This is genuine, noisy, garage taste like, Avant-garde Rock band, somewhere between Big Black, Sonic Youth and H.P. Zinker. Topsy The Great’s debut album will be out on vinyl in September on fromSCRATCH Records. We’ve got 12 grinding, contorted, noisy Rock tracks, delivered by this Italian trio consist of guitarist Emanuele Ravalli, bass player Alessandro Gambassi and drummer Lorenzo “Bob” Coppini. They call their own style “Tesla-Core”, which is actually pretty clever and appropriate, while among their influences they name bands such as Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Big Black, Sonic Youth, Lightning Bolt, Fugazi, Oshinoko Bunker Orchestra and Melvins. This is a quite intense mixture of Punk rooted Garage Rock with Hardcore intensity and experimental/Avant-garde taste like (truly Progressive) Post-Rock. Got to listen this to feel it, understand it, but once you will got the taste of it, once when everything came through, you will love it and finally you will scream for more. Although, the recording is pretty raw sounding – bet it was recorded live -, the material is enjoyable and the trip is exhaustive, but worth every single minute of it. Read more Topsy The Great – STEFFALD (2012)
progressive rock
Myriad – Specter, Fate & Fable (2012)
If you like Rush, Myriad will conquer you as well almost instantly. Sometimes it’s a thin line between copies, imitators and creative, genuine artist and this New York based trio it’s somewhere between. “Specter, Fate & Fable” it’s so Rush that it’s obvious for anybody, but still it’s not the same, the band gathering influences also from other progressive Rock acts such as Kansas, ELP, Yes, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, UK, Camel, Genesis, Pink Floyd, King’s X, Flower Kings, Spock’s Beard, etc. But the main and dominant influence is definitively Rush. On the other hand, it’s at least hard to be the equals of Lifeson, Lee and Peart…
Also, there was a pretty obscure, but reached to cult status Australian progressive rock duo also under the same name: Myriad, and even more recently, there is a band named The Myriad from Seattle, so, the band name is not so inspired as well and although they have web site, MySpace and Facebook profile, it’s pretty difficult to locate and identify them. And by the way, the site looks and taste pretty old-fashioned and kind of amateurish… Just like their videos – unfortunately. Like it or not, in a consumer’s world, the wrapping matters more then it’s normally should.
But then again, “Specter, Fate & Fable” it’s a quite enjoyable “food for ears”, eventually for soul. And have a decent cover. 🙂 Read more Myriad – Specter, Fate & Fable (2012)
The Smashing Pumpkins – Oceania (2012)
“Quasar” sounds extremely alive, intense and rocking, it’s surprisingly fresh and powerful, almost anthematic, have the nerve and rawness, positive energy of the 90’s and “Panopticon” follows pounding as well.
Although Billy Corgan argued that albums are a dead medium and experimented the “one-song-at-a-time” releasing recipe instead the classic format of 12–15 songs in one package with the previous tracks of the concept album “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope”, after releasing the first 10 songs as free downloads at the band’s official site, Corgan changed his mind and released the tracks compiled eight of them in two box sets.
Produced by Billy Corgan and Bjorn Thorsrud, “Oceania”, ninth studio album of the band is also part of the band’s ongoing 44-song concept album, “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope”, adding 13 new songs to the project. Corgan admitted that they switched back to the album format because – “I just saw we weren’t getting the penetration in to everybody that I would have hoped.”
Well, we’re living pretty strange times and nothing is what it seems, nothing is what it used to be and music became only secondary sub-product, accessory of the so-called “music” business which eat itself up and sell exclusively fakes packed and labeled originals.
In this conditions and state of fact, kind of difficult to predict which audience is targeted by The Smashing Pumpkins because “Oceania” is a pretty classy album for old fashioned listeners. Read more The Smashing Pumpkins – Oceania (2012)
Reserve de Marche – The Last Twenty Years (2012)
7 tracks – 50 minutes, the debut album by this three-piece instrumental rock band from Moscow, Russia, is an excellent and colorful mixture of (Rock) genres and styles from classic, Progressive Rock to Post-Rock, Match Rock, Sludge and Shoegaze. Atmospheric, dark passages and heavy riffs, intense moments are combined and the merge of the different elements make the… difference.
If you’re looking for a groovy, still emotional, dark, but contorted and sometimes intense and heavy, modern, instrumental Rock album, “The Last Twenty Years” worth your attention. “Name your price” means you can downloaded even for free, or you can order the CD from Mals Records. Read more Reserve de Marche – The Last Twenty Years (2012)
Rush – Clockwork Angels (2012)
Not a clockwork orange, but clockwork angels. Ladies and gentlemen, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart are back after a five years gap with their 19th studio album, scheduled to be released on June 12. They play in this line-up since July 1974, having 38 years of impressive and spawning career.
Rush’s sales statistics place them third behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band, they possesses 24 gold records and 14 platinum from which 3 are multi-platinum records – they sold over 40 million units worldwide.
They have been cited as major influence by various other artists and bands from Metallica to The Smashing Pumpkins and from Primus to Dream Theater and experienced different styles of Rock and Metal from their early Blues-inspired Heavy Metal through Progressive Rock and Electronic spiced, New Wave influenced Rock.
Their previous release, the 2007’s “Snakes & Arrows”, although it was Read more Rush – Clockwork Angels (2012)
Thinking Plague – Decline And Fall (2012)
![Thinking Plague - Decline And Fall [2012]](http://brushvox.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/thinking-plague-decline-and-fall-2012.png?w=150)
Generally empires are have this fate of decline and fall and I honestly believe that the Music Industry it’s an empire – and for sure it’s in deep and profound crises.
When music is only a product, sometimes quite secondary one of an industry self-titled “music” industry and all those products are pretty boring, predictable and tasteless, but similar pieces, bands like Thinking Plague are quite rare birds in the gray panorama.
Inspired by avant-art rock bands like Arts Bears and Henry Cow, as well as by contemporary classical composers, Thinking Plague has earned an avid international following by forging a singular synthesis of prog-rock with 20th century classical, folk, and jazz.
Founded in 1982 in Denver by Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake, Thinking Plague built its following the old-fashioned way, though word of mouth and recordings passed around by fellow musicians and fans. The band’s line-up was enforced by classically trained vocalist Sharon Bradford, keyboardist Harry Fleishman and drummer Rick Arsenault. Released their debut album, “….A Thinking Plague” in 1984 on their own Endemic label, and pressing only 500 copies of the LP, the band received national attention. Read more Thinking Plague – Decline And Fall (2012)
Anathema – Weather Systems (2012)
I never was an Anathema fan, not back in 1990 when they started as a Death/Doom Metal band, not later when they slowly transitioned to Progressive Rock. But I admit, even if I did not follow them closely, I like some of their creation, they managed to deliver something of their own, music filtered through their personal touch. “Weather Systems” their upcoming ninth studio album have the same Pink Floyd after-taste as many of their previous creations since their 1996’s “Eternity” merged with atmospheric, dark, sometimes classic orchestral elements.
Describing their new album Daniel Cavanagh stated: “This is not background music for parties. The music is written to deeply move the listener, to uplift or take the listener to the coldest depths of the soul”. Definitively not. Parties – far as I know – are happy and energy full events, while Anathema always delivered more music suitable for burials and “Weather Systems” makes no difference, even if the lights seems to get through, in its depth this is quite dark and sad music. Read more Anathema – Weather Systems (2012)
Janis Joplin – Pearl Sessions and Move Forward RMX
Three months after she died on October 4, 1970, on January 11, 1971, Columbia Records released “Pearl”, the only album Joplin ever recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, the touring ensemble that had backed her on the Festival Express. Peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200, a position it held for nine weeks, Pearl included some of Janis’s most familiar and best-loved performances including her cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” and her off-the-cuff a cappella “Mercedes Benz.”
The Janis Joplin’s 69th Birthday is honored by Legacy Recordings with the releasing of “The Pearl Sessions”, a two-CD set of Joplin’s final studio recordings.
The Pearl Sessions brings together, for the first time in one package, the original mono versions of the album’s 45s alongside the original LP tracks as well as the revelatory newly-discovered alternate versions, outtakes and vocal takes of Pearl’s classic tracks. The recording were discovered when researchers were putting together material for a 40th anniversary edition of “Pearl”, and find a previously uncatalogued audio tapes from the album’s sessions, produced by Paul Rothschild. Read more Janis Joplin – Pearl Sessions and Move Forward RMX
OSI – Fire Make Thunder (2012)
Office of Strategic Influence – eventually Office of Strange Influences nowadays 🙂 – is a project started originally by Fates Warning (Arch/Matheos, John Arch, Gordian Knot) guitarist Jim Matheos in 2002 and the only other constant full-time member is keyboardist Kevin Moore (Chroma Key, ex-Majesty, ex-Dream Theater, ex-Fates Warning). Although, the band’s name is a reference to the Office of Strategic Influence, a short-lived American government agency formed in 2001 to support the War on Terror through propaganda.
Jim Matheos originally intended to create a progressive metal supergroup while Fates Warning went on hiatus. He recruited then-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy to work on the project. Matheos then asked Chroma Key and ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore to contribute by adding keyboard arrangements to the music he had written. Moore instead heavily edited the music, changing the song structures and adding vocals. Matheos decided to pursue this new, more electronic direction. The members and contributors write and track most of their material independently, sharing and developing tracks long-distance, only coming together at the end of the process for mixing and additional tracking. Read more OSI – Fire Make Thunder (2012)
The Tape Disaster – A Voz do Fogo, EP (2012) free download!
Brasilia’s finest Progressive Rock outfit it’s back with a beautiful EP and through the experimental net label headed in the depths of São Paulo, Brazil, Sinewave the two track material it’s available for free download.
I listen The Tape Disaster last year, and wrote about them because I was quite impressed by their ability to merge smooth and nowadays Shoegaze called elements with the power and explosion of traditional Rock and the magic aromas of Brazilian music and percussion. Read more The Tape Disaster – A Voz do Fogo, EP (2012) free download!
