I began to realize a decline in creative diversity after Wish You Were Here, with Animals. Animals was still great but there was something about it... it seemed that it was more for the lyrics and less ambient and diverse than previous things like Echoes and Shine on You crazy Diamond. Animals is still a great album and so is the wall, but this feeling I got with Animals became prevalent in the Wall and I knew what was happening. Roger Waters was beginning to take over most of the writing. When I look at all my favourite Pink Floyd songs, Interstellar Overdrive, Careful with that Axe, Eugene, A Saucerful of Secrets, Atom Heart Mother, Echoes, Shine on You crazy Diamond, Dark Side of the Moon, etc, I see a pattern in that most of those songs are written by the band working collectively in the group. But during the Wall Roger had his dominance over the band, and much of that old ambient artistic style of the music had faded. To make up for that, the lyrical style of the album sky rocketed in Creativity, obviously because the wall is a Rock Opera, telling a story concept across all of the songs. And the story is very enigmatic and cool to hear. But the music continued to lack that great creativity of the old stuff. The wall does have progressive moments, but when compared to songs like Echoes, The Wall is almost totally mainstream. I would say that the wall is good for a rocker who recently discovered he might be into the more progressive stuff like Yes and all that. Buy the Wall, it's a good standard for Pink Floyd, and then if you like it, see if you can handle the earlier stuff.

The band were having some problems while recording, particularly with each other and many things happened including Richard Wright being fired.

The Wall is a great and wonderful album. I recommend it to any progressive rock person... it's one of the essential albums. But in my personal opinion, Pink Floyd has done way better than this in the past, and will do way better with their last album, The Division Bell

by HammerOfPink


PINK FLOYD Music Online:
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TITLE: Chris Liebing Live at Nature One 2008 / ARTIST: Various / LABEL: CLR / RELEASE DATE: 2nd February 2009 / CAT NO: CLRCD07

Chris Liebing made his storming debut at pioneering German club Red Brick where he played some truly anthemic sets, artfully fusing hip-hop, pop and house. This initial foray into accessible yet tasteful DJing led to Chris honing his own personal tastes and wanting to express this in a more creative way, leading logically to a move into music production with friend and accomplice André Walter.

When Pauli Steinbach – original resident at the legendary Omen club in Frankfurt - could not play one night, Chris was the obvious choice to replace him. The set was storming and from then on until 1998 Chris held an immensely popular residency there.

1999 was the pivotal year in which Chris set up the label CLR, and “Live at Nature One 2008” recording is an example of just some of the exciting music that continues to come out on the label. The album features 17 of Chris Liebing´s favourite tracks, taken from the first 78 minutes of his haunting gig at the Century Circus of the NATURE ONE Festival on the 1st of August 2008.

With each CD comes a poster and the first 1000 CD‘s get an exclusive Beatport download card. “Chris Liebing Live at NATURE ONE” is an impressive follow-up to his live mix CDs at Belgrade, Tokyo, Zurich and Ibiza, and a vital document of Chris’s output that is a must for all fans of Techno.

1. Rickzor – Dark
2. Tony Rohr – Sweep the Leg
3. Monobeam – Spring Story
4. Alex Bau – Gusts
5. Chris Liebing – Turbular Bell
6. Perc – Serious Moonlight
7. Hardcell – Boiling Point
8. Tommy Four Seven & James Kronier – Strix
9. Speedy J. – Edix
10. Lauhaus – Shitapple
11. Workidz – Washmachine
12. Christian Smith & John Selway – Total Departure (Cirez D Remix)
13. Chris Liebing – Puckelbop
14. Dubfire – Emissions
15. Radio Slave – Grindhouse (Danton Eprom Mix)
16. Brian Sanhaji – Cortosis (Chris Liebing Remix)

—

If you would like some more information or you want to preview or review this release and would like to receive a promo copy, please contact tom@rocketsciencemedia.com or simon@rocketsciencemedia.com

"The feeling we have as instrumentalists is to play the exact opposite of what he wrote, because it feels so good, but it really cheapens the music!" says Zukerman.

And thus launches the first of four podcasts featuring NAC Music Director and world famous violinist Pinchas Zukerman and CBC Radio 2 host Bill Richardson, talking and playing their way through Brahms symphonies. (Well, Bill hums once or twice.) It's a musician's eye look at Brahms, thoroughly engaging. To hear the podcasts, just go to CBC Radio 2's Brahms page.

Favourite Zukerman Quote: "When people see something great, for goodness sakes imitate it! I want to play like Jascha Heifetz one day, just for ten minutes, but I can't!" (Followed by quite a chuckle.)

So its "Four Symphonies in Four Conversations," the podcasts introduce the musical themes that weave through Brahms' work, but more fun -- it's all from the perspective of the musical mind of Pinchas Zukerman.

Here are some of the questions that get asked -- and you can download (or listen online) for the answers:

Why does the music of Brahms still have relevance today? How do his symphonies measure up to those of some of the other titans of music, composers such as Mozart and Beethoven? And what kind of special friendships has Pinchas Zukerman made over the course of a lifetime of devoted to sharing this music?

Photo by Paul Labelle

Issues of wordless vocals, environmental effects of rolling waves and gulls (on Sounds Of The Sea) and minimulistic use of a variety of percussives such as shakers and bongoes create serene, lofty atmospheres throughout this spirited work. The ghosts of JS Bach and SV Rachmaninov also lurk from time-to-time, complimented by subtle consummate drumming and lucid bass lines that provide smooth rhythmical backdrops. Haslam`s salient, otherworldly vocals illuminate the work and shine with indescribable luminosity whether singing harmonies with bass player Jon Camp or pushing the higher registers on the two incantations which book-end the work. East Indian influences make an appearance on the final piece Rajah Kahn complete with tablas and an electric guitar substituting for the more traditional sitar. A final section of this piece where the electric guitar really makes it`s voice heard may come off to be a bit obstruse at first but actually adds to the dynamics of this neat little prelude and fugue which marries eastern and western sensibilities.

A superb example of early seventies English folk rock with a progressive slant which is much more in league with the male fronted Strawbs or Camel rather than other harder edged contemporary female led bands such as Babe Ruth and Curved Air. Repose in your favourite comfy chair and become lost in the dreamy hypnotic vestiges on one of the most uplifting folk-rock albums of the glorious seventies while marvelling over the spacey cover artwork by Hipgnosis.

by Vibrationbaby


RENAISSANCE Music Online:
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Bizarre doesn't even begin to describe this album. A blend of progressive punk and almost pastoral music with a mean violin, vocal stylings that baffle even the Peter Hammill initiated, quirky, though generally brilliant, lyrics... the list goes on, and the bizarre melding of standard musical elements and a freakishly experimental mindset works overtime. Really, there is no way to describe this album effectively, it'll probably take a while to catch on as a whole, and any preconceptions you have about Van Der Graaf Generator probably do not apply to this album. Consequently, it's a bizarrely essential album: I really enjoy it, I appreciate there are a lot of people (particularly the pretty vocals crowd) who probably won't get it (not a bad thing, just different tastes), and I think it was really pushing the barriers in a way that the other classic prog bands had rather given up on by 1977. Graham Smith and Nick Potter give the album a great deal of attack, Hammill's experiments with all sorts of vocal ideas have jumped off into the deep end in a way that you'll either love or hate, Guy Evans is solid as ever, and the pianos and guitars are used with a lot more confidence and detail than most previous Van Der Graaf Generator efforts. I think it's a masterpiece, sure some others take the opposite opinion. Lizard Play exhibits the rather Van Der Graaf Generatorish (well, in this case, Van Der Graafish) of having some sort of anti-catch value. On the first listen, it made virtually no impact on me, either lyrically or musically, but now, I can call it nothing less than amazing. The first Meurglys III notes lead us into a little, slightly jazzy intro a bit reminiscent of When She Comes, before Hammill's light-hearted, very cleverly harmonised vocals come in, using a full range of high wispy overdubs to counterbalance low, gritty multiple vocals. Evans is fantastic, of course, providing all sorts of rolls in addition to some absolutely beyond-belief unusual hollow and tingly percussion inclusions. Hammill's lyrics are metaphorical, assertive and extremely potent once you actually see the whole picture, and allow for a couple of clever spins which you somehow never quite expect even when you know they're coming up. Potter's thorough, thick basslines provide the real backbone for the piece, as well as a sort of bestial feel to the piece. The Graham Smith violin is characteristically unusual, and includes a couple of rather neat subtleties that provide a little more weight to the acoustic. A song full of weirdness, shamanic rhythms, a general refusal to accept the standard terms of what rock is, and a touch of whimsicality that works really well for Van Der Graaf.

The Habit Of The Broken heart is another somewhat eclectic song, moving from a fairly basic acoustic riff to a subtle bitter bit of reflection to a full on burst of rock to a small vocal coda. The lyrics are a touch less sharp than I'd expect from Hammill, though they still contain a couple of great lines, and a basic message, which is more than a lot of bands manage to do. The lyrical vulnerability of the song relative to the rest of the album is more than outweighed by the superb musical content and the rather odd mood in Hammill's vocal. Guy Evans and Nic Potter provide a weird bass-driven riff for a fair amount of the piece. The dashes of organ fit in quite nicely, as does the lush background viola. A lot of the punk ethos thumping in again, along with a few elements of dissonance and the rather curtailed melodies than characterise much of World Record. The conclusion is nicely done. Not an absolutely perfect piece, but a lot of redeeming features, and a particularly top notch performance from Evans.

Siren Song features the album's finest lyrics, and some of the finest lyrics in rock, and the closest thing to a conventionally pretty vocal on there. The piano is absolutely lovely, and supplemented by a tragic violin, Guy Evans' very emotional and delicate percussion and the unusual Potter distorted bass sound. The mood changes of the song are distinctive, involving and feature a rather more upbeat, folk-inspired violin part, as well as an example of just how mobile Van Der Graaf Generator can make a song. Nic Potter never did a weirder bass part than that in the middle of this song, and it pays off fantastically. Anyway, the best way to describe this one is with a bit of a lyrics quote. It has reduced me to tears on occasion, and not many pieces can do that.

Laughter in the backbone laughter impossibly wise that same laughter that comes every time I flash on that look in your eyes which whispers of a black zone which'll mock all my credos as lies, where all logic is done and time will smash every theory I devise

The six minute Last Frame could well be the highlight of the album for a lot of the more prog-by-the-books listeners. A hollow atmospheric introductory solo on viola (I think) from Graham Smith leads us into the song proper, coupled with a couple of very dark, full jabs on bass and a tinkle of percussion, takes us onto the tragic retrospective vocals, coupled with a savagely bleak and determined set of lyrics. Hammill provides an acoustic (on occasion surprisingly unusual in sound) pretty much throughout the main part of the song, which is quite a nice change, and it fits in neatly both at the higher-tempo sections and the more introspective low-key parts. A sort of freakish guitar or violin solo backed up by a dab of Meurglys III riff takes up prime position in the instrumental mid-part. The song's conclusion is particularly awesome, with a distinctly rocking bass riff mixing itself in with dabs of percussion, classy lyrical bite and a distorted guitar. As always, Evans is a solid drummer, controlling his sound, volume and feel quite precisely and adding a slightly human feel through the drumming. Fantastic stuff.

The Wave is probably the most daringly introspective of the songs on this album, with quirky, and yet quite moving lyrics about the point of analysis and the effect of that on nature or feeling. The lush, but quite delicate, interplay between Hammill's piano and mellotron (it's probably actually a viola, listening to it a bit more closely) and the strings is extremely well-written, and Hammill's vocals are simply amazing in a way that only they can be. The tension is available, and a mixture of grandeur, uncertainty, high and low and whispered vocals, and selective self-harmonies adding a sort of ebbing feel to the piece. The rhythm section is again excellent, with Guy Evans' fitting in his own sort of style quite softly, accomplishing a number of subtle cadences that other drummers often seem nervous to add into soft songs, accomplishing the same sort of rolling line with no intrusion at all. It did take a while to catch onto me, as one would sort of expect a soft song like this to simply head for plain lyrics, but in the end the combination seems simply more and more right. Unusual soft songs are one of my favourite features of the classic 70s prog rock bands, and this fits that description perfectly. Masterful.

If one track can be described as driven, it's probably Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever, this piece rivets itself into the mind, frantically and schizophrenically leaping off its own ideas. Hammill's lyrics and vocals have a wonderfully reeled-off-on-the-spot tint, albeit not a lot of conventional beauty to counterbalance that. The jarring aggression of the vocals is in the vein of Nadir's Big Chance rather than Arrow or La Rossa, relying on an innate menace, speed and rhythm over volume or arrangement, and yet they are actually surprisingly fitting for the song, ramming in uncertainty, panic, menace and rage without pausing for breath... a burst of vocal dubs only heightens the frantic mood. The exhausted final vocal line is a complete contrast to this schizoid personality... one of the best worst vocal performances ever. Graham Smith's violin and viola provides truly berserk emotionality, reeling off a pulsing, tense riff as well as an array of off-the-wall solos, counterbalanced by the utter catharsis of the concluding solo. Nic Potter has never sounded better, with pulsating, demanding, insistent bass-lines complete with mixed-in sort of bass groans, as well as a bass-sound or two I haven't heard used in that way before. Even under that incredible violin solo at the end, he fits in a tasteful, obvious bass sound. The guitar is equally superb, providing a sort of picked-electric sound that lends a lot of character to the piece, as well as some blitz-on-the-ear wails. One of the big standouts of this piece, though, is Guy Evans. His combination of sort of trapping drum sounds, solid, aggressive beats, tasteful leaves, hard, flat rock beats and manically fast, yet comprehensible, fills, which sort of overspill all the parameters of the song, providing a sensation of real vertigo and being off the edge.

Anyway, I've gone into a bit more detail than I usually do on shortish songs for this one, but it was entirely worth it. An incredible song, one that really both pushes the parameters of rock and yet builds on existing traditions. As Peter Hammill would say, the 'exciting stuff'. It's a sample at the moment, so take a listen to it on the appropriate volume. If you don't like it, the album might not be for you (there's a wide range of material covered, and the lyrics, here, are probably not as strong as the rest of the album), but if you do, really, the album might be your thing. It's the song that brought me to going beyond the obligatory four VDGG albums.

The Sphinx In The Face is another oddity, complete with a particularly anarchically arranged set of lyrics, a range of rather clever musical quotes from previous pieces incorporated into the main piece. Opening with a cheerful guitar riff, backed up by the appropriate groove from the bass. A couple of rather reggae-ish moments are juxtaposed with a general pushing-rock-feel, amazing mellotron/viola, as well as possibly the most remarkably moving harmony in rock. The musicianship, as always, is incredible, and though the 'concept' of it all... the unifying theme of disunity, of a search... is a bit hard to grasp at first, once it kicks in, it sinks below the surface, and a range of exclamations that first seem trivial become extremely moving. Also brilliant, though I can imagine that the harmony ending won't hit anyone until you've really wrapped yourself in the album.

Chemical World is another piece of particularly good writing disguised by a bit of general chaos, noise, and lyrics which alternate between whimsical and acidic. Aside from a surprisingly Spanish guitar melody from Hammill, the song's softer moments are highlighted by Graham Smith's fascinating sax/flute-'imitation's on violin. The noisy, distorted-out-of-this-world mid-section is probably the high point of the piece, with an explosive Evans and a number of tense melodies and more 'psychedelic' ideas, which perhaps resemble that rather haunting section of Nine Feet Underground a little. Nic Potter's bass is very effective, again, handling a couple of lead guitarish licks on one occasion. Amazing stuff, and extremely progressive.

The Sphinx Returns concludes the album proper, with a rocked up version of the outro to The Sphinx In The Face, somewhat sealing up all the themes of the album in one range of bizarre musicianship and a fade to indicate that they continue.

Onto the bonus material. The Door is another great piece, with a killer riff. Rocking everywhere, a high-range thumping bass and a couple of hilarious keyboard effects. The demo version of The Wave is actually very moving and effective even without the lyrics, and it places a little more emphasis back on the individual music parts. Potter is probably a bit more effective (think it's that he's a lot more conspicuous with a quieter piano) on this one. Anyway, it illustrates that Van Der Graaf really could do instrumental extremely effectively... almost as incredible unpolished as it is finished. Ship Of Fools truly kicks, with a hammering riff, neat lyrics, and a sort of electric fire that reminds me a bit of a couple of the things 80s Crimson and Tull would go on to do. The vocals are truly off the wall, or off the charts, depending on how you see it, and Hammill gives a great guitar burst or two. I'd probably call it hard rock, more so than any of the Deep Purple and Uriah Heep stuff I've heard.

So, all in all, a collection including pretty much exclusively absolutely fantastic songs (The Habit Of The Broken Heart is a tiny bit weaker, but not much so), which I would consider among Van Der Graaf (Generator)'s list of finest achievements, and that really does mean a lot, coming from me. The album is characterised by subtlety disguised as blatancy, which is a pretty standard VDGG feature, so if you don't get H to He or Godbluff or something like that, you probably won't get this. The lyrics are typically . Nonetheless, vital for fans of Van Der Graaf Generator, aggressive progressive music, later, but still very progressive albums, or quirky, obtuse concepts. A masterpiece of progressive rock, and (and I say this even with Starless And Bible Black, and Brain Salad Surgery close in mind) Guy Evans' performance on this is perhaps my favourite percussion on one album ever.

Rating: Five Stars... seems a bit standard fare for VDGG and my ratings, but that's alright... Favourite Track: Very, very difficult choice. Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever or The Siren Song if I had to pick.

(oh, a couple of considerations)... I'm sure some of the times I reference saxalike/flutealike violins it is actually Jaxon, but I think at others they are, in fact, actually violin sounds that correspond to how I'd expect some of the saxes on World Record to sound. I'm not great on violas, so my exact terminology for string instruments may be horrifically wrong. Finally, the cover art, it's amazing, don't you think?

by TGM: Orb


VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR Music Online:
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Canada’s Best DJ Contest Extended
To allow our Canadian artists to get a little bit more of a buzz going we have extended the contest for Canada’s Best DJ to December 8, 2008. Please spread the love and vote for your favorite Canadian DJ’s so we can finally give them some recognition for all of their hard work.

Votes will be accepted until Monday December 8, 2008.
Winner will be announced on Wednesday December 10, 2008.

Please vote for your favourite Canadian DJ here

A current list of the top 10 voted for so far: Deadmau5, DJ Nagy, DJ Cid K, Robert Groove, Jester Muzik, ElectrolyZe, Lady Bass, Psy-Conversion, JzL, Kiel

Please Note: TheFreshpage is currently looking for sponsors to create an awards package which can be provided to the Top 3 Canadian DJ’s, if you would like to become a sponsor please contact us here.

Rules:

1. You can only vote for 1 Canadian DJ.

2. You must provide a VALID email address for your vote to count. Your email address will be kept private and only used for this contest. Please see our privacy statement.

3. We’re keeping it REAL so your IP addresses will be logged and therefore multiple votes will be discounted.

4. Voting closes on 8th of December 2008.

5. DJ’s please sign up as an artist on TheFreshpage.com and submit your music so our audience can get an idea of your style.

Please vote for your favourite Canadian DJ here

"It's a fabulous pleasure to hear this great concert by the Gryphon trio. Since I'm living in Belgium, I do not have the opportunity to hear the north american concerts of my favourite trio! Thanks to CBC I have discovered more new (excellent) works (I knew already Silvestrov, Ka Nin Chan) . Heather Schmidt is a great talent that is very well served by the trio's interperetation. Contemporary music is real music with them! Keep going on broadcasting their music on the web. That's a treasure!"

That's a review of a concert by the Gryphon Trio you can hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) and also at Concerts On Demand (where that review came from).

The Signalites describe the music as "reflective, evocative, mystical," and as I listen now at COD, I totally agree (although I'd also add "intense" to that list). It features the work of Canadian composers Kelly-Marie Murphy, Ka Nin Chan among others, as well as Ukrainian composers Valentin Silvestrov and Bohdana Frolya.

The Gryphon, btw, are getting some very good press lately, and not just from Radio 2 listeners in Belgium. John Terauds, in recent review in The Star (Gryphon Trio Shows How New Music, Easy Listening Can Co-Exist...we'll just leave that headline alone for now) said "the three musicians, now in their early forties, demonstrated what makes them so special on several different levels," and then went on to explain how they demonstrated that very thing. (That concert was also recorded by Radio 2 -- not sure of the broadcast date yet but will post when it comes around.)

And Ken Winters, writing in the Globe (Canada's Best Piano Trio As Thrilling As Flight) said that the concert was "an object lesson in what an astutely "hooked-in" group, in the full bloom of its maturity, can achieve."