The Neal Morse Band - L.I.F.T. - new album drops tomorrow (2/27). Featuring the line-up of Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer & Eric Gillette
An older release on the El Negocito label (which seems to have gone dormant unfortunately). I'm a fan of Erik Bogaerts (like his group Mephiti), and also guitarist Benjamin Sauzereau. It's a trio with drummer Jens Bouttery. Modern jazz of that Belgian folk-ambient variety... enough dissonance to stir things up, but peaceful all the same.
An older release on the El Negocito label (which seems to have gone dormant unfortunately). I'm a fan of Erik Bogaerts (like his group Mephiti), and also guitarist Benjamin Sauzereau. It's a trio with drummer Jens Bouttery. Modern jazz of that Belgian folk-ambient variety... enough dissonance to stir things up, but peaceful all the same.
"Topography of Mind", a newly issued progressive rock album by Telegraph. One of the best of its genre that I have heard for some time, particularly the first track which goes by the same name as the album title (link below).
Modern solo percussion pieces with some given support by a piano etc. In the collection for a short Steve Reich composition but it has pieces by Chick Corea, Maurice Ravel and quite a few folk I don't know including an adaptation of a famous Paganini tune by Ichiyanagi.
The Neal Morse Band - L.I.F.T. - new album drops tomorrow (2/27). Featuring the line-up of Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer & Eric Gillette
My copy was still in the mail when I left on a trip...grrr.
"Topography of Mind", a newly issued progressive rock album by Telegraph. One of the best of its genre that I have heard for some time, particularly the first track which goes by the same name as the album title (link below).
Huh, I listened to some of it when it appeared and my initial reaction was that it was a step down from the debut. I am going to have to listen again and see what I missed. Thanks for the prod.
Wonderful new album of synth and saxophone collaborations. Barbieri's releases have stood out for a while in the synthy realm, and this is still recognizably her, but the sax layers give it whole new flavors. Not to be missed.
"Svefn-g-Englar" one of the earliest releases by Sigur Rós, an EP from 1999, with two tracks from the classic "Ágætis Byrjun" album plus two excellent live tracks.
All Music says "The first U.K. release for Iceland's Sigur Rós is a stunning, self-contained EP of epic aspirations shot through with over a half-hour of funereal, taunting excellence."
I am not normally a fan of Southern Rock but there are two massive exceptions. The first, it almost goes without saying, is The Allman Brothers Band and the second is the Drive-By Truckers.
Today I'm listening to their album "A Blessing and A Curse". I particularly like the title track.
My other favourite albums of theirs are "Southern Rock Opera", "The Dirty South" and "Decoration Day".
If you want to listen to a live performance of theirs then go to Archive.org which has more than 300 of them (link below).
It's all gone a bit quiet so I just thought I'd mention that I'm listening to this album, which happens to be the Cuneiform's $5 album of the week. Pay $10 enter code FIVE click apply...
I recall really disliking "Monster" back in the day, my judgment rooted in a measure of the music mediocrity than its style. It wasn't difficult to guess that this was the band's desire to get back to its rock roots, in the wake of Automatic for the People and Out of Time just before that. Listening to it again for the first time in... god, really?... thirty years(!!!!!), my emotional reaction isn't nearly as strong, but it still hits me as pretty mediocre effort. I doubt I'll ever listen to this album again.
I like "Up" more today than I did back when it came out, though to emphasize, I enjoyed it plenty back then, too. My initial reaction was that it's an album of pretty pop songs, but without much substance. Today, I think the music carries with more impact than originally believed. It's still an album of pretty pop songs, but there's nothing wrong with that. It's a really good album. I was caught off guard by how many of the tunes I recalled within the first few notes. The only weak spot is the drumming. It's the first album without Bill Berry. Honestly, I think he would've floundered on this recording. It's a shame they couldn't recruit someone to really give the music a bit of bite throughout. The drum machines are regrettable, really detract from the tunes. But I'll definitley listen to this one again, and more frequently than I did previously.
I bet this album drove old-school REM fans batty. Like, those that still lament the band ever straying from a "Document" sound. I mean, there's probably latecomers to REM's music that count "Up" as their favorite, and I imagine the violent recoil effect of an old-school REM fan encountering these people is similar to people who tell me their favorite Wilco album is one of their more recent post-Summerteeth/Being There/YHF releases lol.
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Komorebi translates from Japanese to describe the sensation of ‘sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees’.
The Neal Morse Band - L.I.F.T. - new album drops tomorrow (2/27). Featuring the line-up of Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer & Eric Gillette
Available on Bandcamp.
My copy was still in the mail when I left on a trip...grrr.
https://hammock.bandcamp.com/album/blood-moon
New album by Hammock NYOP Bandcamp
All Music says "The first U.K. release for Iceland's Sigur Rós is a stunning, self-contained EP of epic aspirations shot through with over a half-hour of funereal, taunting excellence."
Today I'm listening to their album "A Blessing and A Curse". I particularly like the title track.
My other favourite albums of theirs are "Southern Rock Opera", "The Dirty South" and "Decoration Day".
If you want to listen to a live performance of theirs then go to Archive.org which has more than 300 of them (link below).
https://archive.org/details/Drive-ByTruckers
ChatGPT tells me that the best one is "40 Watt Club - Athens, Georgia - 14 Feb 2025"
https://archive.org/details/dbt2015-02-14.flac16
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/beija-flors-velho-e-sujo
Forgot about this album, wonderful, only available to stream on Bandcamp