies (with Kilowatts), and is one of the founders of MicrodoseVR, with Android Jones and the Vision Agency team. He is an internationally recognised touring music producer with over 27 album/EP releases in the last 15+ years, and has a seasoned portfolio of video game and film/tv scoring credits. Bluetech is a master of analogue and modular sound synthesis and DSP audio manipulation, and brings a passion for sound design and cutting edge audio exploration into all the work he touches. His music transcends the constructs normally associated with a calculated “electronic artist,” pursuing music with meaning and purpose in various styles like ambient and downtempo, future bass, and techno.

“Liquid Geometries” sees him exploring shifting, fractal landscapes of melodic, sequenced lines using a huge range of analogue modular synthesisers. With a distinct nod to the Berlin School masters of the past he upgrades that musical heritage with nine shimmering soundscapes utilising modern production techniques to create beautiful tapestries of sound. These benefit from repeated, deep listening as there are so many details and interlaced patterns that will reveal themselves over time. Evan also invited DiN... more credits released November 16, 2018 Buy this and other cds/digital downloads at    http://www.dinrecords.bandcamp.com/ Composed & Produced by Evan Bartholomew for Tribal Alchemy Media, ASCAP Mastered by Shawn @ Audibleoddities.com Eurorack Modular Gear: Verbos, Intellijel, Random Source Serge, 4ms, Synthesis Technology, WMD, Mutable Instruments, Make Noise, Rossum Electro, Mannequins, Hexinverter, Xaoc, Alright Devices, System 80, Music Thing Modular, ALM, Magpie Modular & Strymon MU Modular: Moon Modular, Synthesizers.com, Free State FX, STG Soundlabs & Synthcube Synths: Moog Voyager, David Smith Prophet 6 & Korg Arp Odyssey FX Pedals: Strymon, Eventide, Empress, Earthquaker Devices & Shift Line Software: Ableton Live, Soundtoys & Native Instruments Reaktor Analogue Systems French Connection & Make Noise O-Coast on Track #7 by: Ian Boddy license all rights reserved

1.
Bardo Waves 06:41

2.
Vessels 07:34
3.
Helix 05:17
4.
Crystalline Forms 06:22
5.
Subterranea 05:17
6.
Dawn Ascent 07:16
7.
Tranquility Gate 07:52
8.
Resonating Heart 05:41
9.
Underground Lakes 06:09

30 October 2018: It's a FreeForm Radio Halloween!

Tonight's Halloween playlist:

23 October 2018: Geph, Tamarisk, David Cross

GEPH is an instrumental progressive jazz metal trio riding the very cutting edge of contemporary music. With Josh Goldbergand John Tyler Kent on Chapman Stick, and Josh Merhar on drums, the three of them sound as big as a five-piece, and work to expand the modern conceptions of arranging and composing in a heavy, intense and still succinctly musical format.   

APOPHENIA

1.Macroaggressions 07:41

	2.	Whole Body Headbang 04:40
	3.	Little Guy 02:40
	4.	Get Your Insignificance On 04:58
	5.	Mourningstar 06:23
	6.	W.W.F.D. 08:51
	7.	Back From Space Earth 05:40

about

Apophenia (/æpoʊˈfiːniə/) is the tendency to perceive connections and meaning between unrelated things.

credits

released July 6, 2018

Josh Goldberg - Chapman Stick
John Tyler Kent - Chapman Stick
Josh Merhar - Drums

All songs written and performed by GEPH with the exception of "Little Guy" which was written and performed by John Tyler Kent

Produced, recorded and mixed by Bryan Fennelly at Plaid Dog Recording
Mastered by Mike Davidson at Plaid Dog Recording

Album artwork by Josh Goldberg
Layout/design by John Tyler Kent
Back cover photography by Jen Derosiers
Interior photography by Caitlin Kling 

Coming from the Northeastern part of London, Tamarisk evolved around 1982 from the ashes of Chemical Alice (Mark Kelly of Marillion fame had spent time with this group). Originally founded by Steve Leigh on keyboards, Andy Grant on vocals and Richard Crichton on drums, they secured a solid line-up only when Crichton was replaced by Richard Harris along with Peter Munday on guitars and Mark Orbell on bass. The group went on to produce two very rare cassette E.P.'s, a self-titled in 1982 and ''Lost properties'' ta year later. Shortly after a line-up change occurred with Nick May taking over the bass duties and Brian Roberts being the drummer. In 1985 Tamarisk briefly performed as a trio of Leigh, Grant and May under the name of ''Corrupted by Toys'', before disbanding for good.

Leigh spent some time with Quasar before forming Landmarq, while May had a nice career, initially joining Dagaband, then for a short time Jadis, appeared for a while with The Enid, while his latest collaboration was with Karnataka around 2005. Almost 30 years after Tamarisk's demise the compilation album ''Frozen in time'' was released, containing the material of both the early E.P.'s of the group, thus giving the chance to prog fans to taste the band's unpolished, raw and underground Neo Prog sound.

Live recording of Tamarisk's first show in over 30 years. Recorded at Chinnerys in Southend -On-Sea on Saturday 3rd March 2018
credits
released June 9, 2018 

Andy Grant - Voice 
Steve Leigh - Keyboards 
Chris Davies - Bass 
Luke Rayner - Guitar 
Marc Cecil - Drums 

Dave Denby - Photography

David Cross

David Cross
Born	23 April 1949 (age 69) Plymouth, England
Origin	Electric violinist
Instruments	Violin, viola, keyboards, flute
Years active	1973–present
Labels	Noisy Records
Associated acts	King Crimson, Radius, Electric Chamber Music, David Cross Band
Website	www.david-cross.com

David Cross (born 23 April 1949 in Turnchapel near Plymouth, England) is an English electric violinist, best known for playing with progressive rock band King Crimson during the 1970s^[1] (particularly on Larks' Tongues in Aspic and Starless and Bible Black). He also plays keyboards.^[2]

After King Crimson, Cross formed a jazzy improvising band called They Came from Plymouth.^[3] With Keith Tippett (piano), Dan Maurer (drums) and Jim Juhn (guitar, bass, percussion), he formed a short-lived project in 1987 called Low Flying Aircraft. In 1998, he was invited by Geoff Serle to join Radius. Besides Cross and Serle (keyboards, electronics, samples), Radius included Sheila Malony (on keyboards), Maxine Braham and Carlo Lucius Asciutti (vocals).

Since the mid-1980s, he has also led his own band, the earlier incarnations of which featured American drummer Dan Maurer, English keyboard player Sheila Maloney and the Liverpool bassist/vocalist John Dillon. Former and current King Crimson members John Wetton, Robert Fripp, and Peter Sinfield, as well as guest lyricist Richard Palmer-James, have all guested on his solo projects.

Cross has also worked in theatre both musically and as an actor. In 1999, he formed Noisy Records.

David Cross ‎– Memos From Purgatory

Label:

Red Hot Records (5) ‎– CDR 103

Format:

CD, Album

Country:

UK

Released:

1989

Genre:

Jazz, Rock

Style:

Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Prog Rock

Tracklist Hide Credits

1	Poppies Bass – Tim Carter	3:57
2	Meantime	9:40
3	The First Policeman	5:33
4	Animal	6:27
5	New Dawn	6:19
6	Postscript	4:52
7	Bizarre Bazaar	4:04
8	Basking In The Blue Engineer – Guy CampbellProducer – David Cross, Guy Campbell, Sheila Maloney	3:10

Credits

• Bass – Simon Murrell
• Drums – Dan Maurer
• Engineer – Matt Kemp
• Keyboards, Piano – Sheila Maloney
• Producer – David Cross, Matt Kemp, Sheila Maloney
• Saxophone, Computer [Widi] – Pete McPhail*
• Violin – David Cross

 

16 October 2018: Stick Men Live in Houston

Stick Men is a progressive rock band founded in 2007 by Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin, and Michael Bernier. Since 2010, the lineup stabilized around Mastelotto, Levin, and Markus Reuter. The band was formed as a vehicle for progressive rock music performed almost exclusively with Chapman Sticks and drums. Wikipedia

Genre: Progressive rock

Origin: Boston, MA (2007)

Record label: MoonJune Records

Albums: Prog Noir, MORE

 

FREE DOWNLOAD TO THANK ALL OUR FANS.PLEASE SHARE THE DOWNLOAD LINK. 

stickmen-bootlegs.bandcamp.com/album/20180926-dosey-doe-houston-tx-board-mix-free-download

We are now making recordings like this publicly and officially available for purposes of archiving, (our own) historical research, and for your enjoyment as a fan and collector. Each show is offered for appropriately chosen price and the proceeds from these downloads will get split evenly between Tony, Markus, Pat, and Robert, the four people who worked as a team to make this music come alive. Feel free to donate more if you can.

We appreciate your interest and your support. We have many audience recordings lined up for this series (unauthorized audience recordings, but also Robert Frazza's board mixes, as well as many of his multi-track recordings, which still need to get mixed), and we will be adding more in good time.

credits

released October 10, 2018

Tony Levin: Chapman Stick, Voice
Markus Reuter: Touch Guitars® AU8, Live Looping
Pat Mastelotto: Drums, Loops, Samples
Robert Frazza: F.O.H. engineer

Special thanks to the audience for coming out to your concerts.

Markus Reuter plays Touch Guitars®
www.touchguitars.com

 

Here is a note from Markus Reuter with the free download link:

Dear Friends in Music

Let’s celebrate Stick Men’s 10th anniversary with a free download!

We are offering to our fans the full Woodlands / Houston concert of the band at Dosey Doe’, professionally recorded by our sound engineer Robert Frazza on September 26th this year.

stickmen-bootlegs.bandcamp.com/album/20180926-dosey-doe-houston-tx-board-mix-free-download

TONY LEVIN Chapman stick
MARKUS REUTER Touch Guitar
PAT MASTELOTTO drums, electronics

Enjoy!

Direct link:
stickmen-bootlegs.bandcamp.com/album/20180926-dosey-doe-houston-tx-board-mix-free-download

TRACK LIST:

	1.	Opening Soundscape 03:09
	2.	Hide The Trees 07:00
	3.	Cusp 05:49
	4.	Larks Tongues in Aspic, Part 2 (King Crimson) 07:15
	5.	Crack in the Sky 05:29
	6.	Improvisation The Woodlands 2018 06:18
	7.	Schattenhaft 05:47
	8.	Satori in Tangier (King Crimson) 06:56
	9.	Never the Same 06:33
	10.	Swimming in T 10:36
	11.	Plutonium 05:38
	12.	Red (King Crimson) 09:19
	13.	Mantra 06:10
	14.	Prog Noir 07:37
	15.	Level 5 (King Crimson) 10:09
	16.	OPEN 12:48

 

 

09 October 2018: Damanek & KAUAN

From The Prog Report:
A recent gem of an album was released in 2017 on GEP (Giant Electric Pea) records by a new band called Damanek.  The album titled ‘On Track’ came out in May, 2017,  and is the brainchild of Guy Manning, former member of The Tangent and the United Progressive Fraternity, which released a fantastic album in 2014 called ‘Fall in Love with the World’.  Manning, also an accomplished solo artist, has built a great band here with music similar to the UPF album.  The band premiered the new material at least year’s Summer’s End festival in Europe.
The album is a mix of world music and prog, featuring lots of percussion, sax and horns, multiple keyboards and harmonies.  The opening song with the odd title “Nanabohzo and the Rainbow” would fit nicely on a Toto record, while the second track and likely single “Long Time, Shadow Falls” is a track Peter Gabriel might approve of.  “Believer-Redemmer” is a straight-up smooth jazz track, but it fits nicely here, while “Oil of Arabia” has a Steely Dan vibe.  And of course there is the epic closer “Dark Sun” which will satisfy any Prog urges.
Guy Manning holds nothing back on this release and the band assembled is top-notch.  This is not heavy prog metal but make no mistake, this is outstanding musicianship.  For a relaxed and enjoyable experience, this is a great album.  We recommend checking this one out.

Studio Album, released in 2017

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Nanabohzo And The Rainbow (7:49)
2. Long Time, Shadow Falls (7:47)
3. The Cosmic Score (5:56)
4. Believer-Redeemer (5:48)
5. Oil Over Arabia (5:33)
6. Big Parade (4:15)
7. Madison Blue (3:12)
8. Dark Sun (13:43)

Total time 54:03

Line-up / Musicians

- Guy Manning / lead & backing vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, e-bow, percussion, composer
- Sean Timms / keyboards, banjo, backing vocals, production & mixing
- Marek Arnold / saxes, clarinet, keyboards, MIDI controller
- Daniel Mash / bass

With:
- Phideaux / vocals (8)
- DavidB / backing vocals
- Julie King / backing vocals
- Kevin Currie / backing vocals
- Antonio Vittozzi / guitar
- Luke Machin / guitar
- Chris Catling / guitar (4)
- Nick Magnus / keyboards & arrangements (3)
- Stephen Dundon / flute (7)
- Eric 'Tooch' Santucci / trumpet (4,6)
- Alex Taylor / trombone (4,6)
- Brody Thomas Green / drums (1-6)
- Ulf Reinhardt / drums (8)
- Tim Irrgang / percussion

Releases information

Artwork: Tony Lythgoe

CD Giant Electric Pea ‎- GEPCD1055 (2017, Europe) 

Kaiho is KAUAN’s eighth album following 2015’s lauded Sorni Nai, and focuses on childhood and the transition to adulthood, when the death of a loved one shatters halcyon beginnings and makes clear the stark reckoning that awaits in the end. 
"This is a new circle in KAUAN’s life. We’ve been slowly walking through the genres of music, and now I feel we are coming to a destination. To me, it sounds like a very mature and comprehensive sequel to our 2009 album Aava tuulen maa. And yeah, it will have a totally different sound because we've taken on a new approach and recorded with very old-school methods (most of the sounds were sculpted before tracking and there was almost no digital processing)."     -Anton
Tonight we'll be playing the entirely instrumental version of this album recently released as a digital download on Bandcamp.