Richard Barbieri - Planets + Persona

When I think of an artist like Richard Barbieri, I always remind myself of his work between Japan, his collaboration with Marillion’s Steve Hogarth with the 2012 release of Not the Weapon But the Hand, and Porcupine Tree. He has released two solo albums from 2005 to 2008. What Barbieri is doing is not being flashy, but create these electronic voyages and bringing the future to us through his keyboard playing and deciding what will happen next.

This year, he has released his third solo album on the Kscope label entitled, Planets + Persona. He’s recorded the album in London, Sweden, and Italy. The title comes from central themes between contrasts and shape shifting sounds. Everything on here resembles; World Music, Far-Out Space, Jazz, Classical Guitar, German Electronic Music of the 1970s, Post-Punk/New Wave, Radiohead, and David Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy.

Richard creates this gigantic long road that he built from scratch. It goes from a grassy meadow into a mansion-like steampunk house that looks very much inside of a Rubik’s cube with puzzling technology that is far beyond what the future will have in store for us in the 21st and the 22^nd century. And then taking us into far, far away planets and dreamlike atmospheres.

He brought along some guests to help out including; Percy Jones and Axel Crone on Bass Guitars, Kjell Severinsson on Drums, Luca Calabrese on Trumpet, Lisen Rylander Love on Vocals, Sound Design, Ominchord, and Sax, Klas Assarsson on Vibraphone, Grice Peters on Kora, and Christian Saggese on Acoustic Guitar. The sonic experimental vibrations give an affectional blessing that Barbieri has given to us.

What Richard is doing, is not just giving Planets + Persona an amazing album, but a spell binding release. As I’ve mentioned earlier with the genres, he brings it all to the listener to embark on a strange, surreal, and a cosmic journey beyond space and time. For example with Solar Sea, the last 2-minutes of the opening track after the first six minutes of setting for lift-off, mid-blaring Trumpets, electronica grooves, and surreal vocalizations, it changes into a reminiscent of Klaus Schulze’s Irrlicht-era in which he takes us deep, deeper into the ocean for ominous piano chords and eerie orchestral scratches to fill the time that sends a chilling atmosphere.

The 10-minute piece, Night of the Hunter which takes its name and inspired by Charles Laughton’s 1955 film classic. The only film he’s ever directed. With this three-part movement of the composition, he creates these textures as if he was writing an alternate score for the film. You have the first section of Summer which starts for the morning to rise featuring classical guitars, piano’s going through a Leslie speaker, effects, and strings waiting for the sun to come up to begin a new day, but it’s too late.

Everything turns into a dystopian nightmare with Shake Hands with Danger. You can feel the eruption through the dooming bass, vocalizing moments, and electronic trip-hop drum beats including the line spoken and knowing that this is not the dream you’ve expected from Big Brother and knowing that he’s watching every sense and step you make.

The last section, Innocence Lost, is a chilling scenario. With alarming jazz sections between the Sax, Trumpet, and Drums, it closes the piece with reverb effects done in the style between Miles Davis and King Crimson’s Bitches Brew and Lizard period that made the rest of my arm hairs going up.

The album gets better and better each time I would delve into Barbieri’s conceptual ideas. One of them is Shafts of Light. It is Richard combining both electronic, minimal, and classical music into a gigantic circle. There are elements between Philip Glass’ Music in 12 Parts and Terry Riley’s A Rainbow in Curved Air. I love how he would sandwich the sounds between Saggese’s acoustic guitar, musique-concrete moments, and vocals which he had put together by making this puzzle and making sure they match well to the piece.

And it does. Mind you this is not an easy album to listen to, but what Richard has done is to creating a mysterious doorway to the sounds and shifting moments that will chill you to the bone. This has everything on here as I’ve mentioned earlier of the genres it brings to mind. So if you are ready for the sounds of electronica, jazz, classical, and experimental music, then prepare to climb aboard the shuttle to the sounds of Planets + Persona.

White Willow - Signal To Noise

Since the announcement of White Willow’s new album Future Hopes which is coming out this Spring, I almost geeked out. For me, White Willow have and will always be one of my favorite progressive rock bands that came out of the ‘90s in Norway. From their psychedelic-folk to progressive and harder materials, they can do no wrong in my book. Jacob Holm-Lupo is the glue that keeps the White Willow train rolling. And despite line-up changes, he makes sure that they never stop and keep the fires burning.

They have combined the sounds between Mellow Candle, Genesis, Renaissance, and King Crimson in their sound with a bit of a story structure. The first four albums along with Terminal Twilight have been on my old portable CD player and sometimes when I go either for a morning/afternoon walk or the Gym, they keep me comfortable and relaxed. I’ve delved into their fifth studio album released back in 2006 entitled, Signal to Noise released on The Laser’s Edge label.

This is a diverse album. Here, White Willow moved away from their psych-folky sounds into a dark, heavier, and progressive approach which in my opinion may have divided a line in the sand whether they accept it or not. When I listened to this album for the first time, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to it. Believe me, my introduction to their music was on Sid Smith’s Podcasts from the Yellow Room and reading about them in PROG Magazine when I was in College.

But I’m off-topic. The second or third time I’ve listened to it, I fell in love with it. I like to see bands/artists go into different directions. Yes it may upset people, some people love it some people hate it, and as I’ve mentioned earlier, yes there is going to be a divided line in the sand, but I’m not one of them. For me, Signal to Noise it’s a step forwards and an accomplishment release 11 years ago.

Trude Eidtang who sings on the album, does an incredible job bringing the fire and energy that is brought to the forefront. She has this combination between Anneke Van Giersbergen, Tori Amos, and Kate Bush. The opening track, Night Surf is a gothic symphonic approach as the sounds of guitars, flute, and mellotron as the music builds up before delving into an essence of early Within Temptation.

The instrumental track, Ghosts is Jacob delivering the darker forces through his guitars as the haunting melodies with it’s different time signatures and the spooky moog and Brazilian guitar touches and diving back into the Crimson-sque forces are very off the wall. Joyride features this poppy and alternative sound as the lyrics reminisce between David Bowie and Kate Bush collaborating together.

Trude resembles also a mellowing version of Sharon Den Adel which is evidential on the progressive-pop-hard rock texture Splinters. Mellowing ballads flow in well and guitar riffs and it gives them a chance to see where they will go next. It keeps the atmospheric moments on there for a brief while thanks to the synths, organ, and choir to be ready for a chance to fly into the clouds.

I love how Frosile brings his keyboards to help see where Jacob would lead into next. With Chrome Dawn, Jacob lets Lars comes center stage as he, Marthe Berger Walthinsen and Aage Moltke Schou, breathe light and delve into an oceanic swim as the moog improvisation and mellotron chords and Floydian-sque guitar melodies by Lupo takes us into the deep, deep dark night with imaging a pin dropping at the right moment.

I have listened to this four times now. And Signal To Noise may or may not be everyone’s cup of coffee, but all in all it is one of their fascinating releases. It’s diverse, modern, heavy, and moving forwards, not going backwards. I can’t wait to hear what the band have in store for us this March with Future Hopes.

The Raptor Trail - Devil On An Indian

This is a band that has slipped under my radar. The Raptor Trail are a band from North Carolina that have released two albums and have released last year a concept album entitled, Devil On An Indian. It’s a story about internal spiritual warfare that comes from a young man who is coming to grips of his Native American Indian heritage after being raised in the 21^st century white Christian morality after a severe motorcycle accident.

The album is set in three movements. The album has a powerful story with a sad ending of a young man going through the motions of what he notices and realizes that this is not what he has expected in the future. It is suddenly a dystopian society that is headed for an apocalypse. The music itself is staggering from beginning to end. The band considers Gene Bass on Drums and Percussion, Matt Mayes on Vocals, Guijo, Acoustic Guitar, and Banjo, and John Meyer on Vocals, Guitar, Effects, Keyboards, and Bass.

Ten Bears opens the track with a Hammond Organ and roaring electric guitar that bursts through the flood gates like a bat out of hell as the composition goes through an alternative acoustic rock as the music and lyrics reminisces of Pearl Jam’s Ten-era along with Quaker Pets. With its heavy riffs and trying to run away from the past, present, and future, there’s no turning back with an embracing and melodic texture.

But it’s Dream Catcher that made my eyebrows go up. It has these ominous banjo chords and the thundering drums and percussion atmosphere with an ending that is chilling and eerie featuring eerie keyboards and alarming guitars. It brings to mind the ‘70s Space Rock sounds of Ash Ra Tempel’s Manuel Gottsching and Aphrodite’s Child’s 666.

The closer Red Giant is where everything turns into an apocalyptic nightmare. You have this climatic volcanic roar of the Bass and Guitar with a harmonic soundings as the motorcycle revs up and driving into the night before ending with the pandemonium beginning and the explosion hitting for the nightmare to begin of annihilation.

Now is this a great album? No. Powerful and Mind-Blowing? In a roundabout way, yes. Devil on an Indian is an astounding album I’ve listened to this year. The story and music along with the lyrics will capture you to know that they aren’t showing off, but giving you a lot of power and glory throughout the concept. So I recommend checking them out.

Naked Truth - Shizaru

Since last year when I received a package of six albums in the mail from the RareNoise Records label, I was completely spell bound after I wrote an ecstatic review on WorldService Project’s For King and Country. I’ve wanted to discover the label thanks to Sid Smith’s Podcasts from the Yellow Room in which he’s introduced me to some of the band’s that made me want to write on the wish list. I’ve discovered for me one of my favorites, Naked Truth.

This is a review of their debut album entitled Shizaru released six years ago. Since the creation done by bassist Lorenzo Feliciati and featuring keyboardist Roy Powell, Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Stick Men) on Acoustic and Electric Drums, and Cuong Vu on Trumpet and Electronics, their music is very surreal and futuristic between the four-piece.

The title Shizaru means the fourth monkey which symbolizes “do no evil” and he may be either crossing his arms or covering his private parts. Now while I haven’t got a chance to listen to Ouroboros which is their second album and enjoyed their third album last year entitled, Avian Thug. All three of them is to me, like a circle coming in full. But let’s get straight to their debut.

It has this ambient, experimental, industrial, electronic, trip-hop, and Miles Davis sound filled with a chamber avant-jazz surrounding between the essence of Bowie’s Outside-era, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, and Brian Eno. Both the sounds and the experimentations that is on here is this mysterious travelling scenario between David Lynch’s Lost Highway or by Nicolas Winding Refn.

For my introduction to their music last year, Naked Truth are very, very good taking the listener and diving into ocean as they take them into unknown lands that is filled with a long and winding pathway filled with surreal painting done by dada artist Salvador Dali as if he’s the maestro letting the band take them wherever he goes. And where Dali takes, the listener goes with him and the band members follow. 

Shizaru is a good introduction to get you started of their music if you like the surreal dreams, the essence of Electronic, Experimental, Industrial, and Trip-Hop adventures into places you’ve never seen. And I hope they will continue to do more for the next few years to come. As Dali once said, “Painting is an infinitely minute part of my personality.”

My tribute to Esoteric Recordings

Since launching ten years ago on the Cherry Red Records group imprint, Esoteric Recordings has been home of finding rare and obscure gems in the history of Psychedelic, Progressive, Experimental, and Jazz Rock in the 1970s. Mark Powell who got his start as a freelance music consultant by working with Universal, Sony, and EMI by artists from Caravan, Camel, Hawkwind, and Soft Machine to name a few. He also wrote notes on the 3-CD compilations paying tribute to the labels of the late ‘60s and 1970s from; Island, Vertigo, Charisma, and Polydor. And he also wrote a book six years ago entitled Prophets and Sages: An Illustrated Guide to Psychedelic and Progressive Rock.

I first became aware of Esoteric Recordings nine years ago when I went ahead and bought a few of their reissues from sites including Doug Larson Imports, Kinesis, and The Laser's Edge including Rare Bird’s first two albums, Egg, Marsupilami, Web, Man, and Julian’s Treatment. To me this was more than just Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd. Mark is always searching to find more hidden treasures to see what the labels signed and why they were forgotten and never got the recognition they deserve.

They’ve also released box sets from the late Jack Bruce, Bill Nelson, and the Private Parts and Pieces I-V and V-VII 5-CD sets including Anthony Phillips reissues which the 2016 Progressive Music Awards for the Storm Thorgerson Grand Design Award. There is no stop sign for Esoteric. And with reissues from the realms of Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come, Beggars Opera, Cressida, Gilgamesh, Supersister, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Procol Harum’s first four albums, the Polydor-era of Barclay James Harvest, and The Move, they always surprise me of what to expect next.

It was also announced five years ago that they would sign up-and-coming acts with a label entitled Esoteric Antenna. Which released the new collaboration between Steve Hackett and the late great Chris Squire entitled Squackett’s A Life Within a Day. And signed to bands/artists such as The Reasoning, Matt Stevens, Sanguine Hum, Son of Man, and of course my favorite, Panic Room.

This year, the label are reissuing gems from Blonde on Blonde’s last two albums, Gandalf’s debut album, Little Free Rock, Unicorn, and Gong and Hawkwind’s Tim Blake’s solo work. They are very, very busy when it comes to reissues and new artists when they lend a helping hand. And they make my wish list even bigger when it comes to the reissues and new artists.

As Fela Kuti said, “Music is a weapon of the Future.”

Here's my top 20 albums from the Esoteric label:

1. The Move - Reissues
2. Procol Harum - Reissues
3. Rare Bird - As Your Mind Flies By
4. Henry Lowther Band - Child Song
5. Supersister - Present Your Nancy
6. Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Galactic Zoo Dossier
7. Matt Stevens - Lucid
8. Sanguine Hum - Now We Have Light
9. Aphrodite's Child - End of the World
10. Web - I Spider
11. Barclay James Harvest - Everyone is Everybody Else
12. Tom Newman - Faerie Symphony
13. Kayak - Kayak
14. Earth and Fire - Song of the Marching Children
15. String Driven Thing - The Machine That Cried
16. Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North
17. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Photos of Ghosts
18. Morgan - Nova Solis
19. Marsupilami - Arena
20. Julian's Treatment - A Time Before This

Jack O' The Clock - Repetitions of the Old City

Formed 10 years ago in Oakland, California, Jack O’ The Clock have released four studio albums going from 2008 to 2014. Last year, they’ve released their fifth album entitled, Repetitions of the Old City. In an interview with Ian Beabout on Prog Rock Deep Cuts, Damon mentioned the story behind the title is assessing the traumas of the past and pulling you into the direction on a society level and experiencing of considering generations.

And the general information of moving forward. The music is a cross between Chamber, Folk, Canterbury, and Rock In Opposition. And guests including Fred Frith of Henry Cow, Darren Johnston, and Jonathan Russell. While I’m new to the ball park of Jack O’ The Clock’s music, I have to say I was very impressed from the moment I’ve listened to the album for the second time.

Understand, the band’s music is not very easy to get into, but once you get into the hang of it, you can see and listen to what they’re going for. And the five centerpieces, endures the mind of where Damon Waitkus and his fellow bandmates know the inspirations and conceptual textures through brainstorming. Videos of the Dead is marching drums and bass melody that begins the composition followed by Frith’s echoing reverb guitar effect.

At first, Damon sings through an underwater background, but the he walks us through the rooms of the damned human race and the music feels as if it is something straight through Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 film, Zabriskie Point. Fighting the Doughboy is a cross between Chamber Rock, Avant-Folk Pop, and the Rock In Opposition movement. Intense time changes with some bassoons, the lyrics are very Zappa-sque with double-track drums and vocal backgrounds in the styles of the Northettes.

Epistemology / Evel Keel at first has a walking/medieval folk lyrics and then it changes into a psychedelic-folk-jazz-ambient finale in the styles of textures a-la Robert Wyatt style while When The Door Opens, It Opens On Everything echoes both the Octopus and In a Glass House-era of Gentle Giant. Damon’s voice resembles at times of Kerry Minnear as Jack O’ The Clock channels the band’s structures of their excellency.

And not to mention Alban Berg’s 12-tone technique that Emily Packard does through her violin. The Old Man and the Table Saw shows the quintet walking us through the various parts of the world. Emily really gets the violin to set course for sail to another adventure. Damon and the rest of her team are very much like the Captains of the ship and everything written down on a piece of paper.

Both he and bassoonist/flautist Kate McLoughlin share the vocals dealing with the stories on the piece. Jack O’ The Clock’s new album is one of their most interesting listens I’ve delved into their swimming pool. And as I’ve mentioned their music, is not easy to listen to, but if you love the genres I’ve mentioned earlier in my review, this is a perfect introduction to their sound. And while this part one, I hope they continue with the stories.

Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends. Welcome back Prog Magazine!

(Some of my collection of PROG Magazine)

It’s always something good happens for a new year in a new beginning. And believe me it is very good news. Not just the hero saving the day or Superman rescuing Lois Lane from Lex Luthor, but more than just that. When it was announced last year in December before Christmas that TeamRock had went into administration and laid-off some of the workers including who had been home to publications to Classic Rock Magazine, Blues, Metal Hammer, and Prog Magazine, it hit me hard.

Because not only that, but for me, Prog Magazine was sort of like my Bible to read about up-and-coming bands, articles, interviews, the albums that built Prog, labels to discover, and My Record Collection with people such as Zach Galligan (Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch), Comedian Bill Bailey, Sci-Fi Author Kevin J. Anderson, Photographer Mick Rock, Kavus Torabi, and Comic Book Artist Brian Bolland (The Killing Joke, Judge Dredd) to name a few, showing their love of the music and the inspirationals for them.

I would sometimes go to Barnes and Noble to find new issues or on eBay to find both old and new issues of PROG Magazine and sometimes I would have to pay my Mom back on finding some of the issues that would come in the mail. 

My blogsite, Music from the Other Side of the Room, wouldn’t haven’t gotten started if it wasn’t for both Houston Community College and Prog Magazine when it launched back eight years ago. And I can imagine the people who worked in which I mentioned about my tribute to the magazine last year in December, they worked their butts off to write the articles, interviews, and reviews.

My first reaction to that was “What a horrible way to end the year like that.” Because let’s admit 2016 was a rough year of losing artists including Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Prince, Glenn Frey, Alan Rickman, and the late great David Bowie. But then, something special happened. Ben Ward of Orange Goblin launched a JustGiving fundraising website to raise money to help the staff who were made redundant just in time before Christmas with no pay. They raised £88,760.00 ($109,853.81) and the band performed at a fundraising gig on January 5^th  of this year at the Black Heart in Camden, London. 

Stan “The Man” Lee always said, “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.” That’s what they did and the supporters of the magazines did, you give something back. And then just as if it was about to fade into nothingness, I read online that Future Publishing had saved Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, and PROG Magazine from closure.  It’s also the owner of titles including Guitarist, Total Film, and T3, which covers gadgets and technology.

It was like a breath of fresh air when I heard the announcement. Future deserves a big, big, BIG gigantic pat on the back for what they did. I wish Jerry Ewing and the rest of his team nothing but the best. They are for me in my opinion either the Justice League or the Avengers of Prog Magazine. (My geek shirt just popped out!) And hope to get the Prog train steam going up for more chugging like there’s no tomorrow. It’s going to take some baby steps, but as Captain America says, “Avengers Assemble!”