Music you're listening to lately?

Mr. Quimper · Post by **Mr. Quimper** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:23 am

jgest wrote:When dream theater first hit the scene as far as I can remember at least 15 years ago or more. I always thought they had the "cock rock" thing going on top of the virtuosity...

Oh, I agree completely, which is partially why I don't care for them that much. I'm much more a fan of far edgier metal than your standard thrash and post-Iron Maiden metal, which is what Dream Theater derives from. Give me some good black metal or grindcore any day over Dream Theater. In terms of Prog-Metal, my favorites will always be Cynic, Atheist, Ephel Duath, Opeth and Meshuggah. Hell, the latter stuff from Chuck Schuldinger's Death is easily as complex as Dream Theater, but more interesting and intense. "The Sound of Perseverance" is a masterpiece. Even something like Gorguts' "Obscura" falls under great Prog-Metal for me. Of course, it's all a bit too left of standard thrash for most listeners.

Mr. Quimper · Post by **Mr. Quimper** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:26 am

All that said, I bet a lot of people afraid of Black/Death metal would go for Opeth. They only growl 50% of the time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3_8BDdVzbug

Matcher · Post by **Matcher** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:48 am

Mr. Quimper wrote:All that said, I bet a lot of people afraid of Black/Death metal would go for Opeth. They only growl 50% of the time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3_8BDdVzbug

Or how about SYL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJTqMP4MaLo IMO that song is a mastepiece of the genre again.

or Devin Towsend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ws_h-xVI7U

or Ziltoid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMve2uOkvPw

Devin Townsend is a music genious on many levels. Mad respect.

jgest · Post by **jgest** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 5:52 am

Mr. Quimper wrote:
jgest wrote:When dream theater first hit the scene as far as I can remember at least 15 years ago or more. I always thought they had the "cock rock" thing going on top of the virtuosity...
Oh, I agree completely, which is partially why I don't care for them that much. I'm much more a fan of far edgier metal than your standard thrash and post-Iron Maiden metal, which is what Dream Theater derives from. Give me some good black metal or grindcore any day over Dream Theater. In terms of Prog-Metal, my favorites will always be Cynic, Atheist, Ephel Duath, Opeth and Meshuggah. Hell, the latter stuff from Chuck Schuldinger's Death is easily as complex as Dream Theater, but more interesting and intense. "The Sound of Perseverance" is a masterpiece. Even something like Gorguts' "Obscura" falls under great Prog-Metal for me. Of course, it's all a bit too left of standard thrash for most listeners.

I experimented with a little agony column, Deicide, bolt thrower, morbid angel. That was back in 94.......That was as far as I went, maybe some prong on the industrial end.

i was a growling vocalist my first two bands close to 20 years ago....

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:16 am

I just received the following order from AbstractLogix.com, and have gotten through a first listen of it all:

1. Uncle Moe's Space Ranch - Moe's Town

2. Indusrial Zen - John McLaughlin

3. Trio of Doom - John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorious, Tony Williams

4. Actual Fiction - Gary Willis

5. Meeting of the Spirits - HR Big Band w/Billy Cobham

6. Kinestehetics - Scott Kinsey

Here are my first impressions:

1. Some bad-ass fusion. Some occasional shredding and jamming mars an otherwise impeccable recording.

2. Way too much shredding on the disappointing first three cuts (even with Eric Johnson on cut two). The cuts with the Indian musicians were the standouts for me. Interesting blend of Indian Jazz Fusion. Zakir Hussein and Shankar Mahadevan add the right amount of spice.

3. Not as good as I expected, considering the pedigrees of the players. Might be of historical interest, as this is the only recording by these three otherwise magnificent players.

4. Interesting. Drums & Bass music by old farts. Willis is stretching and experimenting with genre. The man can play the bass.

5. Fantastic big band arrangements of Mahavishnu Orchestra tunes. I would like to have heard this with a drummer who swings more, as much as I love and admire Cobham. Live recording. Builds to a crowd-pleasing climax. If you love MO and Big Band music, you must hear this.

6. Simply AWESOME. Sounds like a lost Weather Report album. It includes some WR alums. I can't recommend this one highly enough. Zawinul lives on in Scott Kinsey, as a player and band leader. Scott Henderson is on this recording, but there aren't many typical Henderson solos. It's a great ensemble piece.

.

augerinn · Post by **augerinn** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:56 pm

There's gotta be musicians here at UN !. I saw DT mentioned (and , of course debated about) several times. They're known as a musicians band...and BTW, I'm a fanboy of theirs. Up to ToT at least.

Anyway, I just finished spinning Porcupine Trees latest, "Fear of a Blank Planet"

Absolutely mind blowing. Better than IA maybe. Chris Maitlands drumming has become phenomanal. I swear I'm listening to Donati at times.

And the track with the guest keyboardist from Japan is excellent. Sounds a lot like 9 inch, and I'm pretty sure in was a toungue in cheek stab at the style due to the trakcs name (I wanna have sex)

Mr. Quimper · Post by **Mr. Quimper** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:12 pm

Just grabbed R.E.M.'s latest. It's really quite good, surprisingly, considering that I don't think they've released a listenable album since 1996, personally.

There are a few tracks that are less than stellar, but then there are some that rival material from their '80s heyday. Overall, it's definitely a return to form after years of creative missteps and worth getting if you enjoy their music at all.

Mix/master wise, it's a bit bright/edgy for my tastes, but it's definitely a shining example of how to mix a "loud" guitar rock album without sacrificing bass clarity -- something that so many rock mixers don't seem to get these days. You can hear every single note of the bass guitar in all its glory, and the bass lines are well worth hearing all throughout this record.

Good stuff.

jgest · Post by **jgest** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:50 pm

Mr. Quimper wrote:Just grabbed R.E.M.'s latest. It's really quite good, surprisingly, considering that I don't think they've released a listenable album since 1996, personally.

There are a few tracks that are less than stellar, but then there are some that rival material from their '80s heyday. Overall, it's definitely a return to form after years of creative missteps and worth getting if you enjoy their music at all.

Mix/master wise, it's a bit bright/edgy for my tastes, but it's definitely a shining example of how to mix a "loud" guitar rock album without sacrificing bass clarity -- something that so many rock mixers don't seem to get these days. You can hear every single note of the bass guitar in all its glory, and the bass lines are well worth hearing all throughout this record.

Good stuff.

I really appreciated a recent NPR interview with R.E.M.

davedempsey · Post by **davedempsey** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:43 am

Just got a copy of Newton Faulkner's "hand built by robots" 'coz both the wife and I decided independently (having heard it on the radio) that we really liked the track "dream catch me". I got home one evening and went straight to the piano to reinforce my recall of what I'd heard on the car radio and she started singing along.
Very nice album - I think he's listened to a lot of John Martyn and also taken a more melodic influence from Paul Simon - anyway that's what I got from the first couple of listens. Sound-wise I think they've gone for a bit of an old school rolled off sound to capture that John Martyn feel. Sweet and simple - not overdone at all.

Mr. Quimper · Post by **Mr. Quimper** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 1:17 pm

jgest wrote:I really appreciated a recent NPR interview with R.E.M.

I forgot to edit my post and add that while the mix is good, the mastering is typical for our age...hot to the point of frequent clipping.

I'd seriously thought people in the industry were starting to wise up to the fact that pushing levels to the brink of distortion doesn't make a record sound better, only more fatiguing, but I guess that was just wishful thinking.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:46 am

Jim wrote:I just received the following order from AbstractLogix.com, and have gotten through a first listen of it all:

1. Uncle Moe's Space Ranch - Moe's Town
2. Indusrial Zen - John McLaughlin
3. Trio of Doom - John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorious, Tony Williams
4. Actual Fiction - Gary Willis
5. Meeting of the Spirits - HR Big Band w/Billy Cobham
6. Kinestehetics - Scott Kinsey

We have the same music taste, Jim.

Apparently Gary Willis uses maximal compression/limiting whilst barely touching the strings; a very light player.
I've only heard him with Henderson, but he sure did the job.

Curious: Do you have Billy Cobham's Spectrum, Crosswinds and The Funky Side of Things?
Classic vibes there.
How 'bout Cobham and Duke live? That one's interesting.

If you haven't heard them (many haven't), George Duke's early to mid '70s stuff was very interesting.
I'm thinking of Faces in Reflection, Feel, The Aura Will Prevail and some others.
I've got the LPs (as is the case with most of my music collection), and therefore haven't heard any of my favourites for 20 years, just quietly.

bOing · Post by **bOing** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:41 pm

The only music I'm getting into my system these days is the intros for the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert show respectively, and all the commercial jingles in between.

Pretty good stuff though.

bOing · Post by **bOing** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:30 pm

Okay, that was before. But currently I'm into this guy whose doing great covers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icb_tRTn ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A7tLVIsuNw&NR=1

kassonica · Post by **kassonica** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:08 pm

The red Violin.

Mr. Quimper · Post by **Mr. Quimper** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:24 pm

Fireman (aka Paul McCartney & Youth): Electric Arguments (2008)

Who knew McCartney still had it? Undoubtedly, producer Youth had a lot to do w/ this downright contemporary, edgy, vital release, but McCartney's contributions are stellar. Definitely a surprise and a must get!

MOTUnation.com

Music you're listening to lately?

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