What Are You Listening To?

[bob_32_116]

^^^ Karnivool seem to be accepted on Progressive Rock fora as representative of the harder edge of prog. I'd probably agree, though some of those same people also claim bands like Black Sabbath as "prog", something I find a bit hard to swallow.

Anyway, prog or not, I've heard a little a Karnivool's stuff, and I cannot manage to like it, though I can see why some people do.


There is a member overlap with Birds of Tokyo, whose early stuff sounded a little like Karnivool Lite, but they have since mellowed out quite a bit and now sound almost like Linkin Park.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

thanks for the info bob_32, appreciate it mate...

and for Karnivool...I wouldn't bother buying another album of theirs, one is enough IMO.

[Ruby]

COLIN MASSON "the mad monk and the mountain" cd, 2010

was introduced to this guy via a post made by Ruby a while ago....
it hard to place his style, but im going for Progressive with this one....
six tracks in all, four of which are instrumentals...
this guy has as much emotion and feeling in his instrumentals as Knopfler IMO...
track one is spoken word over music, track three is female vocals song is psedo-folky I guess...
of the instrumentals, I like three and dislike one....
tough call between "the mad monk and the mountain" and "the house on the rock" for best track...
im going for The House On The Rock...
from memory, my avourite track has flutes/woodwind in it, sounds a bit like Jethro Tull in places.
why do I like his instrumentals??????
because theyre not repetitive, they ebb and weave, speed up, slow down etc...
anyway, a good album, a cant wait to get my teeth into the other two I purchased...
and Jerome, you'd love his work mate, do yourself a favour and order his cds!

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: caradon's surprise
best track: the house on the rock

[video=youtube;y3bFXCPe6SY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3bFXCPe6SY[/video]

tracks:

1...the lighthouse keepers **
2...tilting at windmills (inst) **
3...the ends of the earth **
4...the mad monk and the mountain (inst) **
5...caradon's surprise (inst) *
6...the house on the rock (inst) **

3s=0
2s=5
1s=1

rating: 1.9

Well said CH, although based on your scoring system, I’d give it a 2.5 – I love the acoustic interlude of “Caradon’s Surprise” … and once again, to each their own!

You are quite right about the feeling – maybe that’s what is so very appealing - there’s a lot of finesse here, and good taste, on all levels, as opposed to some other new prog work which IMHO, although technically well executed, seems a bit overblown and clinical. Technically speaking, there can be no doubt at all that Colin Masson knows his way around guitars and arrangements – brilliant stuff, and therein lies the rub – it’s not just about the ears … it’s about touching a chord within.

The woodwind you speak of is the humble recorder/s which just goes to show – there is sometimes great merit in simplicity!

I love The Southern Cross too, which is also a concept album with ‘two sides’ despite being in CD/digital format (which Colin humorously elaborates on in an interlude after ‘side one’); quite a lot of influence drawn from the likes of Mike Oldfield and Pink Floyd is evident on both, I’d say.

This is absolutely my favourite kind of music – where even the instrumentals are filled with imagery and analogies - I’d say you were picking up on that from it as well, CH, hence enjoying the non-vocal offerings. There’s an Italian word, ‘chiaroscuro’, which, to quote, “is used to describe the dramatic effect of contrasting areas of light and dark in an artwork, particularly paintings” - I think it applies very well in this instance. A fortuitous stumbling upon - I’m so happy to have it my collection! Interested to see your take on TSC!!

[Music Head]

from the cd room



only thing I have by these guys
good compilation I think
bluesy stuff, early Stones sounding
and then there's Van Morrison, before he became Van Morrison

the one we all know, and I love

[video=youtube;aXD1B2651X8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXD1B2651X8[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

I love that song, one of the best from the era....
I always associate the song with the whole Vietnam war thing thanks to the old tv series "tour of duty"

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Icehouse - Code Blue

I like this band, but I am not so much of a fan that I would want all their albums. I only have two - this one, and Measure For Measure (and Primitive Man on vinyl, must upgrade it sometime so I can listen to it again). Man of Colours is their big one; it's a good album, but I don't know, maybe I have been exposed to it too much.

I only have Man Of Colours/Primitive Man and a compilation set....compilation on cd, the other two on vinyl...
also own several of their singles from back in the day also...

Iva Davies was a classy writer IMO,
he also had a David Bowie quality in his vocals at times.

[Jerome]

Mike Oldfield - Tres Lunas - a new-age album from the eclectic composer to accompany the his video game of the same name. When he first marketed this very original, exploratory game the big shot executives asked how do you kill something in it? He said 'You don't'. They weren't interested after that. It can be found online for free and it's worth a whirl as is his next one called Maestro.

[bob_32_116]

Mike Oldfield - Tres Lunas - a new-age album from the eclectic composer to accompany the his video game of the same name. When he first marketed this very original, exploratory game the big shot executives asked how do you kill something in it? He said 'You don't'. They weren't interested after that. It can be found online for free and it's worth a whirl as is his next one called Maestro.

Figures.

I haven't heard this album, but I have heard Songs of Distant Earth, which is also very New Age-y. I found it quite boring. NICE music, good as background for something, but nothing more. On the other hand I have Incantations, which i think is brilliant.

[Jerome]

I actually find TSODE quite engaging. Have to agree about Incantations - magnificent piece of work.

[Music Head]

I actually find TSODE quite engaging.

yea but you're weird