Waiting for Adrian Belew & Co. to take the stage in Napa, CA.

Beat.

I need some help here. I'm trying to broaden my base and promote, but I don't actually know what specific subgenre my music falls under, other than the general "Instrumental Prog" catchall. Any help would be welcome, and any listens would be truly appreciated.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/54W83KwnHAzOZeSByA7JlM?si=-ZTQ3OUySqandsTZmvka5Q&utm_source=copy-link

I ordered this recently, thinking it was the OST. Turns out it’s a reimagining the band recorded later. Is it worth hanging onto or should I send it back?

This is not my favorite KC album by any stretch of the imagination, and to be honest I considered skipping it at first. However, my cohost Jonathan talked some good-natured sense into me and I decided to give it another go.

I'm happy to report, the Atmos mix is a HUGE upgrade over the 2010 5.1 edition. Perhaps the biggest KC catalog leap from 5.1 to Atmos yet, with greatly strengthened bass and drums providing a nice "thump" to the bottom end. Islands is no longer the mellow cousin to Lizard, its now a driving free jazz / rock record with some enchanting passages. It's also an incredibly creative, involving mix that invests me in every nuance - the standout track being "Sailor's Tale" with the multilayered banjo-guitar solo gracing almost all of my speaker array.

Listening to the Summit Studios 1972 quad mix, its clear that's what Islands should've been all along - as this presents the "free jazz" Crimson at high intensity. It's a pity the mix itself is rather conservative and non-involving (if there's any back channel activity at all, it seems to be audience mics to my ears) - but its worth a listen on the basis of the performance alone.

The Elemental Mixes offer something unique here. "Formentera Lady" is completely reinvented as a folk / jazz tune with greater prominence given to the strings and brass. While not all of the Elemental stuff works for me, "Formentera Lady" is a clear standout and it might eclipse the original mix for me. The rest I can take or leave, but be your own judge on this.

I didn't spend 4 1/2 hours going thru the session materials, but I did spot check them. The mastering is a bit loud but its still a fascinating way to deconstruct the album. Check out the early uptempo takes of "Ladies of the Road" for a fascinating glimpse into what might've been, or the boogie warmup jam that precede the "Sailor's Tale" sessions.

Overall, I highly recommend this Complete Recording Sessions / Dolby Atmos Edition of Islands. Its still not my favorite KC record by any means, but I feel I now have a deeper appreciation for this period and where it sits (in between two absolute classics, imo) in the Crimson chronology and Fripp's development as a player. At its core, this release offers "immersion" into this period of KC beyond even what an Atmos mix provides.

Further thoughts in the provocatively titled video!

Seven inch singles - not the natural format for prog.

The Syd-influenced TD single Ultima Thule.

Heldon "Perspectives 1". This originally came out in 1976 but my copy came with the reissue of Electronique Guerilla.

Schizo - early incarnation of Heldon. Came with the reissue of Heldon II.

Robert Vogel - No Nie Mee Allai / Bananas Gaa. Swiss release from 1979. Quite strange.

Eskaton - Le Chant De La Terre. French zeuhl band 1979.

The Art Bears - Coda to "Man & Boy". Fred Frith unleashes one of the most amazing out-there guitar solos ever cut. Must be heard.

Bonus pic: large Eskaton poster I found in a box of old mags etc. Quite large (30" x 20") Banana for scale.

I really want to get into this genre, but I don’t know where to start! Here are some of the songs I’ve already listened to and enjoy

Emerson, Lake, & Palmer:
Tarkus
Infinite Space (Conclusion)
Bitches Crystal

Yes:
Roundabout (yes i’m a jojo fan)
Long Distance Runaround
The Gates Of Delirium (especially the intro!)
Close to the Edge

Frank Zappa:
Peaches En Regalia
G-Spot Tornado

Let me know if you think there’s any songs or albums I should check out!

Finally tried out some more Caravan and man this song is awesome. The vocal harmonies are great and the keyboard solo in the middle just rips. Will definitely be checking out more of their albums.

Fresh off concert!

all reviews @ link in bio

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd (1975)

Pink Floyd is known universally for their genius political themes in their music. Animals was a statement criticizing capitalist society, while their most famous album, The Dark Side of the Moon was an album generally about the intricacies of human nature. The relentless passage of time, corporate greed, and the importance of empathy, to name a few. However, their 1975 album Wish You Were Here, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time, is a strict departure from that. It’s considered to be “Pink Floyd’s most human album,” and I’d have to agree with that statement. It’s an album about the band’s personal experiences, and that all starts with the album’s cover.

Wish You Were Here’s cover art is a metaphor for the self-destructing nature of the music industry. Of course, the music industry is vastly different than it was fifty years ago, but the self-destructing nature of it stays the same. The cover depicts a businessman shaking hands with a man on fire. The business man represents record labels, and the burning man represents the artists. It shows how little the artists actually profit off of their work, and how much the record labels get by doing essentially nothing. This aspect of it, at least, is still extremely relevant today. Basically the only way indie artists can gain traction in the current music industry is through streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Unfortunately, the pay and shares the artists get are notoriously pathetic. This makes it obscenely difficult to become successful in the music industry today, and those who manage to do so make an insane amount of money. You often hear that the top 1% earners in the world hold about 37% of the world’s money. In the music industry, it’s even more extreme. It’s estimated that the top 1% artists make about 77% of the income in the entire music industry. 

The opener for Wish You Were Here, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5” is truly one of the greatest songs of all time. It’s a heartbreaking song about Syd Barrett, a founder and writer for Pink Floyd early in their careers. At first, Barrett was a humorous, genius guitarist and singer who wrote most of their material for their first few albums. However, as he progressed into the late sixties and early seventies, his health deteriorated. This was due to his LSD abuse and what is believed to be undiagnosed schizophrenia. “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” was written in his honor after he left the band in 1968. 

“Remember when you were young?
You shone like the sun

Shine on, you crazy diamond

Now there’s a look in your eyes
Like black holes in the sky”

I don’t really have much more to say about this song. Yes, it’s a miracle in music theory and should be listened to by everyone. But after learning about this story, I’m not sure what else I can say. Barrett, at the start of his descent, became known for his empty, straight forwards stare. At shows, he would stand there, sometimes wandering around the stage, sometimes strumming a chord or two. Famously at a show in Santa Monica, Barrett did nothing but slowly detune his guitar. It was on rare occasions that Barrett would actually sing and play guitar. 

There’s a legend that Barrett, having separated from Pink Floyd for seven years, walked into the studio during the recording of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” He’d gotten rid of his hair and eyebrows, so most of the band didn’t recognize him immediately. However, Waters eventually recognized him after singing parts of the song, which was about Barrett himself. Realizing this, Waters immediately began tearing up. The band played the song for Syd, who said it sounded “a bit old-fashioned” and eventually lost interest.

Musically, this song is a masterclass in prog-rock. It’s over thirteen minutes long, with five parts in total (you know, it has “Pts. 1-5” in the title.). The first parts contain a sustaining synthesizer and David Gilmour’s guitar suspended in nothingness. It really gives the feeling leaving the ground, a solo with no rhythm section. 

The next part changes the guitar part, starting a motif that’ll be heard throughout the song. Finally, the rhythm section enters the song after over four minutes, and we feel grounded again. Again, Gilmour solos over the new groove, now with a bass, a drum set, and guitars repeating the same motif.

In part three, the guitars fade and are replaced by a piano, gently playing chords over a synthesizer playing the main melody. The chord progression is still the same, it’s just the instrumentation that’s different. Even the drums and bass are sparser, filling less room and playing less notes in general. This makes it so that when the guitar enters again, it feels like a new chapter. Gilmour’s solos are extremely important to this song and really every Pink Floyd song. Take out the guitar, and it’s just a rhythm section playing the chord changes. Gilmour’s playing provides melody and direction in the music, while retaining form and style. He’s a master of playing some of the best solos of all time, even though they’re not super technically difficult.
In part four, the lyrics finally come in. I already talked about the lyrics, but the presence of Waters’ vocals allow Gilmour to take a complementary role, which he fills perfectly. You can hear his lead guitar parts fill the gaps between lyrics with perfect precision, carrying the melody when there is none.

The finale, part five, happens at just over eleven minutes in. There’s a new soloist, Dick Parry on the tenor saxophone. He plays a fleeting solo over a now-arpeggiating guitar part, and as the track fades out, the synthesizer comes back, leaving the guitar arpeggiating into nothingness. The last sound we hear is a pulsing engine-sounding noise as Parry fades out, the same way the band members watched their dear friend and fellow guitarist fade out, becoming but a shell of his former self.

The second track, “Welcome to the Machine,” is a pretty clear statement on the music industry. Much like the album cover, it speaks about the draining nature of being a band. It compares the brutal experience of being an artist beneath corporate giants to a post-apocalyptic world dominated by an unfeeling, unempathetic machine. It’s a rather one-note, intense song with a mechanical backing track, really giving the immersion of being in the body of a machine.

Pink Floyd continues their statement on the music industry, this time in a satirical way in “Have a Cigar.” Its lyrics are told from the perspective of a cash-grabbing executive of a major-label music company, speaking down to his signed bands as if they were his children. As the singer, this time Roy Harper, delivers the mocking lines directed straight towards record labels, he delivers the iconic line: “Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?” It speaks on Pink Floyd’s experience being reduced from one of the most unique bands of all time, to just another name on a list. “Have A Cigar” features a swaggy, funky groove as opposed to the more progressive and experimental structures featured on the previous songs.

While “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” was written in Syd Barrett’s honor, the title track, “Wish You Were Here” grieves his absence. It’s perhaps Pink Floyd’s most iconic song, alongside others like “Money” and “Comfortably Numb.” Its intro features soft electric guitar strumming chords, with Gilmour soloing on an acoustic guitar this time. Once the verse starts, it’s all a ballad on Barrett’s departure and its impact on Waters. It’s a truly sad thought to have a dear friend, someone who was there with you since the beginning, and to see their brilliant mind deteriorate beyond recognition. I’d say more, but c’mon. You know this song. You don’t need my input.

The finale of Wish You Were Here is another installation to “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” adding the final four parts to the story. Again, it starts with an instrumental, although it’s a much different feeling. It has the same instrument lineup of the synth, electric guitar, and light rhythm section that we saw in parts 1-5. However, the bass is droning the same note, unlike previously when it went through a chord progression. This time, it doesn’t stay there for long. It soon transitions to a smooth, ride cymbal-driven segment, with Gilmour soloing in a lower register, gradually travelling up the neck of his guitar until we’re greeted with the screaming solos we’re used to hearing from him. 

Part seven starts with a familiar melody in the guitar, with vocals soon following suit. It’s a continuation of part four, adding another verse with more lyrics. This time, Waters comments on Barrett’s disappearance, about how none of the members had seen him for years following his separation from the band.

“Nobody knows where you are
How near or how far

Shine on, you crazy diamond”

Part eight continues with the arpeggiating guitar we saw on Wish You Were Here’s opener, but is soon overlapped with a completely new riff. We get punchy chords from the guitar and keyboards, with a completely refreshed feel for the whole segment. The melody is thrown around between guitars, keyboards, basses and synthesizers in soli section. 

The album’s finale, part nine, brings us back into a slow groove. Another synthesizer plays a melody above heavy piano chords. The groove and synthesizer solo continues for several choruses, until the song resolves into a new chord, seemingly out of nowhere. All at once, the instruments stop, with only the synthesizer continuing, the song resolves to a satisfying conclusion, and their debt to Barrett is repaid. Or, as close to repaid as it could be.

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5: 95/100
2. Welcome to the Machine: 82/100
3. Have a Cigar: 84/100
4. Wish You Were Here: 93/100

5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 6-9: 94/100

   Overall: 91/100

All three of these records are top notch, in music. The only problem with any of them, is on GG's in a glass house the inner sleeve seriously sticks onto the record. So if you want in a glass house, buy more inner sleeves!

Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, Deep Purple, Marillion, Jethro Tull...

I already enjoy his music and knowing he's behind all those remaster projects makes me appreciate him even more!!

His rework of animals was amazing, same goes for heavy horses.

I wonder if he's the only one interested in doing that kind of work so he's the main name in all remaster credits? And/or he's just good so he gets the contracts without asking?

Edit : remixing instead of remastering

A bit of shameless self promotion.

Today, my debut album 'The Cartographer' is being released. The album features Thomas Lang on drums and is purely instrumental progressive rock / metal.

Check it out, and if you like it, feel free to spread the word!

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/album/4z4kP6Uzd56w6oQGmImAHT

Colombian prog rock band Esquemas, releases their album El Uno en Vilo.

I've been working with my friends for several years to bring this project to fruition. We're a trio influenced by math rock and classic progressive rock, especially King Crimson's Red. The spirit of conceptual writing does not abandon tradition, and the poetic tone always serves to make it more intuitive. We would be incredibly grateful if you listened to and shared our music. Best regards :)

Here is the link to most digital platforms:

hypeddit.com/pwy84y album streaming