Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Scarlet INside

A most gracious and sincere thank you for returning to this space once again fellow progheads!  As the sands of 2015 begin to run swifter through the hourglass, the Concert Closet is making every effort to unearth as much great progressive music as possible.  The Gift was a great seven days spent, but with only so many weeks left on this year's calendar the search for all things prog is forging
ahead--400 miles north--to Glasgow, Scotland and a visit with Scarlet INside.

Scarlet INside pushed my curiosity sensor into the red with this nugget; "Scarlet INside...record and play a broad mixture of sounds ...experimental style and stage show mentality...often using bizarre instruments..."  Their bio also included this gem about the prog genre; "What's possible is possible..." which means there is no way the Concert Closet cruises past that flashing neon sign without at least tapping the breaks...so Glasgow here we come...

The first selection from what I foresee as a most delectable buffet is of the deep thought variety called "Here to There."  Listen carefully as the song opens, lest you feel as though you are caught in an old "Twilight Zone" episode.  The steady pulse leads to intricate, almost veiled acoustic guitar reminiscent of Al DiMeola.  Scarlet INside goes for the jugular right out of the gate; you can feel yourself being taken under--but the pull is so smooth and easy you surrender without a fight.  The sound builds as vocals cut deep, and the steady bass line accompanied by that caramel smooth guitar fills your head with a warmth usually reserved for the familiar scent of home cooking...

Scarlet INside has strong aromatics of early Pink Floyd and Genesis melding beautifully with the latter day sounds of Atlas Volt, Beardfish, and Under the Psycamore.  The music stands out like a stream in the desert yet flows as effortlessly as that same stream during rainy season.  Scarlet INside is the thinking person's prog band and that point is made crystal clear with the second cut I lined up; "We Cry Alone."  The soft opening forces you to listen closely to what solitude and loneliness sound like.  Searing vocals never crept through the headphones so stealth-like before.  Scarlet INside found that spot in the prog garden where David Byrne, Roger Waters, and Peter Gabriel go to write those deep cutting lyrics.

Liner Notes...Living in the aforementioned Glasgow, Scotland, Scarlet INside is Kevin Kennie. Originally a "real band" with other members, by 2011 Kevin was a solo act.  Several musicians have retained their Scarlet INside membership status and/or perform with the band as the mood and opportunity strike.  Brian Johnstone is credited for keyboards, piano, synthesizers, tech, and computer, while Jerry Good is listed as drummer and performer of percussion and noises.
Meanwhile, Kevin plays guitar, percussion, assorted acoustics, synthesizers, instruments, and noises. In short; Kevin Kennie IS Scarlet INside.

Scarlet INside have several releases for your listening pleasure and  one would be wise to give a healthy listen to them all.  Scarlet INside is that big, burly uncle who comes off as dark and foreboding until he speaks...and you begin to realize there are so many unpeeled layers to that onion. My third selection from the buffet helps put this in perspective; an emotionally gripping piece called "Dungeons and Fishtails."  Stronger and a touch darker, this song has a "Robin Trower meets Seven Impale" feel to it.  The guitar cuts through you like a howling arctic wind as the vocals wrap themselves around your mind like a silk scarf.  Scarlet INside isn't happy skimming the surface--they plunge fathoms below, hitting nerves previously left unscathed...

For your listening delight this week I have posted a haunting song called "Nightwatch."  Kevin fills the room with layers of intricate, delicate sound fragile as antique crystal yet strong enough to pierce your skull with the finesse of a skilled surgeon.  Scarlet INside crawls inside that secret place and begins to exorcise the demons using their own darkness as a scythe, cutting them down with the precision and meticulousness of a detective drawing a confession from a hardened serial killer.
Crawl into the world of Scarlet INside at https://sites.google.com/site/scarletinsidesin/; you will gain a much stronger taste for the music and a sense of what goes on behind the curtain...of course there is always Twitter to keep up with the latest musings and outbursts, @ScarletINside, and the ever popular Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ScarletINside/?fref=ts.  Once you start down the rabbit hole, you won't want to turn back lest you miss the next quiet outburst...

                   

Well fellow progheads, the curtain is quickly closing on 2015--and what a year it's been!  Bands like Scarlet INside have made this year's search for all things prog one amazing 52-week odyssey into the unknown and previously unexplored.  Digging deep has afforded me all the riches the prog garden has to offer.  Progressive music has many faces, personalities, and emotions.  Scarlet INside reminds me to never let up; never assume I have unearthed all there is to find...

Sometimes the best part of the journey is the next leg of the journey...which will be two weeks in the making as the Concert Closet take a seven day respite to enjoy the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  I will be back in a fortnight to continue winding down the 2015 search for all things prog and raise the bar for 2016.  Progressive rock is more than just music--it is an evolving, growing, tangible thing that persists in the hearts of those who appreciate what it has to offer...until December first...

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

The Gift

Hello and welcome back fellow progheads--what a week!  "Time traveling" with Spaceport Union was a lot of fun and the music quite impressive...and so continues the search for all things prog back on Planet #3.  Seeing as November starts the official holiday run toward the end of the calendar, I thought it quite apropos to offer you my faithful followers a "gift."  It almost seems gratuitous to say the return trip from Jupiter touched down in the UK--my second home for prog--but the entrancing sound emanating from London was too much to ignore, so I offer for your listening pleasure the prog band known as The Gift...

A five man operation, The Gift modestly refers to themselves  as "...a progressive rock band..." Precisely the type of moniker that always intrigues me; is it the generic brown wrapper covering a masterpiece...or the boards over a broken window keeping disaster and ruin from sight?  Only a head long dive into the music will answer that question, so cue up the diving board...

My first assault on the prog buffet yields an upbeat tune called "Too Many Hands."  The opening riff rings particularly optimistic;  you find your foot tapping almost subconsciously.  The Gift has tossed extremely bright colors at the canvas with this piece...guitars clear a wide swath for strong vocals to take up residence in your auditory canals and not let go.  The sound is quite tight; these guys know how to feed off each other's energy--and the needle is pegged in the red.  The bar has been set high for the week...let's hope they can keep the energy flowing...

Serving number two is a more delicate piece called "Walk Into the Water."  Listening to the song open, it is as if I am sitting in a church pew...a very poignant and delicate organ bleeds into soft vocals, while guitar work floats through like a whisper.  The song has dark undertones, but the color shines through and illuminates what could have ended up a macabre piece of music.  The Gift have top notes of Spock's Beard and the Alan Parsons Project on this cut; exceptional song writing ability encased in a shell of flowing and intricate sound.  Follow the song to the end and you feel a sense of calm; what is ending here is just the beginning of another splendid adventure elsewhere...

Liner Notes...based in London, The Gift is a five-piece prog band consisting of Mike Morton on guitar, flute, and vocals, David Lloyd on electric and acoustic guitars, Samuele Matteucci on keyboards and samples, Stefan Dickers on bass, and Scott James behind the drum kit.  The band also credits Graham Harris as stage/tour manager, band tech, and for live sound.  The Gift started as a duo in 2003 working on a concept piece about the madness of war.  By the time that was released in 2005, The Gift had become a full fledged quintet.  Line-up changes--the inevitable equalizer among all bands past, present, and future--struck The Gift early on.  Of course, the result is proof positive that change does not necessarily translate to something negative.

The Gift are an enigma of sorts; while the music resonates of the symphonic, hard-hitting and classic standard bearers, the lyrics are entrenched in the reality of today.  The Gift seem unable to simply write a song and etch it into vinyl...they prefer to tell an entire story and wrap it in splendor.  The Gift wander the width and breadth of the prog garden but spend most of their time in the concept section among the Steven Wilson, Roger Waters, and Peter Gabriel elite...

The dessert this evening is an adult portion called "Nocturne."  With images of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" radiating through the headphones, this songs cuts through the cacophony of noise that fills the day with surgical-like precision.  The soft acoustic guitar belies strong vocals...smooth as a burlap bag yet dead on with emotion.  Aromatics of The Cure float across this piece, and the understated drumming taps the back of your skull with just enough ardor to hold your attention.

The clip I chose for you this week is called "Escalation."  This piece in particular struck me for the way it creates a foundation on which to build...starting out slow and deliberate, then just ripping the insulation out the speakers midway through--and oh those biting vocal snippets!  The Gift surrounds your mind and never lets up, building to a crescendo that splits your head down the center--and then suddenly the stage fades to black.  Learn more about The Gift at http://thegiftmusic.com/index.php. You can check out their sound by going to https://soundcloud.com/the-gift-music-uk.  For the Twitter crowd The Gift is at @TheGiftMusicUK and of course you can keep up with everything at the band's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheGiftMusicUk/.




Yet another stroll through the London progressive rock scene yields superb results. The Gift treat the prog garden like their personal Wikipedia...taking from each section what sates a need and using all they gather to fashion a sound that flows like Spin-Art.  As you the listener are drawn into the music, you allow yourself to be changed--ever so slightly.  One of the reasons I enjoy prog so much is the way it transcends everything you think you know and takes you on an adventure.  Whether it be symphonic, neo, classic, metal, jazz infused, or some other "insert-your-prog-adjective-here" subgenre, progressive music always finds a way to broaden the music horizon.  The pleasure for me is finding the gems lying in wait as I continue the search for all things prog...until next week...

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Spaceport Union

Good evening one more time fellow progheads!  Last week's introduction to The Alea Dilemma was a great slice of new progressive rock and a keen insight into what continues to come around the bend. Gearing up for the "holiday season," I decided to take the search for all things prog north this week, trekking into territory I have neglected as of late.  Preparing for winter and all the madness November and December are about to thrust upon the masses, this seems the perfect time to take a deep breath, relax, and venture into the cosmic reverberations of Spaceport Union.

Calling their sound "...progressive/epic art rock..," Spaceport Union originated in Victoria, British Columbia.  However, the band lists their current whereabouts as "Outer Space...parked somewhere out by Jupiter."  Initially I find this a bit perplexing; is Spaceport Union nothing more than fun and games with a fancy prog wrapper--or are they the real deal; a prog band with serious talent who simply wish to enjoy the journey?  Time to dig below the surface and find out how they define prog out there near Jupiter...

Coming in for a "don't know what to expect" first course, I am captivated by a song called "In the Heat of the Sun."  The solitude of the piano hits you first, then the vocals creep in like your odd uncle who never married...the entire piece is shrouded in storm clouds that hover darkly yet fail to break your spirit.  Spaceport Union packs a lot into six minutes worth of CD space.  The soft drumming is accented by guitar work that slowly crawls down your spine...and suddenly everything is in focus...gonna be a great week!

Armed with a better sense of what Spaceport Union has to offer, I jump for my second serving; a harder hitting piece called "Yer Battery's Dyin'."  Bass is boss on this cut, even with the strong cutting vocals.  Everything in this song hits hard and deliberate. The darkness here brings with it a Vanilla Fudge psychedelia...you can almost see the amoebas splitting on the wall behind the sofa...

Liner Notes...apparently British Columbia is right around the corner from Jupiter if you fold the map just so...and hailing from these parts are Adam Basterfield on guitars, keyboards, and vocals, Caroline Spence on guitars, keyboards, saw, and vocals, Aaron St. Arnault on bass, trumpet, and vocals, and  Taylor Charles on drums.  Spaceport Union collided as a group sometime in 2008/2009, and have been making some out-of-the-ordinary progressive rock ever since.  This is a band that exudes confidence, grit, and a wee bit of cockiness as they strut through the prog garden plucking parts they are able to turn into a marvelous whole.  

Spaceport Union has top notes of Porcupine Tree, Deep Purple, and David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust tour. They have chameleon-like tendencies; the ability to re-invent and redefine themselves song-by-song.  I also pick up aromatic overtones of King Crimson, early Pink Floyd, and a dose of KingBathmat.  The kicker though, is while Spaceport Union shows an acute sense of prog know-how, they seem to be as stressed about it as kids watching Saturday morning cartoons while it's raining...a Happy Graveyard Orchestra approach that is refreshing, thrilling, and perplexing all at once.

The third serving on the platter is a cut from the band's debut album called "Simple Lack of Motivation."  A melancholy opening...an attempt to come off as jejune while defining what a lack of spirit sounds like.  Don't miss the point--Spaceport Union nails it even as they try to paint themselves as uninterested and jaded.  The soft overtones of the song underlie a determination that Spaceport Union oozes almost effortlessly.

The clip posted below is the first single from Spaceport Union's new album.  The song is called "White Noise" and it is a dandy.  No mistaking the opening homage to the Adrian Belew era King Crimson sound--right down to Tony Levin's bass line and the  gritty vocals.  Spaceport Union pulls another bait-and-switch as they flow through the headphones like the first sap run of a monster maple syrup season--and then hand you a gallon of pure Grade A gold.  With roots throughout the prog garden, Spaceport Union manages to channel their 70's classic prog vibe quite nicely.  Learn more about Spaceport Union at http://www.spaceportunion.com/.  Don't forget to follow the band on Twitter @spaceportunion to get the latest cosmic groove....and of course there is always Facebook https://www.facebook.com/spaceportunion for those of us stranded here in earth's gravitational pull...



OK fellow progheads, November has crept onto the calendar while we were busy searching for all things prog.  Fortunately, the time and space continuum managed to cross the path of the Concert Closet with that of Spaceport Union.  Anytime a band can cherry pick the vibe from so many cross sections of the prog genre and create a sound as distinctive as that which Spaceport Union has created, one should feel obligated to sit back and enjoy the spoils of creative genius.  But alas, I must continue this journey.  While I ask you to stay and savor the splendor that is Spaceport Union, I will pack up the Concert Closet and continue the search for all things prog...until next week...