March Contest: Gossip

[Hovmod]

Puff the magic dragon was one of my two first 7" singles. The very first one was Seasons in the sun. I felt really bad for the guy who had to die when all the birds were singing in the sky.

[Patrick9]

So the moral to my story is…..it's good to take part and attempt alternative musical styles.
We don't really think about trying to win!

Hey! You and me, kidda. That's what it's aaal about.

[Khepira]

Duncan - I had to smile when I heard your track. I thought I was having a . . . 70's FLASHBACK! There's even a bar or two that reminded me of Return to Forever. Excellent work! A cut above the rest, so far, which is saying something as there are some other pretty good entries.

[Echo Voodoo]

duncanparsons - Retropolis -> Very busy, lots of energy, changeups galore. I like the synth sound at 1:05. The 'vinyl' sounds are a little distracting. Obviously crafted with care.

offthewall - The Set Up -> Enjoyable, easy-going track, sounds great all around. Flute comes as a bit of a surprise, but I like it in the end.

[xander]

Puff the magic dragon was one of my two first 7" singles. The very first one was Seasons in the sun. I felt really bad for the guy who had to die when all the birds were singing in the sky.

Indeed -- 'Puff', as everyone knew, was for the kids. But 'Seasons In The Sun' was an immensely important milestone in humankind's social development, and the definitive harbinger of the death of the Homo Sapiens combination X~Y chromosome.

[core]

Thanks Echo Voodoo and Marc JX8P for the kind words.

Marc, most sounds in my track are from superb free plug-ins: Monolisa, Evol, NubiLE and the wonderful LazySnake by Andreas Ersson plays a big part.

[Patrick9]

My thanks also to Echo Voodoo and MarcJX8P.

Marc - The drums are the 'groovy kit' out of Sonar's Session Drummer with some nice midi grooves from Bill Bruford, no less, off an old 'The Mix' sample CD. I only play with the best,me.

[duncanparsons]

I'll resist the temptation to mention that my only drum lesson was from Bill Bruford at his house There, resisted

DSP

[Marc JX8P]

I'll resist the temptation to mention that my only drum lesson was from Bill Bruford at his house There, resisted

DSP

[duncanparsons]

Quick note for those who aren't fans of the LP version, I've updated my submission with a link to a Limited Edition Bootleg Premasterd version of the tune (found outside a damp studio in Camden Town (London, UK) near Dingwalls [as previously stated]).

Of course, true prog is only listened to on a home built Cambridge Audio Systems HiFi [with preamps that understand 'Flat Response' as the listener being asleep], with a self made stereo cartridge and speakers culled from an old Bird valve organ which had seen better days...

Apologies for the trace of the previous track and the record jumps (I managed to catch it before the final seconds of the 2 minutes was filled with a repeated jump) - the 'Premastered' version goes back to the original tapes sent for the white label pressing..



DSP

[mellotronaut]

regressive progressive

core: a very relaxed version of Camel's main-theme. Beautiful and also in some way cheesy. Great drums and nice atmo!

Patrick 9: Interesting progression of licks and sounds, quite a good dynamic, strong synth and guitar. The only weak point are the distracting drums in the beginning. Quite a good track!

Offthewall: Rough cats. Homogenic and varied, well played...i like the flute a lot. A good one!

Jonny Quest: Allman Bros go groove. The unisono-part is outstanding. Catchy impro and great player!

Duncan Parsons: This is completely prog from the 70's. The instrumentation, the changes, the sounds and melody-lines. Very well done and...it's a great tune condensed into two minutes. Hats off!

The topic is a challenge, but only for prog-fans.

mellisse

[core]

Nice entries so far, seems prog rock can be anything
Some thoughts:

Groovesys feat. Legion Hush - In One Sixtieth
Prog zappa rock! Very energetic and lots of stuff going on in just 1 minute. Great production and sweet guitar play.

Duncan Parsons - Retropolis
I was going to mention the crackles but I see you already put a new version up. I really don't like the sound of some of the instruments used, mostly the drums which sound like GM which I don't like.
Halfway the song I'm liking it much better, good synth sounds and the guitar sounds sweet!

Kara - Tribute to Zelda
Lovely theme, great melody and nicely played with varied instruments. Weak point for me is the sound of the drums.

Legion Hush - Disco Arbys
Yup, where are my rollerskates? Let's boogie! The bass need more bass though, pump it up!

Khepira - Sunset Flight
Great mix of instruments, although I'm not totally charmed by the saxophone sound. The heavy metal guitars need a bit attention (sounds like some of the samples seem to have some crackle/peak at the start). Cool element in the mix though.

Marc JX8P - Timechange
Got all the elements in the right place, sounds great and has good progression. Some of these basslines are lovely. Well done Marc!

Patrick9 - Just Jammin'
It really does feel like you're jamming. Drum programming is really nice, the interaction between the synth and guitar works very well. Great job!

Shane Sanders - Alaskan Highway
I love the melody, so catchy. The main bass sound is maybe a tad overpowering, but the one just below it (the one that kicks in at 10 sec) is so good, love that sound. Great drums and nice touch with the guitar.

Echo Voodoo - Why are you calling me?
You've caught the SID bug! heh. Some great sounds in there, nice work on the vocoder. What did you use for that pad? Sounds great

[Marc JX8P]

Marc JX8P - Timechange
Got all the elements in the right place, sounds great and has good progression. Some of these basslines are lovely. Well done Marc!

Thanks!

[adj]

Well as for me the seventies was a wasteland musically. I was mostly listening to Classical Music in that decade. As far as other music went, except for Zappa, Steely Dan and some of the younger Jazzers there is nothing that interests me from that period. I cannot emulate Zappa or SD, so I think it's best I bow out this month.

See ya,
Gordon

Oh, come on Gordon - what about Weather Report?? They have enuff proggy moments in their modern-jazz-rock-electronica.. Black Market Woman for goodness sake!

DSP

Honestly -- that's the problem -- agreeing with the classification. How on earth could anyone place Rotary Connection and Weather Report in the same genre?

In THAT era, almost anything new was placed under the 'progressive rock' banner, when really it should have been put under the 'folk-rock' or 'not-rock' banner. Mainly because 'pure' RnR was dead. DJs just wanted to keep the meter running and called anything they'd never heard before 'Prog Rock'. To me, the definitive line was when the folk-rock noodlings versus 'evo-rock' finally got put in perspective by the debut of 'Lark's Tongues in Aspic'.

While being totally inspired by artists such as Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, EW&F and songs like Beck's 'Highway Jam', groups like Styx, Love and Deep Purple made me wanna quit music and become a professional hitman. To this day when I hear that gawd-awful garbage like 'Smoke On The Water' I wanna hurl. AFAIC, you could put all of Richie Blackmore's so-called 'fantastic guitar work' into a one-minute lead break during a Pepsi commercial and never notice it...

[Khepira]

The heavy metal guitars need a bit attention (sounds like some of the samples seem to have some crackle/peak at the start).

Yes, you're right. I tried to hide that under other sounds, but . . . I'm learning you can't ignore the little details, even if you manage to mentally filter them out after many listens.