Friday13th: Friday's Prog Discovery M3

Friday13th 03.11.16	Been loving Asylum and looking forward to Aria.
AnimalsAsSummit 03.11.16	I love 2, so for now I'm sticking with that, but going to give 1 a few spins today to see if it perhaps tops it
bnelso55 03.11.16	Nice. Looking forward to checking these.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.11.16	Damn still no Blops :[ I've checked 1 already and I really enjoyed and I gave 2 a quick listen a few days ago, it was good but I don't think as much as 1
Frippertronics 03.11.16	Utopia WHEN should just do two matchups every week tbh
MrSirLordGentleman 03.11.16	I'm afraid Utopia might end up against Locomotora (even if there's nothing in common between them) and Blops would lose since well, Utopia is Utopia :[
Friday13th 03.11.16	yeah Fripper, because everyone has been so punctual as it is ;)
smaugman 03.11.16	i listened to asylum, pretty great stuff tbh
Friday13th 03.11.16	2 is definitely more unsettling than I expected. Very interesting indeed.
Jethro42 03.11.16	Another great match-up, Friday. I wonder which one's going to be match up with mine, really.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.11.16	I don't see any of the albums being matched up with mine either
Jethro42 03.11.16	Friday will find a way out. As of the two exceptions we form, maybe we'll end up rivalizing each other, SirLord :)
Onirium 03.12.16	I love the simple, authentic melodic focus of Asylum so far
AnimalsAsSummit 03.12.16	Ok done with jamming 1 a few times, I am however going to go with 2 for my vote
Sabrutin 03.12.16	1 is a tasty album but I can't help but voting for 2. It always transports me in a dimension of its own.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	I have mixed feelings towards 2, it will need tons of re listens @Jethro oh well, you'll have it difficult there, you gotta admit there's quality in Blops
MeatSalad 03.13.16	1 is one of my absolute favorites so 2 will have to be pretty damn great to top it, listening now
MeatSalad 03.13.16	2 is interesting, some really great atmospheres and textures being laid down. some of the vox weren't to my liking
Friday13th 03.13.16	People on rym likened the singing to Tim Buckley - Starsailor which I kinda hear. Check it out if you have time. Weird crazy stuff.
Jethro42 03.13.16	@SirLord, have you heard Landberk before being that confident :) As for Blops, I've only listened to the song you once sent to me, up to now. Great song, but I must say that I prefer all the songs of Landberk before it.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	!!!!
Jethro42 03.13.16	Both bands are even not comparable so yes. But your ear is not formed for Landberk yet or what...
Jethro42 03.13.16	Have you heard yourself? It's like if there were quality to be found only in Blops (!!!!)
Friday13th 03.13.16	guys..."Munich". That's like Camel good.
Jethro42 03.13.16	Munich?? No match found except for an alternative band. Maneige has a lot in common with Camel, if you remember.
Friday13th 03.13.16	Right, you'd have to reach way back to that or say "La Poderosa Muerte" to find a song that good. I do really like 2 and it's probably a more consistent album but dang I've just been jamming Munich and it doesn't get old.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	ahahh jethro dude, chill, I'm jokin
Onirium 03.13.16	Asylum is an utterly fun album to listen to; complex and slightly virtuosic, but keeping a very straightforward melodic focus and a nice jazzy feel. On the other hand, I haven't fully grasped Aria after a first listen, but it's an interesting ambiance, and it does seem to have greater depth than it appears
Lord(e)Po)))ts 03.13.16	there are actually other genres
MeatSalad 03.13.16	we did do the psych thing that one time, sorta different and yeah munich is one of my favorite songs in general
Jethro42 03.13.16	haha, you really got me SirLord. 1-0 Also ''Munich'' the song, damn, I was looking for a band name lol. Song rules for sure.
smaugman 03.13.16	I landed in munich today hmmm
Jethro42 03.13.16	Munich is beautiful :D
BenThatsMyJamin 03.13.16	Anything like 2 with English lyrics? Love the music but find non English stuff pretty annoying
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	"but find non English stuff pretty annoying" lol
BenThatsMyJamin 03.13.16	Just sounds like gibberish to me
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	that's really kinda insulting for other languages
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	UGH THIS GODDAMN FOREIGNERS WHY WONT U SPEAK ENGLISH IT IS THE BEST LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD CAUSE 'MURICA!
BenThatsMyJamin 03.13.16	Not really, I wouldn't be offended if they said the same about English. I just like to be able to sing along to songs
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	I have albums in spanish, portuguese, italian, french, japanese, etc... as long as you know how to pronounce them, you just need to search for the lyrics and you'll be able to sing without a problem Singing in other languages creates different and uniques sounds and atmospheres that english cannot
BenThatsMyJamin 03.13.16	Also don't feel like I can connect to a song emotionally (lol gay) through a language barrier but I see your point
SCREAM! 03.13.16	Given that a lot of bands suck at writing lyrics, I find that not understanding them can skmetiems actually be beneficial to the music
MrSirLordGentleman 03.13.16	@scream yeah that's also true, only sometimes though. Lyrics are big part of Harmonium or Jaivas's talents, trust me
Friday13th 03.13.16	@BenThatsMyJamin check Tim Buckley - Starsailor for something similar but more jazzy.
BenThatsMyJamin 03.13.16	Cheers Friday, will do!
Friday13th 03.13.16	Hey guys, Mythodea is too busy to participate in the contest, so if you know anyone else that is wiling to join let 'em know.
Onirium 03.13.16	To me, listening to an album written in a foreign language can add a feeling of wonder, and triggers imagination, because you're forced to interpret the vocals only through the singer's performance. I'm not saying this in a pejorative way at all, I think linguistic variety is fascinating
Jethro42 03.14.16	Yeah you're right Onirium. The emotion of a song lies often into the expression and tone (loud/soft, moody/optimistic) of the singer if there is one. To me, the importance of the lyrics comes second save for French songs for the pleasure to sing along (mother tongue) and a certain amount of English songs (I tend to try to know my fave songs by heart, sooner or later)
Onirium 03.14.16	Yeah, and the importance of lyrics, and their role, vary between different musical contexts as well.
Onirium 03.14.16	Also, I think we should take a pause to consider how terribly ugly Asylum's artwork is.
Friday13th 03.14.16	It's ugly but kitchy. Kind of endearing tbh.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.14.16	I love it. Reminds me of Hipgnosis. By far my fav artwork in the contest
Friday13th 03.14.16	I'd probably go with Arachnoid or Jade Warrior.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.14.16	I get why many people wouldn't like that style but I don't know, I just love Hipgnosis For example, my favorite Sabbath artworks are NSD and TE, I just think they're perfect and I don't even know why
Friday13th 03.14.16	Oh yeah those have great artwork it's just the music that sucks haha
MrSirLordGentleman 03.14.16	Hey! there are a few classics on them haha
Onirium 03.14.16	I love Hipgnosis, after all they were the defining imagery of 70s rock music. But I find representing model heads is a kind of pompous cliche. But I acknowledge it has a certain charm
SCREAM! 03.14.16	checking 2 and digging the atmosphere
Friday13th 03.14.16	Yeah this is a hard match. I've jammed both at least twice and I still have no idea which I'm leaning towards.
Friday13th 03.14.16	Ha! That violin on the first track of Aria sure did sound to me like Jean-Luc Ponty: http://www.allmusic.com/album/aria-mw0000377707
Jethro42 03.14.16	Yes we can detect the style of Ponty in the 1st track, and it adds depth to the song. After 4 or 5 listens to that album, it's still hard for me to get into that 1st track. But I really dig the 2nd (normal voices, phew) and the 4th tracks. On the last one, he sings like Peter Hammill intensity-wise, and song wouldn't be out of place on H to He Who Am The Only One or on an early Hammill solo stuff. My feelings are mixed for Aria. The singer is a little too eccentric for my taste. He maybe uses his voice like an instrument, but I'm not sure if he quite masters and controls it on here. I need to re-listen to Asylum to make a proper decision.
Sabrutin 03.14.16	For me he can definitely control his voice there but then again it should be easier for me to digest it for obvious reasons and yes, he is definitely eccentric. I feel you on the minor tracks though, especially the 2nd one. Being only 5 minutes long it's an unexpectedly killer and emotional surprise.
Jethro42 03.14.16	The second song is my favorite one indeed. As for the singer, I am confident he controls his voice, but he pushes the boundaries so far sometimes he comes close to lose the voice :) But after several listens, I came to get used to his style. Still need to try the t/t, though. What a beast to digest!...
Sabrutin 03.14.16	To think that later we would remember him for this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtoebXU5OQw (I am not ashamed in the slightest to enjoy it though haha)
Jethro42 03.14.16	Haha kind of Bee Gees sounding...What a drastic change of style! I also have a bunch of popular songs from my country that I enjoy, even if it gets much radio play. However, most of them are guilty pleasures of mine :)
MrSirLordGentleman 03.14.16	"Haha kind of Bee Gees sounding" That's always awesome
Jethro42 03.14.16	HA HA HA HA Staying Alive Staying Alive it brings some good old memories for sure!
Jethro42 03.14.16	Nothing was meant to be pejorative from my comment.
Friday13th 03.15.16	Yeah, Jethro, I definitely hear Peter Hammill in Sorrenti's singing style.
SharkTooth 03.15.16	commenting so I can remember to do this later
MeatSalad 03.15.16	Agreed with jethro in regards to 2 The moments and tracks where he isn't going ham with his voice are great. Gonna stick with 1 for my vote though, hard to beat one of my favorite prog albums
Friday13th 03.15.16	So for voting is 1:2
MrSirLordGentleman 03.15.16	I'm leaning towards 1, but I think it lacks identity while 2 has tons of it, so I'm not sure yet
Friday13th 03.15.16	True, 1 is very similar to Caravan...though no Caravan song is as good as "Munich."
MrSirLordGentleman 03.15.16	I mean, 1 sounds awesome but it feels like "another prog album" for me. Yonin Bayashi, Los Jaivas, Maneige all of them were unique
SCREAM! 03.15.16	2 is sort of like an atmospheric Comus so it's really cool for that. 1 has some stellar songs even though it's more "generic" (for lack of a better term) So yeah, another tough round
SharkTooth 03.15.16	woah a Comus comparison, I might really dig 2 then....
SCREAM! 03.15.16	It's def very different from Comus overall but some of the vocals and instrumentation have a similar delivery and weirdness to them. Much more atmospheric and less folky though
bnelso55 03.15.16	^I'll second you on the Comus similarities with 2, SCREAM!. I thought the same thing at a few points while jamming it, although Aria is more ethereal in quality and not nearly as folk-oriented, or disturbed. Like you said
AnimalsAsSummit 03.15.16	yea 2 is best, 1 is great but doesn't have as many cool/beautiful parts as aria
Jethro42 03.15.16	1 is a good mix of Canterbury scene flavored music - a la Caravan - and symphonic prog with a dose of psychedelic rock. I agree with SirLord that it lacks of identity and direction, and I feel the album was created in a very short time. The drummer is even missing a snare shot at the last song. I also think there are couple of filler tracks, and they often tend to fade out prematurely. As for Aria, the t/t really gets on my nerve. I give up trying to dig it. Songs 2 and 4 are quite enjoyable, but I ask myself, is it enough to make a difference... Not decided yet. Really hard to settle.
Jethro42 03.15.16	K, It looks like I'm not enough ''open-minded'' to choose Aria. Too experimental and volatile for my taste. I go with Asylum which is a kind of prog I prefer. Far from being a masterpiece, but I feel more at home with it.
smaugman 03.15.16	On board with you jethro
Friday13th 03.15.16	Vote is 3:3 including Animals and smaugman. If you two did indeed mean to vote, try to be more direct about it in the future 'cause it makes it easier for me :)
smaugman 03.15.16	Who voted for aria?
Friday13th 03.15.16	Animals, I took "best" as a vote but you see my predicament, right.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.15.16	We seem to be at a situation with two great albums, one that doesn't try too hard, and one that tries too hard
Jethro42 03.15.16	Sup smaugman, welcome to the show that never ends! If you asked me yesterday, I would have chosen Aria. Album was so hard to get into for me, it has taken several listens and when I managed to dig it, I got saturated fast enough.
smaugman 03.15.16	I dont really dig strange music, that's why im choosing asylum
Jethro42 03.15.16	The 2nd song by Sorrenti is such a beautiful ballad though. But yes, Munich >
Friday13th 03.15.16	Munich > yeah, no question about it I could really go either way because I love good inoffensive prog and experimental whack depending on my mood. The additionally hard factor for me is high-point versus consistency.
Jethro42 03.15.16	I edited my before-last comment cos I was writing ''if you asked me tomorrow'', but I meant ''if you asked me YESTERDAY'' lol. fixed.
Onirium 03.15.16	It's a bit off-topic, but hearing the accordion on Aria is reminding me of how much I love the instrument; I was wondering if any of you knew prog bands/records/songs which make an extensive use of accordion or borrows from the Romani music tradition. Gazpacho did experiment in such a way, though more subtly
MrSirLordGentleman 03.16.16	Munich is great but it's not like a classic song or something tbh , dunno why you guys like it so much
Jethro42 03.16.16	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHBt0FoIRjY One that comes off the top of my head, Renaud uses lots of accordion. I don't know if you dig the artist, but couple of his best songs contain awesome accordion.
Jethro42 03.16.16	@SirLord, cos Munich sounds like a pure, classic Canterbury song and could have been written by Caravan. Do you dig Caravan? Song is half way Camel, half way Caravan.
Onirium 03.16.16	Yes, I love Renaud, especially his first two or three albums which happen to have especially charming accordion passages. I was really more looking for prog music though, but thanks, it's always good to find lovers of the french classics
MrSirLordGentleman 03.16.16	Of course I dig Caravan, but not the whole Canterbury scene that much, since I think they all sound the same
Jethro42 03.16.16	I have a female friend that is a deep fan of Renaud. She got me into Renaud in around 1985. He has so many hits, I bought two of his greatest hits, one was called ''Les moins pires de Renaud'' or something like that. I have this with me somewhere, or maybe I let them to a friend...I think ''La Pêche à la Ligne'' is my fave song. Or maybe ''Morts les Enfants'' and several others.
Onirium 03.16.16	@Gentleman I think the Canterbury scene was comprised of quite a small number of musicians which took part in the major projects. The fact that it was an extremely local scene reduces diversity, so yeah, I agree there's only a limited amount of interesting music to be found. And I find Cressida's music a bit generic in that sense So, my vote goes to Aria, which, despite being kind of a hit-and-miss experiment, and a frustrating listen at times, was more surprising and interesting than Asylum in my opinion
Jethro42 03.16.16	@SirLord, I don't think so. They all have a jazz approach, but National Health doesn't sound like Hatfield and the North, and Supersister leans more towards sympho prog. There are a lot of bands influenced by the Canterbury scene, but are more near from jazz or from sympho prog, like Camel or Supersister. One thing is shure, they are all jam-rockers, and they're not afraid of improvisations.
MrSirLordGentleman 03.16.16	My vote goes to Assylum, is a great album and a pretty pleasent listen even though I doubt I'll go back to it since there's nothing truly special about it, but hey, at least is not annoying like Aria at some points
Friday13th 03.16.16	4:4 dang this is neck n neck
MrSirLordGentleman 03.16.16	@jethro Don't know man, I remember the first contest when Los Jaivas was against Khan and everyone was like "omg Khan rules so hard" and I was like, "guys this is a Caravan ripoff"
Jethro42 03.16.16	Yeah maybe Khan is not that original, I give you that. Have you ever heard Steve Hillage - Fish Rising That virtuose guitarist played for Gong among others. If not, it could change your mind about the genre/scene.
MeatSalad 03.16.16	I guess I'm a sucker for caravan ripoffs since I entered both Cressida and Khan And yes most of Steve Hillage's work is essential
SCREAM! 03.16.16	Guess I should listen to more Caravan. All I've heard of theirs is Grey and Pink
Jethro42 03.16.16	@Scream; Try both ''If I Could Do It All Again'' and ''For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night''. They are essential.
Snowdog808 03.16.16	I'd vote for Asylum, even though I enjoyed them both.
Friday13th 03.16.16	5:4
AnimalsAsSummit 03.16.16	@friday I did say "my vote goes to 2" previously, but thanks for counting it regardless C'mon guys jam aria and feel the mystique!
bnelso55 03.16.16	Here's another vote for Aria, even though I seriously dig the Asylum organ jams.
Friday13th 03.16.16	OH DANG, Animals. I counted your vote twice. Sorry guys, this is what I get for trying to count in my head while scrolling on my phone. I went through the thread and did a real headcount. Asylum Votes 1. Meat 2. Jethro 3. smaugman 4. Gentleman 5. Snowdog Aria Votes 1. Animals 2. Sabrutin 3. Onirium 4. bnelso So really it's still 5:4
Friday13th 03.16.16	You know what, I'm voting Aria to crank the hype. 5:5
Jethro42 03.17.16	I was really near to vote for Aria. I guess it could depend of the day.
gagnonov 03.17.16	Aria has some great moments (the album outro is especially nasty) but i'm giving the edge to Cressida shit is tightttt
MeatSalad 03.17.16	Really looking forward to the next few weeks The shitty thing about having your album up for voting is that you've already heard it so many times before
SCREAM! 03.17.16	Chalk up another vote for Aria. This was probably the closest round for me yet
AnimalsAsSummit 03.17.16	The title track for Aria is pretty much the greatest thing ever Also this is defs one of the best prog tourneys ive come across so far; each match is super duper close
Friday13th 03.17.16	5:6 gagnonov, is that a vote?
gagnonov 03.17.16	yeah
TwigTW 03.17.16	I vote for Starsailor.
TwigTW 03.17.16	. . . but seriously, I'm going with Asylum. They're both great symphonic prog albums, very evenly matched imho, but the keyboards on Asylum push it into the lead for me.
gagnonov 03.17.16	vocals on both albums are fantastic
tmthycnnlly 03.17.16	Throwing my vote to Aria
Friday13th 03.17.16	omg 7:7
Friday13th 03.17.16	@TWIG what do you think of Starsailor? Just found it due to Aria. I must say I'm pretty blown away. Better than Grace by his son Jeff which gets a ridiculous amount of praise here.
TwigTW 03.17.16	Never listened before today, but I think it's great. I like the feeling of organized chaos it has, like it might all fall apart at any moment. But then when it slows down and comes together on "Song to the Siren" it's just as beautiful. I really would have voted for it today if I could, lol. I am a big fan of last year's Primrose Green (Ryley Walker), and now I think I see where he got his inspiration . . . Didn't put the Tim and Jeff Buckley connection together. That's interesting. "Hallelujah" is in my top ten favorite songs, so I am guilty of piling on the praise, but I think they both hold their own against each other.
Friday13th 03.17.16	Cool, yeah I like Grace too. You know how it is. I just got that indignant feel when I heard how earth-shattering Starsailor is sitting at 4.0 under 100 votes.
Friday13th 03.17.16	oh and definitely check the title track of Lorca
TwigTW 03.18.16	will do
Frippertronics 03.18.16	1 Aria's title track is nice but the rest of the album is decent, lots of Buckley sounding stuff. Reminds me I gotta do his discography, Blue Afternoon and Starsailor are total classics.
Friday13th 03.18.16	8:7 waiting for manosg and zakalwe
Frippertronics 03.18.16	utopia next please dude, the wait is metaphorically killing me
AnimalsAsSummit 03.18.16	Aria sounds perfectly like its album art, not an easy task
SCREAM! 03.18.16	"utopia next please dude, the wait is metaphorically killing me" I'd probably keep it for last if I was Friday with all the noise you're making ;)
manosg 03.18.16	Both great albums but I prefer the Canterbury sound of 1 and Aria's t/t is a bit too much for me to digest. Plus, my neighbor's awful dog is named Taria so I make this negative association, haha jk. Vote goes to Asylum.
SCREAM! 03.18.16	"8:7 waiting for manosg and zakalwe" No vote from Shark yet either as far as I can tell
MrSirLordGentleman 03.18.16	dogs are the most beautiful thing in this world :[ Friday, you should start the next round already, since this one's so thight, it might take a long time til we finally get a winner
manosg 03.18.16	Dogs are cool but sometimes they're unfortunate because they end up with the wrong people. At least that's the case where I live. Every moron has a couple of them (always large dogs ofc because of their tough guy complex), never gets them out for a walk and never bother to train them properly because they're sloths. So both the dogs and us suffer because of stupid people.
Friday13th 03.18.16	9:7 yeah Sharktooth and zakalwe left we got a vote from tmthy and smaug so yeah should be 18 total votes
Friday13th 03.18.16	And don't worry your little butts, guys. I have the matches and order all planned out.
SCREAM! 03.18.16	That's nice but it doesn't give us our M4 ;)
Sabrutin 03.18.16	I'm already pretty satisfied by Aria's votes, happy to spread the love even a bit.
zakalwe 03.21.16	I'm going with what floats my boat and my boat is well and truly floated by asylum. Sorry for the shockingly delayed vote
Friday13th 03.21.16	Thanks zak, but try keeping up next time ;) Asylum officially wins
smaugman 03.21.16	hurray
SharkTooth 03.22.16	voting 2
Friday13th 03.22.16	k thanks Shark the final tally is 10:8 Asylum wins