Just Good Music

Recordings was released in 2001, not long after Lightbulb Sun.  It was limited to 20,000 copies and sold out as the band became more popular.  Mostly composed of outtakes from the Lightbulb Sun and Stupid Dream recording sessions, Recordings became the favorite of some fans.  And single copies have been sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay.   It’s being released in its original form by Kscope (though nothing on the the KScope web site yet).  See the news at porcupinetree.com

discussed in this Steven Wilson interview

Thank God for PBS- STUNNING !!!

Check his Web Site For The Full 411

Taylor Hicks Maybe You Should High Noon Saloon from 4Tay on Vimeo.

Just wow. Taylor sings this song so powerfully it makes grown men cry. Spread this song around. Everyone should hear this!

I love Opeth and the trail they have blazed in metal.  So when I saw a quote from Mikael Akerfeldt stating something positive about the new Katatonia album (see quote at end of post) I ordered it up immediately. 

The Opeth influence is strong but perhaps that’s because both bands are from Sweden.  I know nothing of their back catalog, but if this new album is any indication of their previous efforts I will be digging deeper into their past recordings.  Night is the New Day, while not “Opeth light”, avoids the heavy metal “cookie monster” vocals.  With that said, it’s not for the faint of heart.  It delves into some rather dark places with songs such as Nephilim, Departer, The Promise of Deceit, well….you get the picture. 

Night is the New Day is an album that is best listened to end to end.  It starts well enough with the song Foresaker and it sets the stage for the first half of this musical journey. The song Idle Blood could have fit on Opeth’s classic Damnation.  The pay back is how well the album holds up through the first half and then takes off to another place from track 6, Nephilim, through the closer Departer.   Departer has a guest vocalist, Krister Linder, who apparently is held in high regard in the Swedish music scene.   A good recording, strong presentation, and representative of the best in rock/metal music being made today.  Highly recommended it this genre is your cup of tea.

If you’ve seen Opeth you know what a comedian Akerfeldt can be.  It’s refreshing, especially considering he is fronting a heavy metal band.  I had to laugh at his quote:

“Katatonia – Night is the new day is possibly the greatest ‘heavy’ record I’ve heard in the last 10 years. Most people know my history with them and also my friendship with the guys. Jonas and I have been best buddies for the last 18 years or so.  Everytime Opeth or Katatonia has a new record we arrange a small private listening party. Usually with myself, Anders and Jonas. For years we’ve managed to record albums around the same time and had both the new Opeth album and the new Katatonia album played back on the same session. It’s always great fun, however disciplined.  You can’t talk during playback (death penalty), you listen to the album all the way through twice, and then we have the ‘comments’. Everything is washed down with beer or wine…there might be snacks on the table.”  quote sourced from metalunderground.com – http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=48299

Arguably, a very good list

Check out this Dutch Progressive Rock Page.  I was just in Haarlem, Holland and had the great fortune to see Pineapple Thief  open for Riverside at a club called the Patronaat (of course these aren’t Dutch bands.  they are from Poland and the UK respectively).  I promise a review in the near future but suffice it to say the Dutch love the progressive rock!   I could only wish I had the same scene in my back yard.   P.s. if you haven’t checked out the latest from these two bands you are missing some exciting new music.

Tom Waits’ new live album, Glitter and Doom, is coming Nov. 24th and as a special preview you can download 8 tracks for free from his website.  Get ‘em while they’re hot.