SEARCHING FOR LOST CHORDS

Friday, February 28, 2014

Good Old Days, INDEED!!!

   I love silent movies.  My DVD collection grows slowly but surely. Keaton is my favorite comedian of all time and his pictures have brought me great joy. My memories of being introduced to Haroly Lloyd with my Dad are precious. The early Laurel & Hardy silents actually do rival their later "talkies"...which are the bench mark for comedy duos!  The Mary Pickford classic "Sparrows" (1926) is a film for the ages. This list could go on and on.

  Tonight (Feb 28th) Deo volente, I will be attending my fifth opening night of Topeka's KANSAS SILENT FILM FESTIVAL.     This will be the 18th annual event for this august organization. Every year the organizers bring in esteemed national (and local) musical talent to accompany the silents that are being shown. The last few years the Colorado based MONT ALTO MOTION PICTURE ORCHESTRA have been the high-lighters.   http://www.mont-alto.com/  Tonight they will be playing a solid 60 minutes of music to accompany the 1921 Will Rogers classic "Doubling for Romeo." Tomorrow (Saturday) they will play for 75 minutes while accompanying the 1928 gem: "The Patsy" with Marion Davies. It will be
heaven. http://www.kssilentfilmfest.org/kssff2014/program.html 

   As the silent age of cinema moved into the talkies, the great scoring and "cuing" for shorts and feature length films remained at a very high quality.
   The great LeRoy Shields wrote (sadly, uncredited) most of the music for Hal Roach's OUR GANG comedies.  http://www.leroyshield.com/ 

   The "revivalist" Dutch Band/Orchestra THE BEAU HUNKS have as a labor of love released several discs of re-created music of Mr. Shields.  http://www.beauhunks.com/    GOOD OLD DAYS brings back memories that are filled with glee and childhood joy. Enjoy...



Thursday, February 27, 2014

Theme One - Schizo Fun Addict

   Just a FUN 2:57 from a band by the cool name of SCHIZO FUN ADDICT.  And, what's not to love about the classic sci-fi movie clips in this video  :D

  For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com 

Enjoy o RELIOPS the redundant.
- eugor the eugenically deprived





Wednesday, February 26, 2014

This Thing has turned into a Runaway Ramble :)


   While it’s fairly clear that I love pretty much all genres of music (except rap and hip-hop for the most part) I usually listen to only one kind of music at a time (intently and almost exclusively). I am currently about three weeks into my Doom Metal/Rock, Stoner, Sludge, Psychedelic, Space-Music “jag.” It got started as I was listening to two of my favorite “old-time” bands Hawkwind and Black Sabbath…and has just mushroomed (pardon the pun ;) ). More on this topic in a future post.

   But one of the genres that almost got re-kickstarted was my love for traditional Country & Western music (by “traditional” I mean Cash, Waylon, Geo. Jones, Willie, Marty Stuart, Dwight Yoakum, Dale Watson, et al)  I had both read a rave review of Roseanne Cash’s new album, as well as had heard from SPACE EMPEROR RELIOPS that said digital-entity was truly worthy.  I would have bought the CD at Hastings had I the cash when I saw it (on sale no less).

   So, as it stands, C&W has not yet de-throned Doom/Sludge/Stoner rock at Agent
Eugor’s hidden lair, but I do want to share the best web-site for traditional Country music in the universe…as well as a YouTube clip of one of my favorite Roseanne songs ever. It’s from her 1987 hit album KING’S RECORD SHOP.  I loved it so much back then that I bought it on vinyl.  I have recently re-bought it on CD…it’s that good of an album.  The song is by the one-and-only (and much lamented: R.I.P. John Stewart.)   Stewart is in my top echelon of singer-songwriters. There’s something in the melody and lyrics that almost brings a tear to my eyes…like much (most) of John Stewart’s gems! I hope you like the song that Ms Cash truly does “justice” to.

The site which I can’t recommend enough is Saving Country Music by the Trigger Man (aka Trigger). It’s simply the “must-go-to” site for all things genuine, real, quality, and solid.  Surf on to it at: http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/  



Tuesday, February 25, 2014

LOVECRAFT TUESDAY

   Lovecraft themed and inspired music needs no defense or apology (or even much explanation) on this blog, or for either of us Emperor Reliops!

I hoping to share a Lovecraftian song every Tuesday...just cause I can   :)

I discovered Paul Roland and his creepy-cool-vibed music several years back when I was getting into Steam-Punk music (Tom Waits brought me to a lot of clock-work and Verne-inspired goth-tinged music) and really liked what I heard from him on YouTube. But I found very little of his material for sale in hard-copy format (I'm a sucker for the Cd and not so much for the download) so I just kinda forgot about him.  This album (Re-Animator) can be purchased on Amazon.com as an MP3 download: http://www.amazon.com/Re-Animator-Paul-Roland/dp/B00120GOZ2/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1393362856&sr=1-1&keywords=Paul+Roland+reanimator

Roland has a pretty extensive discography of weird music right up your alley.  Then again O mighty Reliops...you have no doubt already discovered him on your own.
I remain your obsequious servant,
Agent Eugor


Monday, February 24, 2014

THE NEXT BIG THING ! ! !

Ever since the Moody Blues became my favorite band in January of 1974 (they are no longer my favorite all-time band but still remain in my top-ten greatest bands) I have been questing for the "next big thing." By that I mean, a band that could produce the musical "highs" and tonal-endorphins in my brain that the Moodies first did as I listened to their complete discography album after album (thanks to a loan of her collection--thanks Patricia :) ).
I have indeed found other "heavy hitters" (Barclay James Harvest, Renaissance, Horslips, Clannad) during the years, and even lately (in the last decade) have discovered those special bands that I missed the first time around (Pink Floyd, Be Bop Deluxe...and especially CAMEL).

I have now found, for me, THE NEXT BIG THING!  I discovered this band from the internet pages of SEA OF TRANQUILITY (a great web-site) as well as from the pages of PROG magazine. After having recently purchased both of their albums from Amazon.com - - they are enshrined already on my top list of favorite all-time bands. Though their first album (THE WEIRDING) is much longer, and maybe even a bit better work, the clip below is from their most recent (second) album THE BLACK CHORD.
When I listen to them I hear a perfect 2014 melding of Pink Floyd and King Crimson, with ASTRA's own flavor and originality. They also evoke Genesis, Yes, and a touch (a second or two's worth) of Black Sabbath (side-ways, sort of).

You can't be a prog-head in my book without trying, and then LOVING: ASTRA!



Sunday, February 23, 2014

Al Stewart - A Man For All Seasons

STEWART SUNDAY: Songs Supernal!

As of March 1999 I had gone almost a decade without dipping my toe (musically speaking) into pop/rock music. I had spent the preceding 10 years listening to big-band Jazz, Celtic music, John Michael Talbot, Michael Card, and classical music (mostly choral late middle ages)...It was Al Stewart that brought me back to popular music. I've not looked back. I had amassed a huge vinyl lp collection of pop & rock in the '70s and '80s but had divested myself of most of my collection by the time I moved from South Dakota back to Kansas. Hearing Stewart's omni-present 'Year of the Cat' (one of my favorite tunes ever) on the radio prompted me to actually buy an album of his at the local BORDERS. I quickly acquired his entire discography and he became (and remains) my FAVORITE singer song-writer in the history of recorded music.
Choosing between my favorite songs of his would be like telling someone which of your children is your favorite-- THEY ALL ARE...he's that good in my estimation.

I'm going to be playing a Stewart stellar stunner every Sunday because his canon is that good, diverse, and immense....

The following tune ( 'A Man For All Seasons') is the fourth track on his 8th studio album (TIME PASSAGES) released in 1978. It's one of his many brilliant historical songs. The delicate guitar work is by either Tim Renwick or Peter Green. The female vocal chorus that comes in at 2:31 and 2:39 is ethereal. Enjoy...for...the Man For All Seasons is lost behind the sun.


Saturday, February 22, 2014

Saturday's COVER(ed) TIMES THREE



I loved posting art work from albums that I thought warranted shared appreciation back when I was doing The ROADS OF AUTUMN DUSK. To be sure, art is pretty darn subjective. I love all kinds of art from Frazetta, Patrick Woodruff, Storm Thorgerson, and Roger Dean, to Maxfield Parish, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the Impressionists. Good rock album art is...well, an "art-form" unto itself.
Every Saturday I will post a tryptych of three of my favorite jackets. I don't necessarily have to like all the music represented, but usually I will.

In this first installment the theme is female royalty of the first order (i.e. Queens)

I've loved QUEEN ever since you and I (oh might RELIOPS) first heard "Killer Queen" on WMEE...or was it WLYV in Fort Wayne?  :)
My first album of Freddie and the boys was QUEEN II, still my favorite records of theirs.

The cover (below) is from their 1978 opus NEWS FROM THE WORLD. This creepy-neat artwork is a "riff," which every good science fiction fan will recognize, on/from the cover art from the October 1953 ASTOUNDING STORIES (a straight-up swipe/pastiche). It's a strong album but indeed pales to the two immediate predecessors (Night at the Opera and Day at the Races). I've included a delightful Youtube clip of Freddie's "Who Needs You." This is a fun little dittie with a dash of salsa, rhumba, calypso and tin-pan alley; it also has deft guitar playing by Brian May.

QUEENSRYCHE is a band that I've come to late. While their later discography leaves me less than inspired, their first several albums are great heavier rock with a lot of progressive touches. I include the cover of their album PROMISED LAND. I love the simplicity and boldness of this cover art plus I've always loved their logo!

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE is here repesented by their latest albums (LIKE CLOCKWORK) for its uber cool picture of a vampire and his prey... Would've been perfect back in the tROAD era, eh?  Q.o.T.S.A. is the successor group to desert-stoner legends Kyuss. I've listened to this album and like it quite a bit.













Al Stewart -- Sirens of Titan (Why the Blog is so named?)

Why the title for this blog?
I dunno, I've just always loved outer-space themes. I love Space-Rock (HAWKWIND baby) and my favorite solo artist in all of music is Al Stewart. His album MODERN TIMES is a brilliant work and the track "Sirens of Titan" is one of my favorites. But besides being a great tune it hearkens to the power of music. Even as the mythical sirens sang so beautifully as to draw sailors to their doom on jagged rocks, so too music has the power to move us onto the rocks of all sorts of emotions and remembrances (a time-machine much like Ray Bradburry suggested old photographs can do).

And of course being that the song was written by Al Stewart as an homage to the book by the same name, I am allowed also to share the greatness of one of my favorite 20th authors--the much missed Kurt Vonnegut.   But, unlike Odysseus who while taking the liberty and risk of listening to music beyond the norm, while making his crew sail on with wax stuffed into their ears; you my friend are beckoned to click on all the coming Youtube videos to listen to the SEIRENES OF TITAN!

The only reason this blog is named/titled "SEIRENES" rather than "Sirens" is that the normal and traditional English spelling was already taken as a "blogger" address.


Welcome Back My Friend

Hello there Spoiler...
or,
since this is a music blog I guess I should say: "TESTING 1,2,3....CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!..."

While this is a personal and, I guess, a private blog written just for you; I'm keeping it (for now) open
and available for anybody else who appreciates the music that we do.

The goal will be to try and post often (ideally, daily) but to keep each post relatively short and to the point (stop laughing). So anyway, check back several times per day just to see if I can add content.

Welcome back my friend!