A bit of a surprising track of the day – this one by Harvest. I had to take a pick from the 11 tracks on their latest album, Northern Winds, and this was the only one they put online themselves. The opening track, just vocals and piano – but it is an opening that will hopefully make you want to hear more of this Spanish band, from my favourite city Barcelona. Enjoy, like I enjoyed tapas in Barcelona a few times….
Jukka Tolonen is one of the most interesting jazz rock and fusion guitarists I’ve come across the past few years. Being active in various bands, but mainly under his own name since 1969, he brings a nice mix of guitar sounds and is not afraid to put a bit of humour in his productions (his 1980 album Just Those Boys contains a track that is called “Fart”-ington Blues, and it starts with….? Exactly!). This track of the day is dedicated to a great guitarist, who seems to have become less active recently (his web site is no longer online). Enjoy… like the relieve you feel after degassing….
On this mid March Monday, the new track of the day is for Steam Theory, a project started by multi-instrumentalist (they grow on trees these day) Jason Denkevitz. He’s composed, recorded and released the album Asunder by himself, and has now found the right people to make this into a full blown band, that performs live. The title track of the album is a good sample of what Jason means by progressive rock/fusion music – so enjoy Asunder. Enjoy it like I enjoyed finding out through pictures on the band web site that Jason performs sitting down on a chair, just like Robert Fripp…
I’ve been a Marillion fan for years, but mainly of the Fish era. Partly because of the music the band created at the time, partly because of the emotion the big man managed to put in both his lyrics and vocals. That didn’t change when he left, and he found great musicians for his debut album, including one of my favourite bass players, John Giblin. On this track, from the album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, the fretless bass provides the signature of the song, which lyrically deals with the political situation in the UK at the end of the Thatcher era.
So, a second ‘Friday track of the day’, one of my all time favourites. See you on Monday for a new track, from a new album.
Enjoy once, and then again…
Today, Unified Past announced their new album, due some time this summer. That is going to be a blast, I’m sure, because Phil Naro will join them on vocals – taking over from guitarist Stephen Speelmann, who will focus solely on his magnificent guitar work this time. To celebrate this news, what better track of the day than an instrumental from their previous album, Spots (2013)? Enjoy Hot, and imagine what the voice of Phil will add in a few months…
Of the old Italian prog bands, PFM has always been my favourite. This track, from 1972, shows what this band was capable of – the build up from the quiet, acoustic guitar up to the wild ride at the end… La Carroza di Hans means The Carriage of Hans. A carriage I’d ride anyday… except the day after the previous ride (unless there are soft cushions on the seats). Enjoy the ride!
These are the 10 most popular entries on my blog over the past 30 days. Great job by Unto Us – this is the only audio recording from their album that is available online as far as I know…
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When I see the words ‘a progressive blend of jazz/rock/fusion’ on an album description, that sparks some interest. Jazz I can enjoy occasionally, but I don’t know a lot about it, rock I grew up with and fusion I like quite a lot, especially when music fits the defintion of jazz rock/fusion. Hmmm… that’s where the interest starts, we’re only one slash away from that with Peter Matuchniak‘s album Destiny.
An album I have had on my list for a few months and that I started listening to only about a week and a half ago. Glad I did, finally, because I like it quite a bit. Enough to honour it with a track-of-the-day today: Product. Not my first pick, I wanted to go for Go Slow (because of Steve Bonino’s bass work), but that one wasn’t available online for streaming. So, Product it is. A varied track, with piano, guitar, multiple vocalists and definitely a jazz/fusion feel to it. Enjoy, as I do.
Orphaned Land is a progressive metal band that has been around for almost 25 years now, founded as Resurrection in 1991. The band hails from Israel and mixes metal riffs with influences from Islamic and Jewish music. The band has always stressed in their lyrics, directly and indirectly that they strive for unity across people, regardless of religion – be it Islamic, Jewish and Christian – a message expressed again in the title of their 2014 album All is One.
All Is One cover
I give you the title track of that one as Track-of-the-day today. Enjoy, it’s an eclectic mix for sure!
Note: This will be the last real ‘track of the day’ – from next week onward, I’ll do two instead of 7 per week, one from a relatively unknown or new band on Monday, and one from my personal favourites or a well known band on Friday.
At various points in time, John Mitchell (singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer – genius perhaps?) was working with Frost*, Arena and KINO – and now he strikes again with a solo project, Lonely Robot. Strike, double strike – I got the album (entitled Please come Home) in today, and it is amazing. I got a pre-listen of some tracks during an internet radio show some time ago, and pre-ordered on the spot. Actually, I’m happy to have ordered it twice (by accident) so I could give one copy away to someone to learn about what Lonely Robot is.
I need to listen more to give a full report on the album, but this track – the only one available online at this time – gives a good indication of what to expect. Great instrumentation, rock, symphonic, interesting guest musicians – it’s all there for the taking. So, here’s God vs Man, enjoy it as much as I’ve been doing all afternoon.
