Corpus - Creation a Child
Due to the proximity of listening, I’ve kind of paired the selt-titled Bedlam album along with this Corpus record, both are hard rock bands, with a strong focus on riff based songs, that is even with hints of the Stones and other rock n roll bands, Corpus sound more like a child of Black Sabbath. Strangely enough if I was given a blind test I’d say Corpus was the British band and Bedlam the American one, but in actuality it’s reversed. Corpus seems like they would have been quite comfortable on the Vertigo label next to Sabbath, Clear Blue Sky and the like, there’s enough angularity and a little less blusiness than you’d expect from a US band of this era. Overall another 10 and already my memory is fading…
Iona - The Circling Hour
Iona’s among the top 5 best and most relevant symphonic progressive rock bands operating in the current market. I almost said British, but given the international heritage of the musicians, it might be inaccurate now. Not only are they working on the fringes of rock and folk but based on some comments made on their most recent DVD, it’s probably not safe or accurate to classify them as a Christian rock band anymore, or at least they’re continuing to develop that merging of spiritualities that reflects the merging of ancient Celtic myth with newer Western sensibilities. It’s this sort of operative pantheism that best describes their work, almost all of their music drawn together by the glue of rich and deep synthesizers, many songs of which float in and out on these waves as if the music is just one big dream. I was familiar with several songs on this album already from the Live in London DVD, which they apparently delievered flawlessly given these studio versions. In fact the break the band took between these new projects and their past seems to have given them a greater sense of livelihood as this could be the band’s most powerful and assured studio album since Journey to the Morn. I’m always utterly in awe of this band as they seem to strike such a great balance between an accessible sense of song styling and the long epic instrumental and solo sections that give so much bite to what could have been a much fluffier bunny. Everything is nearly always top notch about Iona, long may they continue.
Steve Hillage Band - Gong Unconventional Gathering, Melkweg, Amsterdam 11/5/06
I had to file the Unconventional Gathering under the wish I could have been there category, as I know there was a time I would have fought tooth and nail to see Steve Hillage back in the rock field even for a weekend, but it had probably passed. Based on this recording of the gig, you’d guess that the main reason Hillage was staying away is that time hasn’t been good to his voice, in fact at times he’s barely recognizable here. Fortunately on the instrumentals, and despite the fact most of the music played here was originally done with larger groups and overdups, we’re in safer territory and the trio does a remarkable job sounding pretty big and going through songs like “It’s All Too Much, “Salmon Song” and the like, in fact it’s interesting that most of the material comes from Hillage’s first two solo albums, the first in itself really a Gong album of sorts. Anyway the crowd loved it and even if Hillage isn’t the utterly peerless guitar player he once was, the chance to hear him do this material again (and not to mention Gong’s stuff) is well worth it. Indeed, I wish I could have been there.