Now Playing Thread

[keyboardistmatt]

THE TEA PARTY - "Temptation"
from the album 'Transmission'

[Steve Jones]

Marillion - Radiation.

[Steve Jones]

Fish - For Who the Bells Toll!

[The Butterfly Man]

NP: Pain Of Salvation - The Perfect Element pt1

Tom

[Steve Jones]

Robert Plant - Pictures at Eleven.

[Steve Jones]

Elvis Costello - This Year's Model.

[maddox]

The Flower Kings - Genie In A Bottle

[Nicky007]

NP  Spock's Beard:  Octane

Super 

Even pubertarians dig it 

Has just the right mood for me at the moment 

Nicky.

[Nicky007]

NP  SB:  She Is Everything  (on repeat)

Killer song 

Guess I need some love and comfort at the moment 

Nicky.

[The Butterfly Man]

How was Opeth Nicky?

NP: Arena - Purgatory Road

Tom

[Steve Jones]

Black Sabbath - Cross Purposes Live.

[Teunis]

Pendragon - Pure

np: IQ - Tour Cd 2

track: Jet (live)

[The Butterfly Man]

Pendragon - Pure

I played that album earlier today. The more I hear it, the more I'm convinced that it's Pendragon's finest work to date, even surpassing Not Of This World... Believe me, this says a lot in my case!

Looking forward to next month, when I will see them live again. Nick said that they are gonna play all tracks from Pure so that promises to be a great night already!

NP: Marillion - Thankyou Whoever You Are

Tom

[keyboardistmatt]

PENDRAGON - "And We'll Go Hunting Deer"
from the album 'The World'

[maddox]

PENDRAGON - "And We'll Go Hunting Deer"
from the album 'The World'

NP> Nothing yet. I've just started up Winamp.

[keyboardistmatt]

PORCUPINE TREE - "Stars Die"
from the album 'Stars Die - The Delerium Years 1991 - 1997"

[maddox]

The Flower Kings - Devils Playground

[keyboardistmatt]

DIRE STRAITS - 'Love over gold'
the whole album!

[Nicky007]

NP  Nevermore:  In Memory

That did good too 

My fave group 

Nicky.

[Nicky007]

How was Opeth,  Nicky ?

Right, Tom, back to business 

Yeah, superconcert !!!  These guys are really, I mean really, among the best.

No accessories - no lightshow, movies, costumes etc. - just the five guys in their jeans or whatever playing their Paul Reed Smith guitars and stuff 

Mike midfront, discreetly eying his gang, modest as ever, but fully present and balanced.

I'v rarely experienced musicians so serious and into their music. There's a lot of riff repetition in their music, and many lesser musicians would lose concentration, but the Opeth guys use it to build up intensity.

What struck me is that Opeth have developed from kinda Mike with backing to a fiveband of equals, all fabulous musicians. Mike introduced Fredrik as the lead guitarist, which is very true, as Mike played mainly the basic riffs, while Fredrik let loose on the solos.

Mike is very comfortable in all singing styles, and when he growls, he doesnt make a show of it, instead it becomes just as natural as his midrange clean singing.

They played most songs from Watershed, except Burden, which I missed very much; I would'v liked to hear how that remarkable closing duel had developed since studio times.

My friend Claus (who btw gave me the ticket as a present, UR never turned up) is an excellent voluntary sound technician, and he complained about the sound, and he was probably right about that; but to me it was secondary, as the intensity of the music burned thru to me.

OK, the balance of instruments could'v been better; the bass was too loud, and the keyboards were only really heard at the beginning and ending of songs, with an occasional midway passage, but hey, don't the keyboards always get drowned in metal concerts ?

Otoh it was fascinating to see Martin Mendez do his bass. A relatively small guy with an enormous instrument, his right-hand fingers literally danced over the fretboard. How it was decided which finger actually struck at a given moment remains obscure to me.

Martin Axe was awesome too, and his drumming actually quite clear - one'o'm best around.

There were some funny moments too: The guys were on home turf (Sweden), and in the beginning of the concert, Mike said "I aint gonna speak fuckin English here. Learn Swedish !" and from then on he spoke only Swedish, also shootin off some Stockholm colloquialisms that I couldnt always catch. Well, cool guy at any rate. (Just like with women: You dont actually need to understand'm .....) 

They played one extra, Deliverance, and that sure was the culmination of the gig. That terrific closing coda sent everybody over the moon.

So we went out into the cold Swedish winter night with some heck of a musical experience warming us inside 

Nicky.

[keyboardistmatt]

ORCO - "Furious"
from the 'Vacant' E.P.

[Manatee]

NP: Ozric Tentacles - Jurassic Shift - Sunhair

Rather good as as spacey instrumentals go.

[Manatee]

Continuing my exploration of Half Man Half Biscuit on Pandora and just happened upon a song called "Albert Hammond Bootleg."  I have no clue who Albert Hammond is, but it has one of the most amazing lines I've ever heard: "I'd rather talk to plankton than to dance with you."   

[Steve Jones]

I have no clue who Albert Hammond is

Relish the moment!   The official HMHB site is at http://www.hmhb.co.uk/ and if you click on the various album covers you'll find explanations for some of the references.  The track you're listening to is from 'Back in the DHSS/Trumpton Riots' CD (http://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/records/BInDHSS.htm) which says this about Mr Hammond:

Gibraltarian Singer/songwriter from the 70's, can be blamed for Cher and Michael Bolton. He did commit other crimes against humanity - the greatest of which must surely be his co-authorship of Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Not that he contented himself with inflicting his songs on the world via third parties. Oh no, back in the early '70s the bugger actually went and did it himself with a song called "Free Electric Band" which proudly proclaimed ...I gave it up for music/And the Free Electric Band (he needn't have bothered).

[Steve Jones]

Robert Plant - The Principle of Moments.