The Mercury Tree
Permutations
"The common narrative among muso's today is that new prog is retro and even regressive, and they act like they're too cool to like prog anymore. The Mercury Tree is just one band proving the narrative is as bunk as ever. Permutations is a transitional album of alt-math-prog influenced by avant-prog, Larks-SBB-Red era King Crimson and Yes with a unique mix of microtonal sounds akin to avant-garde composer Harry Partch. Heavy, complex, melodic, and all the right kinds of dissonant, this is an astounding accomplishment for three dudes from the U.S., worthy of the highest award in truly progressive rock." - Friday13th
Bandcamp: https://themercurytree.bandcamp.com/album/permutations
vs.
Powerized
The Mirror's Eye
"We are a symphonic prog band from the Netherlands. Our debut album is a mix of prog and power rock/metal which is very bombastic in nature as we use a lot of orchestras and choirs. @Friday: it was mixed and mastered by Matt Smith from Theocracy (I see you have a couple of their albums 5'ed). It's a bit weird to say why I like our own music without blowing my own trumpet to much, but our selling points are an incredible singer (not me haha), diverse and intricate songs, and a very cinematic sound." - Scheumke
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7LjIb5DnNReygvEVJ3gfHE?si=HvrnaBICRraodTTyEOKPxw
Getting ready to get into some proofreading and note writing for my job, so these (and the new album from New Years Day, which just moved out of the rotation in my car and into my house for a 2019 Best Of evaluation) will give me something to listen to while I work.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Prog Contest: Round 1 Match 2 Results
I was the first contestant to vote in this one. Although I gave the albums three listens each, in this round, I had a very clear preference from the beginning. Here was my vote:
I liked the Pulsar a great deal. It's subtle and atmospheric. I enjoyed some of the tasteful flute work, and the mellotron and piano. The vocals were nice -- used sparingly, but effective. I definitely heard the similarities to Genesis, as well as bits that made me think of King Crimson, The Moody Blues and even Tangerine Dream. I also find the album to be a grower -- I like it better each time. This is actually one of my favorite albums I've heard in any of the prog contests so far.
The Fireballet certainly has a lot of other elements I liked. Along with the familiar classical riffs by people like Mussorgsky and Debussy, two composers I particularly enjoy, I certainly heard the ELP and Yes influences. Unfortunately, most of the parts of the album I liked best weren't the original parts, but the parts that were lifted wholesale from the classical composers. (And the vocalist in the first song reminded me uncomfortably of Monty Python's Michael Palin.)
The Fireballet was good, but the Pulsar was better than good. My vote is for Pulsar.
This one went back and forth, with Pulsar gaining an early lead, Fireballet going ahead, Pulsar coming back, then Fireballet going ahead again. But in the end:
Final Results: Pulsar 9 votes, Fireballet 6 votes
Winner: Pulsar
I liked the Pulsar a great deal. It's subtle and atmospheric. I enjoyed some of the tasteful flute work, and the mellotron and piano. The vocals were nice -- used sparingly, but effective. I definitely heard the similarities to Genesis, as well as bits that made me think of King Crimson, The Moody Blues and even Tangerine Dream. I also find the album to be a grower -- I like it better each time. This is actually one of my favorite albums I've heard in any of the prog contests so far.
The Fireballet certainly has a lot of other elements I liked. Along with the familiar classical riffs by people like Mussorgsky and Debussy, two composers I particularly enjoy, I certainly heard the ELP and Yes influences. Unfortunately, most of the parts of the album I liked best weren't the original parts, but the parts that were lifted wholesale from the classical composers. (And the vocalist in the first song reminded me uncomfortably of Monty Python's Michael Palin.)
The Fireballet was good, but the Pulsar was better than good. My vote is for Pulsar.
This one went back and forth, with Pulsar gaining an early lead, Fireballet going ahead, Pulsar coming back, then Fireballet going ahead again. But in the end:
Final Results: Pulsar 9 votes, Fireballet 6 votes
Winner: Pulsar
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Prog Contest: Round 1 Match 2
Pulsar
Halloween
"Pulsar was one of the finest symphonic progressive rock bands from France, 'Halloween' was their masterpiece, and benefited from a much better production than the previous albums. The music was a bit less spacey and instead more symphonic in a more traditional way. It's a concept album divided into two parts, divided into several songs with individual titles. This is one of the best French prog releases in the 70's." - e210013
Youtube (see track listing, I believe it starts at 1:23:06): https://youtu.be/EmCGdtxA3A8
Halloween
"Pulsar was one of the finest symphonic progressive rock bands from France, 'Halloween' was their masterpiece, and benefited from a much better production than the previous albums. The music was a bit less spacey and instead more symphonic in a more traditional way. It's a concept album divided into two parts, divided into several songs with individual titles. This is one of the best French prog releases in the 70's." - e210013
Youtube (see track listing, I believe it starts at 1:23:06): https://youtu.be/EmCGdtxA3A8
vs.
Fireballet
Night On Bald Mountain
"I found this vinyl, like I find most of my more obscure stuff, digging through dusty crates in dingy basements in about a 50 mile radius where I live in the midwest. I found this in Lake Geneva Wisconsin at some whole in the wall tourist shop, that had a sign "records" pointing down the stairs. I found this and others but had never heard of this so had to get it for the terrible name alone, I figured they were from England and saw that Ian McDonald produced it so knew it would be at least worth a spin. Well it turns out they were from New Jersey. This has nodes of all the great early Prog bands. You will swear you hear, Genesis, Yes, GG, KC, and Van Der Graff. I love the orchestration although I usually do not. The FIre Mountain that closes out the album is great although in this day and age maybe a little much but a great listen
hope you enjoy this." - wham49
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS1NjyY3KZA&list=PL8a8cutYP7fpfDrNyHhoQ621EWkb9uzKI
Night On Bald Mountain
"I found this vinyl, like I find most of my more obscure stuff, digging through dusty crates in dingy basements in about a 50 mile radius where I live in the midwest. I found this in Lake Geneva Wisconsin at some whole in the wall tourist shop, that had a sign "records" pointing down the stairs. I found this and others but had never heard of this so had to get it for the terrible name alone, I figured they were from England and saw that Ian McDonald produced it so knew it would be at least worth a spin. Well it turns out they were from New Jersey. This has nodes of all the great early Prog bands. You will swear you hear, Genesis, Yes, GG, KC, and Van Der Graff. I love the orchestration although I usually do not. The FIre Mountain that closes out the album is great although in this day and age maybe a little much but a great listen
hope you enjoy this." - wham49
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS1NjyY3KZA&list=PL8a8cutYP7fpfDrNyHhoQ621EWkb9uzKI
I'll probably start listening to them tonight. As always, I'll give them at least three listens each -- more if I need more to decide.
Prog Contest: Round 1 Match 1 Results
Here was my vote:
Alright, I'm ready to vote. I liked both albums, but mildly. They both had their plusses and minuses.
For Thrice Mice, I liked that '60s psychedelic vibe they occasionally displayed. I also liked their vocalist, even though there were huge portions of the album where he didn't have anything to do. In a way, this made him more effective. I particularly liked the first and the last tracks. I HATED that sax intro (and outro) on the first song, though, even though I get the sense that they were playing around with their listeners and trying to be funny. But the other aspects of the album overcame it. There was a lot of jazz to the album, which isn't usually my thing, but it didn't really bother me here. A lot of the music was hot -- energetic and very enthusiastic.
The Wallenstein LP was cooler, more laid back and subtle. Their vocalist had some moments, but for the most part, I didn't really like him. His voice was so-so, and his diction was often kind of annoying. I liked the last track the best -- this was their most energetic track, the one where I felt that I heard those Jethro Tull tendencies. Most of the other songs didn't do much for me as songs.
Normally, I prefer Wallenstein's overall style of music to Thrice Mice's. But in this case, I enjoyed the Thrice Mice album a little more. Therefore, I vote for Thrice Mice.
Final Results: Thrice Mice 6 votes, Wallenstein 10 votes
Winner: Wallenstein
Alright, I'm ready to vote. I liked both albums, but mildly. They both had their plusses and minuses.
For Thrice Mice, I liked that '60s psychedelic vibe they occasionally displayed. I also liked their vocalist, even though there were huge portions of the album where he didn't have anything to do. In a way, this made him more effective. I particularly liked the first and the last tracks. I HATED that sax intro (and outro) on the first song, though, even though I get the sense that they were playing around with their listeners and trying to be funny. But the other aspects of the album overcame it. There was a lot of jazz to the album, which isn't usually my thing, but it didn't really bother me here. A lot of the music was hot -- energetic and very enthusiastic.
The Wallenstein LP was cooler, more laid back and subtle. Their vocalist had some moments, but for the most part, I didn't really like him. His voice was so-so, and his diction was often kind of annoying. I liked the last track the best -- this was their most energetic track, the one where I felt that I heard those Jethro Tull tendencies. Most of the other songs didn't do much for me as songs.
Normally, I prefer Wallenstein's overall style of music to Thrice Mice's. But in this case, I enjoyed the Thrice Mice album a little more. Therefore, I vote for Thrice Mice.
Final Results: Thrice Mice 6 votes, Wallenstein 10 votes
Winner: Wallenstein
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Evita
Denise and I attended a performance of Evita tonight at the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts. It was Denise's first time at this theater, although I've been there a number of times, either solo or with my daughter (and sometimes my niece).
This was the fullest I've ever seen this theater, probably due to the popularity of the show Evita itself. It's one of my favorites, maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber's best other than The Phantom of the Opera. The downstairs portion of the theater seemed to be just sold out, although there were still seats to be had in theater's small balcony.
Now the last time I saw Evita, it was a performance at The Gateway Playhouse in Patchogue a number of years ago. And while The Gateway always does very professional productions, I left the theater really disappointed that night, because I thought the director had made a fundamental error that ruined the performance, which was this: He made Evita thoroughly unlikable.
I'm not going to pretend I have any in depth knowledge of Argentine history, or about the historical characters of Eva and Juan Peron, so when I speak about them, I'm talking about them entirely as characters within this play. And for me, the play itself doesn't work unless the character of Eva is at least somewhat sympathetic. Because there's just no one else to hang your emotions on. You certainly can't root for the aristocratic slobs who look down on her, or on the generals and politicians who call her a "slut" who should spend her time "looking at the ceiling instead of reaching for the stars." And you can't really root for the cynical Che, who with all of his wit and his (admittedly sometimes valid) criticisms, is ... well ... a dick. He's an acerbic tool who suffers from ... dare I say it? ... EDS (Evita Derangement Syndrome). And you can tell that Tim Rice (the lyricist) isn't pushing him as someone with whom to sympathize, because in the original concept album, it's made clear he's a total hypocrite -- he's originally very pro-Peron, but only becomes disenchanted with the Perons when they brush him off as he's trying to get some kind of government backing for some dopey bug spray he's invented. (I think it was bug spray, anyway -- I can't find it online right now, and I'm not going to go back through the album to verify it.)
SO getting back to the production at hand, the Smithtown PAC had a winning script on their hands for this run. How did they do with it?
Overall, I'd say pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good.
The set was fine. The director (Ronald Green III) made some good choices throughout. I liked the way they often showed old black-and-white film historical clips of the real-life Perons in the background in between scenes.
They had a few physical problems -- Evita lost her wig once, and lost her hat about three times while she was dancing, but the cast handled it well. The choreography was better than I've been used to at shows at this theater, probably because my old friend Ashley Nicastro was the choreographer for this show. (I say "old friend" jokingly. I've never actually met the woman, but it seems that lately, almost every time I write a theater review of a Long Island production, I look in my program and discover that she was the choreographer. She's been doing a lot of the shows at the CM Playhouse in Oakdale recently, so I was surprised to see her now working for the Smithtown PAC as well). There was one minor collision during a dance, but I suspect that was more the fault of the actor than it was of Nicastro.
The music was provided by eight live musicians (who I guess were backstage, as there isn't an orchestra pit in this theater). I was a little nervous about this at first -- I've gotten kind of gun shy from seeing a lot of shows this year at the Noel S. Ruiz, where every time they have live musicians, they seem to drown out the actors, but that didn't happen here. The band was quite good.
So it all rested on the cast. Could they pull it off?
Happily, yes! There were one or two issues, but in the end, they did a great job of creating a really fun evening of theater.
You have to start with Laura Laureano, the production's Evita. Let's face it, there's no way this show works without her. And I have to say that she won me over pretty much from the start. She's a petite young woman with a big voice. Facially, she reminded me of Jessica Parker Kennedy, the actress who plays Barry Allen's daughter in The Flash. Laureano immediately checks off that likability box, although very early on in the production, she demonstrates that she can go from doe-eyed ingenue to fierce warrior woman in ... well, a flash. She doesn't play Eva as sympathetically as Madonna did in the film -- she's pretty bitchy while she's throwing out Peron's young mistress, and she snaps a little too unnecessarily once or twice at the makeup people getting her ready for her Rainbow Tour -- but she's certainly not the total ice queen she's sometimes portrayed as either.
Laureano has everything it takes to make a first-rate Eva. My only real criticism of her is that when she goes full-out at the highest part of her range, her voice can get a little strident. But she's deadly accurate at hitting the notes, and Evita isn't the easiest part to sing.
In any event, she successfully portrays the character's effervescence and her lust for life, even if that life is regrettably short.
Her chief antagonist is Dylan Bivings as Che. Che serves as our narrator of sorts for the play, usually standing outside of the action and commenting on it. Snottily. (Does it show that I have no patience with this character?) Bivings nails the character perfectly, mocking Evita and the crowds who worship her as though she's an angel or a saint. The only problem with his performance is that while he has a good voice, on this evening, at least, he didn't completely have the vocal range for the part. He'd be fine for most of a song, but when he had to hit the highest notes, he couldn't always pull it off. Maybe he was just having an off vocal night. In any event, it was too bad, because in every other way, he embodied the character.
One of the differences between Broadway and regional theaters like the Smithtown PAC is that on Broadway, you pretty much have every musical theater actor in the world wanting to be a part of a new production, so you can usually find someone who fits every role physically as well as talent wise. This isn't always the case in regional theater, though, so sometimes a director has to choose between somebody who looks the part, and someone who can play the part.
Dennis Creighton, who plays Juan Peron in this production, looks about as Argentinian as I do. (Which is to say, not at all). In every other way, though, he successfully portrayed this character. He played probably the most sympathetic version of Peron I've ever seen, making it obvious that his relationship with Eva was not just one of convenience. (In the failed Gateway production that I spoke of earlier, Peron already had a new mistress while Eva was sick and dying). He's physically a large, strong-looking man, which helped to make it believable that he could fight his way to the top of the military (as demonstrated in the song "The Art of the Possible"). So this helped to give him permission of a sort to play a softer, more tender, Peron without coming off like a wimp. I enjoyed his performance a lot.
Anthony Arpino displayed a powerful and lovely voice as Magaldi, the singer who becomes the first in a long line of increasingly powerful men whom Eva works her through in her rise to the top. Lauren Tiradoo likewise did a good job with her one song in the role of Peron's mistress. (And while she gets quickly thrown out like yesterday's trash, at least this Eva didn't steal her song the way Madonna did in the movie).
The rest of the Ensemble cast also does an excellent job as Eva's adoring crowd, the people who love and worship her.
This is definitely a successful production of Evita, thanks in large part to the talents of its star, Ms. Laureano. If you love this show, as I do, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It runs at the Smithtown PAC (http://www.smithtownpac.org) through June 23.
This was the fullest I've ever seen this theater, probably due to the popularity of the show Evita itself. It's one of my favorites, maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber's best other than The Phantom of the Opera. The downstairs portion of the theater seemed to be just sold out, although there were still seats to be had in theater's small balcony.
Now the last time I saw Evita, it was a performance at The Gateway Playhouse in Patchogue a number of years ago. And while The Gateway always does very professional productions, I left the theater really disappointed that night, because I thought the director had made a fundamental error that ruined the performance, which was this: He made Evita thoroughly unlikable.
I'm not going to pretend I have any in depth knowledge of Argentine history, or about the historical characters of Eva and Juan Peron, so when I speak about them, I'm talking about them entirely as characters within this play. And for me, the play itself doesn't work unless the character of Eva is at least somewhat sympathetic. Because there's just no one else to hang your emotions on. You certainly can't root for the aristocratic slobs who look down on her, or on the generals and politicians who call her a "slut" who should spend her time "looking at the ceiling instead of reaching for the stars." And you can't really root for the cynical Che, who with all of his wit and his (admittedly sometimes valid) criticisms, is ... well ... a dick. He's an acerbic tool who suffers from ... dare I say it? ... EDS (Evita Derangement Syndrome). And you can tell that Tim Rice (the lyricist) isn't pushing him as someone with whom to sympathize, because in the original concept album, it's made clear he's a total hypocrite -- he's originally very pro-Peron, but only becomes disenchanted with the Perons when they brush him off as he's trying to get some kind of government backing for some dopey bug spray he's invented. (I think it was bug spray, anyway -- I can't find it online right now, and I'm not going to go back through the album to verify it.)
SO getting back to the production at hand, the Smithtown PAC had a winning script on their hands for this run. How did they do with it?
Overall, I'd say pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good.
The set was fine. The director (Ronald Green III) made some good choices throughout. I liked the way they often showed old black-and-white film historical clips of the real-life Perons in the background in between scenes.
They had a few physical problems -- Evita lost her wig once, and lost her hat about three times while she was dancing, but the cast handled it well. The choreography was better than I've been used to at shows at this theater, probably because my old friend Ashley Nicastro was the choreographer for this show. (I say "old friend" jokingly. I've never actually met the woman, but it seems that lately, almost every time I write a theater review of a Long Island production, I look in my program and discover that she was the choreographer. She's been doing a lot of the shows at the CM Playhouse in Oakdale recently, so I was surprised to see her now working for the Smithtown PAC as well). There was one minor collision during a dance, but I suspect that was more the fault of the actor than it was of Nicastro.
The music was provided by eight live musicians (who I guess were backstage, as there isn't an orchestra pit in this theater). I was a little nervous about this at first -- I've gotten kind of gun shy from seeing a lot of shows this year at the Noel S. Ruiz, where every time they have live musicians, they seem to drown out the actors, but that didn't happen here. The band was quite good.
So it all rested on the cast. Could they pull it off?
Happily, yes! There were one or two issues, but in the end, they did a great job of creating a really fun evening of theater.
You have to start with Laura Laureano, the production's Evita. Let's face it, there's no way this show works without her. And I have to say that she won me over pretty much from the start. She's a petite young woman with a big voice. Facially, she reminded me of Jessica Parker Kennedy, the actress who plays Barry Allen's daughter in The Flash. Laureano immediately checks off that likability box, although very early on in the production, she demonstrates that she can go from doe-eyed ingenue to fierce warrior woman in ... well, a flash. She doesn't play Eva as sympathetically as Madonna did in the film -- she's pretty bitchy while she's throwing out Peron's young mistress, and she snaps a little too unnecessarily once or twice at the makeup people getting her ready for her Rainbow Tour -- but she's certainly not the total ice queen she's sometimes portrayed as either.
Laureano has everything it takes to make a first-rate Eva. My only real criticism of her is that when she goes full-out at the highest part of her range, her voice can get a little strident. But she's deadly accurate at hitting the notes, and Evita isn't the easiest part to sing.
In any event, she successfully portrays the character's effervescence and her lust for life, even if that life is regrettably short.
Her chief antagonist is Dylan Bivings as Che. Che serves as our narrator of sorts for the play, usually standing outside of the action and commenting on it. Snottily. (Does it show that I have no patience with this character?) Bivings nails the character perfectly, mocking Evita and the crowds who worship her as though she's an angel or a saint. The only problem with his performance is that while he has a good voice, on this evening, at least, he didn't completely have the vocal range for the part. He'd be fine for most of a song, but when he had to hit the highest notes, he couldn't always pull it off. Maybe he was just having an off vocal night. In any event, it was too bad, because in every other way, he embodied the character.
One of the differences between Broadway and regional theaters like the Smithtown PAC is that on Broadway, you pretty much have every musical theater actor in the world wanting to be a part of a new production, so you can usually find someone who fits every role physically as well as talent wise. This isn't always the case in regional theater, though, so sometimes a director has to choose between somebody who looks the part, and someone who can play the part.
Dennis Creighton, who plays Juan Peron in this production, looks about as Argentinian as I do. (Which is to say, not at all). In every other way, though, he successfully portrayed this character. He played probably the most sympathetic version of Peron I've ever seen, making it obvious that his relationship with Eva was not just one of convenience. (In the failed Gateway production that I spoke of earlier, Peron already had a new mistress while Eva was sick and dying). He's physically a large, strong-looking man, which helped to make it believable that he could fight his way to the top of the military (as demonstrated in the song "The Art of the Possible"). So this helped to give him permission of a sort to play a softer, more tender, Peron without coming off like a wimp. I enjoyed his performance a lot.
Anthony Arpino displayed a powerful and lovely voice as Magaldi, the singer who becomes the first in a long line of increasingly powerful men whom Eva works her through in her rise to the top. Lauren Tiradoo likewise did a good job with her one song in the role of Peron's mistress. (And while she gets quickly thrown out like yesterday's trash, at least this Eva didn't steal her song the way Madonna did in the movie).
The rest of the Ensemble cast also does an excellent job as Eva's adoring crowd, the people who love and worship her.
This is definitely a successful production of Evita, thanks in large part to the talents of its star, Ms. Laureano. If you love this show, as I do, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It runs at the Smithtown PAC (http://www.smithtownpac.org) through June 23.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Prog Contest: Round 1 Match 1
So here's the first match up, with the descriptions given to each album by the player who entered them. Voting will continue through next Tuesday.
Thrice Mice - Thrice Mice!
"Not a lot of people realise that Germany was a cesspool of various genres and their collisions. And every trending genre they took in, they managed to recreate into something truly theirs. In the 70s prog resurgence, Germany fell head first into krautrock and jazz-prog. Amid general hits like Can, Neu! and Eloy (annual followers of Progday tourneys can also recall last year's second place holders Eden) arose a smaller underground spawn of bands. Thrice Mice was one of them. They playfully incorporate sax into their music and write generally happier Pink Floyd-isms. A perfect record for uplifting mood seekers." - Papa Universe
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7wN4EPrF70
vs.
Wallenstein - Mother Universe
“This isn’t an album I’ve got a long history with. I’ve only just discovered it actually, but it did have some of those weirder moments I tend to like and seems relatively unknown here, so maybe y’all will like it too.” - bgillesp
YT link 1: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc-3YDl-AaU
YT link 2: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=URX6IC8gdmI
YT link 3: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc-3YDl-AaU
Also on Spotify
I gave them each a listen last night, and while I have a slight preference, this is going to be a tough call. I'll give each album a full three listens before I cast my vote.
I'll be back next Tuesday to tell you who I voted for, and who won. And please, play along at home -- give them each a listen, and decide who you would vote for.
In the meantime, I'll have a show to report on between now and then. So I'll see you soon.
Thrice Mice - Thrice Mice!
"Not a lot of people realise that Germany was a cesspool of various genres and their collisions. And every trending genre they took in, they managed to recreate into something truly theirs. In the 70s prog resurgence, Germany fell head first into krautrock and jazz-prog. Amid general hits like Can, Neu! and Eloy (annual followers of Progday tourneys can also recall last year's second place holders Eden) arose a smaller underground spawn of bands. Thrice Mice was one of them. They playfully incorporate sax into their music and write generally happier Pink Floyd-isms. A perfect record for uplifting mood seekers." - Papa Universe
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7wN4EPrF70
vs.
Wallenstein - Mother Universe
“This isn’t an album I’ve got a long history with. I’ve only just discovered it actually, but it did have some of those weirder moments I tend to like and seems relatively unknown here, so maybe y’all will like it too.” - bgillesp
YT link 1: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc-3YDl-AaU
YT link 2: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=URX6IC8gdmI
YT link 3: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc-3YDl-AaU
Also on Spotify
I gave them each a listen last night, and while I have a slight preference, this is going to be a tough call. I'll give each album a full three listens before I cast my vote.
I'll be back next Tuesday to tell you who I voted for, and who won. And please, play along at home -- give them each a listen, and decide who you would vote for.
In the meantime, I'll have a show to report on between now and then. So I'll see you soon.
Prog Rock Contest: Preliminary
So we finally got enough entrants to fill out the prog rock contest today, and with that, Friday13th started the first round.
Here's a little background on the tournament, and its history: Friday put together the first one in 2013. In 2014, he switched it over to a Psychedelic Rock tournament. However, this proved to be less popular. So he went back to prog rock in 2015, and he's kept it as prog rock ever since.
Again, these are relatively obscure albums competing, albums that have drawn less than 30 ratings a piece on the Sputnik Music site.
Here's the list of previous winners:
2013 - Los Jaivas - Alturus de Machu Picchu (1981) - A Chilean band that blends folk and symphonic rock
2014 - T2 - It'll All Work Out in Boomland (1970) - A British psychedelic/progressive rock band
2015 - McLuhan - Anomaly (1971) - An American prog rock band that blends jazz and psychedelic rock
2016 - Landberk - One Man Tells Another (1994) - A Swedish progressive art rock band
2017 - Universal Totem Orchestra - Mathematical Mother (2016) - An Italian symphonic jazz rock band
2018 - Carmen - Fandangos in Space (1973) - An American prog rock band that mixes rock music with flamenco music and dance
As you can see, the winners have come from several different countries, many different sub-genres of progressive rock, and a time span from 1970 through 2016 (although with the '70s having been prog's heyday, there tend to be more entries from this era than from any other). I don't know about you guys, but out of these six albums, the only one I was previously familiar with was the Carmen album, and it had been a long time since I'd heard it.
The tournament begins with 16 entries every year. Friday has to approve each entry as meeting the criteria of the contest. (You can't claim Duran Duran is prog, for example. You have to have an outside source saying the artist is prog, such as progarchives.com, Wikipedia, or even Sputnik Music itself.) For each of the first 8 weeks, Friday will present two entries that he believes go together in some way or other, and everyone votes on their favorite, after giving each album at least one (but hopefully several) listens.
This year's players, much like the bands who'll represent them, also come from a number of different countries. Here are this year's entries:
1. The Mercury Tree - Permutations (2016) - American alt-math-prog band
2. Pulsar - Halloween (1977) - French dark symphonic prog rock band
3. Thrice Mice - Thrice Mice! (1971) - German classical/jazz prog rock band
4. Fireballet - Night On Bald Mountain (1975) - American symphonic prog rock band
5. Tangerine Dream - Firestarter OST (1984) - German electric synthesizer prog band
6. Trettioariga Kriget - Krigssang (1975) - Swedish heavy progressive rock band
7. Unreal City - La Crudelta Di Aprile (2013) - Italian symphonic prog rock band
8. Tako - Tako (1978) - Yugoslavian jazz fusion/progressive rock band
9. Art Bears Hopes and Fears (1978) - English experimental avant-rock
10. Wallenstein - Mother Universe (1972) - German progressive krautrock band
11. Evership - Evership II (2018) - American Neo-prog rock band
12. Embryo - Rocksession (1973) - German jazz fusion/prog rock band
13. Powerized - The Mirror's Eye (2018) - Netherlands symphonic prog rock band
14. Wobbler - From Silence to Somewhere (2017) - Norwegian symphonic prog rock band
15. Spettri - 2973 La Nemica Dei Ricordi (2015) - Italian heavy prog band
16. Fish - A Feast of Consequences (2013) - Scottish Neo-prog rock artist (he's the former lead singer of Marillion)
SO, pretty interesting group of entries. The only one of these that I've ever heard before other than my own entry (Tangerine Dream) is the Wobbler album. Ten different countries are represented here, although interestingly, my entry is the only one that's not from either the 1970s or the 2010s. Quite a range of styles, too, although as Friday pointed out, we don't really have any representatives of folk prog. But hey, there's always next year.
Round 1 has begun, and I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about the first two contestants. I've just given them each a listen, and it's going to be a tough vote for me (although I am leaning slightly in one direction).
Here's a little background on the tournament, and its history: Friday put together the first one in 2013. In 2014, he switched it over to a Psychedelic Rock tournament. However, this proved to be less popular. So he went back to prog rock in 2015, and he's kept it as prog rock ever since.
Again, these are relatively obscure albums competing, albums that have drawn less than 30 ratings a piece on the Sputnik Music site.
Here's the list of previous winners:
2013 - Los Jaivas - Alturus de Machu Picchu (1981) - A Chilean band that blends folk and symphonic rock
2014 - T2 - It'll All Work Out in Boomland (1970) - A British psychedelic/progressive rock band
2015 - McLuhan - Anomaly (1971) - An American prog rock band that blends jazz and psychedelic rock
2016 - Landberk - One Man Tells Another (1994) - A Swedish progressive art rock band
2017 - Universal Totem Orchestra - Mathematical Mother (2016) - An Italian symphonic jazz rock band
2018 - Carmen - Fandangos in Space (1973) - An American prog rock band that mixes rock music with flamenco music and dance
As you can see, the winners have come from several different countries, many different sub-genres of progressive rock, and a time span from 1970 through 2016 (although with the '70s having been prog's heyday, there tend to be more entries from this era than from any other). I don't know about you guys, but out of these six albums, the only one I was previously familiar with was the Carmen album, and it had been a long time since I'd heard it.
The tournament begins with 16 entries every year. Friday has to approve each entry as meeting the criteria of the contest. (You can't claim Duran Duran is prog, for example. You have to have an outside source saying the artist is prog, such as progarchives.com, Wikipedia, or even Sputnik Music itself.) For each of the first 8 weeks, Friday will present two entries that he believes go together in some way or other, and everyone votes on their favorite, after giving each album at least one (but hopefully several) listens.
This year's players, much like the bands who'll represent them, also come from a number of different countries. Here are this year's entries:
1. The Mercury Tree - Permutations (2016) - American alt-math-prog band
2. Pulsar - Halloween (1977) - French dark symphonic prog rock band
3. Thrice Mice - Thrice Mice! (1971) - German classical/jazz prog rock band
4. Fireballet - Night On Bald Mountain (1975) - American symphonic prog rock band
5. Tangerine Dream - Firestarter OST (1984) - German electric synthesizer prog band
6. Trettioariga Kriget - Krigssang (1975) - Swedish heavy progressive rock band
7. Unreal City - La Crudelta Di Aprile (2013) - Italian symphonic prog rock band
8. Tako - Tako (1978) - Yugoslavian jazz fusion/progressive rock band
9. Art Bears Hopes and Fears (1978) - English experimental avant-rock
10. Wallenstein - Mother Universe (1972) - German progressive krautrock band
11. Evership - Evership II (2018) - American Neo-prog rock band
12. Embryo - Rocksession (1973) - German jazz fusion/prog rock band
13. Powerized - The Mirror's Eye (2018) - Netherlands symphonic prog rock band
14. Wobbler - From Silence to Somewhere (2017) - Norwegian symphonic prog rock band
15. Spettri - 2973 La Nemica Dei Ricordi (2015) - Italian heavy prog band
16. Fish - A Feast of Consequences (2013) - Scottish Neo-prog rock artist (he's the former lead singer of Marillion)
SO, pretty interesting group of entries. The only one of these that I've ever heard before other than my own entry (Tangerine Dream) is the Wobbler album. Ten different countries are represented here, although interestingly, my entry is the only one that's not from either the 1970s or the 2010s. Quite a range of styles, too, although as Friday pointed out, we don't really have any representatives of folk prog. But hey, there's always next year.
Round 1 has begun, and I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about the first two contestants. I've just given them each a listen, and it's going to be a tough vote for me (although I am leaning slightly in one direction).
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