Tuesday 30 April 2013

Soft Machine Legacy: Burden of Proof


Soft Machine Legacy: Soft Machine Legacy: Burden of Proof
Over the course of three albums released between 1968 and 1970, the British band Soft Machine transformed from one of the trippiest and mind-bendingly inventive rock bands of the psychedelic era into a raging musical torrent of free jazz, thunderous prog rock, and high- concept minimalist-inspired avant-garde stylings. With the dizzying changes in musical direction came equally dizzying personnel changes, and by the time the dust settled in the early 1970s, Soft Machine—with the last remaining founding member, keyboardist Mike Ratledge, at the helm—was firmly ensconced as the premier exponent of UK-based jazz-rock, despite a stubborn predilection for LP side- long minimalist epics and crunchy rock rhythms.
Despite critical disdain and the eventual demise of the band in the early 1980s, fan demand, a continuous stream of posthumous releases, and the former members' own recognition of the music's uniqueness, resulted in the establishment of Soft Machine Legacy by John EtheridgeJohn MarshallElton Dean, and Hugh Hopper in 2004. Drummer John Marshall and bassist Roy Babbington (who replaced Hopper in the Legacy following the bassist's death in 2008) first appeared on Soft Machine's Fourth (Columbia, 1971), a Fender Rhodes-saturated epitome of cool fusion—though Hopper returned for Sixth, (Columbia, 1973). An amazingly fleet-fingered guitarist, Etheridge came along later, replacing Allan Holdsworth on "Softs," (Harvest-EMI, 1976).
Read on....

HUGH HOPPER AT GONZO

Mercy Dash
CD - £9.99

Monster Band
CD - £9.99

The Stolen Hour
CD - £9.99



SOFT MACHINE AT GONZO
Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971
3CD - £19.99

Rubber Riff
CD - £7.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)


DOUBLE RAINBOW THUNDER STORM
Blue skies  and rain simultaneously
Splatter windshield while we watch two rainbows bending
Park and watch people absorbing 
This last April shower before May flowering
METAL&LACE a bouquet of flowering
Each weedy poet gathering for harvesting
Outside light rain sang thin streams
'Inside,consciousness was reigning
Stages of pilgrim journeys shared and connected
One night @HEADHUNTERS w/ music soundtrack
Maps we hold in our hands (often they are blank)
For this gift of shared visions-Thanks!
Weather inside -tranquil,calm ,deep
while double rainbows span these wettened Austin streets..


GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Hell on the Surface - GENRE PEAK



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Redux
CD - £9.99

ROCK'S BACK PAGES: The Incredible String Band (sunday)




WE ARE DEEPLY PROUD to announce that the next Rock's Backpages ALBUM CLUB brings to London's Idler Academy Q/MOJO/Word founder MARK ELLEN in a celebration of the Incredible String Band's immortal 1968 album The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter with not one but TWO giants of our time, MR. ROBYN HITCHCOCK and MR. GREEN GARTSIDE…

RBP's Incredible String Night takes place on Thursday 9th May, 7pm at The Idler Academy, 81 Westbourne Park Road, London W2 5QH. Full details here!

Featuring an audacious mix of sitar, oud, panpipe, jaw harp, water harp, penny whistle, chananai, harpsichord and gimbri merged with traditional folk instruments in a multi-tracked musical extravaganza, Hangman's proved to be heavily influential on the band’s contemporaries. As Robert Plant said at the time: "The one thing we always wanted to do in Led Zeppelin was to finish off the show with the String Band’s 'A Very Cellular Song'".

As an antidote to the digital MP3 compressed age we will be playing the album in full on vinyl. The lights will be dimmed and wine will be served and incense lit (possibly).

Album Clubs coming up…

Thursday June 13: Blondie's Parallel Lines with Lush's Miki Berenyi and Lucy O'Brien

Thursday July 11: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes' I Don't Want to Go Home with Nick Hornby and Nick Coleman

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND AT GONZO
The Lost Broadcasts
DVD - £4.99

STILLS GETS THE BLUES


Stephen Stills
429Records.com
Stephen Stills is set to release a blues album this summer. He’s formed a new trio called the Rides with guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Electric Flag keyboardist Barry Goldberg, and their album ‘Can’t Get Enough’ is set for a July 30 release.
The album was inspired by a 1968 collaboration with Electric Flag’s Mike Bloomfield and Blood, Sweat & Tears keyboard player Al Kooper. The ‘Super Sessions’ album featured Stills’ guitar work on one side, and Bloomfield’s on the other.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM STEPHEN STILLS AT GONZO
The Lost Broadcasts
DVD - £9.99

Monday 29 April 2013

Ant-Bee Brings Back His “Honey”


Billy James, also known as Ant-Bee and famous for his work with Frank Zappa’s acolytes and the members of ALICE COOPER – which speaks volumes of the man’s musical adventurousness – plays hide-and-seek with the fans of modern, if deeply rooted, psychedelia. His records, released not as often as they would love, quickly become collector’s items, and once a new one is out, one of its predecessors gets out of print.
ANT-BEE -  Pure Electric HoneyTo rectify the matter, the artists recovers his 1990′s debut, “Pure Electric Honey”, from the trap of unavailability. Featuring Captain Beefheart’s sidekick Rick Snyder on bass and Zappa’s raver Bob Harris, it’s a total mindtrip full of brilliant melodies. Well, the title says it all.
  1. Intro
  2. Eating Chocolate Cake (In The Bath)
  3. My Cat
  4. Black & White Cat, Black & White Cake
  5. Silly Fat Fingers
  6. The Wrong At Once (Has Gone)
  7. Say Ahhh!
  8. The Green GinEvolution #7 (Parts I-IV)
  9. Outro

DUTCH REVIEW OF ERIK NORLANDER

Erik Norlander - The Galactic Collective [DVD]

Country of Origin: U.S.A.
Format: 2CD+DVD
Record Label: Think Tank Media
Catalogue #: TTMV1006
Year of Release: 2012
Time: CD 1 - 79:07
CD 2 - 46:03
DVD - 135:00
Info: Erik Norlander
Samples: Click Here
Tracklist:
CD 1 - Arrival (1:46), Neurosaur (4:56), Fanfare for Absent Friends (6:07), Sky Full of Stars (9:42), Astrology Prelude (5:40), Trantor Station (6:21), After the Revolution (12:08), Garden of the Moon (5:13), Dreamcurrents (5:33), The Dark Water (20:48)
CD 2 - Space 1999 (5:09), Sky Full of Stars (9:57), Garden of the Moon (5:53), The Dark Water (24:33)

DVD - The Galactic Collective, Behind the Wall of Doom, The Synthesizers of the Galactic Collective
Erik Norlander, Mark Matthews, Nick LePar, John Payne, Mitch Perry, Mark McCrite, Ron Redfield, Freddy DeMarco and Lana Lane; what you have created here is nigh on perfect. What I experienced within this package sent shivers down my spine. This is entertainment of the highest order that can't be faulted. Erik Norlander has taken the said works listed above, compositions written for Rocket ScientistsLana Lane and his own solo ventures, and offered new interpretations, alternate and extended versions, re-imagining them into a single unified production that links all these pieces together. This release is full of pomposity and keyboard pyrotechnics that will absolutely amaze all those who listen.

Make no mistake, the star of the show is Mr. Norlander and his amazing arsenal of classic analogue synthesizers (including 6 Moog instruments), Hammond organ and an incredible Steinway model B grand piano. The inclusion of the other musicians (one bass player, one drummer and five guitarists) really sets the whole affair alight majestically. Let's not forget Lana's choral vocal addition that adds some flavour to the proceedings.

Across both disks we are offered spatial soundscapes, rapidity, passages that conceive and develop the mind, musical permutations that stimulate both the conscious and unconscious mind's eye. It doesn't stop there; ones emotions are also pricked as the lush atmospheric, powerful, sedate and exciting structures caress and enrich the listener's ears. This really is what music is all about.
The recording and production work on this release capture every nuance with perfect clarity, which re-enforces the strength of the music presented here. You can hear and feel the love that that has been allocated to this project, instrumentals that have been nurtured in Erik's mind, where he has gained possession and control over every note played, something that has allowed him and his fellow band mates to excel to a different level.

As if this wasn't enough, the collection comes enhanced with an in studio filmed DVD of the music being played. Between the songs Erik offers his thoughts and feelings on each song and how they were constructed which is interesting and enlightening, an approach that won't just appeal to the die-hard fans and something that adds an extra dimension.

The Synthesizers of the Galactic Collective documentary goes into the technicalities of the keyboards used in this project, which in all honesty lost me somewhat, but confirms that Erik certainly knows his stuff, even down to an almost train spotter level, which I will probably be chastised for stating.
The footage is excellent as is the soundstage, the obligatory 2.0 stereo and more importantly the 5.1 surround, which is the way this music should be played.

I am not going to pick my favourite tacks here as in all honesty I can't; there is absolutely nothing I do not like about this release. Make no mistake Erik Norlander is a master craftsman and this release is a master class on how it should be done.
Conclusion: 10 out of 10


CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO
The Galactic Collective Definitive Edition
2CD1DVD - £19.99

The Galactic Collective Live in Gettysburg
2CD1DVD - £19.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)


THIMBLE FOR RAIN/
BUTTERFLY NET FOR FOG
dog for a star/Saturn low as birth
soul of a green/mythical rainforests
every body on a journey/fill this in your diary
fingers for an inch/boot for a foot
tools for your trade/every thing@hand
even Kings assassinated/even Queens abdicate
Even Presidents speak Empire Spanish
even heads of the CIA/KGB/NKVD
Visions so temporary/eyes on texting
Distracted multi-tasking/horizons skylines
Poet on the moon tonight singing butterflies
Singer on the ground tonight speaking frogs
Every chrysalis a multi-national
Every Easter=Oval Office!Squares /rectangles crack
Feng shui ellipses,orbits DNA
Circles,spirals resurrect when rivers are undammed
As within,so around.Song of sky leaves stars on the ground.


GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Helen McCookerybook - The Song of the Unsung Heroine




CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO
Take One
CD - �9.99

Poems And Rhymes
CD - �9.99

‘I never believed it would have worked’: Greg Lake on how Jimi Hendrix almost became part of ELP

Over a year ago I posted a story entitled DID HENDRIX EVER PLAY WITH ELP? With a recent interview with Greg Lake, my question is a little bit closer to being answered.

Greg Lake confirms that Jimi Hendrix was considered for a spot in the earliest incarnation of Emerson Lake and Palmer — and that he was utterly aware of how that might have changed things when it came to the group’s name.
After all, had the fiery guitarist joined, their alphabetic moniker would have changed to HELP.
“It didn’t escape the notice of the press at the time,” Lake tells BackstageAxxess. “But to be honest with you, I never believed it would have worked, really, in the long run. It may have been great for a couple of days, because Jimi was fantastic, and (stalwart keyboardist) Keith (Emerson) also. But two virtuoso players in one band, it would have soon melted down.”

Read on...

TRIBUTE TO RICHIE HAVENS


On April 22, 2013, American folk singer/songwriter/activist Richie Havens died from a heart attack at 72. Havens had been retired from the spotlight for three years, quietly living in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Havens, famed for his intense and fiery live performances, had toured for over 30 years, and had recorded 30 albums prior to his decision to retire due to failing health.
Perhaps his most famous live performance was his breakthrough one at Woodstock in 1969, which came after another scheduled artist's equipment was held up in a snarl of traffic. Havens, who had been scheduled to be the fifth act, ended up opening that historic three day event, to thunderous applause and critical acclaim.
Recalled Havens: "It was 5 o'clock, and nothing was happening. I had the least instruments and the least people to fuss with onstage." His set, originally scheduled for 40 minutes, ended up a stupendous two hour, 45 minute bravura performance that even today is lauded as one of thehighlights of that legendary event, and a high water mark in Havens' long career. Richie Havens made a welcomed return to Woodstock for its 40th anniversary festival in 2009

Read on...

RICK WAKEMAN IN GLOUCESTER


Gloucester Concerts 2013

Rick is performing a series of concerts in Gloucestershire during June as part of the Gloucester Mystery Plays Festival. Tickets for the events are now on sale. There is also a downloadable poster of the event if you live in and around the area and have a place to publicise them. The are both standard and VIP packages available.
  • Wakeman with Wakeman with Wakeman with Wakeman - Blackfriars, Gloucester on Jun 15th
  • Rick Wakeman and the NERE is concert - Cheltenham Centaur on Jun 16th
  • Rick Wakeman and the NERE is concert - Cheltenham Centaur on Jun 17th


CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
In The Nick of Time
CD - £9.99

Video Vaults
6DVD box - £85.00

Live at Lugano
- £12.99

Past, Present and Future
3CD - £9.99

Always With You
CD - £9.99

Christmas Variations 
CD - £7.99

The Burning 
CD - £9.99

Cirque Surreal 
CD - £7.99

Aspirant Sunset 
CD - £7.99

Aspirant Sunshadows 
CD - £7.99

Gole 
CD - £9.99

White Rock II
CD - £7.99

Tribute
CD - £7.99

Almost Live In Europe 
CD - £7.99

Out Of The Blue 
CD - £7.99

Fields Of Green 
CD - £7.99

Out There 
CD - £7.99

1984
CD - £9.99

Cost Of Living 
CD - £9.99

THE LISSAMPHIBIOUS JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH



 
Love The Frogs

A song by John Shuttleworth for Save the Frogs Say Saturday 27th April 2013. John has been supporting amphibian and reptile charity Froglife, and helping to raise awareness about the threats facing frogs, toads and other animals. The song is a call for more affection for these often under-appreciated creatures. Find out more at www.froglife.org and www.shuttleworths.co.uk

RIGHT ON JOHN!

WHAT HELEN DID NEXT


CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO
Take One
CD - �9.99

Poems And Rhymes
CD - �9.99
...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?

Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.