Your last listen

[Vinyl-ant]

Crusaders - rhapsody and blues

[Vinyl-ant]

Tom scott - street beat

[CN211276]

Status Quo - Pictures - 40 years of hits

[slinger]

With a big 'Sorry' to all enthusiasts of the more obscure nether regions of the musical spectrum - I have been temporarily MIA after being struck by the latest Corona-variant which has you really ill for 3-4 days and leaves you dog-tired after. Fun it ain't.

Picked up some albums of interest, I could listen to music but didn't have the energy to write about it.

'Krautrock 2' (2016)



I had the other two volumes in this series, but was missing Part 2 - which turns out to be the best of the lot ! Found it at a reasonable price on Amazon.

Parzival 'Barock': Immaculately recorded by the legendary Conny Plank, 'Barock' is a pleasant folky effort with 60's psychedelic leanings. Enjoyable and occasionally the sound toughens up into a Jethro-Tull clone.

Message 'Synapse': The big surprise of the collection. Message were an Anglo-German formation who shared musical roots with the better-known Nektar. 'Synapse' is a Jazzy, intriguing album with a sort of Soft Machine / Canterbury Scene vibe. Extremely good and seriously worth hearing.

Satin Whale 'Lost Mankind': Satin Whale were, briefly, Germany's biggest Rock act, releasing 5 albums during the 70's of which 'Lost Mankind' is the second. Solid and varied melodic Prog-Rock with (big) nods to Supertramp and Pink Floyd. A highly-proficient musical unit, Satin Whale have just had a box of all their studio albums reissued on the MIG label (on order for Xmas!). This is a great album that takes me back to the 70's, reminding me of why I became a music-fan.

Kin Ping Meh 'Concrete': Live album of competent hard-rock with flashes of the Rolling Stones and Deep Purple. Highly entertaining with a fine and heavy rendition of The Beatles 'Come Together'.

Gift 'Blue Apple': If you can get past the rather garish cover (what were they thinking?) this is an enjoyable and tuneful album with plenty of energy. Sort of Teutonic Southern Boogie that can be compared to another excellent German band - Jane.



All in all a good and varied assortment of CD's that give plenty to enjoy and have got me investigating further in a couple of cases.

[slinger]

It's good to have you semi-sentient again, mate.

I see that there are three volumes in that series; tempting, but apart from quite a few original albums already in my connection I've got these two 6-CD sets.

[slinger]

It's good to have you semi-sentient again, mate.

That's better than average for me!

[CN211276]

Continuing the German theme.

Accept - Objection Overruled

[Fretless]

Tuesday I had to spend a day in the kitchen to cater for a training-group here and that has completely drained all of my energy leaving me with another set of days where recuperation progresses very slowly. A well-known after-effect of Corona, should have expected it.

So, I am finding comfort in trusted and familiar music presented in a new way:

Alan Parsons 'One Note Symphony' (2022)



Recorded in Israël long before the current upheavals, so I'm ignoring any Political Correctness that might be associated with that and just concentrating on the music and performance - which happen to be exemplary.

A 2CD+DVD set that Amazon had at a giveaway price. Here AP is backed by his trusted touring band plus a full-scale symphony orchestra.

A few years ago he did a similar project with the 'Live in Columbia' album, but where that is an enthusiastic and bombastic ride through the APP catalogue, the new recording has far more delicacy and control with the orchestra being better integrated and utilised.

Recording quality is spectacular, as you would expect, and this is a great record to sink into and forget your troubles.

Wonderful.

[CN211276]

Rush - A farewell to kings

[Fretless]

Tangerine Dream

'The Sessions VII' (2021)
'The Sessions VIII' (2023)



Two releases in the occasional 'Sessions' series from the current Tangerine Dream, notable in that they mark a shift in the band's lineup and this change is clearly reflected in the music.

At the close of every TD concert, the band go into a free-form, spur-of-the-moment improvisation just to close off and reflect the energy of the night. Some of theses improvs are then edited and mastered for release as low-key EP's. In general this is high-quality stuff, music of purity and delicacy that floats from gossamer clouds into dark rhythmic hallways - and back again. Art for art's sake.

Sessions VII is from pre-Corona 2019, featuring the stable core of Thorsten Quaeschning, Hoshiko Yamane and Ulrich Schnauss here joined by new-boy Paul Frick. I find that Schnauss always has a very distinctive sonic presence within TD, his trademark organic sounds and colourings giving a depth to the palette of moods. During the following lockdown years, travel restrictions meant he was unable to continue performing with TD and this caused his departure from the band.

Sessions VIII, recorded during two appearances in Poland in 2021, this has no Ulrich S. but now Paul Frick is fully integrated into the group and there is a guest playing here; Michal Lapaj of Polish Proggers 'Riverside' (a band with a noticeable TD influence - go listen to their 'Eye of the Soundscape').
Thorsten Quaeschning: "Both sessions were re/arranged into one long session. Taking some bars from day one, than another section of the second day, than again parts of the first show, …. A little bit like the idea behind “Ricochet"."
There are more clues and references to 70's Froese/Franke/Baumann TD here and fans of that 'classic' era should enjoy this one thoroughly.

Pure delight!