Prog & Roll radio show: The "Song(s) of the Month" contest

Good morning everybody!
Last night we had one more Prog & Roll radio show, and this time we had the contest for "the song of the month". Which means that we played again all those songs that achieved a very high average rating during the whole month, and our audience got to choose the best one by grading these songs once more.
When we started this, we had in mind to make an annual Top-10 of our radio show, according to the peoples votes. Which means that every "song of the month" goes into this Top-10 list as well.
But unfortunately we had to make a 3 month break (instead of 2) during summertime, so we were one song short.
So, since we had too many songs this time round in the contest list we decided that our audience would vote to choose 2 songs. The first one in ratings would be announced as 'The Song of the Month", and the second one would secure a spot in the annual Top-10.
 Last night's contest was the longest so far, with 15 songs participating from many different music styles as you can see below. We started our show at 20.00GMT as always, and for the first half hour we played a few songs that had nothing to do with the contest. And at 20.25GMT the contest begun. The contest was separated in 3 half-hour parts. We mixed the songs in purpose, so in every part we included different styles in order for the contest not to become boring and 'flat'.
I'm not going to reveal the winning song(s) yet, be a little patient please. At the moment, take a look at the whole song list first:
Normal program: Earth Opera: The Red Sox are Winning / HP Lovecraft: High Flying Bird / Hidria Spacefolk: Kaikados / Galahad: Guardian Angel.   
Contest songlist: 
1st part: Dead Can Dance: Radharc / Loreena Mc Kennitt: All Souls Night / Fates Warning: Chasing Time / Shadow Gallery: Ghost of a Chance / Tool: Sober / Black Sabbath: Electric Funeral 
2nd Part: The Beatles: I Want you (She's so Heavy) /  Camel: Straight to my Heart / The Who: Behind Blue Eyes / Metallica: One 
3rd Part: Van Der Graaf Generator: House with no Door / Mystery: Time Goes by / Judas Priest: Dreamer Deceiver / Verbal Delirium: Sudden Winter / Savatage: Gutter Ballet.

As you can see there were many different styles of music in the contest, and that fact made the contest more interesting for everybody.
As for the winning song.....
                             The Song of the month for September is:
                             The Beatles: I Want You (She's so Heavy)! 
   As I mentioned earlier here, this time our audience had to choose 2 songs, so....
         The second song which will also be included in the annual Top-10 is:
                                 Verbal Delirium: Sudden Winter!
 I want to thank all who joined, voted, and in general participated last night, and I hope to see you again soon in one of our next radio shows.
In the following video's you can listen to the winning songs:

                                       
   

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.60

Hello!
Another Saturday is here, and it is time to write down the usual 'Juke Box' post.
In this last week, I dealt a lot with music, so I was kind of fed up with Progressive & Rock music. I had to write a couple of album reviews, and I had to prepare tomorrow's radio show as well.
So, I decided in the last 2-3 days to listen to totally different kind of music. (As you will see in the Top-5 list).
So, for once I didn't include any rock music in my Top-5 list, and instead it includes songs from different music genres.
And these are my 5 most favorite songs for this last week:

Dead Can Dance: Song of the Sybil (Aion) - 1990
Loreena Mc Kennitt: La Serenissima (The Book of Secrets) - 1997
Edith Piaf: Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (single) - 1960
Angelo Branduardi: Alla Fiera Del' Est (Alla Fiera Del' Est) - 1976
Bauhaus: Who Killed Mr. Moonlight (Burning from the inside) - 1983

And as usual, I will conclude this post by adding a couple of videos with songs from my top- 5 list.
In the first video you can listen to 'Who Killed Mr. Moonlight' by Bauhaus, and in the second video it's the stunning "Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Edith Piaf.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Have a great weekend everybody! :)

          

Prog & Roll radio show presents: "The Song of the Month" Contest

Hello all!
I want to inform you all that on next Sunday's Prog & Roll radio show, we will have the big contest for 'The Song of the Month'.
Many people among you know already what this contest is, but some may not.
So, in a few words here's what's it all about:
In every show we ask from our audience to grade the songs we play, and at the end of each show we announce the Top-5 songs, according to the average points they gathered.
But the songs which achieve an average of 8.5 points or higher, are going to a separate list, and at the last show of the month (or the first show of the new month) we make a special show during which we play all these songs again. The audience grades them once more, but this time considering many different aspects of each song. And at the end of the show the song with the highest average rating is announced as the song of the month, and secures a place in our annual Top-10 list.
  This time we have 15 excellent songs in our list, from many different styles, from Folk-Rock up to Heavy Metal, and in my opinion it will be a very tough competition. 
Bear in mind that Prog & Roll is a live show, and the broadcasting is both in English and Greek language.
So, I hope that many of you will be in the mood for some good music, fun company, and will join us.
That's all for now, and I'll see you online on Sunday night.

P.S: Our show starts at 20.00GMT, lasts for 2 hours, and you can listen by clicking this link: JustIn Case Prog Radio

Thanks for reading! :)

TV Series: Les Revenantes (2012)

                    You should read this post, and watch this series! 
                              This post includes some spoilers!
A friend of mine gave me this 1-season French Tv series without being able to tell me what's really about, because he hadn't watch them!

And because I had no idea concerning the plot, and it was French as well, I was delaying to start watching it. Big mistake!
 The main plot is about a town in the mountains, when suddenly people who had been dead for long start to re-appear, in their previous form and without having no idea of their their present status. They try to find their friends, families, lovers etc, and in general they want to continue their lives as nothing has changed. But there is a very big change: They are dead! The problem here is that all these people are unaware that they are dead, and they try to adopt themselves in the everyday life once more.And there comes the trouble!
Because people don't want the dead making rounds in their homes, offices etc...
Slowly slowly they realize that they are not the only ones who 'returned', and they try to find how many

others are in the same situation as themselves. And on the top of that, when a series of murders start in the town everybody turns openly against them. So we have the Living VS the Dead situation going on.
  Although the main theme is not something new, don't think of the usual zombie movies or series. This is something different, and it is given from another very interesting point of view.
  And as the story evolves with every new episode, the suspense is growing, and you find yourself hooked in the story watching one episode after the other.
  I also want to mention the excellent production which is made by Canal+, the very good adaptation of the roles, and the really interesting soundtrack.
   I don't want to get into details here, I just wanted to inform you about this (not so famous but really good) series. I strongly recommend them to anybody, and especially to those who are interested in horror/mystery movies or series.
IMDB has a rating of 7.8...
Thanks for reading! :)

In the following video you can watch the official trailer:

PROG & ROLL Radio show (22/9/2013) Top-5 & full playlist

Good morning!
Here I am once more on a Monday morning, in order to inform you about last night's Prog & Roll radio show.
Well, last night we had a very good crowd, and the best part was that we had many new people online. Another interesting fact was the "Traffic" we had. There were people coming and going, coming back again etc... 
As for the playlist, I have to admit it wasn't so much of a 'Prog' once more. Lately we tried to blend Progressive Rock with Classic Rock, Hard Rock & Heavy Metal and that's something we are doing mostly in order to surprise our audience and give a different 'taste' to our show.  As I have mentioned already in other posts, we like to mix things up every now and then, so the listeners won't be able to know what they are going to listen. We play many styles of Rock music depends on our mood usually.
This was the last show for September before the big contest for the "Song of the Month" which will take place on next Sunday's show. So once more we had the grading"game" going on, and I have to say I'm very pleased with the result. And why? Because for the first time a Greek band reached at No.1! And I''m pleased not only because they are Greeks, but mostly because I really love this song.
So, according to our audience's grades here's last night's Top-5 songs list:

1. Verbal Delirium: Sudden Winter
2. Black Sabbath: Electric Funeral
3. Supertramp: A Soapbox Opera
4. Led Zeppelin: Good Times Bad Times
5. Transatlantic: We all Need More Light

From these 5 songs only the first 2 achieved to gather the minimum average rating of 8.5 which is required in order to be able to participate in the contest for the "Song of the Month". So, the songs by Verbal Delirium and Black Sabbath are already added on the list together with 11 more excellent songs, and now we have to wait and see what's gonna happen on next Sunday's contest.
   As for the whole playlist, you can see it here:

SAGA: Don’t be late / NEAL MORSE: Another World / IQ: Frequency / HIDRIA SPACEFOLK: Endymion  / LAZULI: Je Te Laisse ce Monde  / BLACK MOUNTAIN: Angels / SHADOW GALLERY: Birth of a Daughter, Death of a mother / VIA OBSCURA: Schicksal  / WITHIN TEMPTATION: Stand my Ground  / RHAPSODY (OF FIRE: The March of the Swordmaster  / JOURNEY: In my lovely Feeling  / FOCUS: Sugar Island  / ATOMIC ROOSTER: Devil’s Answer  / BLUE OYSTER CULT: This Ain’t the Summer of love  / BLACK SABBATH: Electric Funeral  / RUSH: Finding my Way  / LED ZEPPELIN: Good times Bad Times / VERBAL DELIRIUM: Sudden winter / SUPERTRAMP: A Soapbox opera  / BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: The Great 1974 minning Disaster  / MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND : Visionary Mountains  / TRANSATLANTIC: We all need More Light .

I want to thank all the guys and gals who logged in last night, participated, and in general helped us put out a nice show. We will see you again online on next Sunday, for the last show of this month.
Greetings and thanks for reading...
 In the following video you can listen to the song which reached at No.1 last night: 

 

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.59

Hello all!
Since today is Saturday, it's time for me to write down my Top-5 songs of the week.
This week I listened to lots of different styles of music, and that is something you will probably understand
from the songs in the list.
I dealt a lot with the preparations of tomorrow's radio show, but further than that I had some time to listen to many other stuff as well.
Anyway, without more delay these are my best 5 songs for the week:

H.P Lovecraft: Blue Jack of Diamonds (HP Lovecraft II) - 1968
Dodson & Fogg: Nothing at All (Dodson & Fogg) - 2012
Lazuli: Je te Laissence ce Monde (4603 Battements) - 2011
Jethro Tull: Heavy Horses (Heavy Horses) - 1978
Rhapsody (of Fire): The March of the Swordmaster (Power of the Dragonflame) - 2002

And as usual I strongly encourage all of those who might be in the mood to write a comment to do so. And if you want to, include your Top-5 of the week, don't hesitate.
I will conclude this post with 2 videos: In the first one you can watch the official video of Jethro Tull's Heavy Horses,  and on the second one you can listen to the song Blue Jack of Diamonds by HP Lovecraft.
Have a great weekend everybody, and thanks for reading...

GFreedom's Spot has a new look...

Hello all!
I don't know why, but every now and then I feel the urge to change the look of my blog.
I guess I'm a person that gets bored easily. This is the 4rth or 5th time I'm changing it, and this last template I chose looks very nice I think. The problem is that 'Blogger' has really small collection of themes or templates to choose from, and very soon I will have no other options.
 The people that are reading and following my blog for sometime now they probably have realised that I'm changing the look according to the seasons usually. When Spring and Summer comes, I pick brighter and happier templates, and when Autumn and Winter comes I choose darker and more gloomy ones.
Anyway, I hope you will like this new look, and find it easy to read. If any of you has any problems reading the posts or any problems with the colors or anything else, please let me know.
Thank you!

Goodies from GFreedom's Music Collection #7

                         LAZULI: 4603 Battements  (2011)

   Lazuli is a French band which was founded in 1998, and they have released 5 albums so far, with “4603 Battements” being their latest endeavor.

  The band’s current line-up is: Dominique Leonetti  - Vocals, guitar, mandolin/ Gédéric Byar – Guitar / Romain Thorel - Keyboards, French horn / Vincent Barnavol - Drums, percussions, marimba and Claude Leonetti  -  Léode.

   For those who might wonder what “Leode” is;  it is pretty much a unique mid-electronic plug guitar instrument that comes with a unique sound.  This instrument is used most of the times with distortion, and gives the band a very unique and personal sound. Another fact that gives Lazuli a unique sound is the use of French language in their songs. Well, there is a possibility that some people may find it not to their liking, but I believe that in Lazuli’s case the French language matches their sound perfectly.

  The album is a great combination of loud electric guitars mixed with more acoustic sounds, but also many melodic and darker parts. I mentioned it before, but I have to relate to ‘Leode’ once more. This bizarre instrument gives so unique a style to their sound which is very difficult for me to explain here. If you have never listened to it before you can’t simply understand what I’m talking about. That’s why my best advice could be to go and buy this record!  But not only for ‘Leode’.

Mostly because it is a really good record, with  great  production, interesting compositions, and in a nutshell it is a record worth every penny you will spend for it!

   The best moment which catches your attention right away, is the song 'Je Te Laisse Ce Monde' which is my most favorite by far. But above that, there are many other worthy songs here. For example, the more intimate ‘Le Miroir aux Alouettes’, the beautiful ‘Les Malveillants’, or the more trippy ‘Saleté de Nuit’.

Of course this is just my personal opinion, other people might feel differently about the songs which are included in this album.

   Speaking objectively, “4603 Battements” is surely a very solid and a very intriguing record, which I recommend not only to Progressive Rock fans, but also for eclectic listeners who wish to discover and enjoy unique bands.

   In the following video you can listen to 'Je Te Laisse Ce Monde' so you can have an idea about the band.

Thanks for reading... :) 

PROG & ROLL Radio show (15/9/2013) Top-5 & full playlist....

Good morning all! :)
   Last night we had one more Prog & Roll radio show as usual.
This time we thought of splitting the 2-hours show into 4 half hour parts, and on each part we would play a different music style.
So, on the first half hour we played some not so famous bands from England and Germany from the 70's, with the music style being mainly Krautrock and Heavy Rock. On the second part we played mostly  Hard & Heavy bands, on the third part again some not so famous bands from different countries, and on the fourth and last part, the style was more melodic and mellow with a Folk finale.
The main idea was to present some bands which are unknown, and we had never played before in our shows, because as we often like to say, radio is not only for enjoyment but it is also a good way of learning new bands songs etc.
  We had a good crowd last night listening and participating, and as it seemed the show and the music were very pleasant. We had 2 very nice hours, and everybody seemed happy & satisfied.
Well, that's the point, right?
 And as usual, we encouraged the listeners (old & new) to grade the songs we are playing, and once more they did. So, according to their grades here's last night's Top-5 songs:

1. Metallica: One
2. Tool: Sober
3. Loreena Mc Kennitt: All Souls Night
4. Mystery: Time Goes by
5. Dead Heroes Club: A Secret Never to be Told

I have to admit that the average points the Irish band 'Dead Heroes Club' achieved to gather were very surprising, but I'm guessing that some of our listeners from Ireland put some really high points in order to boost them, because... well, it's an Irish band! hehehe
  The first 3 songs in the Top-5 achieved to gather the minimum average of 8.5 points which is required in order to be able to participate in the final stage for "The Song of the Month". We have got 12 great songs in our list so far, and one more show before the contest. So I'm guessing in the end there will be about 15 songs participating in the contest for the title of the 'Song of the Month". This will be a really tough one I think!
  As for the whole playlist, you can see it here:

Part 1: AUDIENCE: Belladonna Moonshine / GRAVY TRAIN: The New One / JANE: Air / LUCIFER’S FRIEND: Ride the Sky / TWENTY SIX & THEN: At my Home.
Part 2: LED ZEPPELIN: Over the Hills & far Away / THE TEA PARTY: The River / RIVERSIDE: Artificial Smile / TOOL: Sober / METALLICA: One.
Part 3: ABSTRACTION LAYER: Glass Flower / BLUE MAMMOTH: Who we are / CLEPSYDRA: God or Beggar / DEAD HEROES CLUB: A Secret Never to be Told / FRUUPP: Prince of Darkness.
Part 4: GENESIS: Afterglow / MYSTERY: Time Goes by / MOSTLY AUTUMN: The Ghost Moon Orchestra / LOREENA Mc KENNITT: All Souls night / FAIRPORT CONVENTION: Meet on the Ledge / RALPH Mc TELL: Streets of London. 

GFreedom Team wants to thank all of you who joined last night, and altogether we had 2 hours of good music and nice company.
See you on next Sunday night again.
Till then, take care! :)
Have a  great week all, and thanks for reading...
 In the following video you can listen to the song that reached at No.1 last night...