Thursday, December 20, 2007

Great new prog band!

Band: Baron Rootes

Baron Rootes is a post-prog band out of Ishpeming, Michigan. Formed in the winter of 2006 this talented quartet of brothers decided to hole themselves up out in a remote hunting camp/recording studio in the backwoods. The Piirto brothers (grandsons of Finnish immigrants) stocked with an ample supply of vodka, beer, baked beans, eggs, pasties and deer jerky, took an oath not to come out of the woods until they had an album. Mission accomplished! While their album will surely go down as a prog classic, their live show is even better. It's a must see!

Album: Eudoxus (crater)

Tracks:

1-Nigel Payne - hectic opening instrumental track which features their now famous ax-and-saw-to-guitar solo...ya gotta see them perform this one live to appreciate the nuances.

2-Fred Ottman - 70's era King Crimson and Gabriel-era Genesis influences can be heard on this mini epic of sorts. Combine those classic prog elements with the sounds of farting and we have truly original piece...again live...well, the smell is definitely one of the important features missed when just listening to the album.

3-Watts's Spiny Rat - Another instrumental that takes the listener on what the band describes as a sauna induced trip. Apparently vodka and 140 degree sauna's can induce quite the hallucinogenic trip, as all the member swore they saw giant rats coming out of the sauna steam at one point.

4-Emperor Rosk - After one heats up in a sauna, am told running out naked and rolling in the snow to cool off is a tradition and can produce a euphoric feeling. It's all the band would offer as an explanation regarding the title of this quirky number which features a solo section of an odd sounding sort of rhythmic skin slapping. Again, seeing this one done live...well lets just say, while seeing drunk men run around on stage naked may not be that desirable to most, the skin slapping section will all make sense.

5-The 411 - The band set their instruments up in the cabin's kitchen and in this avant-garde tour de force. Clanging, banging, strumming, and striking everything within reach, including the kitchen sink for 45 minutes...well lets just say you've probably not heard anything quite like it. A few of my friends, after hearing this piece told me they wanted their 45 minutes back. You're mileage may vary. My fav section would be the frying egg on the stove solo at the 30:32 minute mark. The puking/heavy vomiting solo that end the album is one of music history's finest moments imo. This piece is a fan fav in concert because the audience gets free fried eggs at the end of the show. The guys are pretty good cooks I must say! The audience is encouraged to join in on the ending puking section. What a way to finish the evening!

Move over Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, these guys can perform a live set like none other.





Ok...if ya can't tell, this is a bit of a spoof...duh! The idea comes from Word magazine. The game is WikiProg. Make your own fictitious prog band by using Wikipedia.


1) go to Wikipedia.
2) click 'random article' - this is your band name
3) click again - this is your album title
4) repeat for album tracks
5) embellish