Gimme Shelter

I have written about France's Alcest before. Their 2012 release Les Voyages de L'Âme made number 8 on my favorite records of 2012 list. When they started years ago they were another black metal band with growling vocals and sheets of noise. Happily, they have grown to a classic-sounding progressive band; they might be one of the best currently working.

Their new album is the lush Shelter. I had ordered it on Amazon but it was out of stock for what seemed like forever. I eventually gave up and went to my new favorite place Discogs to order through their marketplace. I think my copy came from Germany, but the price was plenty reasonable and it showed up about two weeks after ordering, which is not bad considering it had an ocean to cross.

Alcest is primarily Stéphane Paut on everything but drums and Jen Delfandre on drums. They go by Neige and Winterhalter because they are French and prog and why not, you know. I got to see them a couple months ago at Empire outside Washington DC opening for Anathema. It was a sensational show. Their brand of progressive is very anthemic, very dynamic, music that does not take long to soar. It is not everybody's cup of tea but I love it. It is emotional and powerful.

Shelter builds on that, easily their most progressive record. This one actually has vocals in english, on the album's penultimate "Away." Vocals here are done by Neil Halstead of Slowdive. That track is immediately followed by the fantastic closer "Délivrance." It is a beautiful track, typical of Alcest, starting with a lovely guitar figure before working it's way to a frenetic closing.  Some reviews of the records accuse the band of running in place, but I am all for good songs done exceptionally well. Shelter does that. There's no harm in doing what you do best.

Here is the album closer "Délivrance."

Favorite Records of 2013 - Number 5

As I have said before, Steven Wilson is the artist I admire most. He is supremely talented. He makes amazing music. He does it across a variety of projects. He has been the driving force behind Porcupine Tree, the best progressive rock band this side of Rush. He has worked with Aviv Geffen in a more pop-oriented project called Blackfield. He has also worked with more esoteric progressive projects like No Man and Bass Communion. He has done remixes for classic King Crimson and Jethro Tull albums. Sadly it looks like Porcupine Tree is finished and that Blackfield is less a priority for Mr. Wilson. But that is OK because his solo output has been amazing.

Each solo record has gotten better. The first, Insurgentes, is already great. The follow-up was Grace For Drowning and was my favorite record of 2011. I am hesitant to call his latest, The Raven That Refused To Sing, his masterpiece because his track record has shown him getting better and better and better.

This is definitely progressive rock so it is not for everyone. But the biggest knock against prog is that it's unemotional, it is detached, lacking feeling. One cannot listen to Raven and miss the feeling. It is just a gorgeous, lush album. It is not particularly guitar-driven, though Steven Wilson is one of the best guitar players around. Strings, keyboards, rhythm all work to bring the work to life. It is a beautiful listening experience. The band he has assembled is fantastic. And all the talents he has honed and skill he has is brought to bear here. His work remixing King Crimson records has rubbed off here; this is a very Crimson-sounding album.

This is the one album on my list I don't have on vinyl because I purchased the beautiful hard cover book that came with the CDs. Like any good progressive rock record there are stories at work here. Each song tells a story. The most touching of them is the final track on the record and the record's namesake. I will not spoil it for you. The video bellow is a beautiful interpretation of the song. I encourage you to watch it and enjoy it.

True Widow; Palms; Black Tusk

I've been amiss in my musings as of late! My sincerest apologies for that! Despite the absence I can assure you the records continue to spin on the turntable. I have found myself in a harder-rock kind of mindset lately so while the mood has been light the rock has been heavy.

I think it was a tweet that turned me onto a band called True Widow. They are a three-piece from Texas, two guys and a gal. I guess they get lumped into metal but they are more a hard-rock or stoner-rock kind of band. Stoner not in a Black Crowes way but stoner like when Black Sabbath tried to get deep. Sleep is the ultimate stoner-metal outfit but True Widow aren't that heavy. I checked their latest record, Circumambulation, out on Spotify after hearing about it and was just blown away. They make just the kind of heavy sound I dig: it's hard but it grooves, it breathes, it has room. It isn't fast at all, it has space and it powers along with a dynamite sense of melody. Music like this is often described as plodding. But True Widow don't plod; they stride like a giant. They remind me of The Sword but without the silliness and at half-speed. The vocals are strong alternating between boy and girl singing, and sometimes coming together very nicely. The song titles are interesting...tracks like "S:H:S," "I:M:O," and "HW:R" are mixed in with more typical heavy sounding tracks like "Creeper" and "Numb Hand."  It's not top 40...if you're looking for something radio friendly this ain't it. But if you like heavy music with a great sense of melody, strong melodic vocals, and great playing, you will like this record. They are coming to town in a few weeks and I plan to be there.

Here's the aforementioned "HW:R." Great track!

Palms are a supergroup of sorts. Not like Blind Faith or even Black Country Communion, but among the art metal set they are pretty high up there. Three-quarters the guys from Isis and one-quarter Chino Moreno from Deftones. The latter I have never really gotten into, but Isis is one of my more favorite of the progressive metal bands. Palms' self-titled debut record is mellower than either of those outfits' work. Art metal...kind of I guess...it's very atmospheric. Take opener "Future Warrior:" during the verses the drums are precise, the bass lines skip around the neck, the guitar weaves in and out and the vocals lay in over the top, then the chorus kicks in and the band locks in tight. This song is pretty emblematic of the record. Moreno does some of the best singing I have heard him do. What I like best about it is the mood it generates. Like True Widow's record it's a great headphone album. Chilling in the dark connecting with the music. Music is all about connection; good music at least. Something you can latch onto. It's lovely, if something classified as metal can use that descriptor. I think it can. Metal doesn't need to always be "Reign In Blood" (though that doesn't hurt!) and huge riffs. Metal can also be stirring, relaxing, something to soothe after the long day. A record that you can unwind to. Palms accomplish that perfectly.

One knock on it, it's a double record, two of the sides having only 1 song, granted they are both nearly 10 minutes long. With vinyl making a resurgence I'd like to see bands start to reign themselves in and get the material to fit a single record. That can be tough because the music is the music and how it comes out is what it is. But I am lazy and don't want to get up to flip and change records every 10 minutes. Rough life, right? Buy the CD and quit complaining! HA!

Here's "Future Warrior:"

Then there is Savannah's Black Tusk. Where as True Widow has an elegant kind of stoner metal and Palms soars like a dream, Black Tusk's latest EP Tend No Wounds hits like a hammer. They are more like fellow Georgians Mastodon than Kylesa (though this record is produced by that band's Phillip Cope). I like good sludge metal; music that's heavy like mud in the bottom register. This EP is heavy and it rocks with the tuned down guitars and has the requisite scary album cover. But then again they use a string section for the great "The Weak and the Wise." I like a metal band that's not afraid to do something like that; it's a nice touch. Vocally it has the usual shouting business but that's fine; even the growly parts which I usually don't like are done singing and not grunting; the singing overall is great and suits the music well. The first time I played the vinyl I played it at 33rpm instead of 45rpm. It took me two minutes to realize it was the wrong speed, though. HA!

Here's "Enemy Of Reason."

All this writing about metal bands lately. I have to admit that's where my taste has been taking me lately. I plan on tuning down one of my guitars and cranking up the distortion to see the heavy kind of tone I can get. Maybe an EP of sludge metal, sounding absolutely nothing like what we do now, is on the way. It's good to keep ones horizons wide! I promise that the next post will be something mellower.

Living In The Limelight

I have seen Rush at least 10 times. I have a hard time keeping track of the number of times I have seen them in the last 22 years. My first show was on the Presto tour in 1990 at Reunion Arena in Dallas. The last was yesterday evening on the Clockwork Angels tour at Jiffy Lube Live outside DC. They have yet to disappoint.

This might have been the best show ever. Why? Because Jodi and I pretty much won the lottery with our seats:

Close enough for you?

Alex and funny rock-face

Last time we saw them was at the Baltimore Arena. It was a great show but we were far back on the floor. I vowed that I would never again sit that far back. So for this tour, I bit the bullet and got the VIP package. They don't tell you exactly what seats you get but we were guaranteed sitting in the first 15 rows.

We got to the show about two hours early so that we could pick up Tom (from my band and a fellow Rush freak) and get good parking. Yes, we are old. I went to the box office to pick up the tickets and once I got them I didn't open the package. I figured Jodi might bring better luck so I would let her open it. As she did I was hoping that Orchestra 2 would come up, meaning center stage. The verdict: Orchestra 2, row B. B. As in A and then B. I thought "we can't be this lucky." When we got to the seats, I was blown away. Center stage, two rows away from the greatest band on the planet.

Needless to say, the show was seriously awesome. I put the set list down below. It was heavy on mid 80s stuff. At one point I wondering whether this was the Power Windows tour. More so than other tours, they played the hell out of the new album. Nine songs from it. No complaints with that; the new record is really good. To support them for those songs they had a 8/10 piece string section. Very nice addition! Jodi was happy because they did 2112 in the encore and she got to do the "HEY!" part which she likes. She says Geddy Lee smiled at her. I am sure she did because she is a hottie at a Rush show and who wouldn't smile at that!

Geddy doing his thing

I was really excited to hear two of my most favorite Rush tunes: The Pass and The Analog Kid. The latter song is one of Alex's finest moments. He's not a shredder when it comes to guitar playing. I think he's one of the most under-rated guitarists around. But in the solo for TAK he goes nuts. After he nailed every note the crowd let out a roar. That must be a great feeling!

Two quibbles with being up close: one is I had to keep looking back and forth with a goofy grin on my face to see what Geddy was doing then what Alex was doing. Second was anything else in the future will be a let down! HA! Maybe not.

Rush put on a tremendous show. Everybody knows they are phenomenal musicians. It's great to see a band genuinely enjoying themselves, and Rush obviously do. Jodi mentioned they appear to enjoy it when the older songs get such wild reactions. I was glad to see the new songs get a supportive reaction.  It must be much more interesting to play new material than the same hits over and over. That's the cool thing about Rush: their fans actually want to hear the new stuff. The Rolling Stones, nobody gives two shits whether they make a new record and nobody wants to hear them play that instead of "Jumpin Jack Flash."

Hopefully there will be more Rush tours to see. They are getting up there in years, but they still bring it.

The Professor at work!

Here's the set list:
Subdivisions
The Big Money
Force 10
Grand Designs
Middletown Dreams
Territories
The Analog Kid
The Pass
Where's My Thing
Far Cry

Caravan
Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Seven Cities Of Gold
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight
Halo Effect
Wish Them Well
The Garden
Dreamline
Red Sector A
YYZ
Working Man

Tom Sawyer
2112 - Overture/Temples Of Syrinx/Grand Finale