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CD/DVD Releases: More Titles Available Via Wayside Music

Posted on Monday, May 16 @ 16:00:00 UTC by nightowl

In their May 9 update, Wayside Music shared they have the following titles available from their shop:

Accordo Dei Contrari - Kublai (ADC, $17.00): Very excellent and not to mention eagerly-awaited to release by this very excellent Italian jazz/rock band. As good as, or better than the debut, this ups the wattage a bit, but basically continues to deliver on their "instrumental Deus ex Machina meets Mahavishnu" sound while the years that have passed since their first one have only served to make them greater. Additionally, Richard Sinclair sings on a track, giving it some ties to the Canterbury sound. Really great. Highly recommended.

"Kublai represents ordered chaos, light and dark, the balance between written and improvised music, as illustrated both by the cover and by the music. On the cover is the same sphere of Kinesis, but transformed into something different, which appears to be more linear, essential and complex at the same time. Many small irregular circles are subtly interwoven in a larger regular circle. This is the logo of Accordo dei Contrari (Accord of the Opposites)."

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Wobbler - Rites At Dawn (Termo, $18.00): Third from one of the best retro-symphonic rock bands today, Wobbler emerged with their first album in the early 00s and their sound instantly gained them an international following. This new one veers a bit closer to the classic Yes sound than their past works, but its still recognizably Wobbler. But they are definitely kidding themselves about one thing below: Girlfriends will *not* like this.

"Norway's kings of symphonic prog, Wobbler, arrogantly sidestep the whole debate of 'prog' versus progressive. Since it's dubious whether rock has anywhere left to progress anyway, they have instead chosen simply to celebrate the rainbow-colored fireworks, the airy-fairy themes, the danger and the drama and the joy of pure music that made prog what it really was, and still can be: An exhilarating musical spectacle, a gladiator match of major chord crescendos and mini-moog glissandos. Wobbler's third album, Rites At Dawn, is a case in point. It's a no-holds-barred declaration of love to the progressive giants. It's all here - Lars Fredrik Frøislie's overblown arsenal of every analog synth known to man, played with Wakemanesque flair and Emersonian hubris. Andreas Prestmo's soaring vocals, delivering at times delicate, fragile melodies and at times joyous, triumphant multi-part harmonies that would make CSN proud. The vibrant, stinging guitar of Morten Eriksen, the - you guessed it - thundering Rickenbacker bass of Kristian Hultgren, and finally Martin Kneppen's drumming, which manages that neat and esoteric 70's trick of making even impossible time signatures swing and swagger.

"Rites At Dawn is a major step forward for Wobbler. As songwriters they have matured. Even though the music is as complex as ever, it flows and breathes in a whole new way, and the addition of Andreas' vocals adds a very human, and dare we say emotional, element to the songs. The album somehow pulls off being both challenging and adventurous, but at the same time accessible and downright infectious. Even though this is the kind of prog connoisseurs will stroke their beards appreciatively to, it is also prog their girlfriends will like. And you really can't ask for more than that."

You can hear their music here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=szuzkXOShUY

MySpace

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Doom Ribbons - The Violence, The Violence (Open Letter, $13.00): Yes, I know you don't know who this is, but take 2 minutes and read this! Doom Ribbons is a duo that features guitarist/composer Shane Perlowin from Ahleuchatistas, joined by drummer/percussionist James Owen. You would expect it to sound a lot like the Ahleuchatistas, but the sound is a lot less intense and a lot more psychedelic. There's some nice added instrumentation on violin, accordion, double bass, saxes and trumpet, and sonic surprises abound, such as the fourth track that sounds like Faust jamming with Urban Sax. Anyway, in my book this is a hard-core keeper; probably the best record I heard this month. Highly recommended!

"Doom Ribbons is a band from Asheville, North Carolina, featuring multi-intrumentalist/vocalist James Owen and guitarist Shane Perlowin (Ahleuchatistas). The Violence The Violence is Doom Ribbons' debut album. It is a beautiful and haunting opus and a lament for humanity's folly. An ambitious conceptual work over three years in the making, it moves from ambient soundscapes, to epic world beat, to acoustic psychedelia, to tension-building post rock, to noise, to nuanced sound-collage, and it features guest musicians Meghan Mulhearn on violin, Tyler Kittle on tenor sax, Simon Goldberg on trumpet, August Hoerr on accordion, and Joseph Burkett on upright bass.

RIYL: Terry Riley, Bob Fripp, Autechre, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fred Frith, Bob Ostertag, Konono, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Edgard Varese, Ennio Morricone, Henry Cowell, John Cage, Colleen, The Beach Boys, Moondog."

You can hear their music here.

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Brian Eno - 1971-1977: The Man Who Fell To Earth (Sexy Intellectual, NTSC (all region) DVD, $17.00): "The first ever film about one of the most influential characters in the history of modern music. Musician, composer, producer, music theorist, singer and visual artist; probably best known for his early work with Roxy Music, his production duties for U2 & Coldplay, and as one of the principal innovators of ambient music. This documentary film - the first ever about Eno - explores his life, career and music between the years 1971 & 1977, the period that some view as his golden age. Featuring numerous exclusive interviews, contributions from a range of musicians, writers, collaborators and friends - plus performance and studio film and an abundance of the most exceptional music ever created."

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Kuni Kawachi and Flower Travelling Band - Love Suki Daikirai/Kirikyogen (Bamboo, $10.00 (special)): "This is a two-fer reissue of early '70s Japanese underground rock albums Love Suki Daikirai and Kirikyogen, featuring Kuni Kawachi & Flower Travelling Band. Recorded in 1970, the tone of Kirikyogen is cast in a shadow, and it seeps through the pores of each track, with titles such as "Graveyard Of Love" and "Works Composed Mainly By Humans." However, this ain't some pointless posturing... this is an LP that carries that weight, while remembering to bring a pocket full of cool-ass riffs, super-heavy Hammond, bouncin' bass and far-out vox. LP opener, "Kirikyogen" teases in the intro with stop/start bass and organ before dropping into Grade A heavy funk-psych prog rock. It's completely irresistible. There's a whiff of the weirdness of early English prog records, but crucially, these kids were still into Hendrix, too, remembering that no matter how good you are on guitar, you still gotta bring something to the dancefloor. Love Suki Daikirai released in 1972 is more straight-up dreamy psychedelia. Kawachi plays piano, celesta, Hammond organ, Rocksichord, Harpsichord, various percussions, and sings. Kimio Mizutani (A Path Through Haze, Love Live Life +1) contributes acoustic and electric guitars."

"...the appearance on lead vocals of Akira 'Joe' Yamanaka has guaranteed Kirikyogen a rightful place in rock'n'roll history, and a more genuinely listenable Japrock art statement you'd be hard pressed to find." -Julian Cope

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Nordagust - In The Mist Of Morning (Karisma, $16.00): This is the 1st release by a Norwegian symphonic rock band [Nordagust] who draw from the great legacy of modern Scandanavian symphonic groups like Anglagard and Wobbler (what? I need to list them?). The sound features beautiful, soaring, guitar leads, mellotron and other keyboards, and a dark, melancholy symphonic moodiness which is reflected in the sorrowful vocals. There's also cool folk touches like dulcimer and more. As nice and as brooding as you would hope for!

"The name 'Nordagust' comes from a myth, and acording to that myth Nordagust was the spirit of the north wind. The spirit was said to be extremely wise, and was supposed to have insight in all things. The spirit was also called 'the grieving souls spirit.' The band Nordagust was formed in 1999, but the members have played together more or less since 1994. The idea of Nordagust was basically to use the wistful, bewitching and recklessness of Norwegian folk music, and to intergrate this with a form of heavy rock music. With this as a starting point, we have made music from our own impressions and experience. This has of course been done before, but we try hard to find our own expression, with weight on a soulful atmosphere and organic dynamics, above precision and virtuosity."

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Eberhard Schoener - Bali-Agung (Made In Germany, CD + NTSC (all region) DVD, $19.00): One of a small number of Kosmiche classics by this composer and keyboardist. The CD has been out before, although I haven't seen it in many ages, but no one has seen the film in decades and decades! This is a quietly extraordinary release; highly recommended!

"Eberhard Schoener is hailed as the first German musician to own a 'Big Moog' system, and was also amongst the first musicians to do an album of purely synthesizer music.... Another innovation was the unique fusion of Gamelan music, synthesizers and drums, on the extraordinary Bali-Agung." -The Crack in the Cosmic Egg

"The island Bali in the Indian Ocean became perhaps the most important chapter in the musical life of Eberhard Schoener. There he found something he had not seen before, - at least not in the Western civilized world he lived in - and he felt a strong desire for empirical music. Feeling is the credo in Eberhard's music. He is a musician who concluded that things can arise out of the feeling of the moment and that he must have the courage to go for it. 'In modern music,' he says 'feelings were immediately dismissed as kitsch.' Eberhard owes the discovery of Bali to Johannes Schaaf, who first brought him to this island but he really got to know Bali through the Swiss artist Theo Meier who introduced Eberhard to his longtime friend, the Prince Agung Raka in Saba. Eberhard extended all his antennae and drank in the Balinese life. Agung Raka introduced him to the gamelan music. Gamelan is not only referring to a style of music but also to the instruments used to create it. Most gamelan instruments are beaten with a hammer made of wood or horn. Mainly, they consist of metallophones with bars made of bronze, gongs and drums. Depending on the style, flutes and xylophone might also be added. In the old days, every village and every aristocrat has had its / his own gamelan. Eberhard, observing how Agung Raka treated his musicians, with precision and patience, learned not to make decisions for the musicians, but simply to accompany them instead.....

After several visits to Bali, it was clear to Eberhard that he and the gamelan orchestra of Prince Agung Raka would do something new. He spoke with drummer Pete York about it. A composition of traditional gamelan sounds, with Pete's rhythm and Eberhard's sensitive electronics, it would be exciting. He also wanted to film a documentary about how the musicians approach each other with their different attitudes towards the other's conception. The film not only shows what happens, but it also interprets the music through images, a complex interaction and an opportunity to perform his music and bring it to a spiritual place. In 1975, Eberhard Schoener bundled up the cables for his Moog and traveled to Bali with all the necessary equipment, along with Pete York, two engineers and a cameraman to the city of Denpasar in Bali....Under the title Bali Agung -or - The Other Time the documentary was shown on German TV. Eberhard was awarded by the German evening newspaper Die Zeit in February 1976 with 'the Star of the week.' The LP was positively received . Die Zeit wrote, 'The result is something entirely new: floating sounds and hard rhythms, both contemplative as a very exciting music of a very own kind.'

"Meanwhile, Eberhard pursued his aim of a joint tour. He went to Bali several times in the summertime to organize the documents for the musician's outward voyage."

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Eberhard Schoener - Flashback (Made In Germany, $16.00): This is the best known of his works ... mainly because his backing band was The Police (then completely unknown). It mostly sounds like Eberhard, but you can hear a little bit of The Police in it too. Funny!

"He is a tall man in his fifties with romantic wisps of grey hair framing an interestingly lugubrious face. His face looks like an eighteenth century aristocrat who has somehow been displaced into the twentieth. It was Andy Summers, The Police's guitarist who had introduced us all years ago. Andy brought Stewart Copeland and me to Munich in 1977 to work with this unusual director. Eberhard Schoener needed a band of versatile musicians to take part in a show that he was creating. We had only recently formed The Police and were desperately in need of funds to keep our venturous dreams of stardom alive. Hence, a couple of weeks working in Germany as part of (as Andy described it) 'a multi media extravaganza of lasers, circus, rock, classical and electronic music, with ballet dancers and a mime artist' was too seductive to refuse not to mention extremely well paid. We were on the next plane out, not quite sure what we were in for but none the less excited. Eberhard's urbane cosmopolitanism, his old fashioned German addiction to romanticism and his insistence that modern life could still be an adventure inspired me greatly, as he really seemed to be a man born in those days." -Sting

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Eberhard Schoener - Trance-Formation (Made In Germany, $16.00): One of a small number of Kosmiche classics by this composer and keyboardist. The CD has been out before, although I haven't seen it in many ages, but it makes a welcome return. The combination of Andy Summers' guitar with a small rock band and nearly 'monesterial' vocals make this a really great album. This is a quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) deep release; highly recommended!

"Eberhard Schoener is hailed as the first German musician to own a 'Big Moog' system, and was also amongst the first musicians to do an album of purely synthesizer music... " -The Crack in the Cosmic Egg

"Back then, I was interested in creating kind of shifting musical layers, a means to let the chorus - almost canonical - come in at certain intervals, like in 'Frame Of Mind,' the first track on the LP. This had an incredible effect. We had to be very technically clever, because computers did not exist at that time. So we made tape loops - some as long as 10 meters - and threaded them through the EMI-studio recording and each one had to be started at a fixed interval. Technically speaking, this was a really crazy project and I believe, no record has ever been produced this way before. The whole studio looked like a maze. There were tapes all over the room, hanging on wall ledges or on broomsticks. When I had finished, the time difference of 'Frame Of Mind,' was caused by the different starts of the tapes, I said to Andy, and Nippy Noya, the percussionist, 'Forget about the beat, forget the tact! Play just as you feel. I want to have a complete obliteration of the bar.' There should be a big bow - a phenomenon, as Celibidache would have called it - that generates a maelstrom. In 'Falling Into A Trance,' I turned to the 'Black & Decker' principle. We named it the 'Black & Decker' principle, alluding to the advertisement in which the company name is pronounced in a furiously fast, choppy rhythm. The Moog synthesizer had a sequencer. This sequencer allowed us to repeat certain melodies, thus causing the 'Black & Decker' effect. There were many attempts needed before the computer generated sounds like this specific rattle. We were nominated for the 'German Record Prize,' as the 'Black & Decker' principle was something completely new. Later, when I visited a New York nightclub on Long Island, I heard some music and thought, "Oh, my God, I know that sound!"' I asked the DJ and then he said: 'Munich sound.' I then bought that record, it was number one on the U.S. charts at that time. When I returned to Germany, I asked my former technician Robert Wedel: 'This, I heard in America, the current number one record on the U.S. charts. Did you pass this effect on to someone else?.' 'Yes,' he answered, 'to Giorgio Moroder. I didn't know he wanted to use it for himself. Moroder, producer and composer, had added a woman's voice to the track, I think it was Donna Summer.'" -Eberhard Schoener.

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Ulver - Wars Of The Roses (KScope, $15.00): Ulver were a Norwegian black metal band who turned into a oddball, soundtracky-noir band and who nabbed Daniel O'Sullivan from Guapo and are now a simply indescribable band!

"It's astonishing to look at where Ulver are today and to think back to where they have come from. These eclectic Norwegians began their life as a black metal band heavily influenced by their national folklore. Nowadays they are a genre-busting electronica act. Of course the notorious black metal scene, in Norway especially, is not well known for its overwhelming tolerance for other musical creeds... quite the opposite. Along their bumpy ride Ulver have had to put up constantly with the purists scoffing at their departure from the black metal scene that spawned them. Everyone else who has given them a listen in this time meanwhile has been astonished by their musical explorations. From the trip-hop of 'Perdition City' to the ambience of 'Shadows Of The Sun,' Ulver have been at the forefront of cutting edge electronic music now for over a decade. The long-awaited Wars Of The Roses is the first release by the band since they became a regular touring act again in 2009, and since English multi-instrumentalist Daniel O’Sullivan joined to make the act a quartet; a quartet that has made a masterpiece...

"For the musical purist this album is undeniably going to be a little bit of a tricky ride. It is not altogether easy to figure out what you’re actually hearing at any one moment on this record. The now trademark Ulver array of electronic scribbles, only broadened with the arrival of O’Sullivan in the ranks, are combined with flashes of recognisable instruments. The best example of this wide array of sounds comes in closer 'Stone Angels' which is the only song on the record that could really be accused, completely fairly, of not being so much a song as a purely experimental piece. Featuring O’Sullivan reading a poem by Keith Waldrop over a swell of ambient soundscapes, 'Stone Angels' stretches on for a whole fourteen minutes although, for this listener at least, it is a fourteen minutes that floats by in a haze of glorious tranquillity. For some the closing track will be an inconvenience or unnecessarily artsy touch to the record but in fact sums up some of what is most brilliant about it. There is restraint and texture, light and shade, art and song. No, it actually does not matter one bit that there are no prominent guitars or indeed that there is an absence of prominent instrumentation at all for the majority of the running time; this is still an effort of musical genius. In fact, this is probably the best album that 2011 will see." -stereoboard.com

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[Source: Wayside Music]

Posted in Album Release News