And so, Today… in memory of Colin Tench

On December 30th 2017, just after midnight, Arianna and myself had just finished packing for our first flight together from Italy to The Netherlands and were ready to go to bed, when my phone buzzed. An incoming message from Gordo Bennett. Normally, I would have left the message till the morning, but the small bit that showed on the notification made me want to read it right away. “Angel my brother… My dear friend… It deeply saddens me”, it said. I opened the message and all I could say was ‘Nooo!’ – or something a bit more profane, I can’t remember. Colin Tench, musician, composer, producer, but most of all friend, had past away in the past few days. We didn’t sleep for a while that night, there were just tears, and short call to Gordo to bond in our grieve. I had talked to him only a few days before, just before Christmas, when he sent me his new album, and I promised to listen and call him after my holidays, in the first weekend of January. Tonight, actually, as I write this.

We cried, we talked about Colin and played only one song, before giving in to sleep. A song that he wrote at the end of 2016, the year that so many musicians left this earth – And So, Today….

A song, that now fits so much his own case. A talented man, in the middle of work and way too young to die. Actually, our friend Lucas Biela found the best words to express it a few days later: ‘Colin was too young to die, and nowhere near to old to rock n roll’

I’ve known Colin since early 2013, and we became closer friends after september 2014, when Corvus Stone released their second album. Arianna has known him since even a few years before then, around the time the BunChakeze album was released. When I had a burnout in 2015, Colin was one of the people that got me to use music as a way back to sanity – he got me in touch with other musicians, other music, reviewers and radio stations – and through that also to Arianna. He was a funny, talented and above all intelligent man. He was all over the web and the new music distribution channels, but hardly anything personal can be found about him online – although the past year he was a bit more open about the renovation of his house (and saving Shaun the Sheep from his roof – poor animal). Even the date of his birthday was a mystery, and most of us only found out the real date in the saddest possible way. Still, by talking to him, and being open about my own situation, he became more open about himself – and we learned a bit more about each others life. Things he told me, that he told us, and that we will cherish always, but that won’t be out in the open out of respect for our lost friend. A friend who we were planning to visit within the next two years, and who promised that once we settled on a wedding date, he would drive his Bentley south for us, and to learn how to play at least one song by heart for the occasion.

So much we talked about in so few years, and it feels like a void now.  Rest in peace – or rather, sit with the folks you wrote ‘And So Today…’ for, and rock the afterlife till the roof flies off. We miss you Colin, and we will always love you. You live on in your music, and the memories you left with us and so many others all over the world these 63 years.

And so, today 
Heard the news 
Did you hear what they say? 
The knight on the hill is sleeping 
Sleep well dear friend 
Your music is here to stay 
The magic still fills my ears 

Colin Tench – May 30, 1954 – December 27, 2017

Angelo’s Rock Orphanage on ISKC Rock Radio – every week!

Although I started carefully, by offering to do this once a month, I quickly changed my mind. From this week onward, I will provide a weekly playlist to ISKC Rock Radio, which will be played on Wednesday evening between 9PM and 11PM.

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The playlists will sometimes deviate from the ISKC standard, in the sense that I record interviews with artists every once in a while, and these will be aired as part of the playlist sequence as well when appropriate. Keep an eye out for those, if all goes well we’ll be featuring a Silhouette interview next week and one with Kristoffer Gildenlöw the week after.

My playlist for this week, Wednesday September 2nd on ISKC Rock & Webradio is included below.

02/09: Canada Québec 3 pm / US: PT noon, MT 1 pm, CT 2 pm, ET 3 pm / Chile Santiago, Brazil Rio de Janeiro 4 pm / UK 8 pm / Mozambique 9 pm / Estonia, Latvia, Lebanon & Ukraine 10 pm
03/09: India New Delhi 0.30 am / Japan 4 am / Australia Melbourne 5 am

Listening Link: http://www.iskc.nl/rock.m3u
Website: http://www.iskc.rocks/
Radio APP – http://iskc.nl/iskc_radio_app.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ISKCWebradio
Chatroom: http://stinto.net/en/chat.htm?refId=azc43
Email us at: rock@iskc.nl
Time conversion: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
Playlist:

Savatage – Welcome to the Show
The Minstrel’s Ghost – The Son
Kalle Vilpuu – Industrial No4
ANURYZM – Full Agonist
Marco Ragni – Sea of Vibes
Gekko Projekt – progressive rock band – Frienda
Transport Aerian – Full Body Access
Abel Ganz- Heartland
Odin of London (ft. Colin Tench) – Catherine
Beardfish – Ode to the Rock ’n Roller
United Progressive Fraternity – UPF- Don’t look back – Turn lef
Fractal Mirror – Stars
Coalition – Across the sea
Dave Kerzner – Ocean of Stars
Kinetic Element Official Site- Travelog
Unreal City – La Meccanica dell’ombra
Dave Brons – Father

Track of the Day: Corvus Stone – Mr. Cha Cha

It’s been a while since I posted a TotD, but now I have to. I’ve been playing this all week, since the video was released. There’s more going on in this track than you hear at first listen, and there’s more to see in the video than you expect at first sight. I don’t think the countless hours out into the music and the video are wasted – on the contrary, this is one of my favourite ‘young’ bands. Enjoy!

 

 

April’s top 10 of blog entries

April has come and gone already, so here’s another overview of the top 10 posts of the past 30 days. I’m happy to see Kristoffer Gildenlöw‘s new single Pass the Torch, released last week at the top – after only 5 days of publishing the review. Als interesting is the appearance of an older review, of Franck Carducci’s Torn Apart at the top of the list, right behind the brilliant album A Spark in the Aether by The Tangent – and just above the rest of last months reviews.

One thing to note: somehow, the gig review of Gentle Storm on March 26th has received the largest amount of views on my blog (over 600), most of which in it’s first week. No idea how that spread so fast, and it’s still in the top 10 of the past 30 days.

Kristoffer Gildenlöw asks us to Pass the Torch
The Tangent – A Spark in the Aether
Album Review: Torn Apart – Franck Carducci
Elephants of Scotland – Execute and Breathe (Album Review)
Karibow – Addicted (album review)
What to find inside? This Raging Silence – Isotopes and Endoscopes (Album review)
Nice Beaver @ JJ Music House 10-04-2015
Tiger Moth Tales – Cocoon
Steam Theory – Asunder (album review)
The Gentle Storm @ De Melkweg, March 26 2015  

 

Kristoffer Gildenlöw asks us to Pass the Torch

Once upon a time, there was a man called Kristoffer Gildenlöw, a musician. This man Kristoffer got caught by the cuteness of baby elephants, which is perfectly understandable if you know how cute these can be. He also noticed that baby elephants and their cuteness may not be available to future generations, if we continue to allow their habitat to be destroyed and their parents being hunted down and shot just for the ivory of their tusks.

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That is why in December 2014, Kristoffer and some of his friends and partners organised a campaign to raise money the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. The campaign raised €3000, to be spent on care for orphaned.

As a follow up to that, on May 1st 2015, Kristoffer releases a single called Pass the Torch, to once again raise money to save and protect elephants. On this single, he is accompanied by a large group of Dutch, Swedish and English fellow musicians, who agreed to the cause and to submitting all profits made from the sales of the single to the wildlife trust.

The single itself is a 5 minute piece of somewhat surprising music. Kristoffer has a background in metal and progressive rock, but the opening of the track reminds somewhat of circus music, mixed with the jazzy piano of Paolo Conté (for those who know his 80s hit ‘Max’).  After the intro, the song gets more of a somewhat jazzy rock feel, with the continued presence of Kristoffer’s organ and bass playing. This gradually develops into a multi vocal, slightly rock musical like piece.

Halfway, a short narration might have a familiar ring to it for Genesis fans (“It’s one o’ clock…”), after which female vocals and the accompanying music take us to what could be a fifties music performance, before the circus like music returns, this time including a youth choir in the background.

Musically, there are some more surprises to be found, but I don’t want to spoil the fun of discovery by doing a second by second description. Rest assured that it will be fun to listen to, and to discover the organ, the bass, the singing saw, the copper section, the cello and so on. Not exactly a hit parade song, rather a full blown mini musical about being more respectful to Mother Earth. This of course goes back to what I described in the introduction to this little review – killing animals for fun and financial gain only, and cutting down forests is not exactly the way to preserve the planet. As Kristoffer puts it in the lyrics:

We need a way that we can show our brilliance.

To pass the torch as human race

Set an example for a brighter future, or we will stand for a big disgrace.

A great single, for an important cause. I’d suggest anyone interested in good music and the well being of our planet head over to Kristoffer’s web site (or CDBaby) and get this single in exchange for a donation of €1 or more. Kristoffer is also releasing an album in January 2016 (follow up to 2010’s RUST), which will not contain this single, there you have another reason to get it.

Line up

Kristoffer Gildenlöw – piano, electric piano, organ, bass, guitar, vocals

Guest musicians:

Collin Leijenaar – drums

Maaike Peterse – cello

Anne Bakker – musical saw

Victoria Rule – trumpet

Rupert Whitehead – trombone

Ray Heame – tuba

Stephanie Tepper – flute and piccolo

Johan Hallgren – vocals

Taloch Tony Jameson – vocals

Maria Catharina – vocals

Students of Wateringse Veld College – Youth Choir

Site: http://www.kristoffergildenlow.com

For further inquiries contact: www.mymusicmattersmt.com

Tiger Moth Tales – Cocoon

“Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… This is a cautionary tale, and it concerns a man, a gifted man, living on an island made out of musical instruments….”

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That could be the beginning of an album review for Tiger Moth Tales‘ album Cocoon, crafter by multi-instrumentalist Peter Jones. To be honest, it is the beginning of such a review now. As I write this review, I have heard the album quite a few times, but during the final listen before writing this, the hairs on my arms still stood upright during the closing track. That must mean something, so let’s have a look at what Cocoon is, and what it has to offer…

As said, this is an album by the English multi-instrumentalist Peter Jones. A blind musician at that, one who has to rely fully on his ears, and what that means clearly shows on this album, on which he sings, and plays keyboards, talkbox, guitar, saxophone, whistles, sarod, zither, melodica, bells and percussion. The drums are programmed and Mark Wardle plays flugelhorn, but everything else is done by this one man, who als wrote all music and lyrics. I mentioned before that one man bands are quite common these days (in my review for Steam Theory), and here’s another one that proves that this can actually work well when focus is on releasing an album.

So… Cocoon, I reckon the best way to describe this album is by calling it a trip into the world of Peter Jones, fan of Steve HackettGenesis, Big Big Train, Frost*, Haken and many more. A fan of the kind that writes and plays his own music almost in tribute to his favourites – his own Four Seasons if you will (short tracks named after the seasons interleave the songs on this album).

That shows in many ways on this very versatile album, that echoes both the sounds of the 70s and modern rock. The opening Overture is not so much an overture of the music on the album, as an overture of the instruments the man can play and who his inspirations are. There is a dark keyboard melody in there, followed by a saxophone solo and then wild keyboard work that (on slightly less modern instruments) might not have been out of place in the heyday of Yes and ELP.

The follow up The Isle of Witches, on which the intro to this review is based, starts with a narrative and is the followed by dark music – telling the tale of a war between witches and wizards over an island. A song that has organ pieces, vocal effects, and even a metallic mid section (somehow reminded me of something on the very first Ayreon album). A track that requires listening – not suited as background music nor as a lullaby – unless you want to provoke nightmares.

Tigers in the Butter is a 14 minute track that has every aspect of a 1970s epic in it – it consists of different musical movements, one rocky another based on a piano melody and yet another having an eastern feel to it. The lyrics are slightly absurd, but at the same time thought provoking (we live our live in fantasy), and sung in a style that has aspects of what Peter Gabriel and John Wetton did in their younger years. Another listener, that is followed by a great instrumental, The First Lament. Great for those who love guitar, and especially guitar in (at least to my ears) the style of Gary Moore‘s Parisienne Walkways or The Messiah Will Come AgainPeter has a knack for keyboards, but the guitar is a very close second, if not equal. The additional touch of the flute in the beginning makes it into a Tiger Moth Tale yet again.

And then… the fun really kicks in with The Merry Vicar, a happy track with folk and musical influences in the versus, but with a fitting, more rock oriented keyboard and piano mid section. The lyrics about a vicar using music and absurdism to spread the word of God are brought in an equally absurd way as the vicar would himself. To me, this clearly gets the message across that it’s only too human to take everything so serious.

With the vicar gone, A visit to Chigwick is our next stop, and it’s all about childhood memories. Chigwick doesn’t exist – except in the singer’s head, as he sings (even though the name resembles that of Chiswick in London ). In reality, the town is based on English children’s TV shows Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley – the name being a combination of the latter two [Added this explanation after Peter explained it]. The song starts out folky. It even reminds me briefly of Dirty Old Town, if it weren’t a folk traditional song but a modern composition. The keyboard, guitar and bass work on this track are brilliant, and the build up from folk to full instrumental rock is absolutely wonderful (and yes, there is a melodica on this one…, and it fits too). It’s almost a pity it only lasts for just under 9 minutes. Almost, not quite though, because there is that one closing track remaining that made the hair on my arms stand up, some 800 words ago, remember? That track is called Don’t let go, Feels alright. If we talk about emotion and build up in a song, this one has it all. Starting with a musical box, it quickly moves to a piano piece on which Peter sings in a wonderful emotional voice, accompanied by strings where needed. Later on drums and more layered, choral vocals are added, but only after two superb instrumental sections, with saxophone, guitar and keyboard solos that make you wonder whether this is really a single man playing…

Looking at Peter Jones’ bio on his web site, he is no stranger to the music business – having been appeared on a BBC program at age 8, and being a performing artist in the duo  2 to Go (playing clubs and corporate events). However, what he does on this album is in a completely different league, and it is a shame this album is drowning in the attention paid to the new works of old names. Tiger Moth Tales should be, has to become, a known name at some point, but for the time being this album has every aspect in place of a cult classic.

And just to raise the hairs on my arm again, I include a video here, of Peter’s rendition of the Genesis classic More Fool Me (also to make up for not having posted a Track-of-the-Day for almost two weeks). Tiger Moth Tales and Peter Jones, two names to keep in mind.

Track of the Day: Karibow – The Cry (Radio Edit)

German band Karibow, headed by Oliver Rüsing, are a German band that create music right on the edge, and beyond it on both sides, of prog and AOR. I reviewed their latest album Addicted earlier this week, but no track was available online to complement that review with a well deserved track-of-the-day. In the mean time, a video for The Cry was created and put online, so here goes…. Enjoy, like the people who awarded Karibow best progressive rock act of Germany did.

 

Most popular posts since March 5th

It’s been a little over a month since I posted an overview of most popular blog posts here. So here’s the new set. I left the home page in this time, because it belongs in the list. After all, from there people click further. Also there are less tracks of the day in the list this time, because they appear only twice a week, to create more room for album and gig reviews.

Happy reading, if you find something here you’ve not seen before.

1. The Gentle Storm @ De Melkweg, March 26 2015 460 reads in the first 24 hours!
2. My life will never be the same, thanks to lonely Lisa (album review) The review that started me rolling last year
3. Home page / Archives
4. What to find inside? This Raging Silence – Isotopes and Endoscopes (Album review) Easter review
5. Colin Tench December 2014 interview  An interview that took 2 months to edit and publish 🙂
6. Elephants of Scotland – Execute and Breathe (Album Review)  Yesterday’s review, quite popular from the start!
7. Sylvium and Arena at Rock Ittervoort 28-3-2015  Pictures from a gig I visited. Gentle Storm pics will follow.
8. Track of the Day: Steam Theory – Asunder Great track, album review pending
9. Night of the Prog, Part 5: Let’s add Neal Morse and Lesoir! Best festival line up I’ve ever seen. Aiming for a press card there.
10. Manning – Akoustik #2 Album review, of an interesting acoustic album that everybody seems to be ignoring
11. Track of the Day: Jukka Tolonen Band – Carnival  Brilliant Finnish jazz rock track

Track of the Day: The Tangent – Spark in the Aether

The Tangent, the project of mainly Andy Tillison, that once included a large part of The Flower Kings, is still around. Around, and happy – as you can see in this video for the title track of their album Spark In the Aether that will be released later this month. See Andy bounce around on stage, and enjoy his music and lyrics. I know I do….

Track of the Day: Gentle Storm – Heart of Amsterdam

Anneke van Giesbergen and Arjen Lucassen have cooperated a lot the last 15 years. This years, they release another project together, The Gentle Storm, with an album called The Diary and an accompanying tour – of which I witnessed the opening gig yesterday evening at the Melkweg in Amsterdam. A very nice album (review pending) and a wonderful gig – which for the occasion also featured a short acoustic set with maestro Arjen Lucassen himself, who won’t be joining the full tour. Gig report will follow this weekend, and tomorrow evening I will see them again during Rock Ittervoort, together with Arena and Sylvium. Enjoy, like I always enjoy Anneke’s wonderful voice….