So one of the things that I like about prog rock are the album covers. The majority of them are very artsy and very interesting and the one to the left of me is no exception! It was one of the reasons that the band and album Vanished from Earth caught my eye this more at progstreaming.com. Of course it was the music that ultimately sealed the deal and made resulted in the album becoming the soundtrack while doing some chores this afternoon.
So some days you really look forward to your run, you start, you feel good and the run goes very smoothly. Then there are other days, well, they don’t go as well. Saturdays area often a slow day for me. I work all day at Lippincott and then at Target not getting done until 11:15 plus! Yesterday the day went from 7:15 to 11:15, so overall today this 61 year-old body was moving kind of slow! So this afternoon when I just felt like taking a nap I did some kundalini yoga trying to wake me up, and it worked so I got motivated enough to run, went out and discovered that it was a lot colder and windy than I thought it was, anyway, I put on another layer of clothes and set out. I had created a new four mile course and the start looped around a little, so that, after just a little bit a left turn would have led me back home, which was where I really wanted to go or a right turn would set me on my way into the fourteen mile an hour wind and the first leg of my four mile run. Now the only thing good about heading into the wind on the first two miles of a run is that the wind is at your back on the way back!! That’s what happened and really the only reason that I was able to finish the run! The other thing that got me through the run was the music, as always! The music was from a prog rock band Day Six and their album The Grand Design. So with the wind at my back for half of the run, I made it through with an overall pace of about 10:05 per mile, so overall it was not a bad run!
So this morning I visited progstreaming.com and listened to snippets of several albums before I settled on the one that I thought I’d like the most. The band that I chose was Aisles and their latest release 4:45 AM. I loaded it up on the iPhone and gave it a listen and thoroughly enjoyed the album. It has some great music on it. Of course, when I was finished, I asked that proverbial questions – who are these guys and where are they from. The answer to the first question, i.e who makes up Aisles is……
So I either have to study more German or stop listening to prog rock from Germany, because for the second time today I was faced with websites written in German, the band’s native language. First it was Osta LCVE and tonight it was the band Eyevory. I have been listening today to Euphoria the debut album from the band. Eyevory is a a progressive folk rock band from Bremen, Germany. They describe their music as a “colorful mixture, combining joyful flute melodies, catchy hooks, hard rocking guitar riffs and complex instrumental arrangements without boundaries and barriers.”
Yesterday, the Safari listened to the prog rock band Osta LCVE’s latest release Good Morning Dystopia. Biographical data on the band is limited but from what I can piece together the two main members of the band are first, Tobias Geberth, who is the vocalist, guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist. Tobias appears to be the ” leader of the band”! The second member of the band is Leon Ackermann who plays drums and other percussion instruments. Other players include: Florian Hauss Piano on “Red Sky”, Gregor Nicolai – Bass on “Fragile Freedom” and Sarah Gretsch – Vocals on “Alaska”. The group is from Germany and their music is listed as Art Rock and Neo Prog! The C in the name represents the unfinished O in Love. Their website says this about the band:
Ok so maybe I have to reconsider my approach to music listening when it comes to Prog Rock. Typically, I listen to an album and then go and find out about the artist and their music. With Prog Rock I think it is most time wise to visit their site and read about the album BEFORE listening! You see many prog rock artist don’t create songs, they create albums many times concept albums and even when it’s not a concept album the tracks often are based on something!! This became clear with my latest listen, On a Dark and Stormy Night from the band Shadow Circus. Now if I had read Madeleine L’Engle’s classic fantasy novel, A Wrinkle in Time. I would have known that the title of the album is actually from the book and that would have given me a clue that the album is based on the book. Anyway on the first several listens, I enjoyed the music, after going to Wikipedia and reading a synopsis of the book I went back and listened to the album again I liked it even more! And check this out from their website – they’re from New Jersey!
Yesterday I noted that at number 8 on the Prog Archives list of best albums over the last few years is A Tower Of Silence by the Australian neo-prog band Anubis. I gave it a quick listen and it sounded like something I would like, so I put it on the iPhone and gave it a more thorough listen this morning. I put it on as I was shopping in Target this morning and I really liked what I heard. We had been in the store for about 40 minutes or so we were ready to leave so I thought I’d check as to where I was on the album – I was all the way to track FOUR! I hadn’t noticed that the opening track “The Passing Bell” – was in typical ProgRock fashion was over 17 minutes long!
So my son Andrew came over to me in the market at Target,the other night, when he finished his shift. He asked if the track from Big Big Train he had put in my Father’s mix made it to my computer. I told him no. Because not all of the tracks transferred properly to my computer from his thumb drive. He told me that he thought I would like them. He told me their new album English Electric was getting rave reviews and it was really good. So last night and today, I have been listening to the album. He was correct in his opinion that I would like them. They are English prog-rock band composed of: Andy Poole / Dave Gregory / David Longdon / Nick D’Virgilio / Greg Spawton.
So my son Andrew came over to me in the market at Target,the other night, when he finished his shift and asked if the track from Big Big Train he had put in my Father’s mix made it to my computer. I told him no, see not all the tracks got transferred to my computer from his thumb drive. He told me that he thought I would like them and that their new album English Electric was getting rave reviews and that it was really good. So last night and today, I have been listening to the album and he was correct in his opinion that I would like them. They are English prog-rock band composed of: Andy Poole / Dave Gregory / David Longdon / Nick D’Virgilio / Greg Spawton. 
