- The Flower Kings, "Underdog": a neo-progressive track with the lead played by a bagpipe and a steel guitar. How can you not love that?
- Broken Social Scene, "Ibi Dreams of a Pavement": A post-rock
track with vocals. Very good stuff - very dense. Like I said it's got vocals, but they're not the dominant part of it - they're actually almost in the background. - Marillion, "Heart of Lothian": a track off of my favorite Fish-era Marillion album. It's hard to take this in isolation - the whole album is really one continuous piece of music - with recurring themes, lyrical motifs, etc. This is really just a continuation of what came before it - it's not a standalone. But it's amazing - the kind of music that can give you chills even the hundredth time you've listened to it.
- Naftule's Dream, "Speed Klez": Rollocking progressive Klezmer,
played by a mix of instruments including clarinet, trombone, electric guitar,
and who knows what else. Amazing, dazzling stuff. - Magma, "Ork Alarm": progressive rock, which really staddles the line between modern classical and progressive rock. Very complicated stuff. Not the easiest listen - it's very strange, and takes a few listens before you really
understand it enough to enjoy it. But like modern classical music, it's worth the effort. This group is really one of the most amazing ensembles in progressive rock. - Happy the Man, "Stepping Through Time": a piece off of the reunion album of the great american progressive band. I'm a huge fan of HtMs old work. This new album isn't bad - it's interesting, complex music, with nice melodies, time changes, and amazing musicianship. But it's strangely lacking something. It's soulless. It just feels very mechanical.
- Isis, "All Out of Time, All Into Space": more post-rock. Very atmospheric, dark.
- Lunasa, "Island Paddy": quite a transition from the last one; this
is a straightforward traditional Irish showoff piece. Bouncy fun that makes you want to get up and dance. - Sonic Youth, "Queen Anne Chair": a wonderful little snippet. This
is off of Sonic Youth's album "The Destroyed Room", which is assembled from
experimental studio clips. It sounds like Sonic Youth playing post-rock. - Hawkwind, "You Shouldn't Do That": Amazing strange but wonderful
stuff from early Hawkwind. Depending who you ask, this is either early progressive or psychedelia.
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More like this
Sonic Youth, "Or": Very smooth for SY. But great. They're an amazing band.
The Flower Kings, "Blue Planet": A typical track from one of my favorite neo-progressive
rock bands. For the Flower Kings, this is a short one at only 10 minutes.
The Clogs, "Lantern": once again, one of my favorite…
Kansas, "Byzantium": an example of why Kansas fans waited so long for
Kerry Lofgren to return to the band. The guy's a brilliant songwriter. Even with
Walsh's voice clearly aging and suffering from abuse, this is fantanstic stuff.
Isis, "Wrists of Kings": Fairly hard post-rock. I like Isis a…
I haven't done a FRT in a while.
Mogwai, "Kids Will be Skeletons": a typical Mogwai
track; brilliant post-rock.
The Redneck Manifesto, "Bring Your Own Blood: more
post-rock in the same general vein as Mogwai. This one is a bit
up-tempo, with a very cool rythym.
Gogol Bordello, "Dub the…
Dead Soul Tribe, "Goodbye City Life": mediocre prog metal. Not bad,
but nothing special either.
Dave Matthews Band, "Lying in the Hands of God": I know, lots of people think
I'm crazy to like DMB. But I do. And I find this song terribly depressing. One of the
members of the DMB was an…
You into the other Isis albums as well, or just the new one? Oceanic is one of the best albums of all time imo.
I saw Magma (in a packed bar, on a steamy summer night) in NYC on their first US appearance in 25 years, and it was one of the hottest shows I ever saw (in more ways than one). Check them out if they come over again.
And thumbs up for (older) Happy the Man too. A good deal of Kit Watkins's solo stuff is also good.
Hi Mark,
Here a physicist from the other side of the Atlantic who recently discovered this, your stuff, which i am really enjoying. Maybe i am more a musician than a scientist, and although i didn´t take the time to read all of your Friday Randoms... Let me tell you about a guitarrist i am confident you will enjoy: Mr. Dave Fiuczynski.
Try first his "Kif" album, if you like jazz, have a experience with JazzPunk. Check his "Live!" album with the Screaming Headless Torsos for a heavy fueled eclectic funk and if you want some klezmer, go for this band "Hasidic New Wave".
Wow! Pretty different styles, stamped with his very personal signature...
Keep on with your thing, with your clever, clear and enjoyable style.
I´ll be around, see you.
It seems like I rarely see people call Isis post-rock, though it fits alright. There are some real gems buried in that heavy post-rock or post-metal genre; *shels and Minsk come to mind.