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Thread: FEATURED CD - Deluge Grander :- August in the Urals

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    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    FEATURED CD - Deluge Grander :- August in the Urals



    A famous reviewer once wrote:

    The album's title is misleading. You'd think a record called August In The Urals ought to be in your daddy's muzak collection, right? Fortunately that's far from the truth - this one belongs in your CD collection, standing shoulder to shoulder with your best progressive art rock.

    Think Crimson meets Present - with a stronger keyboard influence. In fact - the very second note on this record is dissonant and you just know where it's going. It's a bit challenging, it's symphonic, it's ambitiously artsy, and it's one of the better albums of the year.

    August In The Urals is almost all instrumental - including the vocals. That means that very few sections are sung normally, most vocals are well back in the mix, and they sometimes form a sort of melancholy low-register chanted choral backdrop. So it doesn't matter that the vocals are the only sub-par aspect on the album, and it's the keys and the guitars that dominate the instrumentation. The keys include tons of well applied Mellotron and very pleasing piano work, and the guitar takes on many uncommon voices that play well into the overall mood of the piece. Add occasional contributions by saxophones, xylophone, and trumpet - among others - and imaginative song structures with thickly layered arrangements that adhere to every tenet of the progressive genre, and you have a piece that could have come out of any decade - from the '70s onward.

    There's a somber mood to many of the 5 songs that play over 71 minutes. "Inaugural Bash" is a complex 27-minute epic that effortlessly holds your interest as it swirls and eddies around several themes that are constantly developed and revisited. Some of the nicest moments here are the minimalist sections with a soft guitar playing over an elegantly simple one-handed piano line. As you might expect from its title, "A Squirrel" features fast, smooth piano work that easily evokes images of that creature's restless energy.

    Someone recently described this album as fusion. Despite the band's origins, nothing could be further from the truth because there's very little jazz influence here. Deluge Grander started as the solo project of Dan Britton, of Cerebus Effect, and grew into a sort of Cerebus Effect Mark-II. Yet that band's music gives no clues about what to expect from this new incarnation. It's hard to find any common thread between the first 2 Cerebus Effect EPs which are pure fusion, Cerebus Effect's Acts Of Deception which is a very powerful CD with an eclectic mix of genres - and this one. They're all different.

    Anyone who appreciates a sophisticated, slightly avant garde style of moody, dissonant art rock ought to give this one a try. The vocals and production are low spots - but it gets 5 stars anyway.

    Track Listing:
    1. Inaugural Bash (26:57)
    2. August in the Urals (15:52)
    3. Abandoned Mansion Afternoon (12:14)
    4. A Squirrel (8:45)
    5. The Solitude of Miranda (7:18)

    Reviewer: Duncan Glenday
    Score: 5 stars
    Regards,

    Duncan

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    Member TheH's Avatar
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    I really love this one, I prefer it to the vocal less second.

    It's been a time since we last heared from Dan, and it's about time that they start their six albums become one (or close) pyramid release thing (if it's ment serious)

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheH View Post
    I really love this one, I prefer it to the vocal less second.

    It's been a time since we last heared from Dan, and it's about time that they start their six albums become one (or close) pyramid release thing (if it's ment serious)
    Yup!

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    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheH View Post
    ...and it's about time that they start their six albums become one (or close) pyramid release thing (if it's meant serious)
    he's 100% serious about it. We've had many discussions of it over dinner (he's a pal and a nearby resident)
    Steve F.

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    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

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    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

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    Great little album from a bunch of very talented guys. Looking forward to something new from them hopefully.

    Steve Sly

  6. #6
    I listened to this recently after a bit of a vacation from it. I was delighted to be reminded how good it was. I slightly prefer the second, but this one is definitely no slouch. The vocals rather remind me of Peter Murphy.

    -------------
    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

    ‘“What blow, Goblin?” said Corinius.’ --E. R. Eddison

    N.P.:“La città sul lago”-Malibran

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    Member bill g's Avatar
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    Yeah, pleasingly sophisticated composition, well played.

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    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    My favorite of Dan's releases. It's a bit on the long side, and I actually have a CDR that omits tracks two and three that I play most often. I find this easier to get into and feel it represents the best material on the album. This is pretty dense stuff, which I love, but with material this dense I find less is often more if I'm going to really focus on it and engage with it.

    I remember the first time I heard this album loving the music and really scratching my head about the vocal treatment. Over time, the vocals have grown on me and I accept them as part of the concept here. A truly unique approach and vision from a unique artist. I'm also interested in the "pyramid" project and am glad to see it's still in the works. I think August in the Urals will be a hard one to top, but I'm very curious about the new material.

    Bill

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    Got this after hearing a sampler. Purchased it right after hearing the sampler. Really genre-bending just enough to keep your attention without being too out there. Enjoy Daniel's "Birds and Buildings" stuff also.
    "The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau

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    Hard music to describe, but fantastic to listen to.

    It didn't really hit me all at once as excellent, but grew through repeated listenings. This album, and its successor, combine almost all eras of prog into one coherent whole - everything from proto-(the total psych lead guitar) to symph-(the "big" sound and concept), to avant-(some of the harmonic vocabulary and the non-song-based structures). Dan is one of the several guys who've shown that symphonic prog still has some life in it, some potential for artistic growth, some possibility of still actually being progressive, and is not quite as played-out as it often seems.

  11. #11
    Very good. I like the second one as well, and the AoE release. But I still think the B&B album is the best Dan-thing. Henceforth.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

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    Hey, thanks everybody! Work is indeed occuring on the next Deluge Grander album "Heliotians." Recordings (on tape and not computers this time, due to the intended vinyl release) are basically finished except for two little bits I plan to do this Wednesday, and I've painted covers and written lyrics to about 90 copies so far, out of my goal of 200. We've also rehearsed and demo'd 45 minutes of new material for a fourth album "Lunarians," which I really would like to knock out more quickly than how long these albums tend to take. By the way, the second Birds and Buildings album has been finished for several months now- I'm just waiting for the drummer to re-re-mix and re-re-re-master about half of the songs. So the delay with that one is not entirely my fault.

  13. #13
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    Deluge Grander and B & B are another 2 bands that have helped me expand my musical tastes dramatically. In the last 3 years, I've gone from not knowing who they were (even though my pal Luis told me how good they were), to owning most, if not all of Dan's projects.

    Keep up the exquisite work, Dan!
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  14. #14
    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Love this album. Love the Birds and Buildings album too. Every time I hear this I'm blown away thinking about what goes into creating something like this.

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    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnieper View Post
    Work is indeed occuring on the next Deluge Grander album "Heliotians." Recordings (on tape and not computers this time, due to the intended vinyl release)
    Will there be a CD release of the album as well?

    Bill

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sputnik View Post
    Will there be a CD release of the album as well?

    Bill
    We're planning to make about 200 numbered copies with an LP and a CD in each of them, plus handmade artwork for each copy, and sell them for around $38 each. Yep, it's KUH-RAAZZEYY!

  17. #17
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnieper View Post
    We're planning to make about 200 numbered copies with an LP and a CD in each of them, plus handmade artwork for each copy, and sell them for around $38 each. Yep, it's KUH-RAAZZEYY!
    Interesting. Well, I'd certainly like to get one. Will you be doing some kind of pre-order, or will they just be shipped to the vendors in the normal fashion?

    Bill

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    I think the quantities are too small, and our fanbase not big and dedicated enough, for a pre-order to be worthwhile, but I've never been involved on the seller side of a pre-order, so I don't know. Vendors might balk at this, so I'm expecting most of the sales to be through CDBaby (though they might balk at it too due to the big packaging), Amazon, or maybe Greg Walker. Thanks for your interest though!

  19. #19
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnieper View Post
    I think the quantities are too small, and our fanbase not big and dedicated enough, for a pre-order to be worthwhile, but I've never been involved on the seller side of a pre-order, so I don't know. Vendors might balk at this, so I'm expecting most of the sales to be through CDBaby (though they might balk at it too due to the big packaging), Amazon, or maybe Greg Walker. Thanks for your interest though!
    Well, definitely keep us posted. I'd hate to miss the opportunity to get one before they're gone (which I think they will be pretty quickly). And don't doubt the dedication of your fanbase. We are few in numbers, but mighty in our obsessive drive to buy CDs we like.


  20. #20
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    Wow, cool gota have this one for sure (and the B&B of course too)

  21. #21
    Yeah, I know I'm something like 10 years behind schedule, but I've been meanign to check DG ever since I saw them at ProgDay in 2009 or 2010 (can't remember which it was). I finally picked up this album from Bandcamp on Friday, and listenign to it for the first time. Cool album. Really digging this.

  22. #22
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    Been a few years for something new to appear from this forge of delights, or did I miss something?

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    Deluge Grander is an outstanding band which takes Prog Rock to a whole different and unique level. I have "August" and "Oceanarium", which are excellent releases that defy normal manners of description. You have to listen to them over time to appreciate what they are trying to express in their sound. To my way of listening, they are not able to be described in a normal genre sense. I plan on getting more including "Form Of The Good".

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by SunRunner2 View Post
    Deluge Grander is an outstanding band which takes Prog Rock to a whole different and unique level. I have "August" and "Oceanarium", which are excellent releases that defy normal manners of description. You have to listen to them over time to appreciate what they are trying to express in their sound. To my way of listening, they are not able to be described in a normal genre sense.
    Not to take anything away from DG, but in the past 30 years or so there have been lots of newer acts to fit this bill. Although I'm not altogether sure if they "[…] defy normal manners of description".
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

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    Member Mascodagama's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Not to take anything away from DG, but in the past 30 years or so there have been lots of newer acts to fit this bill. Although I'm not altogether sure if they "[…] defy normal manners of description".
    This is fair.

    I do think Dan Britton has his own unique sensibility as a composer / arranger / lyricist - and this is as much as we can really ask for, at this stage in the game. It's rare enough in itself...

    The hidden gem on this album is A Squirrel, IMO. So vivacious!
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