My Top Prog Artists of the Decade

A request for members to post a list of faves on the Colorado Art Rock Society's Yahoo Group was requested by one member. This list is based mostly by the Prog artists I seemed to focus on the most over the decade:

1-Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson - In Absentia is THE top album. I have 17 separate Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson related playlists on my iPod alone...more than any other group...that's sayin' something....not sure what exactly. lol

2-King Crimson / solo band members - The Power to Believe is wonderful and I pretty much follow and collect many of the KC related artists as well; Belew, Levin(favorite bass player), Mastelotto, Gunn, etc. I read Fripp's online diary about everyday. He is "The most interesting man in the world of "prog" ! lol

3-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Their live shows are probably the main reason I like them so much...oddly compelling to watch, but generally very entertaining. I have to be in the right mood to listen to the albums, but when you are hankering to listen to a track like "1997 (Tonight we're gonna party like it's...)" you know you're in THE mood for nothing else! (I have a couple of past SGM show overviews here also)

4-OSI/Kevin Moore/Chroma Key- Just love the vibe and modern rock/prog/electronic stylings. OSI's debut is a top release of the decade.

5-Kino/John Mitchell - "Picture" maybe a perfect blend of pop and prog. Mitchell's voice goes into my ear just right with Kino and projects/tracks like It Bites, Frost and Blind Ego...all stand out in my book.

6-Riverside - Love the Realty Dream Trilogy. Duda's voice may the my fave of the decade. Their new one continues the strong trend. Duda's solo album Lunatic Soul ain't shabby either.

7-Marillion - I actually enjoyed all four studio releases this decade, unlike many. Marbles is the standout though.

8-Zombi/ Steve Moore - Wonderful collection of old school style Tangerine Dream like synth tunes done up all modern like.

9-Umphrey's McGee - Good thing they came out with their proggiest album to date this year in Mantis or I was going to write them off a little. Regardless, their game is their live shows. They are one of the bands that probably got many new people aware of "prog" this decade and they added their own twist to the genre too.

10-The Flower Kings - This one might be a bit sentimental, but when you work with them a couple times up close you realize what good souls and genuine people they all are. Oh, guess they put out a few "OK" albums in the last ten years too. ;-)

Runners up (maybe not "prog" per say) : The Future Kings of England, Ozric Tentacles, Tortoise, Pat Metheny, God is an Astronaut, Radiohead, Massive Attack

Cuong Vu and 9th + Lincoln @ Dazzle

Had the pleasure of seeing a very cool show here last night. Vu (Pat Metheny, Laurie Anderson, David Bowie and others) is working with Tyler Gilmore and the 9th + Lincoln jazz orchestra. They did three shows and are recording a CD at a separate studio this week.

Gilmore composed four new pieces for these shows with Vu that incorporate popular melodies from the '30s and '40s but with a modern spin. Gilmore in Westword: "Its going to be a sound combining these standard melodies with my electronic and chamber music influences along with some very Cuong Vu-ish moments. It will be a departure for the band toward a more textural and dynamic sound."

Imagine Vu's electronic trumpet pallet playing with a modern age, experimental big band who at times aren't afraid to go a bit abstract with their sound. It was very inspiring! Tears were brought to my eyes a couple times. Really. (OK, a couple yummy vodka martinis may have helped). They closed the show playing one of Vu's original pieces but arranged for the big band. Gilmore described Vu's trio recordings as some of his favorite music on the planet. Nice to see more fans around here.

For more 9th + Lincoln info and sound samples click here for MySpace

I have a set of photos up HERE.



I got Vu's autograph on the show poster too. Yay! Nice guy!



Really looking forward to hearing this CD!

Moonspeed 12-5-09 @ Larimer Lounge

Really neat to see a project such as this coming out of the Denver indie-music scene. They are an indie rock symphony, so to speak, in that each member performs the parts as written by frontman Jeff Suthers. Nine of their eleven members were on stage, in sit down fashion, to perform their debut CD "Flowers Of the Moon" in it's entirety, plus one "new" track. I have a collection of PICS most of which were taken while holding the camera over my head because the room was so packed so some aren't the most stellar in quality. Good to see such a great turnout! The band did a great set. Looking forward to more from this ensemble. Check out their MySpace for more info.

There's also a YouTube Video:

Best of My Concert Photos

Arpil 9th, 2002 marked the 7th year I've been taking digital concert pics of Prog Rock bands and progressive artists. I decided to make a best of compilation. Check it out on my Photo Website.

Bands/artists include:

Tony Levin Band
Porcupine Tree (multiple shows)
Acoustic Asia
Marillion
Umphrey's McGee
Adrian Belew Trio (with Mikes)
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (multiple shows)
Secret Chiefs 3
Zorn Patton & Frith
Spock's Beard
Carl Palmer Band
Ozric Tentacles (multiple shows)
The Flower Kings (multiple shows)
Green Milk From The Planet Orange
BX3 - Hamm, Berlin and Sheehan
Court
Tortoise w/ Lichens
Bob Drake and Friends (Hamster Theatre members, etc)
Fish
Peter Hammill
Thinking Plague

New song and video

Peter Hammill::Soiled Dove Underground::10-3-08

Impressions from a Peter Hammill Noob:

I have to admit that prior to this week I was a borderline Peter Hammill/Van der Graaf Generator fan. That is until I won some free tickets from Twist and Shout to go see PH in person. I wanted to hone up on some of his solo material, but was advised by those in the know in regards to his extensive back catalog I'd probably be rather overwhelmed in trying to do so, especially since PH usually changes up his set lists night to night making it nearly impossible to familiarize oneself with any of his material he might pull out. So, I found a few of his solo albums online, "Singularity", "Enter K" and "Patience" just to get a flavor of his style. I gave them many spins over the week and have to admit I found them really enjoyable. Where have I been in regards to Hammill's music?

I was also advised to just go and get in the mindset of seeing a master singer songwriter. Robert Fripp is quoted as calling PH the Jimi Hendrix of vocals so expect some extreme vocal acrobatics. OK, I can hear that in his recorded material for sure, how will it translate live? I'm not much of a singer songwriter guy, that is I generally find attending shows where it's just one guy and a piano, or in this case, also a guitar, to be rather boring. Chalk it up to my short attention span I suppose. Give me a band with lots going on. Well, that concern turned out to be rather non-valid to say the least. Peter Hammill is no standard singer songwriter guy! His performance was very captivating. His use of dynamics and nuance is top notch and lyrically I found myself really engaged. A standout example lyric for me was, from which song I have no idea, "The birds don't know which way to sing, my friend, and neither do I". I found myself applying many of his lyrics to the current world and political situations. I'm sure many of these songs are 30 years old or so, but still have a certain timelessness. I am definitely looking forward to exploring more of his back catalog.

Overall, Hammill seemed very appreciative of the audience. Sadly, there was only about 50 folks there, but it didn't deter him from playing his heart out. After the show he came out and signed autographs and was very fan friendly mingling and even joked around with us. He mentioned to us this was his first time in Colorado, believe it or not considering his long career.

I have a collection of photos on my photo site and have three digital videos shot with my digital camera, so they are nothing too fancy, on my YouTube Station.

Streaming Audio

Some of my original music:

Shortwave IraQ (2003) 19:09
M2 Dreams(2003) 11:35
Demo of 2006 Project Idea Side 01 17:32
Demo of 2006 Project Idea Side 02 10:31
Tutelary Authority(2008) 10:28

(Hit the "play" button. A media player will automatically pop-up)



Shortwave IraQ: "Shortwave Iraq" is a piece I did during the first week of the war on Iraq. I recorded Bush's speech and various shortwave radio snippits from around the globe over a couple nights right after the war was launched and added electric bass, programmed rhythms, field recordings and real percussion instruments to make this, perhaps reactionary piece of music.

M2 Dreams: "M2 Dreams" is an experiment with an old Hammond M2 organ I acquired for $35 at a local thrift store. All the organ parts/sounds are from this 50+ year old treasure in which I recorded a ten minute organ part holding down various chords and then utilized the draw bars to give the amazing textures. I then added programmed beats, field recordings and a former bandmate, Wayne Martein added the guitar part.

2006 Project Demo: The first three pieces on Side 01 are "Are You Popular", "Pixel Shift" and "Epiphany". They are a combination of synthesizer swatches I developed then added various other elements to them, such as, recordings from old stock movies and ham radio recordings, programmed drums, etc. The rest of the project consists of untitled pieces/sketches segued together. Unfortunately, this project won't be completed due to a surprise hard drive crash. These mp3's are all that remain. The project was tentatively called "Enigmatic Oddysses".

Tutelary Authority: An electronic/ambient piece I've been working on over the summer. It combines shortwave radio recordings, synthesizer pads, Jazz bass, tubular chimes and percussion loops. It's also the soundtrack to the "A Kite's Plight" video below.




A Kite's Plight by Steve Navarre from Steve Navarre on Vimeo.

Lunar Jam: An original, partly improvised electronic spacey piece performed live with a couple Pindral bandmates:


Lunar Jam @ 5th C.A.R.S. Prog Music Fest. 11-18-07 from Steve Navarre on Vimeo.

Steve Navarre: Bass, synths, effects
Gretchen Kunz: Guitar, flute, vocals
Jamie McGregor: Drums