Is echolyn still active

[aith01]

100% agree. That and Mei are their top two, for me.

Neil

Yeah, I think those are both fantastic records. All of their post-2000 stuff has been good to great, and unlike any other band in recent memory I can think of.

[Splicer]

Yeah, I think those are both fantastic records. All of their post-2000 stuff has been good to great, and unlike any other band in recent memory I can think of.

I am fond of any group that does what they want to do instead of what they are supposed to do. It may not always work. I may not even like it. However, it's at least something better than paint-by-numbers.

[Kcrimso]

My Echolyn top-5:

1. The End Is Beautiful
2. Mei
3. Cowboy Poems Free
4. As The World
5. Echolyn (2012)

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I think the music loses a lot when Tom Hyatt is absent. His bass playing really adds a dimension to the sound that it needs to move it along. I hope they have a real bass player on the new music rather than someone that just fills in the blanks. I've also noted that there are rarely any guitar solos, but lots of interesting ensemble playing. A rare thing! Have always admired Echolyn and am interested in hearing their new stuff.

[boilk]

I've also noted that there are rarely any guitar solos, but lots of interesting ensemble playing. A rare thing! Have always admired Echolyn and am interested in hearing their new stuff.

Not in the music that I listen to. There are many bands that rarely indulge in solos these days. Haken, Poil Ueda, Elder are just a few that come to mind in recent releases I have gotten. And Intronaut, one of my favourite prog metal bands, never solos, ha.

Neil

[smcfee]

Isn't "Too Late for Everything" one of the component parts of Mei?

It's the closing song on Cowboy, and the line is used twice in the lyrics to Mei.

[bigjohnwayne]

It's the closing song on Cowboy, and the line is used twice in the lyrics to Mei.

Since at least Mei they have done this where they reuse snatches of lyrics as a thread of continuity.

"Too late for Everything" was used in Mei.

"Outside the world moves on" was used in Arc of Descent from The End is Beautiful

"These are the miles--heavy and blue" was used on Islands from Windows, a callout to Heavy Blue Miles.

What similar references are there on I Heard You Listening? I think there is a reference to the title phrase of The End is Beautiful on All this Time We're Given, if I remember correctly.

[SRS]

What similar references are there on I Heard You Listening? I think there is a reference to the title phrase of The End is Beautiful on All this Time We're Given, if I remember correctly.

yes

No one who wants to see me
There’s nothing left to go home to
Nothing here at all to keep me
And they say the end is beautiful

How did my life come to this?
How did my life come to this?

Thought the end would never find me, so hold my hand as I slip away
If the end of pain is pain, then we should all go quietly

How did my life come to this?
How did my life come to this?

What am I supposed to do?
Lost in chemicals
Never thought I’d see this day
Now what’s to become of me?

All this time we’re given with nothing left to show
All this space to live in with nowhere else to go

I’ve got nowhere to go

[Nearfest2]

I think the music loses a lot when Tom Hyatt is absent. His bass playing really adds a dimension to the sound that it needs to move it along. I hope they have a real bass player on the new music rather than someone that just fills in the blanks.

Ray is playing bass on the new album.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

^^ Not a good development IMHO.

[bigjohnwayne]

It doesn't bother me at all. I was psyched that the Suffocating the Bloom-As the World lineup was back together when Hyatt rejoined in 2003ish, but Weston played bass on two albums I like a lot--including my favorite. Besides that, Weston played some bass for the band recently when Hyatt added second guitar, I think. I get the sense that since they reunited, the band members were a lot more free with their contributions on other instruments than one might think.

[bigjohnwayne]

I just pulled out the liner notes to check and here are some songs from 2005 to present Ray played all the bass on:

Arc of Descent
Locust to Bethlehem
Some Memorial
Speaking in Lampblack

For I Heard You Listening, there is no crediting of any instruments whatsoever in the liner notes, but for a band like them, I don't think that necessarily means everyone was staying in their lanes instrument-wise. Sound of Bees and All This Time We're Given sound like it might be Ray on bass.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Just to clarify. Ray's bass playing, to me, just fills a sonic niche and really doesn't add anything to the proceedings. It's not a deal-breaker by any means. I just think Tom Hyatt's bass playing added an extra ingredient to the Echolyn broth that really put them over the top for me. I'm not a great fan of the records on which he is the bassist, even Cowboy Poems Free, which a lot of folks seem to love.

[Fracktured]

Yes, they are finishing up their new album. Last I heard, Chris will be doing the last of the vocals at the end of June.

As for them playing live, your guess is as good as mine. That's not an easy thing for them to pull together these days.

I heard a rumor about them performing at the next NEARfest. [emoji28]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fracktured]

^ I realize how this is supposedly some kind of sacrilege (to Haruspex), but Cowboy Poems, to me, was their pinnacle. I still adore the timeless aura and trivialist mystery of that album. "Too Late for Everything" is just about as superlative as any closing track gets. Simply brilliant.

I’ve always enjoyed that album. Wouldn’t say it’s their pinnacle, but still enjoy it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nearfest2]

Ray plays bass on "Cowboy Poems Free", "mei" and the new album, plus the songs that bigjohnwayne listed above.

[JAMOOL]

nice to see all the praise for them here. I don't wanna get too effusive but album-for-album I think they're really one of the greatest bands ever. I love them all, even the debut which even the band doesn't like. my favorites are probably the 2012 s/t, Mei, and Cowboy Poems - totally agreed that album hit on some Americana prog thing that's never really been done before. surprised they don't have a new one out yet, feels like they've been posting about it on Facebook for 5 years now! Covid must've really messed things up.

[bigjohnwayne]

I was listening to I Heard You Listening today. It isn't the instant masterpiece that Windows is, but it is a very, very good album that rewards multiple listens.

I heard the other lyrical callback I was trying to find: they reference Past Gravity on Carried Home.

[IncogNeato]

I need to do a deep dive into Echolyn. The only album I know is 'As The World' and I really like it.

[bigjohnwayne]

I need to do a deep dive into Echolyn. The only album I know is 'As The World' and I really like it.

You should definitely dive in!

Suffocating the Bloom is the other great record from their original run.

Their sound changed when they got back together. The textures got earthier and the lyrics matured. The subject matter is dark, but not in a witches and goblins way, but in a sobriety is hard and I've painted myself in a corner kind of way. It can be frightening like real life is frightening--not like movies are frightening.

To investigate this era, I think would start with the 2012 self titled album and work backwards. Mei is probably their masterpiece, but texturally it is their least proggy album--don't let the run time and the presence of the strings and flutes fool you. There is nothing like it in the genre or in music in general.

[Baribrotzer]

Mei is probably their masterpiece, but texturally it is their least proggy album.....
.....There is nothing like it in the genre or in music in general.

That's an interesting comment, and I can see your point: The song parts often sound almost like straight pop-rock, except they keep going on and changing, rather than returning to the verse or chorus. And the instrumental work is similar - it's very well composed and played, but only rarely has that technical prog approach.

[IncogNeato]

You should definitely dive in!

Suffocating the Bloom is the other great record from their original run.

Their sound changed when they got back together. The textures got earthier and the lyrics matured. The subject matter is dark, but not in a witches and goblins way, but in a sobriety is hard and I've painted myself in a corner kind of way. It can be frightening like real life is frightening--not like movies are frightening.

To investigate this era, I think would start with the 2012 self titled album and work backwards. Mei is probably their masterpiece, but texturally it is their least proggy album--don't let the run time and the presence of the strings and flutes fool you. There is nothing like it in the genre or in music in general.

Thanks for the guidance!

[Scrotum Scissor]

My Echolyn top-5:

1. The End Is Beautiful
2. Mei
3. Cowboy Poems Free
4. As The World
5. Echolyn (2012)

1. Cowboy Poems Free
2. Echolyn (2012; finally heard the lot, and it's stellar)
3. The End Is Beautiful
4. Suffocating the Bloom
5. When the Sweet Turns Sour (unlikely, I know - but stuff like "100 Diversions" sits among the very best they ever did - demos or not)

As for As the World, there's stuff I like and some I find total filler daffodillers. Too lengthy, too conceitedly "intricate/dense", too much - and the dominant semi-clinical sonics of both production, mix and some of the keys set me off. And I enjoy Mei but can't truly see the need for the singular epic-format when it's essentially sectional anyway. I also like much of the debut.

[Boceephus]

Let’s not forget:

RiSE TWAIN

https://m.facebook.com/risetwain/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PotatoSolution]