Some people think
Think they have none
They might as well stay down
Running in circles
Like bulls in a ring
'Til the sword finds it's way down
While the creep beats the rap on appeal
And the cop who can't stop
Shows the kids how to steal
And we all need some light now
We all need some light now
Yes, we all need some light now
Some people think
Think they have none
They might as well stay down
Running in circles
Like bulls in a ring
'Til the sword finds it's way down
While the creep beats the rap on appeal
And the cop who can't stop
Shows the kids how to steal
And we all need some light now
We all need some light now
Yes, we all need some light now
Turn on your light
And wash the darkness away
Hey you on the brink
Waiting to fall
To become human surplus
The movie's still shooting
You might still get the roll
And man it's all just a circus
But the clown left town long ago
Maybe he'll come back and give us a show
And we all need some light now
We all need some light now
Yes, we all need some light now
Turn on your light and wash the darkness away
Turn on your light
And wash the darkness away
Hey you on the brink
Waiting to fall
To become human surplus
The movie's still shooting
You might still get the roll
And man it's all just a circus
But the clown left town long ago
Maybe he'll come back and give us a show
And we all need some light now
We all need some light now
Yes, we all need some light now
Turn on your light and wash the darkness away
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A New Life For Quality Music - And It Feels Like Coming Home
What started it all.
Quite recently I came across an article on the web that made me look at Prog Rock with an altogether different view. When I was a teenager back in the deep down dark and somewhat damp 70ies I grew up being an avid and fanatical fan of Sympho and Prog Rock. Bands like Gentle Giant, Yes, ELP, Camel, and of course Genesis, I listened to them for hours and hours, for days and days.
Of course, just like most people, I thought that this musical branch had just about died out in the early eighties. There was Marillion, but like many musicians who had enjoyed the bands I mentioned, I always thought that this band was basically Genesis in C minor. So... I set my sights to new musical styles and if/when I played some Prog Rock it would be the 70ies bands that I loved so well.
Getting my own back.
Some years ago though, I came across Spock's Beard. A friend of mine, who happens to be the one of the biggest ProgRock fan I have ever known(Hi there Dick!) gave me a cd of these guys, and although it was well written and performed it harkened back to the old days just a bit too much to really get me enthousiastic.
So imagine my surprise when about one week ago I decided to check out what had been happening in this particular musical scene in the last 15 to 20 years. It turns out that since around the year 2.000 there has been a surge in Prog Rock that I had not been aware of. Bands like IQ(a bit older than that really), Transatlantic, Mystery Jets, The Mars Volta, etcetera, have given the scene an enormous boost. For the first time I can listen to new material that indeed is influenced by the first generation of Sympho and Prog Rock, but at the same time does not wallow in the old chord progressions and technicalities. These bands can all really play, but they have taken the style beyond what it was in its heydays. There are even a lot of power chords in that music(Alfred!)
First 'fun fact' : Although I think Radiohead are quite ok(computer...), I never understood what all the big fuss was about. Turns out that a lot of these newer bands pay homage to Radiohead because it was the first new succesful band to forget about the standard 'intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/fade out' format. So in effect they rediscovered wat had been lost in the 80ies and the 90ies.
At the moment I am especially listening to band like Glass Hammer, Transatlantic and Mystery Jets. After which I shall have to check out The Mars Volta in more detail.
On Retournez Toujours A Ses Premier Amour
It feels like coming home. NOT because it is the same ol' same ol' but on the contrary; these folks really went on to create the next generation of Prog Rock/Sympho. Fun fact : I have actually seen and heard quite a lot of the lesser Sympho Gods in Het Kasteel in the time that we had Dick as our programmer. Jadis, Act, Salmon, John Wetton, Colin Bass, Grey Lady Down, For Absent Friends, etcetera. In retrospect that was a bloody good job by our programmer/Prog-head.
And to top it off, Het Kasteel will very likely have its own ProgRock Cafe in the very near future. Another fun fact; I did some slightly demographic research for a cafe-evening on sunday and not very much to my surprise all the people under 24 replied that they would not be there on a sunday 'because they would still be wasted from the night before'. So... basically we have a night every week on which we can do whatever we want, and we do not have to cater to what 'the hip scene' wants to hear. A perfect opportunity to see if we can get the more 'mature'(read 'older') cafe-visitor to drop by.
Good times are here again! And people who tell me that this music is So Last Century can go and kiss my lovely royal arse. When a band like The Mars Volta sells over 600.000 records and plays for a sold out Paradiso, what do they know?
We'll make a deal: they will get 9 out of 10 nights and the 10th is for 'us'.
And who knows : perhaps even Dick will drop by again...
Quite recently I came across an article on the web that made me look at Prog Rock with an altogether different view. When I was a teenager back in the deep down dark and somewhat damp 70ies I grew up being an avid and fanatical fan of Sympho and Prog Rock. Bands like Gentle Giant, Yes, ELP, Camel, and of course Genesis, I listened to them for hours and hours, for days and days.
Of course, just like most people, I thought that this musical branch had just about died out in the early eighties. There was Marillion, but like many musicians who had enjoyed the bands I mentioned, I always thought that this band was basically Genesis in C minor. So... I set my sights to new musical styles and if/when I played some Prog Rock it would be the 70ies bands that I loved so well.
Getting my own back.
Some years ago though, I came across Spock's Beard. A friend of mine, who happens to be the one of the biggest ProgRock fan I have ever known(Hi there Dick!) gave me a cd of these guys, and although it was well written and performed it harkened back to the old days just a bit too much to really get me enthousiastic.
So imagine my surprise when about one week ago I decided to check out what had been happening in this particular musical scene in the last 15 to 20 years. It turns out that since around the year 2.000 there has been a surge in Prog Rock that I had not been aware of. Bands like IQ(a bit older than that really), Transatlantic, Mystery Jets, The Mars Volta, etcetera, have given the scene an enormous boost. For the first time I can listen to new material that indeed is influenced by the first generation of Sympho and Prog Rock, but at the same time does not wallow in the old chord progressions and technicalities. These bands can all really play, but they have taken the style beyond what it was in its heydays. There are even a lot of power chords in that music(Alfred!)
First 'fun fact' : Although I think Radiohead are quite ok(computer...), I never understood what all the big fuss was about. Turns out that a lot of these newer bands pay homage to Radiohead because it was the first new succesful band to forget about the standard 'intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/fade out' format. So in effect they rediscovered wat had been lost in the 80ies and the 90ies.
At the moment I am especially listening to band like Glass Hammer, Transatlantic and Mystery Jets. After which I shall have to check out The Mars Volta in more detail.
On Retournez Toujours A Ses Premier Amour
It feels like coming home. NOT because it is the same ol' same ol' but on the contrary; these folks really went on to create the next generation of Prog Rock/Sympho. Fun fact : I have actually seen and heard quite a lot of the lesser Sympho Gods in Het Kasteel in the time that we had Dick as our programmer. Jadis, Act, Salmon, John Wetton, Colin Bass, Grey Lady Down, For Absent Friends, etcetera. In retrospect that was a bloody good job by our programmer/Prog-head.
And to top it off, Het Kasteel will very likely have its own ProgRock Cafe in the very near future. Another fun fact; I did some slightly demographic research for a cafe-evening on sunday and not very much to my surprise all the people under 24 replied that they would not be there on a sunday 'because they would still be wasted from the night before'. So... basically we have a night every week on which we can do whatever we want, and we do not have to cater to what 'the hip scene' wants to hear. A perfect opportunity to see if we can get the more 'mature'(read 'older') cafe-visitor to drop by.
Good times are here again! And people who tell me that this music is So Last Century can go and kiss my lovely royal arse. When a band like The Mars Volta sells over 600.000 records and plays for a sold out Paradiso, what do they know?
We'll make a deal: they will get 9 out of 10 nights and the 10th is for 'us'.
And who knows : perhaps even Dick will drop by again...
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Music on a relaxed saturday
Another fine saturday, let the music play!
Alan Parsons Project
- Inside Looking Out
- Paseo De Gracia
Genesis
- Ripples
- Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
- The Musical Box
UK
- Carrying No Cross
- Rendez Vous 6:02
Camel - Never Let Go
Caravan - The Show Of Our Lives
David Bowie - Warszawa
Emerson Lake & Palmer - The Only Way
For Absent Friends - Each And Every Day
Gentle Giant - In A Glass House
Greenslade
- Waltz For A Fallen Idol
- The Ass's Ears
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Jon and Vangelis - Each And Every Day
TBC...
Alan Parsons Project
- Inside Looking Out
- Paseo De Gracia
Genesis
- Ripples
- Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
- The Musical Box
UK
- Carrying No Cross
- Rendez Vous 6:02
Camel - Never Let Go
Caravan - The Show Of Our Lives
David Bowie - Warszawa
Emerson Lake & Palmer - The Only Way
For Absent Friends - Each And Every Day
Gentle Giant - In A Glass House
Greenslade
- Waltz For A Fallen Idol
- The Ass's Ears
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Jon and Vangelis - Each And Every Day
TBC...
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
The Lighter Side...?
The floor of a Weight Watchers clinic in Sweden collapsed beneath a group of 20 members of the weight loss programme who were gathered for a meeting.
Irony if I ever saw it...
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