Stevo
|
Re: Any American Prog Experts?
Nov 29, 2008, 09:50
|
I think the initial question was asking about music from the same era as the European scene. Looked like most of those were later bands. I think there has been a large neo-prog or whatever you want to call it scene since the 80s. There used to be a lot of reviews of possibly the more RIO bands operating at the time in things like Forcedexposure when it was still a fanzine.
I do see a couple of names from 60s/70s on that page that I don't think turned up on this thread though. Not sure how prog some of them were as opposed to hard rock or whatever.
|
gogmagog
|
Edited Nov 30, 2008, 18:35
Re: RAM
Nov 30, 2008, 18:30
|
Interesting review on the 8 Days in April site - Can anyone who has heard the RAM LP attest to the reported similarities in the work of Freedom's Children and/or Felt?? I haven't heard either of these latter two bands?
I'm told Freedom Children's are South African and "Astra" seems to be their most talked-about LP (from 69/70ish?). Anyone know of it? Might give it a quick search on Soulseek.
regards,
GOGMAGOG
|
Stevo
|
Re: RAM
Nov 30, 2008, 20:08
|
Somewhat heavy, verging on doomy atmospheres, heavily phased including vocal treatment amongst other incidental noises. Band uses acoustic guitar in the sound wash as well as piercing organ & slide guitar .
I like it, had to ponder over which tracks to delete from the walkman to make way for other stuff.
the cd comes with covers of mid 60s stuff by Cream etc as bonuses. Not sure to what extent that reflects in the lp's sound.
|
gogmagog
|
Re: RAM
Nov 30, 2008, 20:35
|
Yeah, take it your referring to Freedom's Children. I like it to. Just got the Astra LP off Soulseek. Seems like there is a multi-pack cd going about of all 3 lps and extras, which I might snaffle up.
I can see a definite RAM similarity on some of the tracks - but I think the 2 year gap of 70 (rec' 69) of "Astra" and RAM's "Where In.." 1972 recording date, speaks volumes. There's a more overt psych-feel to the Freedom's Children Lp, which although definitely present on the RAM lp is not as foregrounded, in my opinion.
reminds me a little of Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come (with all the phasey, sapcey effects), as well as his earlier work.
regards,
gogmagog
|
IanB
|
Re: RAM
Dec 01, 2008, 08:03
|
|
gogmagog wrote: reminds me a little of Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come (with all the phasey, sapcey effects), as well as his earlier work.
gogmagog
I spent a very enjoyable weekend listening to the Ram record. Thanks very much all of you for the recommendation. Kingdom Come sprang to mind as did Le Orme and, (oddly), Eric Burdon's War plus the first CTA, Osibisa, and Blood Sweat & Tears records.
|
gogmagog
|
Re: RAM
Dec 01, 2008, 09:46
|
Glad you enjoyed it Ian, it was definitely my find of 2007 - mine's an original on Polydor, but it is available on Akarma ( I think) on vinyl.
Seems the Lp is taking off as the two Cd copies on Amazon were priced at £36 last night.
- would further reccomend the Freedom's Children Lp Astra, then, if you don't know it already. Quite similar on the surface of things to RAM, and very good!
regards,
GOGMAGOG
|
Dog 3000
|
Re: Prog, Marx and Elitism
Dec 03, 2008, 01:19
|
Sorry for having sat out this discussion -- without having read any other responses, I'd just point out all that "Marxist" stuff is again a very European way of looking at it. Class is "different" in the New World.
ELP were not popular in America because of their "artful & enlightening" classical bits, but because of the spinning pianos and cannons and lasers and stuff! They put on a spectacle, very populist in a way.
(I am totally fascinated by ELP on so many levels -- they paraded their "good taste" around while they were in fact totally "tasteless"! I always love a good paradox . . . but that's a digression.)
|
Dog 3000
|
Re: Any American Prog Experts?
Dec 03, 2008, 01:21
|
I would associate most of those groups with "psych" which is different than "prog." Pink Floyd tripping out on "Interstellar Overdrive" is something different entirely.
Though come to think of it, "Days of Future Passed" was 1967 and that's certainly "proto-prog" (any time you add horn charts or orchestral bits and get "more complicated than rocknroll" . . . )
"Sgt. Pepper" was obviously a big influence too.
The problem with genre labels is the more you think about them, the blurrier they get!
|
Dog 3000
|
Edited Dec 03, 2008, 01:24
Re: Any American Prog Experts?
Dec 03, 2008, 01:24
|
Aw shucks!
That is a gem of a record -- and very proggy in the Beefheart/Mothers/"rock in opposition" sense -- and very "American" too!
To me they seem like a group without a genre though . . . nobody else really followed their branch of the tree ("big influence on punk rock", my ass!)
|
IanB
|
Edited Dec 03, 2008, 10:32
Re: Prog, Marx and Elitism
Dec 03, 2008, 10:11
|
|
Dog 3000 wrote: Sorry for having sat out this discussion -- without having read any other responses, I'd just point out all that "Marxist" stuff is again a very European way of looking at it. Class is "different" in the New World.
True true but if I had to put money on which of our two continents would suffer an armed revolutionary uprising in one of its major cities first it wouldn't be Europe (and I am not talking about the Quebecois either!).
From 3000 miles away, and this is a gross generalisation, it seems your class issues are in reverse to ours - that being too smart or too well bred is a handicap - at least when seeking public office etc - and that anti-elitism, anti-leftism and anti-intellectualism are bound up with a latent anti-semitism. In other words that "thought" (in the philisophical sense) is an untrustworthy European import. Which is nonsense when you look at America's vast cultural and academic legacy but would that in some way add up to something of a very general reverse class system? As I say that's a 3000 mile vision with something short of 20-20 so feel free to shoot that down.
In music you have a great leftist and poetic tradition and your folk music tends to be much more about the here-and-now than ours, which tends to look back a lot more. Our prog was fairly nostalgic and utopian in its outlook. Is there a connection there?
I am just interested in what way class is different and how that impacts on music.
|
