Episodes
Monday Mar 11, 2019
We Are Not Alone
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Monday Mar 11, 2019
As you may all know, I am a huge geek. I love every aspect of science fiction. One of the cornerstones of good science fiction is the first contact story, From Arthur Clarke, to Carl Sagan the story has been played around in every media format of science fiction. It opens the door to the most challenging questions; How do we reconcile with being neighbors? How do we present ourselves? Are these others friendly or coercive? Do they want to be friends? Are they even aware of us at all? More importantly the first contact story stands as a ready critique of our ways of dealing with the 'other'. Do we adopt a colonial attitude? Are we welcoming? Are we the enemy? So many great questions and the beautiful answer is that since we have yet to encounter this moment, we have no clue. We have a body of speculative literature and media to help us explore this question. And that is a beautiful thing!
So here we are, at the corners of progressive rock and science fiction once again perusing what makes our genre of music so damned intriguing. We have gathered together a number of songs that will help us explore what our music has to say about this most important of topics. Check it out:
We Are Not Alone
We begin with a rather simple premise. We are listening for contact. The inclusion of a more political piece from Marillion here is meant to indicate the state of our world. The mess we find ourselves in. This is also true of the Neal Morse piece. The idea was to help identify that these are the reasons we might look to the skies. Perhaps some new wisdom could be brought down to earth and we would learn that all of this trauma and terror we inflict upon one another is unnecessary. Or at the very least, we might learn that there are bigger problems for us to manage, and perhaps what we need is a good ole invasion to bring our sorry asses together because our little ego bound attitudes are in fact tearing this world apart.
- Seti- Listening to the Sky
- Marillion- El Dorado Suite
- The Neal Morse Band- Welcome to the World
- Magenta- Man and Machine Suite
- Adrian Belew- Looking for a UFO
- Man or Astro-man?- Alien Visitors
- Bigelf- Alien Frequency
- Billy Thorpe- Children of the Sun
- Amplifier- UFOs
- Zebra- Who's Behind the Door?
- Visitors- Flatwoods Story
- Flaming Lips- UFO Story
- Tool- Rosetta Stoned
- Simon Collins- Keep it Dark
- Pallas- The Alien Messiah
- John Williams- The Conversation
- Styx- Come Sail Away
- Manning- Antares
- Radiohead- Subterranean Homesick Alien
- A Perfect Circle- So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
- RPWL- A New World
- Sound of Contact- Mobius Slip
- Steve Hackett- Watcher of the Skies
- In Continuum- Crash Landing
- Porcupine Tree- Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before it is Recycled
- Ben Craven- Spy in the Sky Pt 3
- Neil Young- After the Gold Rush
- David Bowie- Starman
- William Shatner- War of the Worlds
Monday Feb 18, 2019
Soundscape 2.82 A Musical Tour of 1978
Monday Feb 18, 2019
Monday Feb 18, 2019
If I continue following this yearly theme of running through the decades, I will not finish for 8 more years. We will see if that happens. For now though, you get the benefit of my journey through the ages. Last time on our history trip we hit the year 1968, today we jut forward one decade to 1978. Punk had been kicking out our shins, disco was knocking at our back door, and yet we the few, the happy, the prog, moved ever forward, progressing as it were. Eating the music around us and spitting it out as progressive rock.
Perhaps that is the legacy of progressive rock music, it assimilates the best and perhaps sometimes the worst of the musical culture at hand, and churns out musicians with vision and soul. We can see all of it in 1978. This time, we will not be dipping across the years to get any of that new music action. No, this journey is strictly for 1978. Come join us as we stroll the sonic tapestries across the corridor of time.
A Musical Tour of 1978:
Landing
- Kinks- A Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy
- Boston- Don't Look Back
- Alan Parsons Project- Can't Take it With You
What Happened to Genesis?
- Anthony Phillips- Wise After the Event
- Peter Gabriel- White Shadow
- Steve Hackett- Please Don't Touch
- Steve Hackett- The Voice of NECAM
- Steve Hackett- Icarus Ascending
What about Pink Floyd?
- David Gilmour- Cry From the Street
- Richard Wright- Drop in from the Top
- Grobbschnitt- Mulheim Special>Otto Pankrock>Golden Mist
Well show me the rest!
- Steve Hillage- Sea Nature
- Jean Michel Jarre- Equinoxe Pt 4
- Saga- Ice Nice
- Al Di Meola- Senor Mouse
- Gotic- La Revolucio
- Gerry Rafferty- Baker Street
- Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds- Horsell Common and The Heat Ray
- UK- In the Dead of Night> By the Light of Day> Presto Vivace and Reprise
- Genesis- Say it's Alright Joe
- Rush- La Villa Strnagiato
- Styx- Pieces of Eight
- Magnum- Kingdom of Madness
- Rainbow- Kill the King
- Van Halen- Eruption
- Journey- Winds of March
How about some live music from 1978
- Jethro Tull- Thick as a Brick
- Yes- Heart of the Sunrise
- Genesis- In the Cage>The Colony of Slippermen>Afterglow
See you next time
- Yes- Onward
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Soundscape 2.81 This Episode is not About da Vinci
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
There are moments when the brand of inspiration strikes hard on the buttocks of your Soundscape DJ. I thought this was one of them but it turned out to be a very painful temporary tattoo. What started as an homage to Leonardo da Vinci, then morphed into a theme about being a Renaissance man (A cat of many colors), and finally deteriorated further to simply, questions and perhaps answers that such a person might find. So the theme went through the ringer. While I did find some music that matched the theme, there was just not enough to support the show.
What we do have though, is a fantastic set of music, a perfect album side, and a healthy helping of the newest stuff we could grab. Here it is- check it out;
Taking off
- Rush- Natural Science
- Quantum Fantay- Shiver Moments
- Telegraph- Gravity
- Amgala Temple- Moon Palace
This Episode is Not About da Vinci
- Marillion- Man of a Thousand Faces
- Airbag- Call Me Back
- David Gilmour- Beauty
- Spock's Beard- At the End of the Day
- Perfect Beings- Vibrational: The System and Beyond
- Perfect Beings- Vibrational: Mysteries, Not Answers
- Perfect Beings- Vibrational: Altars of the Gods
- Perfect Beings- Vibrational: Everywhere at Once
- Perfect Beings- Vibrational: Insomnia
- Shamall- Thoughts are Swimming in my Head Parts I-II
- Karmakanic- Higher Ground
Chris Sargent's Perfect Album Side- "Woof"
- Pink Floyd- Dogs
- Kevin Gilbert- Something Nice for My Dog
- The Flower Kings- Astral Dog
- Procol Harum- A Salty Dog
- The Flower Kings- Underdog
- Pink Floyd- The Dogs of War
- The Beatles- Hey Bulldog
Still not about Dicaprio
- Pendragon- A Man of Nomadic Traits
- Manning- Nobody's Fool
- Heliopolis- Love and Inspiration
Landing
- Steve Hackett- Underground Railroad
- Lebowski- The Doosan Way
- RPWL- Give Birth to the Sun
- Alan Parsons- One Day to Fly
Wednesday Jan 23, 2019
Soundscape 2.80 A Date with 1968
Wednesday Jan 23, 2019
Wednesday Jan 23, 2019
Across the ages way back in time, when most of us were expressing our only protests on the world in diaper squiggles and loud cries, the music we love was taking shape. Fed on a diet of rock & roll, classical music and a dash of jazz, prog was taking its first steps into the world. It was 1968 and music was in a state of transition. It was a highly experimental time for some of our favorite musicians. Progarchives and other progressive rock venues label much of the music of this day as proto-prog. The elements were there, but we had not quite gotten to the masterworks that were yet to come.
This will be our first of 5 journeys into the past this year, leading up to an overview of 2018. You will find in this episode many things that you may not heave heard or paid attention to, but here in 1968 we are in the genetics of our prog forefathers. Join us on a fantastic journey into the past.
Let's Take a Trip
- Hypnos 69- My Journey to the Stars
- Derek Sherinian and Friends- Welcome to the Machine
- D Project- The End
- Yuka & Chronoship- Argo-A Dragon That Never Sleeps
- The Tangent- Supper's Off
A Date with 1968
- Moody Blues- The Best Way To Travel
- Jefferson Airplane- The House at Pooneil Corners
- Status Quo- Sunny Cellophane Skies
- Procol Harum- In Held Twas in I
- Zombies- Time of the Season
- The Soft Machine- Why Are We Sleeping?
- Traffic- Forty Thousand Headmen
- Vanilla Fudge- Season of the Witch
- Pink Floyd- A Saucerful of Secrets
- Caravan- Place of My Own
- The Pentangle- Bells
- John Martyn- Hello Train
- The Gentle Soul- Young Man Blue
- Blood Sweat & Tears- I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know
- Spirit- Taurus
- Deep Purple- Exposition>We Can Work It Out
Hemispherical Walter's Perfect Album Side
- Pinkroom- Buried Hopes
- Tangerine Dream- Granular Blankets
- Finally George- Ghost
- The Dear Hunter- The March
- Santana- Europa
Return to 1968
- The Nice- 1st-4th movements from Ars Longa Brevita
- David Axelrod- The Mental Traveler
- Ultimate Spinach- (Balld of) The Hip Death Goddess
- Family- Peace of Mind
- The Doors- Five to One
- The Beatles- Savoy Truffle
- Jethro Tull- Serenade to the Cuckoo
- The Grateful Dead- That's It for the Other One
- Giles, Giles, & Fripp- Erudite Eyes
- The Rolling Stones- Salt of the Earth
- The Beatles- Good Night
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
Soundscape 2.79 Piper at the Gates of Prog
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
Now with a title of that weight you might be expecting to be carried away or transfixed by the music contained within. Indeed, I hope that is the outcome, but what is contained herein is a short homage to one of the most fantastic children's books ever written, "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame.
To be honest, there was not very many bands that paid homage to this story. So instead we culled together music that may well fit the theme of the story if not always the tenor. I shored it all up with some of the newer stuff just to keep you all on your toes, but I also included some of the major pieces of Wind in the Willows in hopes of communicating the story as the music allowed.
"The Rat never answered, if indeed he heard. Rapt, transported, trembling, he was possessed in all his senses by this new divine thing that caught up his soul and swung and dandled it, a powerless but happy infant in a strong sustaining grasp"- From The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
The Piper at the Gates of Prog
- Public Symphony- Wings
- Muse- The Dark Side
- All Traps on Earth- All Traps on Earth
- Ovrfrwrd- Forbidden Valley Opiate
- Progeland- The Song of the Sea
- Pink Floyd- Astronomy Domine
- Treebeard- The Lark in the Morning
- Steve Hillage- Hello Dawn
- Big Big Train- Hedgerow
- Styx- Boat on the River
- Nancy Wilson- River Road
- Toto- The Road Goes On
- Minor Giant- On the Road
- Limpid Green- The Wild Wood
- Lunatic Soul- Where the Darkness is Deepest
- Peter Gabriel- Darkness
- Limpid Green- Mr Badger
- The Tea Party- The Badger
- Mike Keneally- The Car Song
- Todd Rundgren- Emperor of the Highway
- Queen- I'm in Love with my Car
- Tiger Moth Tales- Toad of Toad Hall
- Bjorn Riis- Lullaby in a Car Crash
- The Enid- Pre-Dawn-Sunrise
- Eloy- At the Gates of Dawn
- Pete Namlook and Klauss Schulze- Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn
- Jethro Tull- Pan Dance
- Faun- Hymn to Pan
- Van Morrison- Piper at the Gates of Dawn
- Steve Hackett- Four Winds: East
- Anthony Phillips- Stranger
- Alan Parsons- Call of the Wild
- Moonshine Ballet- The Gate of Dawn
- Presto Ballet- Hard Times for Dreamers
- Roin Stolt's The Flower King- High Road
- Soup- Sleepers
- Muse- The Dark Side (Alternate Reality Version)
- Manning- A Road Less Traveled
Tuesday Dec 25, 2018
Soundscape 2.78 Have A Proggy Jolly Christmas
Tuesday Dec 25, 2018
Tuesday Dec 25, 2018
Well, here we are at the turn of the season once again. This may be our 12th or 13th Christmas episode and personally, I found this one to be very meaningful. We are quite past traditional Christmas music at this point. Instead narratives of the passage from dark to light fuel the ritual fires of the Soundscape. I feel as if each tradition and ceremony we observe over the swift passages of time, mark turning points, at least for me. One of the reasons Soundscape is sometimes a challenging journey for me is that each episode grows of its own nature. Muses compete for my ear and eventually, something roughly resembling the original idea emerges. Like any other creative undertaking, this DJing thing is a matter of seeking the thing, rather than the shadows of the thing, but somewhere in the imperfections, lies the heart of our humanity. We are the broken ones seeking solace in a world of shattering illusions, and subsequent mythologies of care. We strive for something greater than ourselves. So within this journey, you may find a very clear presence of pain, and loss, amidst the magical metaphors our musicians weave. It is my sincere hope that something here meets you on your own journey back to the light. As the days again grow long, may you find peace and industry to sustain you through another year. Happy Holidays! May you be reborn for another trip around this life giving star of wonder.
Have a Proggy Jolly Christmas
- Steve Miller Band- Winter Time
- Jethro Tull- A Winter Snowscape
- Bruce Soord- Frozen North
- Symphony X- Candlelight Fantasia
- Echolyn- Some Memorial
- Atomic Rooster- Winter
- Big Big Train- The Transit of Venus Across the Sun
- Red Bazar- Sunset for a New World
- Kamelot- We Three Kings
- Tiger Moth Tales- Match Girl
- For Absent Friends- Wonder
- Dream Theater- Bridges in the Sky
- Joe Satriani- Ceremony
- New Trolls- Seventh Season
- Red Jasper- The Shamen's Song
- Shadowfax- One Winter Morning
- Phish- Winterqueen
- Emerson, Hughes, Bonilla- Nutrocker
- Neal Morse- Silent Night>We All Need Some Light
- The Tea Party- Winter Solstice
- Emerson, Lake, and Palmer- I Believe in Father Christmas
- Marillion- Seasons End
- Chris- Towards the Stars
- Gandalf's Fist- The Lamplighter (Parts I-VIII)
- Patrick Moraz- Festival
- Stratovarius- Fantasia
- Rush- Xanadu (Live)
- Umphrey's McGee- Santa Oddity
- Jethro Tull- Flute Solo Improvisation>God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen>Bouree
- The Ents- Hazy Shade of Winter
- Robert Berry- Carol of the Bells
- Beggars Opera- Festival
- Mike Oldfield- In Dulci Jubilo
- Blackmore's Night- Christmas Eve
- My Morning Jacket- Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
- Argent- God Gave Rock and Roll To You
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
Soundscape 2.77 Floydian Soundscapes
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
I have been a Pink Floyd Fan since I was a teenager. One auspicious day, while listening to the local rock station, "Not Now John" came on. I spent weeks trying to identify the artist/band who wrote this song. When I finally found the artist, I bought Final Cut immediately. Then, on another life changing occasion, I popped into the local Turtles while waiting to pick up my sisters. I bought The Dark Side of the Moon. I drove around listening to the album (on cassette mind you) through the backroads of east Georgia, many dark and unfamiliar places. With that soundtrack in those environs, the album scared the hell out of me. I was in love with the music but so overwhelmed by the themes and the power of the sound.
Well here we are, years later and Floyd is still my favorite band of all time. No other band has communicated my personal angst and dissatisfaction with life in quite the same way. And no band has made me happier (in that existential sort of vein that only Pink Floyd can provide). It comes as no surprise that many artists and bands have found inspiration from Pink Floyd. Whether it was the sweeping epic grandeur of their space rock journeys, or the angry tones of their political rhetoric, Floyd have sent wave after wave of musicians into the depths of the psyche and the far out reaches of the galaxy. It is with this in mind that for this episode, we allow many of those musicians to come to light for their contribution to Pink Floyd as a genre of music.
As always, many gems fell to the floor as we were grabbing the goodies not the least of which were Airbag, and Mostly Autumn. Nevertheless, I think we were able to offer an interesting and perhaps lesser known batch of Floydian explorations. I pray that you enjoy the journey and I look forward to when we all meet again, some sunny day.
Floydian Soundscapes
- David Gilmour- 5 A.M.
- Overhead- Dawn
- Pink Floyd- The Endless River Pt2
- RPWL- Arnold Layne
- Mythic Sunship- Backyard Ritual
- Pink Floyd- Free Four
- Rick Miller- The Garden of Forking Paths
- The D Project- September Solitudes
- Preacher- Vinyl
- Nemrud- Journey of the Shaman Pt1
- Riverside- Acronym Love
- Millenium- Embryo
- Voivod- Sonic Mycelium
- Roger Waters- Deja Vu
Chris Sargent's Perfect Album Side
- Mike Rutherford- Smallcreep Alone
- ELO- Alone in the Universe
- Love- Alone Again Or
- Genesis- Alone Tonight
- Marillion- Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury
- Live- I Alone
- The Flower Kings- What if God is Alone
- Ambrosia- World Leave Me Alone
- The Tangent- The Music That Died Alone
Floydian Soundscapes Continued
- Bunchakeze- The Deal
- Porcupine Tree- Waiting Phase II
- Murky Red- Pixelated Friends
- Moksha- Starswarm
- Franck Carducci- The Quind
Friday Nov 16, 2018
Soundscape 2.76 The Keys Have It
Friday Nov 16, 2018
Friday Nov 16, 2018
One of my favorite aspects of the creative process of developing themed shows for Soundscape is the notion that our favorite music can be viewed from so many different angles. We can look at thematic content in the narratives of the music, styles of music, and even particular instruments. Perhaps one of the most important instruments to my listening experience (although I could make an argument for many) has been the keys. Whether it was synth, moog, piano or organ, keyboards have always fascinated me. It is such a versatile apparatus for building incredible soundscapes, and in the hands of a master the keyboard can take us anywhere we want to go. So this week, we pay homage to those who tickle the ivories, or in the case of some players violently abuse them. Come join us for arpegiatic walks, and dissonant delving, as we journey through the world of the keyboard. This week the keys have it.
The Keys Have It
- Muse- Piano Thing
- Bruce Hornsby- The Spider Fingers/Tempus Fugit
- Genesis- Firth of Fifth
- Curved Air- Metamorphosis
- Pink Floyd- Summer '68
- The Nice- Rondo
- Yes- No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
- Atomic Rooster- Gershatzer
- Manfred Mann's Earth Band- Visionary Mountains
- Deep Purple- Lazy
- Sugarloaf- Green Eyed Lady
- Soft Machine- Out Bloody Intro>Out Bloody Rageous
- Gryphon- Bathsheba
- Tiger Moth Tales- The Boy Who Cried Wolf
- Spock's Beard- The Doorway
- IQ- Shooting Angels
- Happy the Man- Service with a Smile
- The Flower Kings- Church of Your Heart
- Asia- The Heat Goes On
- Rush- Subdivisions
- Jordan Rudess- Quantum Soup
- The Tangent- A Voyage Through Rush Hour
- Big Big Train- East Coast Racer
- Styx- Khedive
- Kino- Idlewild
- The Psychedelic Ensemble- The Riddle
- Frost*- Hyperventilate
- D Project- Crude Reality
- Rikard Sjoblom's Gungfly- Friendship
- The Tangent- A Case of Misplaced Optimism
- Dream Theater- Jordan Rudess Keyboard Solo
- Steven Wilson- Home Invasion/Regret #9
- ABWH- Gone But Not Forgotten>Catherine Parr>Merlin the Magician
- Gleb Kolyadin- Storyteller
- Muse- Space Dementia
- Deep Purple- Keyboard Solo (England 2002)
- Spock's Beard- Ladies and Gentleman, Mister Ryo Okumoto
- Emerson Lake and Palmer- Tarkus Medley
- Jerry Garcia Band- Knocking on Heavens Door
Wednesday Oct 24, 2018
Soundscape 2.75 Another Halloween
Wednesday Oct 24, 2018
Wednesday Oct 24, 2018
Due to perhaps faulty planning on my part, this years Halloween episode appears to have a lot of the same music as last year. That is not to say that it does not have some new material, or that it lacks redeeming value, only to say that if you are looking for a completely new journey, you may not get what you were looking for. I enjoyed the set up and play of this show, but as you may know, finding new ways of expressing Halloween is getting harder as the years go by. Tell your favorite artists to deliver a new bevy of Halloween goodness next year ok. Anyway, here it is, have at it!
Happy Halloween- may you find that for which you seek at the thinning of the veils.
Another Halloween
- RPWL- Alone and Scared
- Porcupine Tree- Bornlivedie>Signify>The Sleep of No Dreaming
- Little Atlas- Paranoiac
- Crippled Black Phoenix- Scared
- Gandalf's Fist- Twilight at the Gates of the Prism Moon
- Steven Wilson- Index (Necro Deathmort Remix)
- King's X- When You're Scared
- Kite- If You Were Dead
- Motorpsycho- Into the Mystic
- Cosmosquad- Beyond Death's Door
- Marillion- The Invisible Man
- Profusion- Ghost House
- Rush- Freeze (Part IV of 'Fear')
- Knight Area- Afraid of the Dark
- Sonus Umbra- Haunted
- Lunatic Soul- Where the Darkness is Deepest
- Out of the Beardspace- Dirge
- Porcupine Tree- The Séance>Circle of Manias>I Drive the Hearse
- Band of Horses- The Funeral
- Mice on Stilts- Funeral
- Steven Wilson- The Unquiet Grave
- Shadow Gallery- Haunted
- Gleb Kolyadin- Astral Architecture
- Pineapple Thief- Waking up the Dead
- Colin Tench Project- Darkness Falls
- Tangerine Dream- Mysterious Semblance at the Stand of Nightmares
- Gong- Rejoice
- King Crimson- Epitaph
Thursday Oct 04, 2018
Soundscape 2.74 Scrambling for Light
Thursday Oct 04, 2018
Thursday Oct 04, 2018
Sometimes, the theme or direction of a show just does not gel quickly but when it does it takes a form and shape of its own. Sometimes that theme is easy to dethread from the tangle of prog rock and others just drop in unannounced and sometimes unwanted. This episode took a number of strange turns. I found myself with a pile of good music that was calling to be played, and then the theme of moving from darkness and fear into a place of joy and abandon came forth. So if there is a narrative to be found, it centers on that notion. The addition of the spacey music and journeys into the wild blue yonder are perhaps the personal carryover of joy that presented itself. We take it as it comes. Hopefully the world of the music will unfold to you in its own way. Happy journeys.
Scrambling for Light
- Adult Cinema- Asleep at the Wheel
- The Tangent- In Darkest Dreams Suite
- Beardfish- Into the Night
- Riverside- The Struggle for Survival
- Crippled Black Phoenix- The Times They are A'ragin
- The Pineapple Thief- White Mist
- Farmhouse Odyssey- Daybreak
- ELO- New World Rising/Ocen Breakup (Reprise)
- Pure Reason Revolution- The Bright Ambassadors of Morning
- Electric Moon- Spaceman
- Psicolorama- Psicolorama De Amor
- Yuka & Chronoship- Galileo II- Copernican Theory
- Galahad- Secret Kingdoms and Secret Worlds
- Muse- Exogenesis (Pt1-3)
- Agusa- Uti Var Hage
- Pink Floyd- Stay (I said I had not heard this on an album before- that was silly. It was played by virtue of the fact that listening to it recently made it all seem new. Your DJ does not always know what he is talking about)
- Nosound- Growing in Me
- Motorpsycho- Cloudwalker (A Darker Blue)
- Riverside- Wasteland
- Fish- What Now Little Man
- Oceans of Slumber- Nights in White Satin