Rick Wakeman in new Vanity Fair article about Yes: “If you said, ‘I want to do an album about elephants,’ they’d say, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic!’” he recalls. “You become very well aware quite quickly of the bullshit in this business.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/202...n-rick-wakeman
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
Last edited by Mascodagama; 06-26-2020 at 06:06 AM.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
It's apparently been out of print for ages now, so YT is likely one of the very few places where you'll get the chance to hear this thing - albeit in its entirety. I still think it's one of the best releases of the 90s, and one of those albums where you'll discover anew on each and every little listen; the detailed refinement of these songs, yet so simply put to reel in the most direct manner imaginable - and incredibly well produced. When I blast this from my apartment speakers, floors shiver and tremble in euphoric ecstasy. Or nearby. Pavel Fajt's cymbal patterns in "v Bilém" (song 5, starts at 12:03) makes for some of the most creative percussion I ever heard in rock. And Iva Bittova… Well, she was always a goddess, nothing less.
"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
^ But is it Prog? Let's investigate this a bit further...
- no cowbells
- no mellotrons
- released after 1975
- sung in some strange Slavic language
I rest my case...
(I love it obviously. I've seen Bittova mentioned before but I haven't really listened to any of her music.)
^ Hah! There's both cowbell (listen to the whole thing!) and 'tron - the latter starting at 01:08! They don't use it continuously, though.
This or Bile Inferno are the places to commence with Bittova. But you really need to see her live and experience the "glance" - when you're absolutely certain that she's looking directly at you and you alone, while all other members of the audience were sure it was them. Especially males; she's an intensely sensual performer with a stage presence which I can not really compare to anyone. I mean, I tried to see this in Diamanda Galás when I experienced her in concert many years ago (and Bittova and her apparently admire each other), but I didn't get that sting at all. Powerful as hell, but not sensual as well.
"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
I have been lucky enough to see her live a couple of times. She IS a goddes.
https://youtu.be/Ns4wm6O9pYE
^From what I get, there was only a square short dozen of 'tron machines exported to the Eastern bloc in all, utilized by the usual suspects (Omega in Hungary, Leb I Sol in Yugoslavia on their debut and so on) but mostly by radio- and television studios. It's virtually absent from the absolutely wonderful Czech progressive scene of 1968-today, but you never notice or miss it for a second as the music itself is so damn creative. It's all over the debut album of Hungarian pop/progressive act Color from '78, for instance (a release which actually deserves to be heard by more folx, especially "Panoptikum").
Several of the underground Czech acts of the 80s/90s like M.C.H. Band, Ser Un Peyalero and even Prazsky Vyber used the machine, though, for snippets anyway.
"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
Jesus, Richard, that Bittova et al album is incredible! Thanks so much for posting, I'm sure I wouldn't have found it on my own. Just ordered a copy!
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“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]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
I believe this says it all. This approach reminds me a bit of Cheer-Accident, of how they can turn some truly complex music into an accessible song, sort of.
There is some very intriguing guitar work too, like some "blues" licks that I wouldn't expect to find in a Central European outfit.
Fantastic stuff.
https://m.chronogram.com/hudsonvalle...nt?oid=2238857
Our local arts magazine in the Hudson Valley with an article on Iva from 2014.
Now playing, one of my favourite albums of the last decade:
Sufficiently adjacent to “avant-prog” to be of interest to some here, I think.
This is classy -has something of the feel of Ghost Rhythms, ie intricate, well composed and sort of hints that the players have come from jazz or classical backgrounds but is thoroughly modern and using the studio inventively. I'll have a listen to the whole thing tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.
Maybe not strictly "avant-prog", but a through-composed jazz/free/progressive couple of albums by "Mattias Risbergs Mining" that came out 2019 and 2020, my favorite being the one featuring Mariam Wallentin on vocals and the second Jenny Abrahamsson (Mattias Risberg keys and composition, Jon Fält on drums, Dan Berglund (EST etc) on double bass et al)
Live in Stripa (2019): https://open.spotify.com/album/2I7m0...Ty2dTZQVPoJ84Q
Zauberberg (2020): https://open.spotify.com/album/19I1Y...QO2-poqIG7ImGQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egmQX_RSFZQ
Hope you enjoy it - I found it to be a grower. There is one other Hohlenmusik Ensemble album, which I also like though not as much as this first one. They both came out on a small UK label that I was very fond of - Paradigms Recordings, sadly now defunct - as limited edition CD releases and I don't think they have had any other release.
The guy behind Hohlenmusik Ensemble is a German musician, Daniel Vujanic, who has been involved in quite a lot of different projects. I have sampled a few of these but not yet found anything that appeals to me in the same way.
There are three copies on Discogs:
https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/3377466?ev=rb
and one is in the Netherlands...I'd say grab one now if you want it as there were only 500 printed.
re: Höhlenmusik Ensemble.
Wayside Music used to sell both releases when new. I remember liking them but I hadn't heard them since then and played that youtube clip.
Very good music but mastered at ear and soul crushing levels, at least on that clip; even though I was enjoying the music on youtube, I had to take it off because it sounded so horrible to me.
Is the CD like that?
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“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]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
Synkoke.
Almost overlooked Norwegian 'pronk' quintet who released one of the very best albums from here in 2009, Hokjønn, the same year as Wobbler's Afterglow and Jono el Grande's Neo Dada, both of which were excellent as well. But what set Synkoke apart was the absolutely ferocious energy of performance and gut, paired with an exemplary sense of arrangement and execution (rather close to bands like Uz Jsme Doma or Fukkeduk) - and not the least the fact that they registered the young Ellen Andrea Wang among their ranks. This was prior to her Pixel/solo/bigname expositions in contemporary jazz and post-pop and arguably her earliest foray into rock along with the coinciding White Willow involvement. Hokjønn sees her whip it out on both electric and double bass for some immensely intense honk'n'hump.
Get it if you can!
"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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