Blog

Artist - Album - Rating
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Alice in Chains - Facelift
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
Andi Sexgang - God On a Rope
Blue Öyster Cult - Blue Öyster Cult
Burns Blue - What If...
Camel - Breathless
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Cozy Creatures - Stargazer
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Deepskin - Judas
Dream Theater - Image and Words
Eagles - Desperado
Eagles- Hotel California
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Tarkus
Fabrizio De André - Tutti Morimmo a Stento
Franco Battiato - Fleurs 2
Franco Battiato- Il Vuoto
GSO - How To Get a Head In Life
Jackson C. Frank - Jackson C. Frank
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Joy Division - Closer (Collector's Edition)
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (Collector's Edition)
Kansas - Leftoverture
Kansas - Point of Know Return
Katatonia - Viva Emptiness
Ivan Graziani - Ivan Graziani
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
Le Orme - Collage
Locanda Delle Fate - Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più
Michael Jackson - Dangerous
Negu Gorriak - Borreroak Baditu Milaka Aurpegi
Negu Gorriak - Negu Gorriak
Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Oltretomba - Symphonia Nordica
Opeth - Damnation
Orange - In the Midst of Chaos
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Pink Floyd - More
Pink Floyd - Obscured by Clouds
Pink Floyd - Relics
Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
Procol Harum - The Well's on Fire
Renacer - Renacer
Renato Zero - La Curva dell'Angelo
Roberto Vecchioni - Ipertensione
Roger Waters - The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
Talking Heads - Little Creatures
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
The Cure - Faith
The Babys - Valentine Baby
Tim Buckley - Goodbye and Hello
Toto - Hydra
Toto - Toto
Under-Radio - Under-Radio
Yes - Fragile
Wake Up On Fire - Wake Up On Fire
Zucchero - Spirito DiVino


Acquisti dell'anno:

1) Locanda Delle Fate - Forse le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più
2) Nick Drake - Pink Moon
3) Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Canzoni dell'anno:

1) Nick Drake - Pink Moon
2) Joy Division - Disorder
3) Pink Floyd - Poles Apart

Sunflower (If you didnt already guess from the title,) currently unsigned band from Leicester in the UK, so If you're a fan of quite laid back rock with a jazzy touch and catchy melodies, or imagine that'd be your cup of tea (English cliches ftw) then check them out at the below links. The vocals might take some getting used to, but once you do they work well and the band plays some tightly performed and well written tunes, evoking some nice atmosphere but with a good pop sensibility.

http://www.myspace.com/thesunflowerpage
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunflower/22138560181
http://www.last.fm/music/Sunflower


You can now find full track plays of 5 of their songs on an album of recordings from their first session a few months ago here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Sunflower/Sunflower+Demo
Sunflower Demo

And also 2 tracks they recorded for a local radio station, Demon FM.
http://www.last.fm/music/Sunflower/Live+at+Demon+FM
Live at Demon FM

There are other artists called Sunflower on that page, but only those recordings so far are the Leicester area group.

P.s. Not my band.

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Yeah - prog. Difficult one, really. I grew up in the era just after punk when prog was supposed to be EVIL. It was written about like it was the reign of Voldemort or something. Of course,you never heard any, but you knew what it sounded like because the NME told you about it: horrible musos in crap clothes playing keyboard solos that went on for 15 years whilst the drummer kept changing the beat just to prove he could. Chilling. Then I heard some.
Okay, so some prog deserves the criticism of too much emphasis on "technical proficiency" and long boring solos. I am not defending that stuff. "Technical proficiency" is bollocks; inspiration is everything and the prog era threw up loads of brilliantly inspired stuff. I confess I don't like ELP or "classic era" Yes, but a whole broad musical era shouldn't be written off just for a couple of lousy bands. Anyhow, here's my personal list of favourite prog albums. Feel free to comment. As far as I'm concerned, prog is a broad church of inventive music. If you look at some of these and say "That's not prog; it's psychedelic/ heavy rock/ krautrock/ acid folk/ space rock/ whatever." then perhaps that's the point:

ahora mazda - Ahora Mazda

Älgarnas Trädgård - "Framtiden Är Ett Svävande Skepp, Förankrat I Forntiden"

Amon Düül - Para Dieswärts Düül

Amon Düül II - Tanz Der Lemminge

Aphrodite's Child - 666

Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You

Audience - Friend's Friend's Friend

Birth Control - Hoodoo Man

Blast Furnace - Blast Furnace

Brainticket - Cottonwoodhill

Breakout - Na Drugim Brzegu Tęczy

Camel - Moonmadness

Can - Ege Bamyasi

Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink

Catapilla - Catapilla

Catharsis - Masq

Clearlight - Forever Blowing Bubbles

Comus - First Utterance

Cressida - Cressida

Curved Air - Second Album

Dark - Round The Edges

Delired Cameleon Family - Delired Cameleon Family

Dzyan - Electric Silence

Earth & Fire - Earth & Fire

Eloy - Inside

Enbor - Enbor

Family - A Song For Me

Fantasy - Paint A Picture

Flamengo - Kure v hodinkách

Frame - Frame Of Mind

Franco Battiato - Fetus

Fuchsia - Fuchsia

Garybaldi - Nuda

Genesis - Foxtrot

Gentle Giant - Acquiring The Taste

Gila - Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee

Gomorrha - I Turned To See Whose Voice It Was

International Harvester - Sov Gott Rose Marie

Hinn íslenski Þursaflokkur - Þursabit

Jade Warrior - Last Autumn's Dream

Jan Dukes de Grey - Mice And Rats In The Loft

Jane - Together

Jethro Tull - Benefit

Julian's Treatment A Time Before This

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

Kingdom Come - Journey

Kraan - Wintrup

Le Orme - Collage

Message - From Books And Dreams

Módulo 1000 - Não Fale Com Paredes

The Moody Blues - In Search Of The Lost Chord

Mythos - Mythos

Nektar - Journey To The Centre Of The Eye

Osanna - Palepoli

Paternoster - Paternoster

Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds

Popol Vuh - Affenstunde

Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

Pulsar - Pollen

Pyramid - Pyramid

Quintessence - Quintessence

Second Hand - Death May Be Your Santa Claus

Sensations' Fix - Fragments Of Light

Sergius Golowin - Lord Krishna Von Goloka

Spring - Spring

Strawbs - From The Witchwood

String Driven Thing - The Machine That Cried

Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri

Tea & Symphony - An Asylum For The Musically Insane

Van der Graaf Generator - H To He Who Am The Only One

Wapassou - Wapassou

Wigwam - Fairyport

Yatha Sidhra A Meditation Mass

I've created a list of inspired studio albums released in 1973 designed to confirm my belief that that year was, as the title of the journal suggests, the best year for music. If only I had been born then! I believe that pretty much every album mentioned speaks for itself, but a couple of notes have been added anyway.

If anybody has any that they feel could be added to this list, then do let me know. More evidence is always better :). Or if anyone disagrees, and can argue their case, I'd love to find a large quantity of music better than this!

In truth, mind, I think that the first four albums listed should be enough, but in case their not for you, I hope to bowl you over by quantiy of quality rather than the cream of quality. If that makes sense. It does in my head :S.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you epic awesomeness...

01. Genesis - Selling England By The Pound

This album is the definition of epic awesomeness. I could sing the praises of it for ages, but due to a desire not to bore you I will force myself to be restrained, and will merely inform you that it is the top rated progressive rock album on http://www.progarchives.com/, a must-use website for any progressive music fan :).

It is also worth noting, however, that Genesis released their first live album, Live, earlier in 1973. They also released the single from the album, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) with the EPIC B-Side Twilight Alehouse. Why that was never released on an album I shall never know.

02. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
03. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
04. The Who - Quadrophenia

I've been instructed by Dan to comment on the brilliance of this album, even though I would have said that that was self evident. So there you have it. It's brilliant.

05. Wings - Band on the Run

For a list of largely prog-based albums, Band on the Run may, at first sight, appear to be a strange choice to be included in this list. However, it is easy to see why this album is considered Paul McCartney's finest post-beatle work. I would also argue that Linda McCartney's additions to the songwriting and Dennie Laine's guitar work take Wings onto a mucial level that the The Beatles never reached, and that Wings never achieved the same level of success that they undoubtedly deserve.

06. Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans

Far from the best album in the list or that Yes have done, but included for three reasons. Firstly, it demonstrates that, although not a particularly special album, Yes did do an album in 1973. Secondly, it has The Ancient (Giants Under The Sun) on it. And finally, it gives me an excuse to mention their live album Yessongs, also released in 1973, and which is nothing short of breathtaking.

07. Status Quo - Hello!

OK, so maybe Quo may not exactly write the finest music in the world, but Quo are the finest no-nonsense rock and roll act who essentially defined a feelgood sound that no band since has successfully replicated (I stand to be corrected), and Caroline must be considered a signature tune. The album also features Roll Over Lay Down and Blue Eyed Lady.

08. Clearlight - Clearlight Symphony

Wonderful - Trully wonderful music!

09. Jethro Tull - A Passion Play

.
The following are a list of artists and albums which were also realeased in 1973. I have no particular reason to comment about them, and they aren't necessary to solidift my point. But still, all of them are fantastic, most of them prog, and I thought I'd mention them.

10. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
11. Queen - Queen
12. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
13. Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are?
14. Campo di Marte - Campo Di Marte
15. Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North
16. Perigeo - Abbiamo Tutti Un Blues Da Piangere
17. Rick Wakeman - The Six Wives Of Henry VIII
18. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
19. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic
20. Tangerine Dream - Atem
21. Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - Io sono nato libero
22. Gentle Giant - In A Glass House
23. Le Orme - Felona E Sonora
24. Area - Arbeit Macht Frei
25. Return to Forever - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy

.

E' la festa di paese il contesto in cui Le Orme si sono esibiti sabato sera, di fronte ad una numerosa folla accorsa per l' occasione.
Il concerto de Le Orme e' iniziato alle 23.00, prima di loro una serie di artisti piu' o meno noti, tra i quali il sicuramente noto Alberto Camerini intento a riscaldare un pubblico di attempati e non con i suoi successi dei bei tempi andati.
Ma il grosso della gente era li' per Le Orme e si e' visto e sentito, e' stato un attimo, attaccano con Sguardo verso il cielo e la folla e' li', gia' pronta a cantare in coro.
Suoni splendidi, formazione a tre (gli inossidabili Aldo e Michi e il tastierista-polipo Michele Bon), i nostri suonano per 2 ore, dopo una breve incursione nel presente della band con una suite/medley degli ultmi 3 lavori, la trilogia composta da Elementi, il fiume e L' Infinito, il resto del concerto vertera' tutto sul loro periodo migliore.
Troveranno spazio in 2 ore di musica Cemento armato, Amico di Ieri, tutto "il primo lato", come annuncia Aldo parlando dell' uscita del vinile nell' anno del signore 1972, dell'Uomo di pezza e una suite dalla durata di circa mezz'ora posta in chiusura del concerto, tratta da quello che per molti e' il loro lavoro piu' bello, Felona E Sorona. Il bis e' affidato alla cover di Rondo dei The Nice.



Al banchetto del merchandising era possibile acquistare il DVD live della band, registrato nel 2005 in Pennsylvania durante il Nearfest del 2005, occasione che non mi sono fatto sfuggire.
All' interno della confezione cartonata trovano spazio i 2 cd del live e ovviamente il dvd video con la medesima scaletta che e' cosi' composta:

CD 1
1. IL TUONO E LA LUCE
2. LA VOCE DEL SILENZIO
3. SHANTI
4. L’INFINITO
5. LA RUOTA DEL CIELO
6. UNA DOLCEZZA NUOVA
7. GIOCO DI BIMBA
8. LA PORTA CHIUSA
9. CEMENTO ARMATO

CD 2
1. SOSPESI NELL’INCREDIBILE
2. FELONA
3. LA SOLITUDINE DI CHI PROTEGGE IL MONDO
4. L’EQUILIBRIO
5. SORONA
6. ATTESA INERTE
7. RITRATTO DI UN MATTINO
8. ALL’INFUORI DEL TEMPO
9. RITORNO AL NULLA

artisti ascoltati dal viivo
- 4 times:
[event=]Orchestra Popolare La Notte della Taranta[/event]

- 3 times:
Giuliano Palma and The Bluebeaters
Modena City Ramblers

- 2 times:

Folkabbestia
Meganoidi
I Ratti Della Sabina
Bandabardò
Sud Sound System
Linea 77
(Primo Maggio 2007/08 festival not included)
Roy Pacy & Aretuska
Los Fastidios
CapaRezza
Cure
Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti

- Once time:

Iggy Pop
Max Gazzé
Francesco De Gregori
Carmen Consoli
Piero Pelù
Afterhours
Le Orme
Umberto Palazzo e il Santo Niente
Lauren Harris
Iron Maiden
Anti-Flag
Bambole di Pezza
Persiana Jones
Matrioska
Brusco
Punkreas
Flogging Molly
Alains Morrisette
The Kooks
The President of the Unoted State of America
Millencollin
Kaiser Chiefs
Jamiroquai
Ziggy & The Renaissance Band
Die Artze
Sex Pistols
Serj Ttankian
R.E.M.
Babyshambles
The Killers
Placebo
Altan
Modest Mouse
Stiff Little Fingers
Sham 69
and many others which i don't remember
and many others which have never been famous

My "Seen live"s
artisti ascoltati dal viivo

. 5 times
Modena City Ramblers (13 EUR tot.)

. 4 times
Orchestra Popolare La Notte della Taranta (free)

. 3 times
Giuliano Palma and The Bluebeaters (free)

. Twice
Folkabbestia (free)
Meganoidi (free)
Radiodervish (free)
I Ratti Della Sabina (free)
Bandabardò (free)

. Once
(Primo Maggio 2007 festival not included)
Iggy Pop (free)
Max Gazzé (free)
Francesco De Gregori (free)
Carmen Consoli (free)
Piero Pelù (free)
Gem Boy (free)
Roy Paci & Aretuska (free)
Jovanotti (free)
L'Orchestra Di Piazza Vittorio (free)
Afterhours (free)
Baustelle (free)
Le Orme (free)
Vinicio Capossela (20 EUR)
Los Fastidios (free)
Nasodoble (free)
Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti (free)
Umberto Palazzo e il Santo Niente (free)
Manu Chao (free)
Avion Travel (free)
Nicola Piovani quintet (free)
Davide Van De Sfroos (free)

and many others which i don't remember
and many others which have never been famous

Come ogni sera sei sola nel buio;
Il tuo candore ti fa compagnia.
Senti il fruscio sulla soglia e non sai chi sarà.
Posi il giornale e ascolti in silenzio
Chi sta bussando a quest'ora?
Vorresti aprire ma tremi e non sai come mai.
Non hai aperto...perché?
Poteva essere "lui".
Le Orme - La porta chiusa