Via Musicom

Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans (LIVE)

2012-01-30T13:10:00.002Z

Alright, so something a little bit different from what we used to do. Instead of a wall of text, which can sometimes not be so eye-pleasing, we show you a video. But that doesn't mean we will stop making those lovely amalgamation of letters.

In short: I'm mainly a music/instrumental type of listener, but this time what caught my attention was this girl's exquisite voice. Her dynamics are something really cool and interesting to hear. Gotta love that breakdown at 2:24, too.

Just check it out for yourselves. Enjoy !

The Best Pessimist - I Just Want To Be Your Everything

2012-01-13T22:34:00.002Z

Alright, before you get all melodramatic about the album title, let me clarify that this is NOT a love-related, (Brian Adam's) Everything I Do-esque album. Far from it, this can actually be a very sad, yet very beautiful instrumental album.

Before jumping into the review, this album was presented to me by a friend of mine in the most awkward of ways: "Dude, do you know the best pessimist?" "No clue, is he from around here?", and hell, I never thought that he would show me an artist that I would actually become fond of. So I thank thee!

Anyway, this is one of those records that doesn't hit you immediately (at least in some tracks), but has some really heart-felt songs. The Best Pessimist really builds great sounding and atmospheric ambiances with really simple, singable and appealing melodies. Throughout the whole album, you can actually hear a theme or a storyline being told within each measure, chord and note. Yes, yes, very (un)poetic of me, but I really do fancy alot theme-based instrumental albums and this - in my humble opinion - is one of them.

So, in the general hearing of things, the album has a great deal of mixed feelings: some are sad and mellow, others quite haunting and esoteric, others are lullaby-ish and calming and others are just a bit of all worlds. I especially do like the way it finishes, as the song "I" is a very powerful way to end this storyline that goes in my head. And no, I'm not going to tell you about it...you just hear it and think/imagine your own story. It's alot more fun that way.

Before giving my final praises, and in a sidenote, The Best Pessimist is literally a one-man show, so props to Sergey Lunev for creating such an excellent sounding album with great musical landscapes and a blend of very diverse sounds and styles. Oh and look at that, final praises made.

Nightwish - Imaginaerum

2012-01-09T00:01:00.001Z

This is oneof those albums I’m happy not to have to give a note… As most of you may know,Nightwish are a Finnish Symphonic Metal band from Kitee. Driven by TuomasHolopainen’s creative mind, Nightwish have been the spearhead of the SymphonicMetal scene, as well as a flagship for Finnish art. However, a few years agothey have parted ways with their iconic lead singer Tarja Turunen, leaving themwith a new record and no voice for it. That led to Dark Passion Play, an albumlabeled as “pop metal”. There were many problems with that particular CD butthe main one was the new singer, Anette Olzon. She was singing out of her range(the tracks were made with Tarja’s voice in mind) which could only lead to agrand disaster…

But thistime, with Imaginaerum, that “excuse” was no longer valid. And it is notneeded.

The album,as a piece of art, is absolutely flawless: Big arrangements with powerfulguitars and voice. Everything isblended together in absolute perfection.

However,there is a small problem: the album is happy.

To addressthis problem (and minimize its effect) one must first acknowledge that Nightwishare as trve as it gets. Their musicis the perfect mirror for Tuomas’ life. With that said, Tuomas has said himselfthat the last few months were the happiest of his life, and as such we all canhear that in his music.

Does thatmake it easier for me to listen toImaginaerum? Maybe… I’m happy for the guy. I hate and reject depression withthe force of a thousand suns, and to see someone leave its mire-like claws andbe able to tell the tale in such a big way is something that I profoundly admire.I like to focus my mind on that while listening to this album. That way I’mable to endure all that… happiness.

My highlights: the pre-chorus of “Ghost River” and thefirst half of “Scaretale”. If the whole album was like that this would be oneof my favorite albums.

Note:credit must be given to Anette. If I had any heroes or idols, she would be oneof them. As she was passing through hell, a lot of people (loudly) expressedtheir hate for her and her voice and that almost led to the end of Nightwish.However, she persevered. She kept being herself (silly un-Metal stage behavior included) and, most importantly, delivered abeast of a performance. Anette, I hail thee.

Devin Townsend: the story behind the man

2011-12-14T23:18:00.000Z

Many of you might know this man from Strapping Young Lad (SYL). Personally, I’ve been following him for his solo career and compositions. In this A-chord, I’ll try to cross-reference his discography with his biography, so you can have an idea of who this man is.

Devin Garret Townsend walked into the music world at the age of 19, at the hands of guitar virtuoso Steve Vai in his Sex And Religion album released in 1993. Before being found by Steve Vai, Devin played in a Vancouver metal band called Noisescapes. The first time Steve heard of Devin was when he sent him a demo track showing his vocal skills... wrapped in his underpants. Seems this little trick did a good job since the guitar virtuoso did hear it and was impressed by the young man’s vocal habilities. Soon after, the invitation came.

After recording his vocal parts and touring with Steve Vai and contributing with some guitar parts in projects like The Wildhearts, Devin Townsend formed Strapping Young Lad in 1994 and released City (an Extreme Metal album).

The Devin Townsend Band Era

It was only in 1997 that he released Ocean Machine: Biomech and started his solo career. Ocean Machine was the extreme opposite of City: experimental, ambient progressive/hard rock.

Coincidentally it was in this time that Devin was diagnosed with bipolar syndrome and was taken into the hospital.

Ironically, and after being discharged he began to work on his second album called Infinity, claiming that his new found psychological state helped him in its composition. This album was released in 1998 and was mainly Progressive Rock/Metal and was the parent project of City and Biomech.

At this stage, all of his albums were released under his name (Devin claimed all of them were part of his personality) and members from Strapping Young Lad were playing in both bands: SYL and Devin Townsend Band.

In 2000, Physicist was released. Initially it was a project called Fizzicist, in which Devin Townsend and Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica bassist) played together.

By peer-pressure from his (at that time) fellow counterparts, Jason Newsted had to leave this project, leaving Townsend and the rest of SYL to finish this Trash Metal album. Needless to say that it was his worse album when even Devin considered it as such.

Maybe it was Physicist's negative synergies, maybe the feeling of ostracizing its fans with his 3rd album, maybe it was destiny that Devin visited his motherland Canada, maybe it was his geniality... regardless and whatever the reason behind it, in 2001 his 4th album Terria emerged as a dedication to his country and one of my favorite albums.

This is a very personal, honest and introspective album with ambient elements combined with rock and metal, in which Devin builds great harmonies, melodic atmospheres and heavy parts that altogether paint such a beautiful sounding picture.

This album also marked the beginning of one of his greatest features: his famous "Wall of Sound" effect, in which he skillfully uses multi tracks to build harmonious sounds to create his main theme from nothingness.

By 2003, Devin Townsend gets his first dedicated line-up for his solo project. In the mean time he worked in another album with SYL while recording his 5th solo album. This 5th album was a mixture of hard rock with alternative progressive rock and it was named Accelerated Evolution. Its name came from the fact that he was able to get his line-up in less than a year, while simultaneously working with SYL and his 5th album.

In 2004 Devlab is released and in 2006 The Hummer reaches the music stores. Both albums were mainly ambient albums, but are somewhat strange ones. As Devin describes The Hummer: "much more user friendly than the Devlab...still, some people are going to think it's just buzzing and humming noises, so again...it's not for everybody." The Hummer appears in a musical burn-out phase of Devin Townsend as he explains he's tired from touring and interviews. Also, by this time his first son is born.

In between these albums, Synchestra is released. It's a pop-metal album, with influences of polka, eastern European folk and Arabian music. This is a very powerful album with heavy and melodic riffage combined with loads of harmonious ambient work, again demonstrating his trademark Wall Of Sound. This was a so called "pleasant" counterpart for Strapping Young Lad's Alien, again, showing Devin's bipolarity.
As a curiosity, the song "Triumph" features the man who brought Devin to the music world, the guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, who solos in the end of the song.

Finally, we arrive to the album presenting the omniverse of Ziltoid: The Omniniscient. Released in 2007 it marks the first time Devin Townsend composed, recorded, mixed and produced an whole album by himself, as he wanted to prove he did not need help from anyone else.
Townsend described his album as a mix between Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band, with a storyline like that of Punky Brüster's Cooked on Phonics. It is mainly a humorous concept album about an alien named Ziltoid from planet Ziltoidia 9 who's searching for the Ultimate Cup Of Coffee on Earth. Such search then results in a confrontation between the Humons (yes...Humons) and the Ziltoidians...
A very funny album indeed !

After Ziltoid, Devin goes on a "hiatus", thus ending the Devin Townsend Band Era.

The Devin Townsend Project Era

And by 2009 we enter in a new era in the career and life of Devin Garret Townsend. It is mainly a 4 album project introducing 4 different concepts, each describing different stages of his life and featuring different musicians. One important step in this era is that Devin wrote everything without being under the influence of narcotics and alcohol.

The first album, named Ki (yours truly...) is extremely sinister, with a heavy and calm environment and with a somewhat claustrophobic feeling that only "screams for help" in one song. It is an album that borrows from Terria and Synchestra, showing a stage of Devin's life where he felt depressive, angered and unhealthy after leaving Strapping Young Lad, drugs and alcohol.

It is truly a very depressing and tight album. However, it is very sober, unlike some of his older albums, with beautiful sounding melodies and environments.

His second project album named Addicted was released soon after Ki. Devin Townsend describes it as a melodic, danceable but very heavy album. It features Anneke van Giersbergen, from The Gathering, in the vocals and borrows sounds and motifs alike from Terria, Physicist and Ocean Machine. It is mainly a heavy album, with electronic influences, energetic and a somewhat pop-ish, almost commercial/mainstream feeling, yet a very pleasant and fun album to listen to.

His third album released in 2011, Deconstruction is by far his most deranged, heavy, weird, complex and strange album, presenting a massive amount of tracks ingeniously put together. It is somewhat humorous, as one track tells a story about a man who goes on a journey to find the true nature of reality. In his journey he goes to Hell and finds himself with the devil, who offers him a cheeseburger, supposedly being an "all-knowing cheeseburger"... Unfortunately the man is a vegetarian, rendering his journey pointless.
Aside from this track, and on a more personal level, this album tells of Devin's struggle with alcohol and drugs.
It features an all-star musician lineup, including: Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth, Ihsahn (ex-Emperor), Fredrik Thordendal from Meshuggah, Paul Masvidal from Cynic, Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. from Between The Buried and Me and many, many others.

And finally, we reach his most convincing ambient rock album. Ghost was released in 2011, soon after Deconstruction. It is a very quiet, very simple and powerful album. It's one of those albums that can almost sting your soul given the ambiance it creates with its great sounding melodies and harmonies.
Far from being the last we will see from Devin Townsend, this is where we will leave him, nonetheless, here ending our chronicles of the journey of a bipolar genious man who "crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side".

Written by Ki
("with a little help from my friend", RRR)

Bilateral - Leprous

2011-11-16T21:12:00.001Z

Leprous are a fairly unknown band from Notodden, Norway. Even among metal heads, few claim to know them. But they're not just another band form Norway, they're the backing band for one of Black Metals' Emperors: Ihsahn (pun intended). To any metal fan, that fact alone should be an unquestionable seal of quality.

However, to try to qualify Leprous based on their relation with Ihsahn is an absolute error. Leprous practice a rare blend of metal, prog and power. Their sound falls on the same category as Opeth's, Porcupine Tree's or Devin Towsend Project's, the undefined: it's a genre on it's own with specific rules that apply solely to it's own universe.

Although their first releases might have suffered from schizophrenia, Bilateral is a mature album in which every track has value on it's own and as part of the whole.

Instrumentally, the work is flawless: two guitars, bass, keys (that organ...), a powerful voice and drums that feel and sound like an orchestra, various movements flowing and fighting for space at the same time and genius ecstatic moments where one has to wonder if there's anything else beyond that.

All in all, this is one of my favorite albums of all time.

Web: http://www.leprous.net

Scorpions @ Pavilhão Atlântico, Lisboa - 11th November 2011

2011-11-12T17:49:00.000Z

The Class is in Session

How young is “old enough”? And exactly how old is not so young anymore? Take it even further: how old can true old school rock get? Can it ever get old?
The answer to these questions may be hard to find, perhaps a true quest on its own right. But we can try and sum it all up in five simple points.
That’s just what the teachers ordered.

One thing’s for sure: a Scorpions’ gig is much, much more than just a gig.
So, without further ado, let’s see why:

#1 - First of all, there’s the swearing. There’s no two ways about it: you just can’t say what you feel and mean without some serious rock and roll swearing… ‘Cause let’s face it: these guys f***ing rock. We’re talking about senior citizens, people, not younglings with illusions of grandeur, dreaming of groupies’ wet panties and coke lines the length of an airfield. We’re talking about the first iconic western rock band to play behind the iron curtain. We’re talking about the second major rock band in music history to think recording with a full orchestra was the way to go.

(A moment to pause on this one: what the f**k were they thinking? “Hey, Metallica did it, it must be good!” – “What shall we call it, then?” – “F**k do I know!... Hey, they called it ‘S&M’, let’s go beyond that, let’s be bolder!…” – “How ‘bout ‘Moment of Glory’?” – “Yeah, we could write a new song ‘bout the children’s plight and all that scheiße…” – “Hey, you know what we could call the song? I can see the outdoors already… ‘Moment… of… Glory’…!” – “Wow!… Wunderbar!...” I mean, come on… I still absolutely love these guys and the admiration goes unblemished, but not all shit is made of gold. Sure, Tim Burton did ‘Planet of the Apes’, the aforementioned Metallica did ‘St. Anger’ and Woody Allen did his stepdaughter, but that’s not really any good of an excuse, is it? It only goes to show how “genius” can coexist with “f**k things up”.)

So, when you’re seeing a band like this, live; when they’re really there, in front of you, flesh and blood, you’re not just at a gig: you’re seeing History in front of you. And what a sweet f***ing History it is…

#2 – The people. Scorpions have had many people in its different line-ups. Usually, there are two types of bands. Sometimes, the members stick together, line-ups hardly ever change (if at all), and they either go the distance until everyone starts kicking the bucket left and right, or they just disband even before the bucket has any chanced to be kicked. These tend to produce the best music, because the chemistry remains throughout, sometimes even fuelled by the stress and strain of coexistence.

Other times, it’s a f***ing circus, with people coming in, people going away, sometimes people coming out, perhaps even some people going in, I mean… It’s a mess. These usually provide more gimmicks than music, with drummer and lead guitar sharing the same woman, lead singer’s brother going on a Viagra binge (“know what I mean, nudge nudge…”) or simply bad release after bad release.

Scorpions are neither. In over forty years of music, these guys have had their fair share of line-up changes, but their music remained somehow the same. If not, at least very cohesive and coherent. Every different line-up took part in, at least, one iconic album and a handful of memorable songs. Of course, of these, some people stand out.

To begin with, co-founder Rudolph Schenker still remains the backbone of the band. He’s always there, in your face, to rock the shit out of you. He will not let go, make no mistake: not only is he one the liveliest 63 year-old guys you’ll ever see, his presence onstage is ubiquitous, sometimes feeling like he’s in more than one place at the same time.

Klaus Meine, the man behind the slightly metallic, slightly sinus-fuelled voice that delivered all those classics, remains top notch. Now, we have to realize that singers suffer added strain in comparison to the rest of their fellow band members: their instrument is part of the very aging body they inhabit. If a singer starts losing their voice, new pickups won’t do the trick. Which is why I was struck with how good his voice still sounds after all these years.

Matthias Jabs, the cap-wearing lead guitar player, remains as flashy as in the early days. Sure, sometimes he’ll go a bit over the top with his guitar-playing trickster moves, but we still love to see him wank to his whammy stick (go check Steve Vai’s very own experience with the whammy stick on Youtube, if you know what’s good for you…).

Finally, a word for drummer James Kottak, one of the junior band members. He was still 3 when the band was founded, which makes him a little kid playing with third-graders, but he brings an intensity and sheer madness to the gig that cannot be overstated. This guy is seriously old school, crazy hardcore stuff... Quoting from ‘The Usual Suspects’: Kottak’s the kind of drummer that’ll “beat the crap out of you, f**k your father in the shower and then have a snack…” No shit.

#3 – The legacy. From the first to the last song, the whole gig is a trip down memory lane. We’re simply not talking of music, here, it’s more than that. It’s testament; it’s legacy. Most of us grew up listening to these guys. Either at the shopping center, on an elevator, on the radio, at a high school party, here and there and everywhere. Their career spans over four decades, guys, this is no meager feat. Always putting out successful releases (some more than others, of course, but still nothing that would cause offense. Other than the already mentioned dreaded “Moment of Glory”… Geez… Why the f**k did I bring that up again?…), always adding more golden moments to an already golden story, turning story into History.

The gig revisits most of their iconic moments, from the headbang-ish memories of “Big City Nights”, “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “The Zoo” to the softer side of the band in the unforgettable “Holiday”, the prophetic “Wind of Change” and the legendary “Still Loving You”, probably still holding some kind of uncharted record for most babies conceived while listening to its chorus. All in all, the music was familiar, what we were expecting and love. In that respect alone, the delivery was flawless.

#4 – Ballad power. Sure, ballads are overrated. More than that: ballads are old news. No one gives a f**k if Bryan Adams and Lionel Ritchie got together and reissued old Valentine’s Day favorites in some crappy release titled “The Chronicles of Robin of Locksley in da Hood”, with well-known hits such as “Everything I Do, I’m Easy”, “Three Times a Lady 69” and the award-winning “Do I Have to Say the Words, Say You, Say Me”.
No wonder, then, that it’s been over twenty years since Scorpions put out their best, most famous and well remembered ballads. You name it: “Still Loving You”, “Always Somewhere”, “Send me an Angel”, “Born to Touch Your Feelings” and, my personal favorite, “When the Smoke is Going Down”.

So it was with a big sense of surprise that I came across their newest take on prom-night slow dance material, “The Best is Yet to Come”. This is, simply put, the revamped Scorpions’ DNA for the 21st Century. Yes, it’s as cliché-ridden as any other 80’s/early 90’s ballad you might have heard and it reeks of corny mood (“pop-corny”, dare I say?) and cheesy chord progressions. Yes, sometimes it seems these guys are completely out of phase with the times. Yes, it probably wouldn’t feature in the music library sent as part of NASA’s last unmanned probe for deep space exploration, nor would it be voted UNESCO’s protected cultural heritage. But let’s face it: lots of bands, both higher and lower than Scorpions in the A-list of luminaries and hall of famers, would love to have written something like this, especially after some forty-odd active years.

#5 – My dad. Yeah, I know, random shit. But not really. I went to this gig with two of my closest friends and my dad, and just having him there was amazing by itself. Father-son relationships have been studied, well documented and thought over, and the bottom line is: it’s not necessarily easy. So just to be able to drag my dad out of the house, have him by my side, listening to all these songs he showed me when I was a kid, songs that remained not only a very present part of my growing up but also stark reminders of some of the best times I spent with him, was really something. I mean, the man even danced a bit, sang a bit, went crazy for a while (the “hurricane song”, as he calls it, was indeed designed to rock the f**k out of your brains) and all in all had a really good time. Isn’t that what music, in general, and rock and roll, in particular, is all about?

So, recap: swearing, people, legacy, ballads and my dad. Hmmm… Hardly a recipe for success of any kind… And yet perfectly aligned with everything that happened tonight.
As the lights go out, what lingers on, what you bring home with you is that after so many years, these guys still know how to do what they do, and they do it better than anyone: good old senseless, no holds barred rock music.

Finally, a farewell note.
Yes, they’re retiring next year. Scorpions, as a band, will be over.
But in music, just like as everything else in life, the show must go on.

And thanks to the Laws of Thermodynamics, we know for sure that as long as the music remains faithful, as long as we dive head on into the melody of things and pour every ounce of energy we have onto the soundtrack of our lives, the best is indeed yet to come.
Why? Because the smoke ain’t ever coming down, baby.

Riverside @ Hard Club, Porto – 8th October 2011

2011-10-09T17:36:00.000+01:00

A "Polished" Performance

Just a day after their debut in Lisbon (or, as Mariusz Duda so politely put it, “Seville”), the quartet from Poland is once again stepping onstage, this time in Porto, roughly four years after a quick stint, then opening for Dream Theater in their Chaos in Motion Tour, back in 2007.

Things don’t start well for the Warsaw rockers, and as the clock hits 9:00 PM, there’s only about 40 people in the room… Strangely enough, nothing happens. Nor does anything happen for the 30 plus minutes that follow.

No sign from the band (or from the audience, for that matter), till all of a sudden the room fills in the blink of an eye and the corny power metal that’s been blasting away through the PA system for the past hour and a half finally subsides.

Familiar chords fill the air as the band finally finds their way onto the stage of this still half-filled room.

The fact that guitar man Piotr Grudziński climbs onstage with an APC t-shirt (that and the sheer number of Tool tees in the audience) could actually mislead you, but as the chords of “After” finally strike, you know you’re in Riverside land now.

Musically, from the first bass note to the last synth chord, these guys rock, there’s no two ways about it. The music flows flawlessly and we can feel the chemistry between the band members as the compositions evolve into what is quickly becoming a very complex musical portfolio.

Ever since “Out of Myself”, you can see, hear and, most of all, feel the complexity rising. Riffs become more elaborate, time signatures more demanding. But unlike so many other bands who, as time goes by, become more and more like someone else’s clone, Riverside have managed to keep their sound, as a whole, pretty much intact.

But if, on the one hand their music still keeps getting better and better, on stage they seem to be becoming the epitome of the consummate professional artist: in and out in about two hours, give’em enough to want more, not too much so as not to bore them, don’t play the obvious ones everybody wants to hear, appease the gods of prog by turning one of your anthems (“Second Life Syndrome”) into some kind of hybrid pseudo-medley that cuts throughout one the most iconic moments of the “Reality Dream Trilogy” (namingly, “Parasomnia”), and, above all, push out those encores like today’s specials. I mean it. And quite personally, this is actually what bugs me the most. But we’ll get to that in a sec.

If we forget for a moment that the setlist for this concert is exactly the same one played the night before (and, for that matter, the same one that’s been featuring in all gigs of their 10th Anniversary Tour), there still seems to be an aura of “lost in translation-ness” between the band and the audience. Sure, these guys are a product of too many years behind the Iron Curtain, but surely things have gotten much better since.

The concert has, here and there, strange (more like awkward) moments, where the band attempts to communicate with the audience, but all efforts seem to result in bafflement, above all.

For example, somewhere in the middle of “O2 Panic Room”, at the brake before the last chorus, the band stops playing altogether. The audience remains silent, waiting for something to happen as the band members, now looking downward, motionless and sphinx-like, start smiling, perhaps at some private joke we just missed. Seconds go by and nothing happens, until Mariusz starts gesturing for us to get loud. Ooooh! We finally get it! So we’re supposed to… and you guys are gonna… oh! I see… Hmmm, clever!… No, not really.

After some more seconds of… well, getting loud, the band returns to the “Sweet shelter of mine”, and we’re left feeling we’ve just taken part in a Happening. It could work, but it just feels forced, contrived.

In a sense, just as contrived as the “self-portraits they tried to paint before”, which for some reason don’t make it onstage, and the song is severely cut short of its last, crucial section. Shame on them!

All in all, the concert is competent, musically and attitude-wise, but that’s about it. The band seems to be strangely detached from the heart and especially the soul they put into their albums. Perhaps they’re just an uptight, introverted bunch that has a tough time loosening up.

Be it as it may, they could use a bit more soul in their stints in front of an audience. Ten years, four albums and a couple of EPs after, they’re hardly rookies anymore. Soulful as their music might be, it is important to be able to convey the feeling to an audience, not just through the music recorded in an album, but through the living, breathing band members themselves.

And we reach the encore bit…

Personally, I’ve always felt that an encore is a bit like the delicate art of tipping: underdo it, and there’s no motivation to go beyond the mere obligation; overdo it, an there’s simply no way to tell the difference between “good”, “OK”, “excellent” and everything in between with sugar on top.

Sure enough, nowadays the encore cult has almost disappeared, and bands deliberately leave their biggest hits for the encore, regardless of how the gig might go and what the atmosphere might be like. But quite frankly, to have the band leave the stage only for the “roadie master” to rout the audience into a noisy frenzy, like we’re getting ready to invade some small country, is too much for me. The encore is either natural or there is none. But to come onstage with two encores already planned, waiting to happen, regardless of what happens during the show; to have someone actually make us clap loud enough for an encore (or two) to take place somehow seems cheap and unnecessary.

That’s not the way, guys, surely it isn’t. If it’s good, we’ll still leave wanting more, no need to force what can and should be natural and pure.

All in all, a good show, but only that: “good”.

Finally, just a quick word regarding the individual performance of the band members.

It’s widely known that Duda is the soul of the band, especially in regard to the lyrics (as he writes all of them), and being the front man as well, most of the attention naturally falls on him. But I have to be honest, I could not veer my eyes away from guitarist Piotr Grudziński.

The pure simplicity with which Mr. Grudziński plays brings about everything that’s beautiful in music.

Sure, it’s prog; sure, sometimes it’s heavy; sure, sometimes things get really complicated, with 6 by 4 and the upper diminished fourth elevated to the power of the riff. But he’s not in a competition (like soooo many other guitarists of our time) to spit out as many licks as he can per second, nor is he trying to unlock the secret, über-difficult hidden level in Guitar Hero. He’s simply playing out of love, and we get it.

It doesn’t come as a surprise, then, when we find out who his four major influences are: John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation), Danny Cavanagh (Anathema) and, of course, the Heavy Devy himself, Mr. Devin Townsend. But the picture gets even clearer when he reveals who his true guitar hero really is: David Gilmour.

Throughout the concert (and the albums, as well), the similarities in style between both are unavoidable. And even if a comparison is right out of order (which it is!), it is undeniable that both play from the heart, and that shows.

Let’s be honest, these guys can all play, and play they do.

But beyond the drumming skills of Piotr Kozieradzki (“human metronome”, as our very own Ki so eloquently puts it), the amazing technique and melodic construction of keyboardist Michał Łapaj, and the virtuousness of Duda’s bass playing style, it’s Grudziński’s guitar that stands out, even more so live, and if Duda’s lyrics are the soul of Riverside, Piotr’s crying guitar is clearly the heart.

Setlist:

After

Artificial Smile

Hyperactive

Living in the Past

Ultimate Trip

Conceiving You

Egoist Hedonist

Left Out

02 Panic Room

Second Life Syndrome

(the first half, at least, with a short section from “Parasomnia”)

Encore #1

Forgotten Land

Reality Dream

Encore #2

The Curtain Falls

Riverside @ Santiago Alquimista - 07/10/2011

2011-10-08T22:41:00.000+01:00

It started as a Riverside + Guests show, but ended up with just Riverside, due to a long setlist the band had prepared for its fans. In fact, the 2 hour long show (including two encores) was part of their 10th anniversary tour, so the public (or, at least, personally) was expecting something special from the polish progressive rock artists.

The setlist consisted of songs from their EP, Memories In My Head, and from their older albums like Out Of Myself (2003), Second Life Syndrome (2005), Rapid Eye Movement (2007) and Anno Domini High Definition (2009). So, as you readers can guess, Santiago Alquimista entered in some sort of “random time machine” and visited all the albums from the band in a couple of hours.

Songs like Conceiving You, Loose Heart, 02 Panic Room, Second Life Syndrome (with a good medley/improve from the band) and Living In The Past all came to life in this 14 songs long list (setlist at the end of this text). The songs were all very well played and, in fact, the band was very proficient that night. They interacted well with the audience, which, in return, answered the call by either singing choruses (like Conceiving You) or by singing guitar parts (like Left Out).

Mariusz Duda (bass player/vocals) played and sang really great and even brought a bit of comedy to the show: besides wearing an Angry Birds’ t-shirt, he goofed a bit with the audience.
Piotr Kozieradzki was a beast at the percussion section and was a splendid human metronome for the band.
Michał Łapaj (keyboards) and Piotr Grudziński (guitar) both played beautifully, with great sounding melodies and spot on execution of their instruments. Actually, the keyboard player had time to drink his coffee during the intro of Left Out while the rest of the band played (which can be kind of ironic, given the song’s title).

The only downside to this show was, maybe, a lack of soul from the band. Although they played really good and beautifully, with complex passages played smoothly and good interaction from the audience, personally, they could have showed a bit more soul during the show. But nonetheless and, overall, it was a good concert.

Setlist

After

Artificial Smile

Hyperactive

Living in the Past

Ultimate Trip

Conceiving You

Egoist Hedonist

Left Out

Loose Heart

02 Panic Room

Second Life Syndrome

—-

Encore:

Forgotten Land

Reality Dream III

—-

Encore 2:

The Curtain Falls

Via Musicom Is Alive

2011-10-01T12:00:00.000+01:00

Fellow readers, we’re deeply happy to present you Via Musicom, The New Music-Related Blog created by three fellow Portuguese musicians.

Indeed, Ki and RRR (guitar and keyboards) began a few jam sessions a couple of years ago, while Ki and Instinto (both guitar) play together since they’ve met. Ki introduced RRR to Instinto and one day at an Open-Air Festival, the idea of creating a music-related blog came to mind to the 3 Friends (musketeers much?) while waiting for the beginning of the concerts at a “mead-drinking-gathering table”.

Our main idea was (and is) to give you, our most appreciated reader (yes, this is as ass-kissing as it can get), our own personal opinions in as many music types as we can find. Quoting Pink Floyd: “Together we stand, divided we fall”, the diversity of music genres that might be found in our blog comes from the union of our tastes. We will provide good tag names, in order for you to filter to whatever genre you desire. Also, our search feature can help you find the posts you want.

Although we’re Portuguese, we’ve chosen to write our posts in English in order to broaden our audience. So, instead of having half the world visiting our blog, we have a larger reading community.

We want to mention that, while many other blogs and magazines might “quantify” the albums/concerts with notes (having that back to school feeling?), we will not do as such because, in our minds, giving grades (specially low ones) might move away our reader from a good hearing experience and not form his own opinion on the matter. However, we will appreciate and encourage you to give us feedback by commenting and giving reactions to our posts. Also, in a near future we will open a Facebook and Twitter account so you can follows us on those social networks as well. If you’re like Ki who doesn’t have any of those, you can also follows us using RSS feeds. All 3 plus the search feature can be found over there on our right column, so...the audience is listening right? :)

The name of the blog (ironically, suggested by RRR) is related to the jazzy guitar player Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom and, according to plan, Ki will give his opinion on that album.

We would also like to present you what our sections (up there in the lovely white bar) are:

Home - home ! It’s what i long for...self-explanatory section;
On Our Own A-Chord - an open-topic section;
Reviews - our album reviews will end up here;
We Were There - concert reviews will have their home here;
A Long Time Ago - our flashback section, where we will remember events/albums/concerts that happened some years ago.

Finally, and before letting you wonder around our blog, from time to time we will do a game we like to call “Name That Song”...so, can you name the song found in each paragraph (including this one) and the title? :) - we will tag each post related to this game and in the end of the month we can show you the answers to each post.