PROG & ROLL Radio Show: 2 shows before the end...

Hello all!
It is my great sadness to announce that our radio show 'Prog & Roll' is reaching its end.
Due to some major changes to our lifes, we can't continue doing it any more...
We hope that we will be able to start again after a few months, but I couldn't bet on it.
   So here's what's going to happen at our next two shows:
SUNDAY 2/6: We will have our big competition for 'The song of the month'. We have 11 great songs in the list that will fight for the title. As usual, our audience will be grading the songs, and according to their grades, we will calculate each song's average score, and at the end of our show we will find out the winner. That competition will take place during the second hour. The first hour we will have our normal program.
SUNDAY 9/6: This will be the last Prog & Roll, and we want to do something special. First of all, it will last 2.5 hours instead of 2. Further than this, we thought as a 'thank you' to do the following: We will ask from our audience, and each one of you that  believes he/she will be able to listen to us, to ask for 1 song that he/she would like to listen that night. We will play all the requested songs, and we will make a special announcement for each song. But except the requests we will prepare a really super playlist!
   We plan to make that night really special for everybody who will be there with us.
So, if you think that you want to join us on our special last radio show, you can send us the song that you would like to listen to this e-mail adress: GFreedomTeam@gmail.com
  I will write another post next week about this last show, but I wanted to inform you about all these things beforehand.
Thank you very much!

Tales from the Progressive Oceans Part.11

                                    PETER HAMMILL: Fool's Mate (1971)

   Fool's Mate was released in 1971, and it was the first solo album Peter Hammill ever recorded. The title is a reference in both Chess and Tarot cards. The album was recorded in 1971 in the the midst of one of Van Der Graaf's most creative periods. Peter Hammill decided to record this album in order to include some of his songs that were too short or too simple than the material Van Der Graaf were using for their records.
On the record sleeve there is a note written by Peter Hammill declaring the following: "This isn't intended to be any kind of statement of my present musical position, but at the same time, it is an album which involves a great deal of me, the person, basically a return to the roots."
   The record contains 12 songs in total, which in their majority are based in piano and acoustic guitar. There are many wonderfull melodic and sad moments in this record, indicating the personal feelings of Peter Hammill. The lyrics are simpler and not so much sophisticated as they are in his later works, but that doesn't seem to be any kind of problem. (For me at least).
  The musicians that helped him in the recordings, are the members of Van Der Graaf Generator, plus a couple of members from the folk band Lindisfane, and with the addition of the guitarist Robert Fripp. (King Crimson).
The UK music press had a very positive approach on Fool's Mate, and a few music magazines named it as the 'The Album of the Year'.
   Fool's Mate is one of my most favorite records of Peter Hammill's solo career, and in my opinion the best moments here are the songs: Candle, Happy, Vision & The Birds.
Here you can see the whole playlist of the album, and on the following video's you can listen to a couple of songs.
   Fool's Mate (1971)
   "Imperial Zeppelin"
   "Candle" - 4:16
   "Happy" - 2:36
   "Solitude" - 4:56
   "Vision" - 3:13
   "Re-Awakening" - 4:01
   "Sunshine" - 3:56
   "Child" - 4:25
   "Summer Song (In The Autumn)" - 2:13
   "Viking" - 4:44
   "The Birds" - 3:38
   "I Once Wrote Some Poems"

                                   

                                         

                                                                                                                                        

Prog & Roll Radio show on 26/5/2013 The Complete Playlist & Top-5

Last night we had one more Prog & Roll radio show.
  I want to believe that we played some good music, and our listeners enjoy it. It seemed so at least...
Once more, we played our little game, by asking to our audience grade the songs we play, and according to their grades every Monday morning I'm presenting here each show's Top-5 songs.
And here is last night's Top-5:

1. Blue Oyster Cult: Astronomy
2. Jethro Tull: Bouree
3. Aphrodite's Child: The 4 Horsemen
4. The Beatles: While my Guitar Gently Weeps
5. The Enid: One and the Many

   From these 5 songs, the first 4 achieved to gather the average number that is needed in order to be able to participate to the final stage of the competition for 'The Song of the Month', that will take place on next Sunday's show. So, on next Sunday 2/6/2013 prepare yourselves for a great radio show! On the first hour we will have our usual program, but on the second hour we will have the big contest, on which our audience will choose The Song of the Month. We have 12 great songs in our list, and from those 12 songs one will be the winner. On next Sunday at the end of our show we will know which one.
   And here I'm posting the whole playlist from last night's Prog & Roll:

THE ENID: One & the Many /  SPRING: The Prisoner / THE MOODY BLUES: The Land of Make Believe / JETHRO TULL: Bouree / ΒLUE OYSTER CULT: Astronomy / RUSH: Cinderella Man / PAVLOV’S DOG: Late November / BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: May Day / PENDRAGON: The Masquerade Overture / IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY: Bombay Calling (Music contest) / TIM BUCKLEY: Pleasant Street / THE BEATLES: While my Guitar Gently Weeps / TRAFFIC: Coloured Rain / CHICAGO: Questions 67&68 / ULTIMATE SPINACH: Jazz Thing / APHRODOTE’S CHILD: The 4 horsemen / PINK FLOYD: Carefull with that Axe Eugene / GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT: Lost Kingdom / AUTUMN MOONLIGHT: The Sky Over Your Shoulders / STEVE HACKETT: Chamber of 32 Doors / PETER GABRIEL: Here comes the Flood.

  I want to thank all of you who logged in and participated in our show. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! :)

GFreedom Team Presents: MYRATH: Tales of the Sands (2011)

   This afternoon GFreedom Team will present the whole album from the not-so-famous Tynisian (!) band MYRATH.
Myrath is a Progressive Metal band, with 3 records so far, all of them good. They play a weird blend of heavy metal mixed with local folk rhythms. I found their music very interesting and rather unique. We will present their last album that was released in 2011.
 So, this afternoon if you are in the mood for some interesting music, join us.
 You can listen to us by clicking to this link: Just In Case Prog Radio
  I'm just informing you that this in not a live show with microphones etc. We will be online though at the time of the presentation, chatting through the chatbox, giving info when needen etc...  Just a relaxing hour listening to a very interesting record.
  The presentation starts at 18.00GMT (20.00 Greek Time).
  And for those who never heard of Myrath before, here's the official video from a song included in the album we will be presenting tonight.
Thank you... :)

                                      

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.47

Good morning folks!
Another Saturday is here, and I'm writing the usual Juke Box post.
In this last week I listened to a lot of music, and once more it was hard for me to choose only 5 songs.
But I think I made it finally! :)
So, here are the 5 songs that I believe were the best:

The Enid: One & the Many - (Invicta) - 2012
Peter Gabriel: Here Comes the Flood - (Cars) - 1977               
Blue Oyster Cult: Astronomy - (Secter Treaties) - 1974                        
Tool: 10.000 days - (10.000 Days) - 2006
Barclay James Harvest: May Day - (Octoberon) - 1976

And as usual, I strongly recommend and encourage anyone who is in the mood for it, to write as a comment here or at Google+ his/hers Top-5 songs or records from this last week. It's always fun and interesting to see what kind of music other people listen in their own time...
Thank you! :)

Goodies from GFreedom's Music Collection #4

                                              ULTIMATE SPINACH

                            Ultimate Spinach (1968) & Behold and See (1968)

   History has not been kind to this band. And it’s a real pity, because Ultimate Spinach were one of the most creative bands of the Psychedelic era. I think their bad fortune started with the fact that they weren’t from San Fransisco, which at that time was the centre of all this Psychedelic movement in America. Instead, they were from Boston, a more conservative city, whatever that means…  Their record company MGM tried to promote a few bands from Boston as the new Psychedelic scene in contrast with the major bands of that time,which were from the San Fransisco area. But the problem was that with the exception of Ultimate Spinach and maybe Bacon Street Union, all the others were b-class bands. And that’s where this whole project failed.

    Ultimate Spinach were formed and built around the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Ian Bruce Douglas in 1967. In the next year (1968) they released two records, and then the band almost disbanded when all the original members left. The only exception was the singer Barbara Hudgon, who kept the name and re-formed the band.

   As you can see, this time I’m writing about two records instead of one. And that’s because I can’t really separate them. I feel as though they are kind of one item. After all they were released in a few months period both of them. Their only major difference is that in the second record the band tried to play in a more technical way, by having longer and more complicated compositions, than the first one.

   Their sound (especially in the first record) is something between The Doors and Jefferson Airplane, but includes bigger doses of Psychedelic sounds. Many instruments were used here, with flute, sitar, harpsicord, and the electronic Theremin being some of them. The voice of their singer Barbara Huddgon fits perfectly to their sound, and it reminds the voices of Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) and Sonja Kristina (Curved Air) from time to time.

   Almost all the song in the first record are excellent examples of Psychedelic Rock, but the highlight of the record is definetely the 8-minute-long (Ballad of ) Hipp Death Goddess. (This song should have been in the pantheon of Psychedelic music, next to songs like ‘White Rabbit’.In my opinion at least).

   Their second record ‘Behold and See’ was released a few months later, and the band tried to make a ‘turn’ to a more sophisticated sound. With only 7 songs, most of them long enough for a Psychedelic band, the record didn’t have any chance to succeed. Here you can find many really great songs, with ‘Jazz Thing’ and ‘Fragmentary March of Green’ being two of them.

   Concluding this post, I want to say that these two records are highly recommended to any fan of Rock music, and not just the fans of Psychedelia.

I’m posting here a couple of videos as well, for you to get an idea about the band…

                              

                                           

RAY MANZAREK 1939 - 2013

   Doors co-founder and keyboardist Ray Manzarek died last night in Rosenheim, Germany after a long battle with bile duct cancer. He was 74. 

   To be honest, I just heard the sad news. So I collected a few info about his life and his work from internet sites, and I’m just copy them here. No time to make a big research and write something on my own I’m affraid.  Either way, the result is the same. A very big and respected musician in Rock music is no more walking this Earth…

 R.I.P Raymond Daniel Manzarek…

   Manzarek grew up in Chicago, then moved to Los Angeles in 1962 to study film at UCLA. It was there he first met Doors singer Jim Morrison, though they didn't talk about forming a band until they bumped into each other on a beach in Venice, California in the summer of 1965 and Morrison told Manzarek that he had been working on some music. "And there it was!" Manzarek wrote in his 1998 biography, Light My Fire. "It dropped quite simply, quite innocently from his lips, but it changed our collective destinies."

They quickly teamed up with drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger and began playing gigs around Los Angeles. About a year later, the Doors recorded their debut album for Elektra Records. "We knew once people heard us, we'd be unstoppable," Manzarek wrote in his memoir. "We knew what the people wanted: the same thing the Doors wanted. Freedom."

   The Doors didn't have a bassist, so Manzarek often played the bass parts on his Fender Rhodes piano. He also played a Vox Continental organ, which can be heard on the famous intro to "Light My Fire" and numerous other Doors classics. The group shared credit on most songs and split all profits evenly.

The group carried on for two more albums after Jim Morrison died in July of 1971, but they split in 1973. Manzarek remained extremely busy, producing albums for X and playing with Iggy Pop, Echo and the Bunnymen and others. In 2002, he began touring as the Doors of the 21st Century with Krieger and Cult frontman Ian Astbury. Doors drummer John Densmore filed a lawsuit over the use of the name and it lead to a legal battle.

   On May 20, 2013, Manzarek died after a long battle with bile duct cancer at a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany, aged 74. Robby Krieger said, “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him.” John Densmore said, "There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison's words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother."

                                     

Last night's PROG & ROLL : Top-5 and playlist...

   Last night GFreedom Team presented another Prog & Roll radio show, and today I'm going to write here a few things about it.
   We started our program with some electronic sounds, which to be honest I don't think they were
appreciated by our listeners. After that, we changed the music style and we played songs in the style we usually play in our show. In the meantime more people were logging slowly slowly, and they created a nice warm atmosphere once more. This time the conversations in the chatbox were more serious, and we didn't have so much fun like other times. But because of this I believe everybody was more cool, and the people seemed to grade the songs more serious. That's the impression I had at least...
   In our playlist we had 19 songs in total, and from many different kinds of music. We had Electronic, Neo-Prog, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Classic Progressice Rock, Prog Folk etc...
Also last night we had our music contest once more. We played a cover verion of Pink Floyd's song 'In the Flesh', and we were asking the name of the cover band. The right answer was 'Dream Theater' and one of our listeners found it rather fast I must say.
   Once more we played our little 'game' by asking our audience to grade the songs we play, and according to their grades here's last night's Top-5 songs:

1. CAMEL: Eyes of Ireland
2. STRAWBS: Witchwood
3. BLACK SABBATH: Megalomania
4. FAIRPORT CONVENTION: Who knows where time goes?
5. ELOY: Poseidon's Creation (Live)

From these 5 songs only the first two achieved to gather the average points thar are needed in order to enter the list with the songs that will compete for 'The Song of the month'. Black Sabbath's song was very close to this number, so we will maybe use it in case we don't have too many songs for the final stage of the competition.
  And here you can see the whole playlist from last night's Prog & Roll:

J.M.JARRE: Equinox IV / KRAFTWERK: Spacelab / TANGERINE DREAM: Cloudburst Flight / GALAHAD: Guardian Angel / CONTROTEMPO: Guerra / AMAGRAMA: Recluso Artista / MARILLION: Assassin / KANSAS: On the Other Side / DREAM THEATER: In the Flesh -(Music Contest) /  ELOY: Poseidon’s Creation (Live) / URIAH HEEP: Traveller in Time / BLACK SABBATH: Megalomania / CAMEL : Eyes of Ireland / VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR: Wondering / STRAWBS: Witchwood / STEELEYE SPAN: Gone to America / FAIRPORT CONVENTION: Who knows where the Time goes? / RENAISSANCE: Closer than Yesterday / SUPERTRAMP: Lord is it mine.

Once more I want to thank you all for logging in, listening and participating to our show.

Special thanks to 'Larne' who joined us for first time, and if I got it right in the same time he was doing his own radio show while listening to ours. Hard combination...

That's all for now folks!

Have a great week! :)

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.46

Good Morning all! :)
   As many of you know already, every Saturday I'm writing here a post in the 'Juke Box' series, which is my Top-5 songs from the past week. From all the music I'm listening every week, I choose the best 5 songs
according to my likings, and I'm posting them here. The actual purpose is  to get an idea what I listen and what I like, and also in some occasions find some songs you maybe didn't know 'till now.
   So without further delay, these are my Top-5 for this last week:

Galahad: This Life Could be my Last (Empires Never Last) - 2007
Black Sabbath: Megalomania (Sabotage) - 1975
Camel: The Eyes of Ireland (Harbour of Tears) - 1996
Tim Buckley: Song to the Siren (Starsailor) - 1970
Pink Floyd: In the Flesh (Part.2) (O.S.T: The Wall) - 1982

If any of you in in the mood he/she can write here as a comment, (or at G+) your favorite songs or albums from this past week. It doesn't really matter if they are Rock or Pop or something else. The point is to exchange our musical tastes and likings.
Thank you all, and have a nice Weekend! :)

Goodies from GFreedom's Music Collection #3

                   TIM BUCKLEY: Goodbye & Hello (1967)

   Tim Buckley was one of the greatest talents and unique voices in Rock music.
He was born on February 1947 in Washington D.C on Valentine's day, and his full name was Timothy Charles Buckley III.
He discovered music since his early years thanks to his entire family who were big fans of Jazz music. (Exception was his father who was mostly into country music).
At the age of 13 he learn to play banjo, he formed his first band, and he decided that he will dedicate his life to music. And so he did.
   He released his first record under his name in 1966 and it was an excellent example of Rock music with many psychedelic colors, andt it was influenced mostly by Folk. After that first effort it was the time to show to the world his true talent. And he did, with the release of his second recond 'Goodbye & Hello'. At the time of the release he was 20 years old.
   (On a personal note, I bought this vinyl record when I was about 16 or 17 years old, and I immediately fell in love with it! I loved his bizarre but wonderful voice, the beautiful and melancholic music, and that was just the start. I bought almost all of his records finally, but Goodbye & Hello will always have a special place in my heart).
  Goodbye & Hello was recorded in spring of 1967 and it was released on August of the same year.
Being a truly wonderful album it is often cited as Tim Buckley's ultimate music statement. Unfortunately failed in the market both in United States and Europe. (The best ranking it achieved in the charts was at #171 in USA)
The record contains 10 songs in total and here you can find some of Buckley's strongest moments.
Songs like 'Pleasant Street', 'One I was', 'Phantasmagoria in two', 'Goodbye & Hello' and 'Morning Glory' are considered classics. 
   For those who are interested to discover the beauty of Tim Buckley's music this record should definetely be the starting point!
If I have to recommend some of his other albums, these would be: Tim Buckley (1966), Greetings from L.A (1972) and Look at the Fool (1974).
 In the following videos you can listen to the songs 'Phantasmagoria in two' and 'Pleasant Street'.