Danny Bonte

Art Rock Show – Madness and Magic (Week 45)

Arabs In Aspic is een band die – u raadt het nooit – afkomstig is uit Trondheim, Midden-Noorwegen. Dit is het eerste album op het Noorse proglabel Karisma. De bandnaam is geïnspireerd op een King Crimson album.

Henk Vereecken van Dark Entries: “De band maakt in hun veelkleurige, dynamische en symfonische sound gebruik van twee drummers, van luide, soms heavy gitaren in combinatie met rustige (pseudo)akoestische gitaarstukken en van een veelvoud aan toetsen met hammond orgel, rhodes piano, mellotron en seventies synths en dit alles opgewaardeerd met vocale harmonieën, zoals je die ook aantreft bij de grote voorbeelden uit de seventies.

De knappe opener “I Vow To Thee, My Screen” laat al ineens zien waar het album voor staat: voor vrij karakteristieke, maar wel erg knap opgebouwde, soms heavy prog en symfonische rock.… Read more...

Art Rock Show – Cold Coming (Week 44)

De in Chicago gevestigde Amerikaanse band Zip Tang werd opgericht in 2003. Perry Merritt en Richard Wolfe vonden elkaar tijdens een lokale jamsessie. De groep onderging wel verschillende wissels.

Prog Archives review: “f you’re looking for entertaining progressive rock music, Chicago’s ZIP TANG are a recommended choice indeed. Definitely experienced, since this will be album number six in the meanwhile, wow. Although, after all, their first concept album on the other side. ‘She Sleeps Beneath The Fullerton Bridge’ advises the cover illustration, provided yet again in a somewhat surreal, collage-like layout. Hence this is dealing with ‘the journey of a girl from the near west side of Chicago, born of a mother of no means, in dire straits and with little hope of making it out of her circumstance’, like the band sums it up.… Read more...

Rock On! Wednesday, 28 October Sea Shanties (High Tide, Irish Coffee, Uriel, Pink Fairies, Black Widow)

Psychedelic, heavy, prog and more innovating sounds spanning the late 60s and the early 70s – Wednesday October 28th. Dan’s pick of the week: High Tide (Sea Shanties), Irish Coffee (Irish Coffee, Uriel (Arzachel), Pink Fairies (Never Neverland) & Black Widow (Black Widow).

Prog Archives review:”When I first listened to this album I couldn’t believe it was from 1969; it is way ahead of the time. Definitely the heaviest album of that aera. Its trademark is the constant battling between electric guitar and electric violin.
The album starts right away with a heavy electric guitar riff out of one of the boxes, a pumping bass and drums enter, the guitar riff is answered with heavy electric violin out of the other box, and then “Futilist’s Lament” is on the way.… Read more...

Art Rock Show – Alone Together (Week 43)

Rikard Sjöblom is inmiddels een vrij bekende naam in de prog wereldje geworden. We kennen hem van de Zweedse band Beardfish, maar ook trad hij toe tot topgroep Big Big Train. Daniel Levy van Prog Report: “The album starts with an epic 13min song “Traveler”. This track wastes no time in introducing Rikard’s trademark compositional elements – the quirky sounds and reoccurring motifs that will sometimes reappear over the album. Unlike his previous album Friendship, “Traveler” favors a more raw, rock sound with lesser focus on layers of instrumentations. Although there are still plenty of brilliant instrumental moments, the emphasis seems to be on delivering more straightforward hard rock beats. This first song is a good indication of the vibe the album is going with and is definitely on par with the quality of his Gungfly’s usual work – the guitar solo in the middle is one of the highlights of Alone Together.… Read more...