"I think in my life I've only met Jon
Anderson once!" - The Prog Interview with Geoff Downes
Thursday, 25 April 2019
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, 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 Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and 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 within 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?
YUSAN YUN DONE
Hong Kong was Independent of China..once
To seek freedom in choosing elected representatives,
students and Professors went to the streets.
They defended themselves against riot police with umbrellas.
They were arrested and charged with various offenses.
Now the leaders are jailed-Professor of Sociology Chan Kin-Man(age
60),
and Law Professor Benny Tai(age 54).This has disheartened those
seeking
a degree of autonomy from Chinese control of local elections.
The "Umbrella Movement"has been crushed,just like OCCUPY.
Now we have only YELLOW JACKETS as symbols for freedom.
And Hong Kong is crushed by the weight of Chinese autocracy..
PINK FAIRIES NEWS
Pink Fairies Polydor albums to be
reissued in box set
Celebrated English psychedelic rockers Pink
Fairies are to have their first three albums reissued as a box set. Pink
Fairies featured former Pretty ...
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | Naked Radio LP - £14.99 |
AUBURN REVIEW
Auburn Play The "Game Of Faith" With Their New Release
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Wednesday, 24 April 2019
ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY, OR OVERNITE SENSATION?
Frank Zappa hologram tour brings
Bizarre World to NJ
You've never experienced anything like "The Bizarre World
of Frank Zappa." Yes, holographic technology has been used in recent
years to bring ...
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | The Real Porn Wars Book - £12.99 |
AUBURN: Belgium review translated
AUBURN - GAME OF FAITH
Just twenty years ago the British singer and songwriter
Liz Lenten from the English county of Lincolnshire decided to set up her own
music formation under the name "Auburn". Many albums later she continues to
surprise with every new album with her sublime mix of americana, country, roots
music and blues in the songs. 'Rootstime' has been able to comment on some of
those albums for you in recent years: there was “Indian Summer” in 2012 and I
myself wrote reviews for “Nashville” in 2014, “Mixed Feelings” in 2015 and “Love
& Promises” in 2016 All these albums came after a fairly long break in the
career of Liz Lenten who only decided in 2011 to fully devote himself to
creating new songs.
Also the brand new album "Game Of Faith" from "Auburn"
may have been added to my package of reviewable CDs again, because even now we
can only write down more positive words about the fourteen songs that Liz Lenten
has recorded on this album. Because of the great diversity in her songs, her
sound has been compared in the past with some widely divergent fellow singers
such as Bonnie Raitt in the bluesy tracks, Dusty Springfield in the country
ballads and even Norah Jones and Billie Holiday in the more jazzy and
soul-inspired songs . We can confirm that subtle elements can be heard from each
of these singers in the songs on "Game Of Faith".
Liz Lenten seeks inspiration for her songs in
meticulously evaluating situations, relationships, emotions and personal
experiences in love and in her life. Songs like "Bad Girl, Good Woman", "I Don't
Love Him", "Happy Nowhere", "It's Not Love", "Like I Do" and "His Arms" are new
songs that all have a place managed to conquer this new album that will be
released at the end of May.
The record was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with
producer Thomm Jutz, a man who had previously collaborated with, among others,
Mary Gauthier and Nanci Griffith and who also took care of the three previous
albums of "Auburn" as producer. The musicians who played these songs in the
recording studio are Thomm Jutz on guitars, Mark Fain on bass and Lynn Williams
on drums, while Britt Savage provides matching harmony vocals a few
times.
Finally, we would like to add a few titles of musical
highlights to "Game Of Faith", because that is something that can be said of the
songs "Trinidad", the previously mentioned songs "Bad Girl, Good Woman", "Happy
Nowhere" ”And“ It's Not Love ”,“ Float To Blue ”and“ Spoke In The Wheel
”accompanied by twisting guitar sounds. "Craftsmanship is mastery" is a very
applicable definition for this latest album of "Auburn", the musical prodigy of
the stylish British singer-songwriter Liz Lenten for two
decades.
(valsam)
CD RELEASE: MAY 31, 2019
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Tuesday, 23 April 2019
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, 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 Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and 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 within 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?
THE DAY AFTER
Resurrection can wait.We to WALGREENS&CVS
for fifty percent off chocolates.Seasonal Festivities
are short-lived!Bargains abound over time,as CLEARANCE
becomes the new stock spiritual renewal.Shelves that bulged
with fake rabbits are half price,while real rabbits return to the
Refuge
from which they were purchased.All Salvation is Temporary.
LEONARD COHEN NEWS
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Can't please everyone? Kitsch overwhelms
Leonard Cohen exhibit, NYC critic writes
NEW YORK — Leonard Cohen died the day before
Donald Trump was elected president. I mention this only because one of the works
in Leonard ...
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'Leonard Cohen: A Crack on
Everything'
The Jewish Museum presents “Leonard Cohen: A Crack
in Everything,” a contemporary art exhibition inspired by Leonard Cohen,
the conie Canadian ...
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Leonard Cohen's “A Crack in
Everything” at The Jewish Museum, New York
“A Crack in Everything” is the first exhibition in the
United States to be devoted entirely to the imagination and legacy of Leonard
Cohen.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO#
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Monday, 22 April 2019
GONZO PEOPLE: Prudence Downes c2005-2019)
PRUDENCE DOWNES
(c 2005 - 2019)
The Power Of The Dog
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But...you've given your heart for a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart for the dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Sunday, 21 April 2019
The Gardening Club - The Riddle review
http://www.dprp.net/reviews/2019-016/?fbclid=IwAR0TfQurxUjZJi70eBtphS3zOfmGpXEfQpyf2zaXh7Q7o9Hy-KKJT8jq2rE
The Gardening Club - The Riddle
The Riddle Overture (3.11), Whirled Away (2:35), Seven Year Old Poet (4:55), Blues For Richard (2:41), (Unlisted Track) (1:11), Leaving Home (4:07), Pauline (3:16), Notes On The Affair (4:03), The Original Sleep (Part 1) (1:47), The Original Sleep (Part 2) (3:31), Tears At The Matinee (4:32), Waltz (3:02), The Riddle (2:51), Entracte (0:31), Overture Reprise (3:29)
The Gardening Club came to people’s attention in 2017 when their long lost 1983, self-titled debut album, was finally re-released. The positive response that it garnered led to their working on new material and its ultimate release as The Riddle.
Musician and illustrator Martin Springett, UK born but resident in Canada from an early age, is the main man of The Gardening Club. On this new release he has collaborated with producer and guitarist Norm Macpherson. Also helping out is Norm’s son James Macpherson on drums and programming, respected jazz bassist Sean Drabbit and saxophonist Wayne Kozak. They have set the words of their friend and poet Cyril McGolgan.
The Gardening Club have produced a work that, though recorded in Canada, feels fundamentally English. The England of early seventies, mildly psychedelic Canterbury. It's as if Genesis were from the wealds of Kent. They also display echoes of Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayres, Caravan, Camel, Barclay James Harvest, Gordon Giltrap, and Anthony Phillips. But don’t let this list of artists make you think that The Gardening Club are just an amalgam of these myriad but similar styles. They have transcended these and forged a singular identity of their own.
The Riddle skips through a parallel sound world due to the superb slide guitar playing of Norm Macpherson. I confess to always having had a soft spot for the sound of a slide guitar and I have been a fan of Ry Cooder since the early seventies. Though I generally find most blues predictable and samey I make an exception in Mr Cooder’s case. And on The Riddle,
the slide playing could be Mr Cooder at his most subtle and least bluesy.
The music The Gardening Club establishes its own identity quickly because of the slide guitar, something you don’t hear much of in any genre of prog. From The Riddle Overtureonward you feel they are on to something different with an orchestrated density of acoustic guitar, slide and synth. This sound picture continues throughout the album.
They also have an engaging way with strange poetic lyrics. Sung by Martin Springett in a world-wear voice that is characterful and vulnerable, if not particularly strong. The songs innovate within a limited pallet. Starting with the odd-ball, up-tempo, acoustic pop-prog of Whirled Away. This could have come from XTC’s English Settlement. On Seven Year Old Poetthe tempo switches about as its protagonist contends with ‘merciless grey walls cheer him on…pursuing a dog on fire’. Strange and poetic.
Sean Drabbit’s lithe, and quietly funky, fretless bass playing anchors the best songs here. That is most of them by the way. But it is especially noteworthy on The Original Sleep (parts 1 and 2) and on Tears At The Matinee. The latter uses melancholic sax as they lament that "one day life out ran us". Terrific songs that are hymns to time passing and opportunities not quite grasped. Expressed through lovely distinctive melodies, gentle harmonies, vibraphone, non-intrusive percussion alongside expressive slide and synth work.
The Gardening Club’s The Riddle is a great album of strange songs and joyful instrumentals. It is an album imbued with autumnal colour - vibrant golds, yellows and reds - underpinned with the melancholy that winter will soon follow. The Riddle is a delight.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | The Gardening Club CD - £9.99 |
JON ANDERSON NEWS
|
Rock Hall of Famer Jon Anderson says
'Yes' to tech, 'Maybe' to Yes reunion
Former Yes singer Jon Anderson is one Rock and
Roll Hall of Famer who openly embraces Auto-Tune. He's now on tour to promote
his 26th solo ...
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Jon Anderson and Fab Four Headline
at Saban
On April 26, living legend Jon Anderson, former
lead singer, songwriter, and co-founder of Yes will be treating his adoring fans
to his distinctive vocal ...
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
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ZAPPTHINGS AND STUFF
Live Review: The Frank Zappa
Hologram Tour Is as Trippy as the Man Himself (4/19)
Setting the Stage: It's been more than a quarter century
since the physical world lost Frank Zappa, the experimental rocker whose
avant-garde music ...
Neaux Reel Idea: Remembering My First Watch
of 200 Motels
And, at the forefront of this festival, will be a rare
big screen showing of the Frank Zappa classic 200 Motels. My
interest in Zappa's music had been ...
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Ahmet Zappa And Eyellusion Talk The Bizarre
World Of Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa, sadly, left us in 1993 and has been
profoundly missed ever since. A razor-witted, prodigiously gifted iconoclast in
his lifetime, his ...
Frank Zappa Hologram Tour Kicks Off
in Port Chester
Songwriter Frank Zappa died over 25 years ago.
But, as WFUV's Alex Parker reports, the talented musician is going back on tour
with the help of ...
Student musicians to honor Frank
Zappa
UVM musicians, as well as guests Ed Palermo and Napoleon
Murphy Brock, will recreate some of experimental rock artist Frank
Zappa's most ...
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
| The Real Porn Wars Book - £12.99 |
Friday, 19 April 2019
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, 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 Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and 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 within 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?
ELECTROCEUTICALS
Sleep through life like Rip Van Winkle
Sleep through this as you drift off
to dull poetry or somnambulist speakers
you disconnect and float like a balloon up up and away..
Conscious is not continuous-it begins with connection,
ends with synapses and forgetfulness.Alzheimer enters,
dispensing soporifics.Pills,potions,spells,affirmations.
Sleep deprived snore@their desk.Sleep Sessions restore balance.
Levels of connection link us to our sleep work.We awake.Awaken.Rush..
yet if we FESTINA LENTE,new modes of perception open to us.
Sleep of the Calm and Just.Deep Sleep solutions.On the seas of sleep,
we are surface fisherpersons.Throwing lines into the Deep,
to find ourselves again.
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: King's College Choir - Jesus Christ is risen today
Being Sunday I always post sacred music. The name of the deity may change, or even the deity Him/Herself but the spirit remains the same.
Thursday, 18 April 2019
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Michael Bruce - Desperado | Halo of Flies (Live)
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | In My Own Way - The Complete Sessions 2CD - £9.99 |
 | Rock Rolls On CD - £9.99 |
| Halo of Ice CD - £7.99 |
STEVE HOWE EN PASSANT
Spice up your chord playing with these
inventive harmonic ideas
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Prog fans will recognise this as a Steve Howe
[pictured] trademark, made famous in his work with Yes. Artificial harmonics are
usually associated with ...
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | Union DVD - £10.99 |
FAIRPORT CONVENTION ON TOUR
Fairport Convention play
Leamington's All Saints Church
FAIRPORT Convention kick off their latest UK tour
at Leamington's All Saints Church on Tuesday May 7. The legendary folk rock
pioneers played their ...
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | Live At Maidstone Castle 1970 DVD - £7.99 |
ALL ZAPPAS GREAT AND SMALL
Ahmet Zappa Debunks Skeptics and Introduces
“The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa”
As one of the executors of the Zappa Family Trust, Ahmet
Zappa is at the helm of “The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa,” a 16-city
tour that features a ...
UVM Jazz Ensemble takes on
'Zappafest'
As part of the two-day "Zappafest" they'll be performing
songs originally composed by the nonconformist rocker Frank Zappa, and
arranged as jazzy ...
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
| The Real Porn Wars Book - £12.99 |
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, 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 Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and 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 within 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?
WHEN THE LAST RAINFOREST WAS BULLDOZED
First for a Cathedral,then a Supermarket/finally a military base
to protect the Cathedral and the Supermarket from Revolutions and
Looting
(No one knows how to build a rainforest.Cathedrals for
billionaires.Supermarkets for Yellow Jackets.
But homeless want rainforests to disappear into.Their Cathedrals the bins
outside supermarkets.
Their nemesis Authority-Church/State.Uniforms.Obedience.Censorship.
When the last rainforest fell,coal industry futures went UP
As did THE RIGHT TO POLLUTE.Beauty is a tree/removed for
supermarkets.
They were here-before we were here,and chopped and cleared for houses and
Navies
(forests were friendly and green.A New Green Deal may not bring back
original forests
but it will remind all homeless that some Cathedrals allow them shelter
overnight.
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