Альбом со своей полки.

Only a single Willie original is here, “Is the Better Part Over” (first found on 1989's A Horse Called Music ), which blends perfectly with the Irving Berlin and Django Reinhardt numbers that populate the rest of the album. The band isn't out to break any new ground here, which is what makes the record such a welcome effort; it's comfortable, graceful, and uniformly pleasant. After years of studio work in which Willie has essentially taken producers' song requests and sung with guest musicians, it's nice to hear Willie as relaxed as he is here with the players whom he knows and who know him best. Is the better part over? Who cares. Let's face the music and dance. Here's to the next 20 years.

Nuages

Herd of Instinct: “Conjure” 2013

Интересный проговый альбом.

Свой второй альбом Conjure выпустили американцы Herd Of Instinct. Он инструментальный и принципиально не отличается от одноимённого дебюта. Интересен, должен быть в первую очередь поклонникам King Crimson и Djam Karet, тем более что альбом записывался на лейбле Firepool Records принадлежащий последним, да и одним из участников является их оригинальный клавишник Gayle Ellett.

Praxis

In the late spring of 2011, the self-titled debut album by Herd of Instinct – a hitherto unknown outfit named after the only album by Talk Talk offshoot O'Rang - was released on Firepool Records, the label created by Gayle Ellett and Chuck Oken Jr, founding members of veteran US progressive rock band Djam Karet. Based in the Dallas-Forth Worth area of Texas, the idiosyncratic “power trio” of Mike Davison, Mark Cook and Jason Spradlin was augmented by a number of guest musicians – some quite high-profile, such as drummers Jerry Marotta, Gavin Harrison and Pat Mastelotto, and touch guitarist Markus Reuter and Gayle Ellett himself. After a few spins, the album – at first deceptively unassuming – quickly became one of my favourite albums of 2011, also earning and Herd of Instinct my personal “best new band” award.
In the months prior to the release of Conjure , their highly anticipated second album, some things have changed in the Herd of Instinct camp. The trio is now a quartet, with Ellett (an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and composer involved in a myriad of different projects) now a full member, manning the keyboards and providing some exotic accents. While the debut featured vocals on two tracks out of 10, with Conjure Herd of Instinct have chosen a completely instrumental format. The album expands on the ideas presented on the debut, introducing subtle adjustments to the band's distinctive sound rather than opting for a dramatic change in style – though avoiding the all too common syndrome of the sophomore effort being an inferior copy of its predecessor.

Dead Leaf Echo

This time around, the presence of guest artists is kept to a minimum – with Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin the only household name on the list – emphasizing Herd of Instinct's status as a real band rather than a loose group of musicians. With Ellett's keyboards used discreetly to accent the work of the other instruments, and a smattering of programmed drums to supplement Jason Spradlin's deft work behind the kit, the musical texture is profoundly atmospheric, often hypnotic and occasionally hard-edged, each instrument meshing with the other to produce an organic flow.On Conjure – even more so than on Herd of Instinct's debut – the four band members bring their wide range of influences and keenly eclectic attitude to full fruition
Clocking in at around 53 minutes, Conjure features 12 tracks, the longest of which falls short of the 6-minute mark. However, there is plenty of complexity for fans to sink their teeth into, and a lot of interesting details are packed into each of those apparently short numbers. The one criticism I might level at the album is that, though anything but overlong, it temporarily loses steam in its second half. In fact, a couple of somewhat repetitive tracks might have been omitted without any detriment to the rest of the material. On the other hand, the performances of all the artists involved are top-notch, possessing that effortless quality that is not always easy to achieve when playing highly complex music.

Alice Krige pt.1

Immediately creating a connection with the band's debut, “Praxis” successfully combines variety and fluidity, its many layers subtly and skillfully rendered. Gayle Ellett's Mellotron – an essential ingredient of the album's instrumental texture – fleshes out the sleek, intricate work of Mike Davison and Mark Cook's guitars, blending with the liquid polyrhythms of the Warr guitar and contrasting with an array of eerie electronic effects, while flute adds a soothing, pastoral note.“Dead Leaf Echo” introduces a keen metal-like edge reminiscent of King Crimson 's late Nineties incarnation; the many tempo changes are handled deftly, with peaks of riff-heavy intensity followed by low-key passages dominated by the evocative sound of Mellotron and Warr guitar. Starting out in similar fashion, “Brutality of Fact” soon turns solemn, tapping into that cinematic vein evidenced by the band's debut, and pushing Mellotron and Hammond organ to the forefront together with the guitars and Jason Spradlin's powerful drumming.
With the one-two punch of “Alice Krige pt. 1” and “Solitude One”, Conjure reaches its creative peak. The former explores the rarefied, atmospheric territory that had made Herd of Instinct's debut such an intriguing proposition, with ethereal trumpet and flute complementing the echoing sound effects and sparse lap steel guitar, spiced by warm-sounding percussion; the latter, based on the Indian dilruba (one of the many exotic string instruments mastered by Ellett), juxtaposes haunting ambient and ethnic elements with trance-like electronics. The first half of the album closes with the clear, intersecting guitar lines and wistful Mellotron of “Ravenwood”, accented by a sprinkling of electronic effects.

Line-up:
Jason Spradlin: drums and programming
Gayle Ellett: Moog, Mellotron, Hammond organ, Rhodes, and Dilruba
Mike Davison: guitar, 12 string acoustic, and guitar synth
Mark Cook: Warr guitar, ADG fretless bass, guitar, and programming

Special Guests:
Lisa Lazo: keyboards on track 5
Bob Fisher: flute on tracks 1 & 4
Colin Edwin: fretless bass on tracks 1 & 11
Joe Blair: lapsteel guitar track 4
Joel Adair: trumpet on track 4

Ravenwood

The Mellotron takes a lead role again in the aptly titled “Mother Night”, a stately, faintly gloomy piece redolent of Scandinavian prog icons such as Anekdoten. “Vargtimmen”, based on a percussion sample from Steve Tibbetts' Friendly Fire collection, is introduced by recorded voices that intensify its brooding, ominous quality; while the somewhat harsh-sounding “Malise”, rife with buzzing electronics, is in my view the weakest link on an otherwise strong album. Urgent drumming and sharp, assertive guitar lines propel the Morricone-influenced “New Lands, which also features a particularly expressive guitar solo (almost a rarity on an album based on a tight instrumental texture rather than on individual performances). Slow and measured, “A Sense of an Ending” hints at some episodes of Trey Gunn's output, as well as the more sedate compositions of second- and third-phase King Crimson, while the airy, spacious melody in the first half of closer “The Secret of Fire” leads to an entrancing, almost slo-mo finale enhanced by piano and spacey sound effects.
Herd of Instinct have also upped the ante in terms of artwork, and Conjure comes with a strikingly sinister cover that suggests one of the Three Fates ready to sever the thread of life. Like its predecessor, the album may be a grower rather than a “love-at-first-listen” affair, and require more than a couple of absent-minded listens to make its full impact. On the other hand, with its sophistication and eclecticism, it strengthens the band's reputation as one of the most interesting presences in the variegated “instrumental prog” universe, and will not disappoint those who had appreciated their debut. It is to be hoped that some festival organizers – either in the US or elsewhere – will also take notice.

New Lands

Аменайин барикнер!

Минчев хандипум!

Joe Satriani: “Unstoppable Momentum” 2013

Поставил классный инструментал товарища Джозефа.

Сатриани – это гитарный архитектор. Его записи – с ювелирной точностью выстроенные произведения искусства, сложенные из многослойных звуковых кирпичиков. Несомненный мастер сведения треков в одну причудливую и гениальную композицию.

Unstoppable Momentum

Джо Сатриани нравится сочинять, записывать и исполнять в живую “странную прекрасную музыку” без слов. Раз в два-три года Сатриани собирает урожай из свежих мелодий, выпускает студийный альбом и с ним отправляется в большой концертный тур.

“Фундаментом” нового “архитектурного” проекта стали Винни Колайута (ударные) и Крис Чани (бас), а последний косметический штрих внес Майкл Кенелли (клавиши).

“Can’t Go Back” — создана для полётов, как во сне, так и наяву.

Can’t Go Back

В "Unstoppable Momentum" вошли одиннадцать инструментальных композиций, каждая из которых базируется на простой, доходчивой и легко запоминающейся мелодии. Но эта простота - обманчива… Ибо чтобы сочинить подобную музыку и заставить её звучать красиво и полновесно, как она представлена на альбоме, нужна голова и руки Сатриани. Как отмечают философы, умение выразить (объяснить) сложные вещи просто – признак гения.

Композиция “Lies and Truths” интересна помимо солирующей гитары еще и лихими барабанными брейками и сбивками

Lies and Truths

Джозеф (Джо) Сатриани (Joe Satriani; “Satch”; 15 июля 1956, Вестбери, Нью-Йорк, США) — американский гитарист-виртуоз итальянского происхождения.

”Three Sheets to the Wind” — воспринимаю как личный подарок в стиле "The Beatles" и их альбомов конца 60-х.

Three Sheets to the Wind

Учитель таких гитаристов, как Стив Вэй, Кирк Хэммет, Алекс Школьник, David Bryson, Charlie Hunter, Larry LaLonde и многих других.

“I’ll Put a Stone in Your Cairn»”— баллада, словно доносящаяся из кельтского рога.

I’ll Put a Stone on Your Cairn

По мнению британского издания Classic Rock, один из величайших гитаристов всех времен.

В конце 1993 года был приглашён в Deep Purple на замену ушедшего из группы во время гастролей Ричи Блэкмора, однако на следующий год покинул группу из-за контрактных обязательств.

Привет восьмидесятым и пышным шевелюрам — “A Door into Summer".

A Door Into Summer

В работе над альбомом Сатриани помогал клавишник - Майк Кинилли. Про него следует сказать особо, ибо он, как и Сатриани, ещё и виртуозный гитарист. И это позволяет достичь взаимопонимания между клавишными инструментами и гитарой на молекулярном уровне.

Shine On American Dreamer

Помогал и бас-гитарист – Крис Чейни, чей послужной список занимает не одну страницу и это очень разные артисты: от Джо Кокера и Селин Дион до Слэша и Роба Зомби.

И, безусловно, главное украшение диска – хардроковый трек “Jump’ In”.

Jumpin’ In

А так же барабанщик – Винни Колаюта, который, как и Майк Кинилли, достаточно долго играл в группе у Фрэнка Заппы. И Заппа считал Колаюту лучшим из барабанщиков. Поскольку он обладает не только прекрасный техникой и звуком, но и умеет помочь гитаристу развить его идеи в импровизационных моментах.

Vinnie Colaiuta - Jeff Beck - Tal Wilkenfeld - Jason Rebello

С таким коллективом можно свернуть не одну музыкальную гору, что Сатриани и товарищи и делают на альбоме “Unstoppable Momentum”.

Jumpin’ Out

Personnel:

•Joe Satriani – guitar , keyboard , harmonica , engineering , production
•Mike Keneally – keyboard
•Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
•Chris Chaney – bass
•Mike Fraser – engineering, mixing , production
•Judy Kirschner – engineering
•Mike Boden – digital editing
•Dann Michael Thompson aka. Thomas Daniel Michaelson – digital editing assistance
•Brad Salter – mixing assistance
•Ryan Smith – mastering

The Weight of the World

Непреодолимый стимул - является четырнадцатым студийным альбомом гитариста Joe Satriani , выпущен 7 мая 2013 Epic Records .

Альбом “Unstoppable Momentum” — это грандиозное сооружение самого блистательного гитариста современности.

За всю карьеру было продано более 10 миллионов копий альбомов Сатриани.

Творческое веселье “A Celebration”.

A Celebration