06 May 2025: An Evening of Symphonic Prog (Modest Mussorgsky edition); Fire Ballet "Night on Bald Mountain"'; Emerson, Lake, and Palmer "Pictures at an Exhibition"

 Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp and Spotify.  

You can now listen to the livestream of the show through the KMXT app; it's available through the Mac App Store or Google Play. The stream is also available at www.kmxt.org

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to www.KMXT.org and pledging your support.

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages and websites. (links below) 

We urge you to support the musicians you hear on FreeForm Radio.

Tonight I'll also be hosting Rural Electric right after the Island Messenger at  7 pm until 9 pm.

This week's Rural Electric spotlights the best of Canadian country music.

Tonight's FreeForm albums feature the music of Modest Mussorgsky.

Fireballet biography
Founded in North Jersey, USA in 1971 ( as "The Fireball Kids") - Disbanded in 1976

This is one of the gems from the USA progrock history. The band featured Jim Como (lead vocals, drums, percussion), Bryan Howe (Hammond - and pipe organ, celeste and vocals), Ryche Chlanda (electric - and acoustic guitars, electronic devices and vocals), Frak Petto (piano, electric piano, ARP 2600 synthesizer, Mellotron, electronic strings, Oberheim DS-2 digital sequencer and vocals) and Martyn Biling (bass, 12-string guitar, Moog Taurus bass pedals).

Their first album "Night on Bald Mountain" was released in '75 and produced by Ian McDonald (KING CRIMSON). It sounds like a very tasteful progrock stew with elements from GENESIS, GENTLE GIANT and YES. The very disappointing second LP ('76) is entitled "Two, two ... ", no surprise that it turned out to be their swansong.

The album debut-album "Night on Bald Mountain" from 1975 is a bit unknown beauty, other USA prog rock bands NETHERWORLD and LIFT got far more attention from the prog fans all over the world. The twelve compositions (including seven bonus tracks, "All Killers, No Fillers" would Greg Walker from Syn-Phonic say) contain alternating and captivating music with strong echoes from early GENESIS and also GENTLE GIANT and YES. But many twists and turns give the music an original approach, including exciting arrangements from classic composers (MUSSORGSKY and DEBUSSY). The singer sounds powerful and has a wide range, the 'vintage' keyboards are very lush with spectacular synthesizer solos and the guitar work has a beautiful, 24-carat symphonic tradition. Highlight on this splendid CD is the epic title track (almost 20 minutes): wonderful changes of climate, great breaks, impressive pipe organ (evoking "Close to the Edge" from YES) and beautiful HACKETT-like guitar work. Also worth mentioning is Ian McDonald's contribution to this album, he plays flute on two tracks and saxophone on two tracks, his sound is very distinctive. Highly recommended!

Review by loserboy
PROG REVIEWER

Superbly crafted 70's mellotron/moog laden progressive rock gem with great artistic expressionism and full instrumental interplay. "Night On Bald Mountain" was produced by KING CRIMSON's Ian McDonald who also contributes some sax on the album. Musicianship on this album is simply awesome with some of the most scrumptious interplay you have ever heard. Opening number 'Les Cathedrales' is absolutely in the same brilliance as early GENESIS with the most captivating and delicate of melodies. This five member band incorporate some wonderful musical instrumentation including xylophone, glockenspiel, chineese bell tree, gong, finger cymbals, tubular bells, triangle, hammond organ, pipe organ, celeste, mellotron, moog , Taurus pedals, and everyone's favourite... electronic devices. Vocals are quite well done with some great lyrics as well. "Night On Bald Mountain" contains 2 epic tracks and a couple of shorter but well pieced tracks. For those lucky enough to have snagged a copy of Setticlavio Record's (Italy) re-released CD pressing can also enjoy their second album as well... 7 extra bonus tracks from the album titled "Two Too" (1976)... although it is always nice to have this bonus material is ranks much lower IMHO than "Night On Bald Mountain" which is a great album and in my opinion an essential piece of Prog Land history !

Night on Bald Mountain (Russian: Ночь на лысой горе, romanized: Noch′ na lysoy gore), also known as Night on the Bare Mountain, is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed a "musical picture", St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain (Russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе, romanized: Ivanova noch′ na lysoy gore) on the theme of a Witches' Sabbath occurring at Bald Mountain on St. John's Eve, which he completed on that very night, 23 June 1867. Together with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko (1867), it is one of the first tone poems by a Russian composer.^[1

 

Pictures at an Exhibition is a live album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in November 1971 on Island Records. It features the group's rock adaptation of Pictures at an Exhibition, the piano suite by Modest Mussorgsky, performed at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971.

The band had performed the Mussorgsky piece since their live debut in August 1970, after keyboardist Keith Emerson had attended an orchestral performance of the piece several years before and pitched the idea to guitarist and frontman Greg Lake and drummer Carl Palmer, who agreed to adapt it while contributing sections to the arrangement. The album concludes with the concert's encore, "Nut Rocker", a rock adaptation of The Nutcracker originally arranged by Kim Fowley and recorded by B. Bumble and the Stingers in 1962.

Pictures at an Exhibition went to number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard 200. In 2001, it was reissued as a remastered edition that included a studio version of the piece recorded in 1993.

Arrangement

The band's arrangement of the suite uses only four of the ten parts in Mussorgsky's suite, along with the linking "Promenade" sections. The suite was performed live as one continuous piece, with new, group-written sections linking Mussorgsky's original themes.

Note that Mussorgsky's original compositions are listed in bold:

1. Promenade: Pipe organ solo by Emerson at the Harrison & Harrison pipe organ of the auditorium; followed by a drum roll
2. The Gnome: Group instrumental adaptation featuring fuzz bass, Hammond and Moog
3. Promenade: Hammond organ and soft vocal, followed by a short synthesizer solo
4. The Sage: A new picture drawn by Lake solely on acoustic guitar in the mood of a medieval minnesang, it works as sort of romantic prelude to "The Old Castle"
5. The Old Castle: Begins with Emerson squeezing out whoops and whistles from the Moog's ribbon controller, followed by an accelerated adaptation of the original theme played by the full band
6. Blues Variation: a Hammond-driven twelve-bar blues credited to the group, borrowing themes from "The Old Castle" and those that Emerson had previously performed with The Nice on their version of "My Back Pages"
7. Promenade: Full group instrumental version of the primary theme
8. The Hut of Baba Yaga: Full group instrumental adaptation
9. The Curse of Baba Yaga: Lake adapts a section of Mussorgsky's music on fuzz/wah-wah bass, followed by a group-penned section with lyrics/vocal climaxing on a siren-like Moog solo
10. The Hut of Baba Yaga: Full group reprise of the earlier "Hut" theme
11. The Great Gates of Kiev: with lyrics/vocal added by the group and an extended climax featuring Emerson dragging his Hammond organ across the stage to produce feedback

 

Pictures at an Exhibition^[a] is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and painter Viktor Hartmann put on at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, following his sudden death in the previous year. Each movement of the suite is based on an individual work, some of which are lost.

The composition has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists, and became widely known from orchestrations and arrangements produced by other composers and contemporary musicians, with Maurice Ravel's 1922 adaptation for orchestra being the most recorded and performed. The suite, particularly the final movement, "The Bogatyr Gates", is widely considered one of Mussorgsky's greatest works.

15 April 2025: Yezda Urfa “Sacred Baboon”; Parallel Worlds “Modular”; "Ubikuitous" Music Inspired by Philip K. Dick's Dystopias

 Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp and Spotify.  

You can now listen to the livestream of the show through the KMXT app; it's available through the Mac App Store or Google Play. The stream is also available at www.kmxt.org

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to www.KMXT.org and pledging your support.

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages and websites. (links below) 

We urge you to support the musicians you hear on FreeForm Radio.

Sacred Baboon by Yezda Urfa

Sacred Baboon is the second, and only officially released, album by the American progressive rock group Yezda Urfa. The album was recorded in 1976, but not released until 1989.

In 1975 Yezda Urfa made a demo EP, Boris, but since no interest was generated by it, they decided to go for a second album that would be released on their own label with the hope that after it generated enough interest, it would attract the attention of a record company.

Yezda Urfa funded the project themselves, and just before finishing, they almost had a deal with a small label in Chicago, but the deal fell through. After completing the recording, but short of cash, they abandoned the idea of releasing the album and shelved the master tape.

Some time later, the band was discovered by Syn-Phonic and the album was released in 1989.

This album was recorded in about two weeks, in two different studios. They had started using the same studio as for the Boris album, but switched to another, more modern studio shortly after they started recording. In the time that had elapsed since recording Boris, their music had evolved. Some of the material that appeared on Boris was reworked for this album.

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Give 'em Some Rawhide Chewies" – 3:50
2. "Cancer of the Band" – 6:48
3. "Tota in the Moya" – 10:14

Side 2

1. "Boris and his Three Verses" – 2:50
2. "Flow Guides Aren't My Bag" – 4:45
3. "(My Doc Told Me I Had) Doggie Head" – 5:02
4. "3, Almost 4, 6 Yea" – 8:39

Produced & recorded at Universal Studios, Chicago and Hedden West Recorders, Schaumburg, Illinois.

Personnel

• Rick Rodenbaugh – vocals
• Phil Kimbrough – keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizers (Moog Model 15, Memorymoog, Minimoog, Elka string machine), Wurlitzer & Fender Rhodeselectric pianos, Yamaha grand piano, celesta, harpsichord, accordion, Gibson H-1 mandolin, flute, soprano & tenor recorders, backing vocals
• Mark Tippins – acoustic & electric guitars, backing vocals
• Marc Miller – Rickenbacker & Gibson Ripper basses, cello, marimba, vibraphone, backing vocals
• Brad Christoff – Ludwig drums, timpani, tubular bells, metallophone, glockenspiel, gong, agogô, percussion

 

Modular Stories by Parallel Worlds

Machines used:
Eurorack modular (including modules by Qu-Bit, Synthesis Technology, Make Noise, Verbos, Instruo, Xaoc Devices, Intellijel, Frap Tools, Doepfer, 4ms company, Noise Engineering and others)
Analogue Systems RS-Integrator modular
Korg SQ-64
Korg Volca Modular
Korg Wavestate
link: facebook.com/parallelworldsmusic

 

mamonulabs "Modular Stories" explores two distinct sonic moods, at times merging effortlessly, while at others drifting apart into their own expansive spaces. It elegantly combines melancholic IDM with sprawling ambient drone textures, Listen to "Slow Motion" for golden era Fax drones for example or the first track for idm electronica bliss Favorite track: Transcedent.

 

credits

released April 8, 2025
FreeForm Radio thanks Bakis Sirros for a complimentry copy of this release.
Thanks to: friends and family, John Sirros, Alessandro Vaccaro, Mamonu, Ingo Zobel & Dimitris Pavlidis.
Mastered by Lorenzo Montana'
Designed by LoMo

 

analogue electronic idm modular ambient electro electronic idm techno Italy

 

 

Ubikuitous - Music inspired by Philip K. Dick's dystopias

by Various Artists

 

Philip K. Dick's narratives are a cornerstone of dystopian literature, delving into complex and unsettling visions of the future where the boundaries of reality blur, personal autonomy is undermined, and humanity is redefined. His worlds are characterized by an intricate exploration of societal control, the fragility of identity, the consequences of drug use, and the implications of virtual reality. These themes, often presented with a prophetic tone, resonate with contemporary anxieties and challenge the reader to confront unsettling questions about existence and power. In Dick’s dystopias, control manifests in both overt and covert forms, often executed by shadowy corporations or authoritarian governments. The oppressive mechanisms in his stories are not limited to physical coercion but extend deeply into psychological and technological domains. In A Scanner Darkly (1977), for instance, surveillance is depicted as a pervasive force that erodes privacy and individuality. Similarly, Minority Report (1956) examines pre-crime policing, where individuals are apprehended for crimes they have not yet committed based on predictive technologies. Dick’s prescient depiction of predictive surveillance technologies foreshadows modern debates over data privacy, algorithmic governance, and the balance between safety and liberty. A recurring theme in Dick’s works is the elusiveness of reality. His characters frequently grapple with the question: What is real? This ontological crisis is central to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), where the distinction between humans and androids becomes increasingly ambiguous. In Ubik (1969), reality itself becomes a mutable construct, shifting and deteriorating in ways that disorient both characters and readers. The titular substance, Ubik, represents a stabilizing force amidst this chaos, yet its true nature remains enigmatic. Dick’s exploration of reality extends beyond philosophical musings; it serves as a critique of consumer culture, media manipulation, and the fragility of consensus reality in an age of rapid technological change. Dick’s personal experiences with drug use inform much of his work and play an important role in examining the previous themes, lending authenticity to his depictions of altered states of consciousness and their societal implications. Drugs in Dick’s narratives often serve as a means of exploring alternative realities or as tools of control. In The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965), the hallucinogen Can-D allows users to escape their grim existence in a dystopian off-world colony, yet its promise of transcendence is complicated by the emergence of a rival drug, Chew-Z, which binds users to the will of the enigmatic Palmer Eldritch. In this regard the concept of virtual reality is central to Dick’s exploration of identity and control. In The Penultimate Truth (1964), humanity is deceived into living underground, believing the surface world is uninhabitable, while a privileged elite manipulates them through fabricated media. This narrative anticipates concerns about the power of virtual environments to shape perceptions and obscure truths. We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (1966), adapted into the film Total Recall, investigates memory manipulation, where implanted memories blur the line between genuine experience and artificial construction. The protagonist’s struggle to discern his authentic identity highlights the vulnerability of the human psyche in the face of advanced technologies. Dick’s dystopias resonate because they reflect not only a fear of technological overreach but also a deep understanding of human frailty. His exploration of control, reality, drug use, and virtual environments serves as a mirror to contemporary anxieties, urging readers to question the systems that shape their lives and the definitions of humanity they take for granted. In the end, Philip K. Dick’s work remains a cautionary beacon, warning of the perils of unchecked technological and societal evolution while affirming the enduring complexity and resilience of the human spirit.

In this compilation of disorienting aural landscapes, Unexplained Sounds Group and the contributing musicians pay a heartfelt tribute to the dystopian visions of the great American writer. A guiding light for current and future generations of artists, his work challenges all who seek to uncover the hidden layers beneath the surface of apparent reality. 

credits

released April 10, 2025

Non Psychogenic Ambivalence courtesy track by Adi Newton (2024, Anterior Research London, Publishing Mute Song, London).
FreeForm Radio thanks Raffaele Pezzella for a copy of this release.
Curated and mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (a.k.a. Sonologyst).
Layout by Matteo Mariano.
Published by Unexplained Sounds Group
Cat. Num. USG106.
© 2025 All rights reserved.

 

 

experimental avant-garde drone improvisation musique concrete sound art Italy

09 April 2024: Tone Science Module 9; The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

  Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support.

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages and websites and Spotify. (links below) 

We urge you to support the musicians you hear on FreeForm Radio. 

 

 Find playlists for my shows on Spotify by searching "KMXT FreeForm Radio".

 

Tone Science sub-label, from DiN records, continues to explore the world of modular synth music.

Following the success and critical acclaim of the first eight Tone Science compilation albums, 
DiN label boss Ian Boddy has collated another nine tracks from musicians of varying backgrounds working in the realms of modular synthesis.

As the Tone Science journey continues it never ceases to amaze just how varied and individualistic each musicians work can be. Whilst the hardware is technologically based each artist teases out a reflection of their own musical personality.

This volume kicks off with two pointillistic compositions from Loula Yorke and State Azure with intertwining sequencer patterns flowing and coiling around to create ever changing soundscapes.

After this energetic start the next pair of tracks from Theda Electronic Music and Swansither enter calmer, ambient territory where careful sculpting of synthesiser voices creates room for expression and atmosphere.

The mid-point of the album sees Sulk Rooms take us into darker territory with a drone based piece that slowly climbs from the undergrowth like some great creature arising from its slumber.

The next three tracks from Tomorrow The Cure, JacqNoise and Alex Ball are rhythmically based and showcase just how different the feel and energy of music made with modular synths can be with pure tones, deep bass and transient blips respectively.

Finally Michael J. York leads us gently into the distance with a beautiful, shimmering cocoon of blissful sound to close out the album.

“Tone Science Module No.9 Theories and Conjectures” continues the journey down the rabbit hole of possibilities and sound worlds inhabited by artists and musicians working in this ever fascinating and varied musical field. 

credits

releases April 19, 2024

1) Loula Yorke - Eala - 7:44
If you’ve come to save me, you’re wasting your time. Your freedom is bound up with mine.
loulayorke.com

2) State Azure - Scanner - 8:23
The lone traveller glides through the void, the scanner revealing secrets in the darkness. Guided by stars, they explore the cosmic sea, uncovering its mysteries.
youtube.com/@stateazure

3) Theda Electronic Music - Per-Bast - 7:24
An exercise in semi-aleatoric machine/human collaboration, using various constrained semi-random elements to control pitch, timbre and timing, further elements added by myself to accentuate the most pleasing moments that the synthesizers brought up.
soundcloud.com/theda-electronic-music

4) Swanswither - Muad’Dib - 7:04
5 a.m on a rooftop in Marrakech. The mysterious ebb and flow of several competing mosques calling to prayer. Recreated with my Make Noise Shared System.
swansither.bandcamp.com

5) Sulk Rooms - Grasping The Eye Of The Duck - 6:43
A piece of music that came from sheer chance jamming with my Bass VI guitar and Strega. I love venturing more and more into sludge territory these days with pulsing atmospherics.
instagram.com/thomasragsmusic

6) Tomorrow The Cure - Minimum - 6:18
Based around a 4-note melody using one VCO and a self-oscillating VCF. Performed and recorded entirely in Eurorack, all sounds are AJH Synth modules with modular FX.
tomorrowthecure.bandcamp.com

7) JacqNoise - Lono - 5:51
In the realm of sounds, errors can manifest as dissonance. The noises introduce characters like embodied structures and sequences. Lono is the Hawaiian God of Music and Peace. May his spirit be alive in the sounds, providing a base of peace we so all need in the world today. 
jacqnoise.cargo.site

8) Alex Ball - Adaption - 6:23
Polyrhythmic synthesizer sequences dancing in spring reverb, tape echo and modern glitches with soft analogue percussion and gentle voices in support.
alexballmusic.com

9) Michael J. York - And They Shall Have Stars - 6:20
This vignette was created quite spontaneously one clear night under the gaze of Glastonbury Tor using a Fenix II, a Moog and a reverb pedal.
thewitchingtale.bandcamp.com

license

all rights reserved

alex ball ambient em electronic electronic music electronica jacqnoise loula yorke michael j. york state azure sulk rooms swansither theda tomorrow the cure modular synth Sunderland

 

Review by David Randall

Classical rock is an often maligned genre, when done well it can bring new dimension to time-worn classics, done badly and it can fail to enhance the originals.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have always done it better than most, and in recent times they’ve orchestrated Queen and Fleetwood Mac and – even further back – the music of Pink Floyd and – where it all started – Deep Purple in 1969.  I suppose it all comes down to the arrangements and the interpretation.

Having well known rock musicians as “soloists” (and in one example the original artist) stops any over-egging or extravagance and a core rhythm section including the Cottle brothers – Laurence and Richard – at least keeps the foundations rocking.  They are particularly impressive on ‘Watcher Of The Skies’ and it’s perhaps a little surprising that Steve Hackett is conspicuous by his absence.

Amongst the guests,  Ian Bairnson stands in for David Gilmour on ‘Comfortably Numb’ whilst one-time mediaeval rocker Richard Harvey (Gryphon) excels on ‘Thick As A Brick’.

The heaviest almost big band diversion is King Crimson’s ‘21^st Century Schizoid Man’ which features Gavin Harrison and the fusion guitar of Guthrie Govan.  Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith is featured on Rush’s ‘Red Barchetta’.

Elsewhere, as you might expect, this is a production job of widescreen proportions, especially evidenced on ‘Think Of Me With Kindness’ the lesser-known Gentle Giant song (from ‘Octopus’ in 1972) that now comes across as Vaughan Williams mixed with Big Country (the movie theme not the band).  Yes’ ‘Roundabout’ (featuring the late Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards) sounds like it could have been a Bond theme.  Of course this treatment may not appeal to all tastes but it is very well done.

Hopefully this will be the start of a series (there’s also a “More Symphonic Rock” album released in May although not on the same label).  It demonstrates that in amongst prog rock there was always a damn good classical musician trying to get out, and an even more durable tune.  ****

29 August 2023: England - "Garden Shed"; Aeons - "Into Eternity's Embrace"

BANDCAMP FRIDAY IS THIS FRIDAY, SEPT 1!

 Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support -  Donate Now!

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages and websites. (links below) 

We urge you to support the musicians you hear on FreeForm Radio.

 

England were a progressive rock group active in the late 1970s, and briefly reformed in 2006. The band is notable for their album Garden Shed released on Arista Records, and for keyboardist Robert Webb playing a Mellotron sawn in half.^[1]

Studio Album, released in 1977

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Midnight Madness (6:58)
2. All Alone (Introducing) (1:53)
3. Three Piece Suite (12:58)
4. Paraffinalea (4:12)
5. Yellow (5:24)
6. Poisoned Youth (16:17)

Total Time 47:42

Line-up / Musicians

- Frank Holland / guitars, vocals, Mellotron & Leslie guitar (5)
- Robert Webb / Minimoog, Hammond, harpsichord, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, piano, Hohner clavinet, 12-string guitar (5), vocals
- Martin Henderson / bass, acoustic guitar (5), vocals
- Jode Leigh / drums, vibes, percussion, bass (5), vocals

Releases information Artwork: Mike Cosford 

Review by Proghead
PROG REVIEWER

ENGLAND came a little late in the UK prog scene, coming at a bad time as punk rock was on the rise. Their one and only album, "Garden Shed" (well, at least until the 1990s with "The Last of the Jubblies" which contained leftover material) was released in 1977 on Arista Records. Despite the major label it was released on (yes, the same label that gave us the dreaded BARRY MANILOW, AIR SUPPLY and BAY CITY ROLLERS, at least the label did us a favor by having the ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, CARAVAN, and HAPPY THE MAN on their roster), the original LP is hard to find. For those who don't live in the UK (me included): the cover to "Garden Shed" is a spoof of a label to a jar of Robertson's Golden Shred Marmalade! Robertson's products are apparently not available outside of the UK (I certainly never seen any Golden Shred, Silver Shred, or any other Robertson's products sold at any supermarket in my neck of the woods), so I would never have realized the Golden Shred parody to "Garden Shed" had I not found out online. The band consisted of bassist Martin Henderson, guitarist Franc Holland, keyboardist Robert Webb, and drummer Jode Leigh. Vocal duties handled by all.

This was the last recording to feature the Mark II Mellotron (this was 1977, after all, and the Mellotron most used was the small 400 model, which was introduced in 1970, but didn't get used extensively until about or after 1972). Their keyboardist Robert Webb was said to sawed his Mark II in half to make it more portable (other keyboards he used included Hammond organ, Hohner clavinet, piano, electric piano, and Minimoog).

Musically, their influences can be rather obvious: YES, GENESIS, GENTLE GIANT, SUPERTRAMP, FRUUPP, perhaps even a little QUEEN. Like on "Midnight Madness" you hear plenty of GENESIS-like passages, with Yes-like vocal harmonies. "All Alone" is a short piano-oriented ballad that often gets compared to QUEEN, but to me reminds me of a Rick Davies-penned SUPERTRAMP ballad sung by Roger HODGSON. "Three Piece Suite" (get it?) is, as you expect, a three movement suite. The first part most resembling YES, but there are some passages with high-pitched vocals that don't seem to fit in too well. "Paraffinalea" is one of the more light-hearted numbers with more of that YES and GENTLE GIANT influences. "Yellow" is an acoustic ballad dominated by Mellotron. Here the influences seem to be not so obvious. The album then ends with "Poisoned Youth", at 16 minutes. Had this album been released a few years earlier, or punk didn't take over, this would have gotten more attention. Still, a great album.

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

 

                                                                Aeons - Into Eternity's Embrace

Centuries from now, humanity's destiny lies rapt in technological dominion. The age-old dreams of the spirit, long extinguished in material nothingness, arise anew from the forges of science in strange, cold shapes, seeking the freedom of infinitesimal new dimensions and the dim webs of distant stars. As our empire decays, new spiritual orders pursue a final exodus from the flesh, fleeing in self-exile, far into the black gulfs of night, craving transfiguration and an irrevocable fusion with the One: the radiant universe of the pure.
Julien Demoulin and IA join forces to present a deep-space journey of vast drone ambient and cosmic synth, opening widescreen planes of sound that sing of both transcendence and nullification.

The premise of the album—a monastic order on the cusp of transcending human existence—resonates well with the austere yet calming tone of the drone compositions. "Into Eternity's Embrace" has a remarkable capacity for escorting listeners into the vastness of the galactic emptiness, which is meant to serve as a transcendental experience. A sensation of weightlessness and detachment from worldly worries is evoked by the painstakingly created audio layers, which are rich in ethereal tones and continuous background voices. The music is meaningful and cathartic to listen to because of its capacity to be both calming and reflective. It encourages a deeper connection with the expanse of existence and the limitless potential of the human soul by inviting listeners to explore their own spiritual yearnings. "Into Eternity's Embrace" is a sonic masterpiece that resonates with the austere beauty of the monastic journey, offering solace, enlightenment, and a transcendental escape into the boundless realm of pure light. 

credits

released August 10, 2023
FreeForm Radio thanks Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a copy of this release.
REVIEWS

Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2023/08/12/amn-reviews-aeons-into-eternitys-embrace-2023-reverse-alignment

Luminous Dash
luminousdash.be/reviews/album-reviews/aeons-into-eternitys-embrace-reverse-alignment/

Ver Sacrum
www.versacrum.com/vs/2023/08/aeons-into-eternitys-embrace.html




IA: iadrone.bandcamp.com
julien demoulin: juliendemoulin.bandcamp.com

Published by Reverse Alignment
All music by Alex Copeland aka IA (vocals) and Julien Demoulin (electronics), 2021-2022.
Album concept by Alex Copeland.
Produced and mixed by Julien Demoulin.
Mastering by Raffaele Pezzella (a.k.a. Sonologyst).
© 2023. All rights reserved.

license

all rights reserved

tags

Tags

ambient dark dark ambient drone ambient industrial post-industrial Sweden

 

 

18 January 2022: The Samurai of Prog; Wobbler; Steven Wilson

 Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support.

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages and websites (links below).    We urge you to support the musicians you hear on FreeForm Radio.

Tonight we feature progressive rock from Finland and Norway and instrumental game music from Steven Wilson.

Article by: Jez Rowden

This review is a little overdue after the 2014 release of this third album from the extravagantly named The Samurai of Prog, but it is certainly well worth investigating. Whereas the multinational collective that make up The Samurai have concentrated on cover versions and reinterpretations of classic Prog pieces for their previous releases, The Imperial Hotel sees them make a move towards original material.

Also responsible for the production, the core band of Marco Bernard (bass), Steve Unruh (vocals, violin, flute, acoustic guitar) and Kimmo Porsti (drums and percussion) are assisted by a variety of guests including keyboardists Robert Webb (England), Robert Myers (The Musical Box) and Linus Kåse (Änglagård) plus guitarists Kamran Alan Shikoh (Glass Hammer) and Yoshitisa Shimizu (Kenso).

Housed in sumptuous sleeve packaging with wonderful artwork from Ed Unitsky, it really is a delightful object. But we’re mainly here for the music…

Despite being more than accomplished composers in their own right – Unruh’s work should certainly be familiar to many through his solo work, Resistor and other projects – the core trio took the decision to approach outside composers to provide the material. Possibly a strange choice but the result is that the five tracks come from four independent writers. To the credit of the band their arrangements mean that the finished product does not sound fragmented.

Their previous releases have a kind of novelty tag (and the band name does not help them much there!) but this album marks a new dawn. The opener After The Echoes, written by and featuring keyboardist Octavio Stampalia of Jinetes Negros, is a strident and uplifting number carried aloft on Steve Unruh’s high pitched vocals and Yes-like harmonies. The main melody is central but it is the additional sections that make it work, the various keyboards adding different textures with Unruh’s flute and violin increasing the variety. It is at times tricksy and chocolate boxy but never gets too schmaltzy and makes for an expansive piece of Prog to set the scene, the piano and violin outro being just beautiful.

The bright and breezy Limoncello was written by Robert Webb and he also adds keys and vocals here. A different version of it apparently appeared on the second part of the Colossus Project’s Decameron album. I am not familiar with it but as the core band also featured on that album they are sort of covering themselves this time. Suffice to say that it is a fun piece, lovely staccato piano intertwining with other keyboard lines to build the piece organically to Shimizu’s guitar solo which really cuts through. Unruh’s violin again makes a difference and the harmony vocals are delightful. At its heart is a very simple song that has been expanded and inflated but it all works and the extended instrumental section at the end is simply superb.

The gorgeous piano melody of Victoria’s Summer Home, written and performed by David Myers, deserves attention on its own merits and it is almost a shame that here it acts as a prelude to the album’s main event, the title track. That said, it works perfectly in the role, the culmination of birdsong and a car pulling up on a gravel driveway leading us beautifully into The Imperial Hotel itself. An unreleased song co-written by Robert Webb and England it certainly deserves to be heard and the trio have done a fine job with it. Webb again adds keys and vocals and the guitar of Kamran Alan Shikoh is excellent. An extended and self-contained story shot through with the kind of theatrical Victoriana that Genesis used to do so well, it is a great centrepiece and the highpoint of the album. I won’t spoil the story but it is is witty and well realised with a lovely surprise ending. The music takes you through the ups and downs of the story and it is all beautifully realised and played with enthusiastic passion. This is a half hour epic with not much in the way of excess flab and keeps you hooked throughout, it doesn’t move far from the England original recorded in 1975 (which you can find Here) but extends some of the instrumental passages. There is nothing “new” here, so to speak, but it is engaging and a great lost song from the ’70s that The Samurai have done full justice to.

After all that we get Into The Lake by Linus Kåse to finish, another full-on Prog extravaganza of excess to finish things off. Very much influenced by Gentle Giant, it’s one for the fans of that style of music to enjoy. It is dense and intricate, the complex music harking back to the classic era of Prog with hints of Genesis again, but it is all beautifully done and a resounding way to finish off an album such as this.

Steeped in what you might call “traditional” Prog stylings and performances it is bound to be disregarded by many as a pointless exercise of rehashing but that is to miss the quality of the performances and arrangements which are what makes it all work. If you are looking for the future and new avenues – turn back. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for interesting music packed with melodic hooks and wonderfully warm playing then this might well be for you.

The Imperial Hotel is a quite beautifully crafted work that deserves to be heard more widely. Some of the passages are simply breathtaking and the title track is a wonderfully conceived extended work in the grand traditions of High Prog to which The Samurai have added their own stamp. 

Wobbler´s fifth offering is an exciting blend of carefully planned and jammed material that encompasses everything the band has done up to now. Dwellers of the Deep consists of four distinctive pieces and is a broad looking glass into Wobbler´s creative whims and playful exuberance. The album showcases the band´s mastery of dynamics and flow, with passages and themes veering from the scenic and serene to the downright rocking.

The lyrical themes on the album deals with human emotion, and the ongoing struggle between juxtaposed forces within the psyche. An introspective voyage among the realms of memories, feelings and instincts, where the light is brighter, and the dark is darker.
The concepts of wonder, longing and desperation permeates the histories told, and the currents from the deep are ever present.

released October 23, 2020  

progressive rock rock classic rock prog rock symphonic rock vintage rock Oslo

Last Day of June is an interactive tale about love and loss, from an all-star team of creators - including critically acclaimed director Massimo Guarini (Murasaki Baby, Shadows of the Damned) & award-winning musician and record producer Steven Wilson, and featuring a collaboration with writer/director/animator Jess Cope (animator on “Frankenweenie”, director for Metallica’s “Here Comes Revenge” music video).

Steven Wilson (born Steven John Wilson on November 3, 1967, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer, most closely associated with the progressive rock genre. Currently a solo artist, he became known as the founder, lead guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the British rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands.

Wilson is self-taught as a producer, audio engineer, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. Under his own name, he has released the albums Insurgentes (2008), Grace for Drowning (2011), The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) (2013), Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015), To the Bone (2017), and The Future Bites (2021). He also released a EP, 4 ½ (2016), as well as a series of singles titled Cover Version (released online between 2003 and 2010; released worldwide as a compilation in 2014). His other solo projects can also be found attributed to monikers of his, such as Bass Communion and Incredible Expanding Mindfuck.

He is perhaps best known as the frontman for progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree, for whom he was the sole member during the 1980s and early 1990s. His projects are numerous however, including collaboration with Aviv Geffen as Blackfield; a long-running partnership with Tim Bowness, known as No-Man; teaming up with Dirk Serries in Continuum; as well as a joint album with Opeth's frontman, Mikael Åkerfeldt in Storm Corrosion.

Wilson employs synthesizers and programmed music along with live instruments to create a unique atmosphere for each song he works on, including otherwise-simple pop tunes. In addition to his prolific musical output, Steven has crafted a reputation for the high production quality of his music, and has undertaken production duties with such high-profile artists as Opeth, Dream Theater, Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, Anathema, Orphaned Land, Marillion, Fish, Pendulum, Yoko Ono, and friend Robert Fripp. He is also part way through remixing the albums of King Crimson and other classic artists' back catalogues into surround sound and new stereo mixes.

 

 

 

09 April 2019: Babylon / Kindly Spoken Thieves

Babylon was a progressive rock band from Florida that emerged from the band Helicopter.^[2] Babylon was formed in 1976 by Rick Leonard, Rodney Best, Doroccas, J. David Boyko, and Gary Chambers.^[3]
They have been compared to Marillion, Gentle Giant, Rush, and Nursery Cryme period Genesis. The members state their main influences as Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator, Happy the Man, Genesis, and others.^[4][5]. 
Very Genesis influenced Floridian band who put out a coveted album in the late seventies. This is album is extremely in the Genesis style (like Marillion) yet avoids the commerciality that this band eventually dived headfirst into.) Syn-Phonic also released two bootleg quality live albums from their heyday which show them in a rather muddy light.
Imagine an incredible dynamo of progressive energy in the mold of Nursery Cryme period Genesis, but with some slight punky undertones thrown in as well. Add to this the affected vocals of singer Doroccas, and you have a sound that, while not unlike a high energy version of early Marillion, pre-dated that band by five years. They only released one self-titled studio album around 1978, featuring four long cuts. Hopefully someday that fine album will be reissued on compact disc. A few years ago, two limited issue LPs of their live show were released, (Night Over Never and Better Conditions For The Dead) which included all of the songs from the original album, plus several other tracks not included on the studio LP. While the quality of the recording is no better than an average bootleg, the performance on both of these live albums is incredible.
Babylon, in some ways, is better than Nursery Cryme-era Genesis, although certainly not nearly as innovative, given that their album was recorded in '77. Detectable influences include peak-period Genesis, Gentle Giant, a bit of Zeppelin, even. The vocalist has a very high voice, Plant-like in tone, but phrased more like early Gabriel (if you can imagine that). There's some vague resemblance to Rush, but much more progressive and less metallic. I wish they'd been better recorded; the home-grown qualities of the studio album detract from its appeal, though it's certainly better than the "bootleg quality" ascribed to those live albums. If some really exceptional remastering (or remixing!) is done for the CD reissue, this could be a major winner!
 

Discography

• Babylon (1978, reissued 1995 and 1999)
• Night Over Never: Live at the Empty Keg 1 (1989)
• Better Conditions for the Dead: Live at the Empty Keg 2 (1989/2002)

The electronic and ambient collaboration of Steve Setzepfandt and Josh Wittman out of the Minneapolis, MN area.
Recorded from beginning of 2016 to the end of 2018. It is the first album released by the duo under the moniker, Kindly Spoken Thieves.
 

released March 30, 2019

All tracks recorded, mixed, and performed by Steve Setzepfandt and Josh Wittman

Cover Art By: Artem Gordienko
Titled: "Anthropomorphism"
Instagram: www.instagram.com/gordienko.artem/

ambient downtempo electronic guitars piano synth Minneapolis

1.	Black Lines 04:45
	2.	Copter 05:58
	3.	The Graze 07:48
	4.	Straights of Fear 03:42
	5.	Cable Two 05:58
	6.	In Queens 06:37
	7.	Grey Cradle 04:52
	8.	Vyrmillion 03:12
	9.	Amphibious 05:55
	10.	Moonraker 05:52